Excerpts on the Subject of Otherborn

The following excerpts come from documents, journals, manuscripts, and other literary and scientific sources collected in the private libraries of the late Madam Astoria Nethrani ce'Vay. Attributions, when possible, have been provided in italics at the beginnings of excerpts.

 

Excerpt 1: Preprint on Heritability of Otherborn Status

The following selection is excerpted from a preprint manuscript. The title page was missing.   The 700 YC Federal Census, despite being the Federation’s first large-scale attempt at cataloguing the prevalence of multigenerational inheritance of Otherborn status, did manage to produce some illuminating data. However, the lacunae in its data have proven to be topics of greater interest to most scholars of demography.   The conclusions reached in the Census Report of the 700 census are useful only when contextualized with the methodology used to determine who constituted this demographic group. The approach used adhered closely to the standards recommended in the Bureau of Demographic Studies’ 693 report. As such, it defined multigenerational inheritance of Otherborn status (MIOS) using the following criteria. An individual is considered to have MIOS if:

• They possess morphology of one of the six Federally-recognized Otherborn types (aasimar, changeling, firbolg, genasi, kalashtar, and tiefling)¹, and at least one of the following:
• At least two uninterrupted generations of their biological progenitors possess Federally-recognized Otherborn morphology (i.e., both a parent and a grandparent in the same biological line), or
• At least two uninterrupted generations of their biological descendants possess Federally-recognized Otherborn morphology (i.e., both a child and a grandchild in the same biological line).

Similarly, a biological family unit is considered to demonstrate MIOS if individuals in at least three unbroken generations of direct descendants possess Federally-recognized Otherborn morphology. Family units of which many (or even all) members are Otherborn receive the designation of High-Incidence MIOS (HI-MIOS). Family units qualify as HI-MIOS if they meet the qualification for MIOS and:

• No less than half of the offspring of any parents within those three generations possess Federally-recognized Otherborn morphology, or
• All biological parents within those three generations have MIOS.

The Census Report produced counts of individuals and families with MIOS organized by type of Otherborn morphology. For a variety of reasons, the individual counts would later be disputed², and in 708, the Census Bureau issued a retraction of the section of their report containing that data, stating that “fundamental flaws” in the “practical methods” of the census led to “probable severe underreporting of incidence rates”.   Accordingly, only the information on family MIOS and HI-MIOS are reproduced here. Note that the Census categorized family units as “Mixed-Type” if no individual type demonstrated at least a 70% majority among Otherborn members of the family line across the most recent five generations.

Fig. 1. Incidence of MIOS and HI-MIOS Family Units in the Federation.

    As K. Argennius observed in her 712 masterwork To Miss the Forest, the absence of reputable data³ on the prevalence of individual MIOS results in an obfuscation of valuable context. But even if that information were provided, there are other aspects of the data that are downright misleading without relevant background. The Census Bureau acknowledged as much in their original 700 Census Report, explaining:   “The raw numbers of MIOS family units of each type are only loosely correlated to the actual prevalence of Otherborn individuals of the respective types. Aasimar, for instance, are roughly as populous as tieflings and genasi. However, MIOS families consisting mostly of aasimar are much less common than MIOS families of tieflings or genasi, indicating that aasimar status is likely less heritable than either tiefling or genasi status. Similarly, changeling MIOS families are mildly underrepresented based on the overall changeling population, but changeling HI-MIOS families appear to be downright rare. On the other hand, firbolg MIOS families are significantly overrepresented, indicating high heritability of firbolg status comparatively.”   Whether or not these inductions can be conclusively drawn from the existing data remains under debate.

Excerpt 2: Journal Article on Otherborn and Inherent Potential

The following selection is excerpted from “Change Over Time in Rates of Inherent Potential” by R. Daeneb, published in the 01DA713 issue of Academic Magecraft.   Existing evidence actually contradicts the widely-held belief that Otherborn are more likely to have IP⁴. Rather, E. Ilya et al. concluded in their meta-analysis “Long-Held Myth: Dispelling Existing Pseudoscientific Conjecture About Inherent Potential” (published in the 01NW705 issue of Practicum) that no Otherborn type has been conclusively proven to display a rate of IP that differs from the general population in a statistically-meaningful way, despite many attempts to demonstrate as much.⁵ However, the study did indicate that non-IP-related innate low magic occurs among Otherborn at almost twice the rate that it occurs in the general population.

Excerpt 3: Anthology of Elvish Poetry

The following selection is excerpted from Lara Petrevna’s Anthology of Elvish Literature in Translation, 7th ed.   Of all the impressive poetic innovations made in the Elvish language, none are more illustrious than that most celebrated form: the Elvish epic waltz. Based, as the name would suggest, upon the rhythms of the Elvish waltz, the epic poems of this style feature an intricate verse form that makes use primarily of dactylic tetrameter, with the last foot of the line varying in a pattern consistent across stanzas.   The Elvish epic waltz is particularly challenging to translate faithfully because of one of the style’s unique features: when read aloud in Elvish, the lines at the ends of the stanzas elide with the lines beginning the following stanzas to create a “hidden message”. Those looking at the text see only the words as they are arranged upon the page, while the listeners, unburdened by the knowledge of the text’s prescriptions, hear a line utterly different than the one read. This masterful use of pun and polysemy is essentially impossible to portray faithfully in a language other than Elvish. Many translations of Elvish epic waltz include a line enclosed in brackets between stanzas in place of this alternate reading of the line; this translation does the same.   Elvish epic waltz poetry tends to be exceptionally long, even by the standards of epics. The longest epic waltz composed by a single author, The Death of Anaximander, consists of 15,000 stanzas, and the “hidden message” lines within can be read sequentially to create a chain of letters back and forth between the protagonists, Anaximander and Xanthippe. As remarkable a literary achievement as The Death of Anaximander is, it is not by any means the most widely-known epic waltz (likely because of its daunting size).   That honor goes to The Ruby of Renraea. Like many poems of its genre, The Ruby of Renraea concerns itself with the theme of taboo or forbidden romance—in this case, between a low-status outrider, just barely an aristocrat in his own right, and a tiefling courtesan desired by many amongst the highest echelons of the court. The seven-stanza prelude is reproduced below.

The Ruby of Renraea

Daughter of carpenters, born amongst commonfolk,
She, sublime ruby of Renraea, was.
Nought could reveal her most humble of upbringings;
She was at home in the courts—her deservéd place.   [ Truthfully, what could they do but indulge her? ]   Scarlet and smooth like the beads made of coral her
Luminous visage o'ertook all she met.
Midnight black eyes look upon all with eerily
Clear and unflinching a gaze. Her gaze!   [ Daily I let its cold whimsy consume me. ]   Nobody found themselves wholly immune—wily
Wit cut the hearts of frail men into mince,
Staining their egos the same perfect crimson she
Wore upon her very skin. A heart held no weight.   [ Purest desire lit hellfire in me. ]   Beautiful, clever, and sensual was she. Whether
Courtesan, dancer, reciter, she was,
Everyone flocked to lay eyes on her fleetingly,
Hoping her own soft attentions to them were drawn.   [ Needless to say her thoughts lingered on no one. ]   Princes and statesmen all fell at her feet, hoping
She would see something of worth in their hearts.
None caught her interest, save for the outrider
Dressed in his shining black leathers—she thought him brave.   [ Day after day I thought only of scarlet. ]   Passing long days on his horse, all in service to
Courtsmen, the outrider longed for respite—
Days spent in leisure at court gave him chances to
Meet with his love surreptitiously in the night.   [ Oh, gentle night, grant me mercy—to see her!]   Shrouded by darkness the outrider came to her;
She spurned her high-born admirers for him.
But her entanglement with a mere manservant
Shan't go unnoticed for long by the watchful court.

Excerpt 4: Tseketon Fairytale on the Origins of Kalashtar

The following selection is excerpted from Tseketon Fable, Fairytales, and Folklore by Mirisni c’Ilochtal.   In a distant land, many long years ago, a set of triplets was borne by a fair nation’s queen. Three years before, a fell disease wracked her and rendered her fragile, weak, and infertile. But since she was small, she had dreamed of bearing children, and so she swore an oath as she lay in her sickbed, promising that she would bargain whatever it took ensure that she would have children of her own. A spirit came to her in a dream, and it told her in three years time she would have three healthy sons, if only she would agree that their kind would live dreamlessly forever onward. Thinking this an odd bargain but a fair one, she agreed, for she deemed the strange price worthwhile.   Three years passed, and she did indeed bear three healthy sons. As they grew up, she would ask them each morning how they slept, and if they dreamt, and they reported each day that they did. Perhaps, she thought, the spirit she encountered was no real spirit after all; perhaps her dream was just a premonition of her children yet to come. But for all the strangeness she felt about it, her boys grew up healthy and well, though they continued to dream.   By the time they reached adulthood, the three princes were wise and fair, but all very different. The eldest was a dutiful scholar who studied magic, and he produced many inventions of wondrous power. The second son was a priest gifted with oracular power who divined the will of the cosmos for all that came to him for guidance, and it was many indeed that sought him out. And the youngest, no less gifted, was a dancer, his grace and majesty outmatched by none in all the realm.   [...]⁶   One day the second son came to his brothers and told them of the terrible prophecy that came to him the night before. Though the vision was grave and dire, his brothers knew his premonitions to be truthful, and they took his warnings seriously. They heeded his words when he told them that a great mage of their own kin would one day dream an accursed dream that would tear the cosmos⁷ away from the hands of the gods. “I wish to tread the unknown path, to enter the heart of the cosmos and become its protector,” the prophet said. “My vision has shown me how. Though I will hate to separate from you, I feel my purpose calling me, and I cannot turn away from it.”   His elder brother did not hesitate before concurring, “You shall not separate from us, or at least, from me. What you have envisioned is an unconscionable fate. I shall accompany you. I will craft a transcendent veil that will separate the heart of the cosmos from all that could challenge it.”   The youngest brother spoke hesitantly but with great passion. He said, “I cannot allow you, my brothers, to go alone. I shall go with you. I know not what my abilities can offer you, but I offer them anyway. Your mission is our mission.”   “You have much to offer,” the eldest brother said. “As you came last into this world, so shall you stand as a last defense against this terrible fate. You are swifter and more graceful than any in this realm. I shall craft for you a wondrous blade that puts your talents to use. As you dance, your blade shall dance alongside you, and none shall pass you by.”   The three brothers wished farewell to their mother and—needing to make no other goodbyes, for they had no children of their own—departed from this world, passing on to serve as protectors of the cosmos. The middle brother, guided by his oracular powers, led the way, while the eldest brother designed the blade that his youngest brother should wield. And when they arrived, the middle brother prayed for the sustenance of the world as he knew it, and the eldest brother wove the great veil that would protect their new dominion, and the youngest brother, just as he always had done, danced.   This is how the prophet, the scholar, and the dancer came to sit at the heart of the cosmos. When the scholar finished his weaving of the veil and shook it out, setting it into place, and it fit exactly where it needed to, between the world of dreaming power and the minds of their kin to come. For though they would bear no children, they did have kin: others like them would yet come about, though they would forever be closed off from dream.   And that is why kalashtar never dream.