Faey Marriage, Sex and Kids

[aberia]

was just wondering... the Faey are pretty casual about sex...

what do they think about
a) polygamy ...
b) kids out of marriage...

Just thinking what Jyslin would think/react if Jason was to sire children say by mating with Yana or the Empress (just a thought)

cyberia

[Fel]

As you've seen, Faey are very casual about the idea of sex. They've split the act into two levels. The first level is a very casual thing, something that is acceptable between friends, and is expected between Faey who are dating. A woman or man that refuses sex on the first date won't see a second, because it's part of the courting customs of the species.

The second level, though, is take VERY seriously. You just don't go around joining minds during sex with anyone, because you have to lower all your defenses to do it. Yes, it does happen, usually between Faey couples who have been dating a while (taking it to that next level), and in some occasional instances between friends. It's this level that becomes the exclusive realm of the spouse under Faey marriage customs. Spouses can have sex with others (as long as the other spouse knows about it and approves), but the higher level is ONLY for one's spouse. Joining minds with another while married is considered adultery.

Children born outside of the marital union do happen, and it's not considered a scandal most of the time. If, for example, Jason has a child outside of marriage, the child belongs to the other woman, and he has no rights at all to it. He can be allowed to be involved in the child's life, but he has no parental rights at all. If Jyslin had a child with another man, the child would be considered hers, and thereby Jason would be considered the foster father...and he'd be expected to treat the child like it was his own.

Jyslin would consider any child Jason fathered out of their marriage to be no big deal, but he damn well better make HER pregnant first. It's a major social embarrassment and serious insult to the woman to get some other woman pregnant before impregnating one's own wife. In fact, it's grounds for divorce, and there are almost NO grounds for divorce in Faey society.

There is no laws against polygamy in Faey society, but the intense pair-bonding that forms between Faey spouses makes polygamy rather rare. Faey mate for life, and the pair-bond between Faey is a genetic adaptation dealing with their telepathic abilities. The telepathically-reinforced bonds don't have much room for another. It would take a truly exceptional trio, willing to give in many aspects, to let something like that form.

That's about pair-bonding, though. Faey often have trysts outside of marriage with others that they love, but not on a level as they their spouse. Faey even have a word for it, Amu donai, or "courtly love." A woman could have a husband, but have an old, old male friend she's loved for years, and form an ongoing relationship ship that exists outside her marriage, but has at least a few elements in it that makes it more than a casual affair. But nothing ever becomes of it, because the pair-bond dominates the heart of the married Faey.

There is, however, another form of polygamy, but it's a common practice among the nobility, and ONLY practiced by women. A woman may have an arranged marriage with another house for the alliance it forms, and then have another husband who was married for love. Noble men who marry inside the house are clearly marrying for love, but men who marry outside the house to form an alliance aren't allowed to have another wife, as a good-faith display to the house he's marrying into. He can have a lover or mistress, but he's not allowed to marry her.

Jason, however, is unique, because he's the ruler of his house. He's not seen as a man in Faey eyes, he's seen as a Grand Duke. Jason would be allowed to marry another noble woman to form an alliance and maintain his marriage to Jyslin.

This is a fact that hasn't been overlooked by the Siann. If Jason proves he's that good, one of the other minor houses definitely WILL approach him with an offer of marriage, offering one of their girls to him. Since he's the Grand Duke, the girl would leave her house and join Karinne, and it forms an alliance by blood between the two houses.

A Highborn house wouldn't be as quick to jump at this idea, because of bloodlines. Jason is a Grand Duke, and it would be an insult to offer him any woman that was far below his social rank. They'd have to offer a Duchess to him, one of the daughters of the ruling matron, and there's always that outside chance that the daughter might end up on the house seat as the Grand Duchess. If that happened, if Jason's wife was the last blood relation, she would leave house Karinne and return to her own house to take the seat, which would create a first in Faey history, a married pair who is Grand Duchess and Grand Duke of two different houses. Jason is clearly not Faey, and the Highborns have to keep a careful eye on the pedigree of any Grand Duchess that might someday make a claim on the throne. It's racial snobbery, to be sure, but the Highborns wouldn't risk that their human-Faey crossbreed in competition for the throne would be rejected because she's not a full blooded Faey.


And what about Dahnai? I know someone will ask this, so here's the answer. No, she's not married. It's tradition for her to not be married until AFTER she produces an heir, which she has done. She has a five year old son and a three year old daughter, and that daughter is the Crown Princess. But, by custom, she isn't involved in their upbringing until after they reach the age of ten. Until then, they're raised by foster parents in House Merrane. The reason for this is simple practicality. The Empress can't be expected to be distracted by the job of raising kids when she has so much to do. But, I digress. The Empress only marries once; she does not marry one man for alliance and another for love. The Empress is traditionally above the idea of being paired off for a simple alliance. She will marry who she chooses to marry, though it is common for the Empress to marry with an eye on alliance more than an eye on love. She can always keep her lover as a "mistress" and get all the advantages of being pair-bonded while enjoying a political alliance that comes from a political marriage.

Would Dahnai pursue Jason's hand in marriage? It's possible. There are some advantages to it. For one, the full weight of the Imperium would come down on any house that was hostile to Karinne, since the Grand Duke would be the husband of the Empress. The Empress' hand would be a coup for any house, a direct alliance not just to Merrane, but the Empress herself. And through that alliance, Dahnai could really hammer away at Jason, trying to unlock the secrets she KNOWS he's keeping about the Karinnes. If she married him, he would be required to move to Dracora and take up residence in the palace, where she could keep very careful track of him. It would be impossible for him to go to Karis while married to Dahnai without her knowing about it.

But that's a pretty drastic step, and it opens a new series of complications. If Dahnai married Jason, she'd be second fiddle in his heart to Jyslin, and she knows it. Dahnai is pretty laid-back as an Empress, but she DOES have her Imperial pride, and she would expect her husband to keep her first in his heart and mind. That might be too much for her to deal with.

There's also the possible social stigma that would come with the Empress marrying outside the species, a rather contentious point that might give Dorrane or Zuvalle an opening to challenge Dahnai for the throne without having to resort to war.

If Dahnai does do it, she'll be sure to carefully think through all the possible repurcussions and rewards before sending Jason a single white mey, a very rare rose-like flower that, by tradition, informs him that the Empress is taking his hand in marriage.

Notice, Jason has no say in this. If the Empress wants to marry him, she WILL marry him. A man cannot say no to the Empress.

[Hearly]

Would Dahnai pursue Jason's hand in marriage? It's possible. There are some advantages to it. The Empress' hand would be a coup for any house, a direct alliance not just to Merrane, but the Empress herself. And through that alliance, Dahnai could really hammer away at Jason, trying to unlock the secrets she KNOWS he's keeping about the Karinnes. If she married him, he would be required to move to Dracora and take up residence in the palace, where she could keep very careful track of him. It would be impossible for him to go to Karis while married to Dahnai without her knowing about it.

But that's a pretty drastic step, and it opens a new series of complications. If Dahnai married Jason, she'd be second fiddle in his heart to Jyslin, and she knows it. Dahnai is pretty laid-back as an Empress, but she DOES have her Imperial pride, and she would expect her husband to keep her first in his heart and mind. That might be too much for her to deal with.

There's also the possible social stigma that would come with the Empress marrying outside the species, a rather contentious point that might give Dorrane or Zuvalle an opening to challenge Dahnai for the throne without having to resort to war.

If Dahnai does do it, she'll be sure to carefully think through all the possible repurcussions and rewards before sending Jason a single white mey, a very rare rose-like flower that, by tradition, informs him that the Empress is taking his hand in marriage.

Notice, Jason has no say in this. If the Empress wants to marry him, she WILL marry him. A man cannot say no to the Empress.

Makes me wonder Fel, that you put this Much thought into How the Empress could Marry Jason, is that what chapter 20 would be about.. also with Dahnai having Telekentic ability if she has some Karinne DNA someplace within her...

Edit: I was thinking Maybe Dahnai's Daughter marrying Jason's Son in the future...

[Spec8472]

Makes me wonder Fel, that you put this Much thought into How the Empress could Marry Jason, is that what chapter 20 would be about.. also with Dahnai having Telekentic ability if she has some Karinne DNA someplace within her...

Edit: I was thinking Maybe Dahnai's Daughter marrying Jason's Son in the future...

I wouldn't believe that this would happen -- I think Fel's just rounding off the customs etc of the Faey.

Also, if she were of The Generations, (i.e Karinnes), then she'd feel like a Kimdori, not to mention it'd also unseat Jason as the head of the household.

Edit: Though, the children-of, perhaps... but that's for Book 2, possibly

[Hearly]

Makes me wonder Fel, that you put this Much thought into How the Empress could Marry Jason, is that what chapter 20 would be about.. also with Dahnai having Telekentic ability if she has some Karinne DNA someplace within her...

Edit: I was thinking Maybe Dahnai's Daughter marrying Jason's Son in the future...

I wouldn't believe that this would happen -- I think Fel's just rounding off the customs etc of the Faey.

Also, if she were of The Generations, (i.e Karinnes), then she'd feel like a Kimdori, not to mention it'd also unseat Jason as the head of the household.

Edit: Though, the children-of, perhaps... but that's for Book 2, possibly

I never Implied she was Generations, but she could have some Karinnes DNA without being a Generations, From at least what I read, Fel's never said that Telekentic was a Generation ability Only... Just that it was something That most Karinnes had...

[Fiferguy]

I don't see Jason and the Empress marrying...but their children I can definitely see marrying... and it would be a HUGE alliance, both in wealth and military power when Jason and Myleena incorporate modern Faey advances that are better than what the Karinne's had and what they Karinne had that were even better than what's available today. For instance, the Tetryon shielding. If they can get a ship with that shielding and a better power plant that can sustain the shields under fire. I know that no matter what they do, they will eventually fail under an attack, but they can improve what's there to make it more viable. Combine that with the compressed Neutronium armor, and you'd have a warship that was nigh unstopable.

[Lochar]

Remember, Myleena said something about miniturized power systems coming down from R&D. If they're mini, you can combine more of them and hopefully come up with a power system that can support more than a few single attacks on the shields.

[Fiferguy]

That's what I was saying, though I was thinking more about PPGs. I'd forgotten about those power systems. Also, a new cooling system would probably help. If I remember correctly, the spike caused a heat build up that caused the overload. Also, what about a heat dissipation system for the hull of the ship? The armor stood up to the MPAC rounds but heated up extremely hot. To have a good system where the armor wouldn't kill those in an outer compartment, you'd have to cool the armor faster.

[Lochar]

Heat's just another form of energy, so I wonder if you could either use a powerful superconductor to spread the heat out over the whole ship, or even expel it as an exhaust? Possibly even absorb the heat as raw energy and use it for something.

[Spec8472]

Heat's just another form of energy, so I wonder if you could either use a powerful superconductor to spread the heat out over the whole ship, or even expel it as an exhaust? Possibly even absorb the heat as raw energy and use it for something.

If they were using a reaction type drive system, then that would offer a way of dumping heat (like they're doing with the SCRAM engines - using the fuel as a coolant - the added benefit is that they can pre-heat the fuel to just below ignition point).
But heat dissipates slowly in a vacuum - Fel hasn't described how they deal with this issue in the Faey technology.

If they were using a 'chain gun' type system for the rail guns (insert evil laughter here) they could dump heat that way (heating the rounds shouldn't have too much effect on their performance, right?).
"Sir, we're overheating here!", "No worries kid - fire up the chain-railgun and blow some Faey Battleships to hell".

Which brings me to another thing - the current railguns are small enough to fit on that Nova, surely. Even just annealing the damn guns to the top/bottom of the wings, and adding a short-range wireless activator plus a large clip.

If you wanted to get more technical, you could add internal ammo storage.

[michaelsuave]

So I read through Fel's description above, and all I have to say is that this is classic Fel.

For all of you that are new to this forum or Fel's little hint/explination sections, this is called fel hiding the ball. With that whole empress thing and the rose, it seems extremely thought out. Which means that evil fel has probably once again given us hints, yet hid the ball at the same time.

evil = fel

~Michael

[Mizriath]

So I read through Fel's description above, and all I have to say is that this is classic Fel.

For all of you that are new to this forum or Fel's little hint/explination sections, this is called fel hiding the ball. With that whole empress thing and the rose, it seems extremely thought out. Which means that evil fel has probably once again given us hints, yet hid the ball at the same time.

evil = fel

~Michael

If Fel is not evil in his scripting, he is not Fel. he keeps us on the edge, burning questions in which he answers which may leads to more questions.

His detailed synopsis on Faey about sex and marriage,Fel finally says that if Dahnai ask for jason's hand in marriage, it will be carefully thought out since it will open a series of complications especially with regard to Jason's first love, Jyslin. The implication I see is that the marriage conclusion will not be in this book. The story will come out in Book 2, when Fel has finalised the skeleton plot of Book 2. Else it will be in book 3. It is a political issue.

Fel has already answered on why Dahnai is interested in Jason, which is to solve her internal Imperium politics. Jason then realise, the Imperium is not as stable as he believed but very fractious with various highborns wanting to usurp power. Merrane may be powerful, but the continuous ruling house it seems is by power and can be toppled by another more powerful ruling house. Whether there is a war out there, which is going on with the Skaa, internal politics does not stop. Dahnai may be upfront discussing strategies on stopping the skaa, but she must keep knives out of her back. Hehe.. Fel already said she is close in character to Keri.

The stories on the other houses has not been revealed, Fel as in Sennadar, reveals the stories of the others slowly. The only properly revealed are the Faey, Kimdori partly revealed (still a big grey area), and the Moridons. The Makatis will be interesting too since they have houses destroyed too and it seems they takes sides too with the different Faey houses.

Miz

[codewarrior]

I find it very curious that most of us have well indirectly asked if their would be a book 2 of sub and Fel has not said No. But he does start to answer a question about Faey sex and Marriage and twist it( beautifully I might add) to a description of how the Empress could try to "steal" Jason form Jyslin. While Fel could write about this stuff in one chapter, it might seem a little cramed. So I personally feel that Fel is not going to give us an ending that is totaly and fully complete. No happy ever after more of ".... and Jason continued on" and end it there. Now I could so see Fel one day probably in a few month jsut post a simple topic with Sub 2 as the title and a chapter, just to see us all flip out. Now I might be completely wrong, but I can Pray to Trelle can't I?

[codewarrior]

Oh and I just remeber Fel stated

And yes, chapter 20 will be the final chapter of Subjugation.

Never did he say( as far as i know) that there would not be another book in the subjugation universe. Just that this book will be finished after chapter 20. Well now it is time to wait and see if Fel shoots us down or just creatively leaves thing open to the possibilities.

[Fel]

Forgot to reply to one thing about this one:

Telekinesis isn't a power solely of the Generations. Other Faey can develop this ability. Roughly 12% of the Faey race has some kind of telekinetic ability, but in 50% of them, it'd about make them faint to move a paper clip. Dahnai represents an elite segment of the Faey population, part of that 6% that has strong telekinetic ability.

All the Generations would fall within that 6%, as one measures telekinetic strength.