part of union, which is in war with Earth), imprisoned, stripped of all weapons and gadgets, he does not know their language (initially)... and he manages to talk his way out. Moreover - he manages to make all the government of this planet believe that humans have distinct spiritual companions, he is given a spaceship, he is given the means to change it for a more advanced one and reach Earth... and the planet prepares to leave the anti-Earth union and encourage other planets to do it . Such is the power of diplomacy. Eli Monpress of The Spirit Thief basically has this as his power -- rather than needing to form a specific bond with a spirit to gain its obedience, he can just talk to them, and more often than not they'll obey him. His first scene has him talking his way out of a dungeon by convincing the door to fall over. Miles Vorkosigan of the Vorkosigan Saga runs on this. Unfortunately, some of his adversaries have grown somewhat Miles savvy. From The Vor Game: While most of the Aes Sedai are not her enemies, Egwene's capture and imprisonment in the White Tower in The Wheel of Time is otherwise this trope. By the time she is made true Amyrlin of the re-unified Tower, she has not only subverted and won over all the novices and most of the Accepted, she has earned the admiration of her disciplinarian, the Mistress of Novices Silviana (who then becomes willing