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  1. #1
    Mark A Vandermeulen
    Guest

    Elven Birth Control

    OK, my life is wierd. Let me give you an example.

    Last night I had a wonderful time at a Holloween party. I went as the
    High Mage Aelies (Vulcan ears, Renaissaince Faire outfit, and magic wand),
    and my wife went as Marlae Roesone. We had a good time.

    This morning, in the shower, I was thinking. About Aelies. He's a
    half-elf. There are quite a few half-elves mentioned in the region books
    for Cerilia, certainly more than you would really imagine given the state
    of relations between the two races. I'm also a biologist, so my brain
    started working on that problem.

    Culturally, it doesn't seem to fit. To get a half-elf, you need a human
    and an elven parent, but the two races don't mix that much. Human
    populations tend to be strictly controlled in elven lands (Tuarhievel
    being about the least strict), but even there I wouldn't imagine there to
    be a whole lot of interspecies dalliance going on.

    It could be rape. It certainly happens; it's not always a nice world.
    However, it is almost certain that such cases would be human men raping
    elven women. I really don't see members of the G.S. raping human women, I
    wouldn't think they would find them any more attractive than the average
    goblin female (but I suppose everyone has their own tastes). Besides, I
    generally play all elves as extremely noble, possessing and displaying the
    traits that most knights of Haelyn only aspire to. In fact, it is very
    important to them, to maintain the standards of the great elven kingdoms
    of the past. It's just that they see humans=goblins=racial enemy,
    therefore kill, or at least keep a wary eye on. But they would no sooner
    rape a female than they would kick their mothers. It just don't seem very
    elvish to me (although there are exceptions, of course--and Rhoubhe has
    collected many of them).

    But we know that half-elves born into elven society are fully accepted.
    They are probably happy there, and might not feel very much like
    encountering the anger and hostility of the human half of their
    parentage. And yet, when we think of half-elves, and see them in the
    region books, they are typically among men. Which to me says that they
    were born to human mothers.

    Which leads me to the conclusions that there are a goodly number of elven
    men sleeping with human women in human lands. (Ok, by goodly, I don't mean
    that it's an epidemic, just slighly more common than you would really
    expect.) This does make a certain amount of sense. I can think of two
    types of human females (ok stereotypes) who would consider sleeping with
    an elf. First, bored noble ladies who are required to sit at home in the
    manor while the menfolk go out and play at bashing each other with their
    swords. I can certainly see that resentment towards their lot in life
    might make noble women want to get some of their own (esp. when their
    husbands are no doubt willing to put out for any barmaid who seems mildly
    interested). Second, peasant women. Although it certainly would not apply
    to all, I can certainly see where it might be an attractive option for a
    certain class of people with little hope for advancement any other way: a
    peasant girl might see it as a chance to get ahead: her child, after all,
    will have elven blood and therefore be able to be a true wizard.

    However, at this point, I run into the problem with my concept of elven
    nobility again. I cannot imagine that an elf would not know the
    consequences for the woman if she gets pregnant, and knowing those
    consequences would so blighly sleep with them. This thing of mine for
    elven nobility is not really something I can go around, either, because in
    my conception of Cerilia, the elves are really important for the big
    picture. It is only through the influence of the elves and their morality
    and nobility that humans can hope to grow beyond their medieval feudal
    social system, if they can ever learn to talk to and respect the elves,
    rather than fear and kill them. That's something not even Haelyn can do
    for them, because even though he's a god, he's still limited by his
    cultural world-view as to the way things should be. That's why, in my
    games, if there is ever going to be a new Emperor of Anuire, he or she is
    going to first have to be an Elf-friend. Because no one is going to follow
    anyone with the same old post-imperial rhetoric any more. It's going to
    have to be something new and inspiriational, that will give them the
    feeling of being lifted above their current level of understanding, so
    they see the world afresh.

    Which means, to me, that the elven males getting human females pregnant,
    DON'T THINK IT'S THEIR FAULT. And this implies some social and biological
    differences between the species, which struck me as interesting and fun
    while I was rinsing shampoo out of my eyes, and brings me to the topic
    which I placed in my header for this message.

    What if reprocuction among elves is controlled solely by the female? The
    female chooses whether she is going to get pregnant or not from a
    particular episode of intercourse. This would help explain the extremely
    low birth rate among elves (necessary to balance out their extremely long
    lifespan) and still allow plently of sex, which strikes me as fundamental
    to a vibrant, passionate elven culuture.

    It also explains why elven males don't feel that they are responsible for
    getting human women pregnent. As far as they know, they had no control
    over it. They probably feel extremely flattered when human women get
    pregnant, because they think that the women knew the risks, AND DECIDED TO
    GET PREGNENT ANYWAY. Most elves probably just don't realize the
    reproductive differences between the races, and it's not a subject that is
    very likely to come up at state events and ambassadorial dinner parties.

    A couple more tangents, and I'll close down this diatribe. I also had a
    brainstorm on how elven women do control their reproduction. Most of our
    theories of the nature of the elven race makes them very elemental. We
    have theories about elven souls decomposing into spiritual essences of the
    elements when they die (details available in the BR Netbook). Well,
    perhaps the same goes for the start of life: perhaps in order for an elven
    female to get pregnant there must be a source of all four of the elements
    present. Leave one of the elements out--blow out the candle--and you just
    don't get pregnant. The ultimate in planned parenthood: the elves must go
    through a near ritual, making sure there is a sufficient elemental source
    of all four elements before pregnancy occurs.

    Further, it might be possible for elven parents to influence what kind of
    personality their offspring might have. Intercourse near a large
    waterfall, with a small fire, might produce offspring with a very
    different personality than intercourse near a huge bonfire beside a small
    stream. And intercourse with a lantern, on newly turned soil in a gentle
    spring rain a personality very different again. You could start to think
    of elves with "elemental" personalities. If you need an elven NPC on the
    quick, think of a place you've been to, and imagine what sort of
    personality that might produce in a newly conceived elf. This sort of
    imaginative, off-the-cuff, intuitive approach works very well for me, but
    probably won't for everyone.

    Finally, I hope I haven't offended anyone with this discussion. That was
    not my intention, and if I did, then I heartily appologize. But I thought
    it was an interesting idea, and I thought I would share.

    Mark VanderMeulen
    vander+@pitt.edu

  2. #2
    Kenneth Gauck
    Guest

    Elven Birth Control

    I really liked Mark Vandermeulen's post in elven fecundity. Regarding the
    personality and elemental connection, the modern western astrological system
    is connected with the four elements (aquarious is a water sign, &c) and
    might be useful in that regard.

    In my dwarven campaign I associated the various noble Houses with stones
    reputed to have special properties. Elves might likewise choose to surround
    themselves with personal elemental signs, or Houses might be associated with
    a sign. Gylvain might be known for its great fountains, its settlements
    near flowing water (esp waterfalls), and the importance of water in the home
    (the family might be offended if someone suggested opening a window or
    lighting a fire before someone had filled the table's water pitcher first),
    springs could be regarded as sacred (perhaps with benifits). Caolran might
    be noted for its appeciation of fire. I can imagine some homes have a great
    hearth which dominates the room. Or houses with a hundred candles.

    Kenneth Gauck

    PS: great contribution
    - -----Original Message-----
    From: Mark A Vandermeulen
    To: birthright@MPGN.COM
    Date: Sunday, November 01, 1998 2:23 PM
    Subject: [BIRTHRIGHT] - Elven Birth Control


    >
    >Most of our theories of the nature of the elven race makes them very
    elemental.
    >We have theories about elven souls decomposing into spiritual essences of
    the
    >elements when they die (details available in the BR Netbook). Well, perhaps
    the >same goes for the start of life: perhaps in order for an elven female
    to get pregnant >there must be a source of all four of the elements present.
    Leave one of the
    >elements out--blow out the candle--and you just don't get pregnant. The
    ultimate
    >in planned parenthood: the elves must go through a near ritual, making sure
    there
    >is a sufficient elemental source of all four elements before pregnancy
    occurs.
    >
    >Further, it might be possible for elven parents to influence what kind of
    >personality their offspring might have. Intercourse near a large
    >waterfall, with a small fire, might produce offspring with a very
    >different personality than intercourse near a huge bonfire beside a small
    >stream. And intercourse with a lantern, on newly turned soil in a gentle
    >spring rain a personality very different again. You could start to think
    >of elves with "elemental" personalities. If you need an elven NPC on the
    >quick, think of a place you've been to, and imagine what sort of
    >personality that might produce in a newly conceived elf. This sort of
    >imaginative, off-the-cuff, intuitive approach works very well for me, but
    >probably won't for everyone.
    >

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