The Second Apocalypse
Earwa => General Earwa => Topic started by: What Came Before on June 04, 2013, 06:40:44 pm
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I don't know if this has come up before but does anyone else think the genotype of a child in Earwa is determined (almost) completely by the father? It's stated multiple times that it's folk wisdom that the mother only acts as a vessel and in Earwa folk wisdom becomes reality. Consider that
- Kellhus needs Esme as an incubator because regular worldborn women can't handle his Dunyain seed. When he tries to conceive children with his concubines they die or birth abominations.
- The Five Tribes of Men. The glossary in TTT says they are "The five rough cultural and racial groups that migrated into the Earwic subcontinent...". However, there is nothing rough about the racial aspect. As far as I can remember every person fits perfectly into one of the racial categories. There is no mention of anything like a half Norsirai half Ketyai or anything like that.
- All of Kellhus and Esmenet's children appear Norsirai but Cnaiur and Serwa's child appears Scylvendi. This isn't conclusive because it could just be that Scylvendi traits are dominant over Norsirai ones which are dominant over Ketyai ones. However, it's also consistent with the theory that the father determines the child's characteristics.
Are there any other people in the series who we know have parents of different races?
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Actually, Anissi, Cnaiur's favorite wife, was explicitly mentioned as a 'half-Norsirai mongrel' in Darkness.
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I don't know if this has come up before but does anyone else think the genotype of a child in Earwa is determined (almost) completely by the father?
Nope, not from what we've seen. Only in the case of Kellhus and his children do the father's genes completely decide what the child looks like. But he is a Dunyain and not a "normal" human.
- The Five Tribes of Men. The glossary in TTT says they are "The five rough cultural and racial groups that migrated into the Earwic subcontinent...". However, there is nothing rough about the racial aspect. As far as I can remember every person fits perfectly into one of the racial categories.
As mentioned above, Cnaiur's wife is a half-Norsirai and looks like one. After skimming through WLW, I can think of two characters with obvious mixed-race traits - the talkative Cingulati prince has black skin but the narrow features and thin lips of a Ketyai, while the skin eater Xonghis has slanted eyes and "his Xiuhianni blood was more visible in daylight". I imagine that racial influences from Eänna have seeped into the eastern borderlands of the Three Seas.
Also, the Tydonni seem to frown on race-mixing and have a strong taboo against it, which obviously means that it does happen.
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Well. There goes that theory. You guys know the books better than I do.
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Yatwer's effect on the Dunyain?
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That brings up the problem with Outside interference. How much power do they have? Yatwer is the Deity of Fertility and Birth, so that could mean that she literally has a hand in every conception/birth. Who's conditioned now?
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That brings up the problem with Outside interference. How much power do they have? Yatwer is the Deity of Fertility and Birth, so that could mean that she literally has a hand in every conception/birth. Who's conditioned now?
I like this game because I think we're going to get a revelation about Yatwer being conditioned from an even greater darkness that comes before. God-shocker