Re: Tit'xka (Pretty Long Post)

Sheets, Jeff wrote:
> Well, scientifically speaking, the mothers hold a reservoir of billions of
> individual mutated sperm cells,
[Snip]
> The
> clan mother made a deal with the nation to the effect that her clan would be
> bred from then on with lower aggression, and higher sociability.
Intriguing!  The detail of your descriptions of the Tit'xka seems almost
real!  Like many animals, the Natives (and their relatives, the
Devourers) have specific breeding seasons, and no long-term bonds.  They
have courtship rituals, varying from tribal group to tribal group, but
most of them involve tests of strength, and tests of intelligence, thus
selecting only the best males to father the next generation.  In many
tribal groups, males can be rewarded for taking risks, or making great
sacrifices, by being allowed to mate with a larger number of females, or
even to have *exclusive* mating rights to one or more females, vastly
improving the odds of fathering a child.  For instance, when the Nif
Empire sent out male-bands to hunt Devourers, they were rewarded with
exclusive mating rights to certain females.  Female-bands were rewarded
by being allowed to reduce, or even completely forgo, Root of Life.
Root of Life is a fertility-inhibiting drug.  It is essential to the
Natives, since they are very fertile, and with weapons, even stone
weapons, they have far less to fear from predators.  Without Root of
Life, the population grows far too rapidly, exhausting the local
resources, and then crashes due to starvation, to begin the cycle anew.
Root of Life forgoing is not common among Native societies, most depend
on honor, or material rewards.  But all societies test males for
fitness.