On 6/15/06, Philip Hart <philiph at slac.stanford.edu> wrote: [ Regarding the Jhereg Baronetcy (as opposed to the Imperial Countship later received) applying only to Vlad's father and Vlad ] > > Relative ease of purchase of title (Vlad's father not being rich). Lack > of the Jhereg being all Easterner, as indicated by Vlad having met many > Jhereg and only one other Easterner among them, and people being surprised > to see him in House colors. All indications being that Easterners are > fruitful and multiply. The simplest consequence of the above being > lots of Eastern citizens, then nothing but. > I don't buy the part about "Easterner citizens multiplying until they take over the House", but in mulling it over, it did occur to me that there was another point in your argument's favor, that being the nature of House Jhereg. The Jhereg are not philanthopists; they're out to make money. Vlad is permitted to control his area as long as he keeps the money flowing in. By the same token, I can see the Jhereg specifying that the patent of nobility would be a strictly limited one. If Vlad wants Vlad N to be designated heir to the Baronetcy, it would make sense to the Jhereg to have him pay up to retain the title, just as sure as Teckla have to keep paying and paying to Jhereg lenders. On the other hand, I can see a point to the counter-argument about citizenship being retained once it's bought. The Jhereg don't care one way or another about that (as long as they get their money), so if the Orb links to Vlad's children, I can see them retaining that link even if they have no noble title to go with it. They would just be Jhereg, low-status members of a low-ranking House (which would be an incentive for them to purchase a title, of course). However, the point may well be moot, since I suspect that children inherit Orb links from their *mother*, and we ought to be wondering whether Cawti's title is a limited patent or a permanent one - and whether she might perhaps try and block her children inheriting the Orb link if she could, out of sheer antipathy to the Empire.