On Tue, Aug 31, 2004 at 04:17:45PM -0700, Scott Schultz wrote: > The real problem with moving between houses is that the Houses themselves > are the foundation of an extremely strict racial/caste system whose basis is > metaphysical as well as sociological. With the exception of the Jhereg (and > possibly the Tekla) anyone who "moves" is going to be considered "honorary" > at best by the true members of that house. I could see Dzur being an exception to this as well. They pride themselves on being the best fighters, the most fierce. They might even convince themselves that someone was born into the wrong house and Dzur was their "true" house. > This last point also means that transfers are inherently self-limiting. If a > Dzur successfully transferred to the Vallista, he would die childless. No > self-respecting Dzur would choose him for a husband, and no self-respecting > pureblood Vallista would choose him either. With no Vallista heir, his > membership in the House would last one lifetime, then his property and > titles would revert back to the House. Once again, since fierceness is so prized, I'd suspect that anyone who fought their way into the House of the Dzur would either qualify or very nearly qualify as a Hero and probably be prime marriage material. I believe that we saw Tazendra at least having flings with members of other houses - Dzur might well just be less strict about that. You'll note that it always seemed to be soldiers and other fighters she flirted with. > All this means that "transferring" is something that just isn't going to > happen very frequently. When it does happen, it's going to be a pretty > exceptional case. No point having a caste system if you can change castes easily. Erik -- Well I'm walking through the sand In the desert of my mind And I don't remember what it was That I came here to find -- Sister Machine Gun "Alone"