Re: Tit'xka (Pretty Long Post)

On Tue, 5 Jan 1999 14:41:38 -0600, Nik Taylor <fortytwo@...> wrote:

>Sheets, Jeff wrote:
>> I like the term "Root of Life".  Is it called thus because of its =
control
>> over life or because by the prevention of new life it preserves =
existing
>> life?
>
>The second - without it, the population would swell rapidly, and then
>crash.  Their distant ancestors had many predators, which is why they
>needed both high fertility and high intelligence.  When they developed
>stone tools and fire, and, most importantly, the ability to build walls
>(even in the safest area, no city or town is complete without at least a
>ceremonial wall - it's an instinctive urge, analagous to the human
>desire for light of some sort, whether it be a fire or a light bulb) to
>protect them and their young, especially at night.  Their population
>grew rapidly, now only held back by disease and famine.
Zireen had a similar problem; their populations were once threatened by
wars with the Neyasai and disease, in addition to predators, so they had =
to
be rapid breeders (one reason for their unusually small size) in addition
to having high intelligence to defend themselves from attacks. (Zireen =
eat
mainly widespread and abundant insects, so famine would have been rare.)
Rather than trying to defeat the Neyasai on their own terms, they
eventually succeeded in subverting Neyasai society and converted them to
allies. They eventually conquered most diseases as well through advances =
in
medical knowledge and biotechnology. However, instead of a substance that
controls fertility (those were discovered later), Zireen and Neyasai
originally kept their populations under control and reduced the spread of
deadly diseases by adopting the custom of mating outside their own =
species.