On Wed, Oct 29, 2003 at 08:05:12PM -0500, Kenneth Gorelick wrote: > having a defined genome. However, wouldn't the House of the Dragon be > unhappy if a member were talented enough to enter the Dzur, and did so? Don't see why, other than being miffed that someone that good was leaving them (if she did leave.) Their genetic purity isn't at risk, although that might reject the hero's crossbreed children. > How about genetic purity? One can only procreate with members of one's > own House (at least without incurring certain consequences). Would the > House of the Dzur truly be honored by adding the genes of a Teckla > hero? Presumably yes. Teckla and Jhereg are big pools; Dzur is a small selective pool. But it's still open. > What is the House of a Houseless person? What is his/her genotype? Uh, no House? And the genotype is whatever it was. Unless you mean the people outside the Empire, in which case they have no house and possibly have mixed genotypes. > "Half-breeds" seem to be lower than outcasts, but allowing them to join > one of the 17 defined Houses is asking for mongrelization of the entire > House, a concept inconsistent with Dragaeran eugenics. Different Houses can have different attitudes to eugenics. > those with a House, little trouble would emerge for Teckla or Jhereg, > but it seems unlikely that a member of one of those Houses would be > welcomed with open arms into the Dzur. Open arms or not, they're still brought in. Mellar. Presumably the point is that if you can fight your way in you are Dzur, or deserve to be, and your cross-House genes will improve what it means to be Dzur. Darwinism at work. -xx- Damien X-)