Nobody in this thread seems to have considered one important and very unusual aspect of Vlad's experience under the Orb: He's an Easterner. Phoenix, Dragonlord, Teckla, Jhereg... they're all Dragaerans, in the normal line of business. Easterner citizens are probably a rarity. As far as we know (as far as I can think of) there are only four or five ways for an Easterner to be a citizen: 1. Swear fealty to a noble and join the Teckla as Miklos did in Brokedown Palace. 2. Buy a title in the Jhereg as Vlad's father did. 3. Be declared a citizen by the Emperor/Empress as Laszlo was by Zerika IV. 4. (Possibly) Defeat seventeen Dzur champions and win membership in the Dzur as Mellar did. 5. Inherit citizenship that originated in one of the above ways. We know that there are physiological differences between Dragaerans and Easterners beyond the ones obvious to the eye (http://www.cracksandshards.com/peoples.html#DvsE): Dragaerans live fifty times as long aren't nauseated by teleportation [Tlt18;Drg21]] don't conceive unintentionally [Yenxxx] have somewhat different metabolism [Jrg99] don't dread Morganti weapons [Drg32] (I know some of these are somewhat debatable, but the point is that there are physiological differences, which is no less than you would expect from the known genetic differences.) Now, is it inconceivable that all the procedures of interrogation and jurisprudence, as well as the relevant "programming" of the Orb, are based on the assumption that the person being interrogated is a Dragaeran? Have we heard of *any* Easterner citizens -- nobles or Teckla -- besides Vlad and his family? (Vlad, his father, Cawti [I assume -- I'm away from books right now], and Vlad Norathar.) I'm sure the Phoenix Guards in Adrilankha question non-citizen Easterners, but I doubt that they need or have or use any techniques more sophisticated than intimidation, threats, and beatings, let alone the Orb. If that is the case, then Vlad may have an easier time deceiving the Orb than anyone else expects him to. He, of course, would chalk up his success entirely to his mad skills. -- Mark A. Mandel http://cracksandshards.com a Steven Brust Dragaera fan website [This text prepared with Dragon NaturallySpeaking.]