Mark A Vandermeulen
11-01-1998, 08:14 PM
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
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