> >I'm not sure which of these cases would apply, because I am not > >totally clear on Vlad's status within the empire. Would he be > >eligible for Emperor if the timing was right? The obstacles and > >reasons against are strong -- the orb would have to prolong his > >life or would quickly be passed on. However, if Vlad is ineligible > >for the orb, I would argue that he is not "Dragearan." > > Hmmm... Ineligible for the Orb is a bit too restrictive. The only people > eligible for the Orb are the Heir's of each House. (In the case of a Tekla > republic, the duly elected leader of the government.) Now, if the Cycle > happened to turn to the Jhereg and Vlad was the last living Jhereg, would > the Orb go to him? That's probably the question you're really asking. > Actually, a more realistic example would be the Tekla. While extremely > unlikely, it's conceivable that a Tekla Republic could end up electing a > charismatic Easterner like Kelly who had joined the House. I can't imagine > the Orb going against the will of the people. > > In any case, the definition of a citizen is that one has a link to the Orb. > Vlad certainly has that, as can any Easterner who joins one of the Houses. > Not to mention that Vlad is an aristocrat twice over. Baronet via the Jhereg > and Count via the Imperium. Countries like Elde and Greenaire would have > some more conventional measure of citizenship. Hmm. I'm not sure how that kind of thing works, but was Vlad raised to a Count in the Jhereg or is that title seperate from his title in his House? With how often members of the Jhereg house get killed (especially now that they are after Vlad and he possesses Godslayer) I don't know if it'd be much of a stretch for Vlad to become the Jhereg Emperor or not. (The hardest thing about it would be living long enough for them to come around in the cycle). One thing about the Dragaerians setup is if Vlad ever DID get his hands on the Orb there's not a whole lot they could do about it, even if they were all opposed to having an Eastener for an Emperor. (Which I'm sure they would be). "I didn't spend all those years playing D&D and not learn a little something about courage." -Some Dork, The X-Files Erik Holmes Shoby187 at yahoo.com AIM: ErikHolmes ICQ: 2593395 MSN: Shoby187 at hotmail.com Y!: Shoby187 at yahoo.com __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - Helps protect you from nasty viruses. http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail