Alright. I was looking at HELP MERIAN, where it says



Alright. Let's look at that last line.

This suggests to me that, prior to humans, there could be no racial cross-breeding. No Merian and Trill, for example, could have a child. I've seen it suggested in various books, like in the Deathgate Novels, where a human and an elf fall in love, but cannot have children, as an elf's sperm/egg cannot fertilize/be ferilized by a humans egg/sperm.

But, since humans are the splintered race of the Nameless Son, I imagine they have some sort of special property that allows them to breed with other races, and those half-breeds breed again, say a human and a dwarf, and this half-breed breeds with a merian. Then that Merian has a bit of human and dwarfs. Of course, that leads me into the question if this cross-breeding is genetic, and if it is, it's obviously recessive. But then we're talking odds of appearance, and how long it would be there, and how many generations far it'll go. Anyway. Imagine it goes, and sticks around for 6-7 generations, and we're just lucky that that 1/4 chance comes through every generation, at least post-second gen, at any rate. So we're looking at a pure-bred Merian capable of interbreeding. I imagine that's the only way we'd have a lot of these characters running around, half elf/half merian.

Of course, this would make me wonder at the question by Glubglub, when he asked Marilynth if she had a bit of Mugwump in her. But, there's been flaws in the histories before (IE dwarves being called dwarves, although that term didn't come into use until after the Coming of Estarra. Prior to that, they were Clangoru or some such).

Soooooo... Now that my caffeine high is over, and my ramblings at an end. Am I right? Wrong?

edit: Basicly, Halfbreeds would be thrown out of their homes, thus no half breed exists

Not really. There's a chance they'll be able to breathe underwater/breathe fire, and a chance they won't. Depends if they get the gene.

I think there's one exception to the "only humans can cross-breed" rule, the faelings.

Because people that get thrown out of their homes can't survive, or find other homes, and will in fact shrivel and die from lack of citizenship.

Anyway. That thing with Globglob might not have been a flaw. Just a little remark like people jokingly saying that someone's got angel blood, or something like that, only tailored to a multiracial (more literally than when the term's used in RL) culture thingy.

Was it followed by "Would you like some?"

I thought it just meant you would be treated as human. The way you can 3/4th Caucasoid and 1/4 Negroid in America, but will still be considered "Black" and never "white"

You took those words right out of my mouth.

But..yeah. My character is half and half, but she's also Viscanti, which excuses it.

It's not that half breeds don't exist, it's that they aren't recognzized by one of the societies. If a Dracnari and a Viscanti, for example, were to have a child, and the child isn't able to breathe fire, in that case the Dracnari would not recognize him as a Dracnari/Viscanti, but as a Viscanti. The same would happen if the child could breathe fire, the Dracnari wouldn't consider him a Dracnari/Viscanti, but as a Dracnari. They still have the blood of the other race in them, and maybe even some of their traits, but they are only considered one race or the other by the Dracnari of Merians.

I've seen people who are half bred. There's a few Merians with Elven ears. Elaria is one I think.

You're missing the point. It dosen't matter what kind of ears they have, if they can breathe water they're considered a Merian by Merianc society, if not then they aren't.

I was referring to that. People are playing a role of half merian half whatever.

I'd say that doesn't quite fit the histories and background, if they're playing that out. -Being- it is one thing, but if they were raised in Merian society, there's no way they'd think of themselves that way, and it would only ever be mentioned in a geneological discussion or maybe when talking about your parents. If you said you were half-elfen to my Merian alt, he'd just look at you in a rather puzzled manner, much as I would look at someone who walked up to me on the street IRL and told me they were half-dragon or something else absurd.

I don't think the histories have ever suggested that interbreeding can't exist in races other than with humans. The Merian help file is merely explaining that Merians have been interbreeding with humans a lot, but that Merians don't recognise half-breeds.

Alright. It was more just a curious question, and not a "do celestian merians have elf ears?" Because, bluntly, not every player follows the racial guidelines set out, now do they?

Thank's Lis.

Well interestingly, Aebrin's background IG talks about him being from a really conservative merian village which requires newborns to live underwater for a period of time before allowed to surface - ie killing off non-merian half-breeds.

If you look Merian and can breathe like one, you are a Merian.

That doesn't mean they can't have a racial history, just that if they looked human and could breathe underwater Merians woul not recognise that person as a Merian.

Erion and Etanru RPed a very conservative family. They viewed mingling with other races was disgusting and degrading to their proud, noble blood.