annnnd this is a magical world. it is entirely possible that if you are in the dzur house while not being a dzur, and then breed with a dzur, that the genes of the house become dominant and wipe out the halfbreed.. only the stev... err only the shadow knows.. andy > I did get the idea that the fact that he was a half-breed and a Jhereg > was at least slightly embarassing to the Dzur--at least the fact that > someone of that background could get into the house, and would then > throw it away, seemed likely to embarass the dickens out of them. At > least, that's how I read that part of Mellar's scheme in _Jhereg._ > > I suspect that on the whole, though, someone who earns his way into the > house and comports himself with the dignity (or perhaps the bravura) > expected of a Dzur would be fully, or at least sufficiently, accepted by > them that he could marry one of their daughters and attend their social > functions. After all, why let someone earn his way in and then treat > him as if he didn't? Surely that would be beneath the House of > Heroes--if nothing else, they can't admit that someone who beat them > isn't worthy of being treated as an equal; if their inferiors can beat > them, they're in the same fix, more or less, that the Jhereg are if > peoplpe know someone can lift the Council treasury and escape. > > At least, that is how I see it. I could be wrong. It's a big and > complex world, and I sometimes feel as simple as an Easterner. > > bonham15 wrote: > > >drawing a blank, but the jhereg who was one of the high council and who > >horked the jhereg treasury had fought himself into the house of the dzur > >then promptly left after he did it...... i believe he was at least a > >halfbreed, if not more than 2 ho uses genetically.... > > > >andy > >----- Original Message ----- > >From: "Damien Sullivan" <phoenix at ugcs.caltech.edu> > >To: "Dragaera List" <dragaera at dragaera.info> > >Sent: Wednesday, October 29, 2003 7:19 PM > >Subject: Re: Joining the Dzur > > > > > > > > > >>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-) > >> > >> > > > > > > > > > > > -- > J A Dusty Sayers > > Home Page http://www.sayersnet.com/~dusty/ > Rescue the Princess http://www.sayersnet.com/~dusty/rescue/ > > 'Pleidiol wyf i'm gwlad.' > --Evan James, 'Hen Wlad fy Nhadau' > > > >