Adelans versus Iron

[Rhindeer]

Gold brought up an interesting point: if Serenians are weak to iron, and Adelans have Serenian in them, do Adelans have issues with iron, too?

Thoughts? DISCUSS!

[Goldie]

I won't be around too much for these discussions so I'll start it off!

YES! I think it would make them weak to iron, and I'm also not really keen on them being from fae descent either >_< it just doesn't go with the tribal/warrior feel that we're looking for in Adela. I feel as if they'd be 100% fine with iron and would most definitely use it in their weapons!

I say this based upon this:

For some the aversion is so acute that the touch of iron will burn their skin. If cut or stabbed with iron they will grow weak and the injury would suffer potentially fatal infection, even though it may be a superficial wound. A Serenian's magic can be contained by iron shackles at their wrists and throat. Nets and traps made of iron produce similar results, and even proximity to iron can interfere with Serenian magic and weaken them physically, sapping their energy and making them feel dizzy or ill.

Ok, the first part of this is really what makes me think that anyone with fae blood would feel something. "For some the aversion is so acute that the touch of iron will burn their skin" to me, shouts "pure blooded" or just a whole lot of fae in them. Which means, even having a little fae blood would make them weak to iron, even if it's just a "sapping energy" kind of weak.

Soooo.....there's my two cents xD I think that if we wanted to do the mixed heritage maybe it could go the otherway? That Serenians are descended from fae, but they're also "Native Adelans"? The fae blood would mingle with them and change their appearances and magic uses. This way Adelans are their own native race and Serendipity are their fae blooded cousins?

Thoughts?

EDIT: Ok, here's some more depth to my thoughts. If Serenians were Native Adelans and Fae, the fae blood in their veins would obviously give them the iron aversion. Now, that means that the Adelans would be, simply, native Adelans! This would allow them to use whatever metals they wanted, no worries about the iron (because I really really believe that any drop of fae would weaken them towards it....) and it would also cause some sort of conflict between Adela and their Fae-blooded cousins. The fae blood would make the native Adelans fair-skinned and, ultimately override their darker complexions and change them completely thus making Serenians! And then, you'd have the Adelans who could very easily see Serenians as a people who have left their true selves for one of fickle, weak quality. Of course, holding with the warrior-type thing we're going for, anyone with light skin/delicate features could be considered part fae and thus weak and outcasts, especially if there was any aversion to iron.

Which could really go both ways. Adelans look down on Serenians because they can't hold metal, they've left behind the ways of battle/strength for beauty and vanity while Serenian's look down on Adelans for being barbarians and not accepting the beauty of the world xD Ultimately, they'd both be related, but it would nix the whole iron issue for Adelans!

[Tally]

Considering how little the Adelans have gotten from whatever interbreeding occurred, I don't see them having a problem with iron. Adelans and Serenians are shaping up to be very different from each other racially. I don't actually remember exactly what the wiki says, but they're definitely developing along different lines. The Adelans seem to be drifting closer to the Essyrni and  Duhjari. >_</)

Heck, maybe when the interbreeding was at its peak, and the Adelan-Serenians noticed they were having trouble wielding their iron weapons...maybe that was part of the impetus that inspired the Adelans to kick the Serenians out and tell them to stop meddling. xD

Also, I like the iron weakness just being unique to the Serenians, mostly to counterbalance the significant advantage they get from having more magic. Adelans don't have that advantage, so they don't have a need for any handicap. P:

[Goldie]

Ok! I guess I should have actually said that I don't think the Adelan's should have that handicap xD I went all over the place without actually saying that. Which is why, in  my opinion, if Adelans are really part Serenian that they would have that weakness to iron, which they shouldn't have. I feel as if any fae blood would cause some sort of weakness, no matter how diluted, which is why I offered a possible alternative to them being part Serenian. (Of course, it was just an idea that formed off the top of my head so I am definitely not married to it! I just can't see the Adelan race being a mix with Serenian's because of the fae iron thing)

[Tally]

I feel as if any fae blood would cause some sort of weakness, no matter how diluted...

Ahhh, not I see. My take on the fae "blood" has been totally different. xD Let's see if I can explain it...

I don't see the Serenians as being fae. They are human. My understanding was that they had some fae ancestors, who introduced these genes into the population, genes that gave them a predisposition to develop magical abilities and to have a weakness to iron for instance. Way back when, there was actual fae blood in abundance in the population—that is, people who were half or fourth fae were fairly common—but as the blood got diluted in the greater human population, you ended up with a race of humans who had genes for magic and iron weakness. Those traits originated from fae, but now are simply genetic human traits, just as easy to breed for or against as anything else. I never did think of them as powerful or fae. I thought of them as fae-like, as traits that had their history in the fae, but now they're just human traits, and actual fae blood is rare among Serenians now. P:

I don't think the Adelans need to have any significant fae ancestry either. >_</) Again, I don't remember exactly what the wiki says about it. xD But I also don't think it creates a problem if they did have some genetic influence from the Serenians, if we decide to keep that. >_</)

[Rhindeer]

Yeah, I figured their blood was so diluted by all the tribal mingling that by that point, it wouldn't have an affect at all. x3

[Goldie]

Well, I'm definitely 100% on the same page about the Serenian's being of fae ancestry, I'm sorry if I didn't do a good job of voicing it >_< but that's definitely how I view it too.

But I still see such a huge inconsistency if being "Adelan" is a mix of Native and Serenian (as I believe is what you told me, Rhi?) Serenian's aren't pure fae, like Tal said, they're descendants, but a Serenian, no matter how remote the connection, still has fae blood in them, which in turn makes them weak to iron.

So....if Adelans are Native and Serenians (again, if I've got this wrong please tell me) then Adelans have fae blood and would be equally effected by the iron weakness.

I also agree, Tal, that sure there have probably been some intermingling of Adelans and Serenians, but I just can't see it as all pure "Adelans" have Serenian ancestry. It just doesn't fit and the fae blood would give them the iron aversion. To me it's a HUGE plot hole....

Is that better explained? >_<

edit: also, Rhi, you mention that in Adelans the Serenian is so remote that it doesn't count....I can't justify that >_< after all, for GENERATIONS Serenian's didn't mingle with fae. They, too, have only bits of fae blood left in them but they still have the iron aversion. At some point, Serenians are descendants of the fae-human lines and, without mating with the pure fae, does this mean that they've become Adelans? It just seems so in consistent >_< Again, please tell me if I'm completely missing something!

edit 2: just for my own sanity....taken from the current Adela write-up

Adelans are distinguished by their swarthy looks. Natives tend to be be dark in complexion and hair, though there is of course a lot of variation due to their mixed blood coming from older tribes and from Serendipity's people. The darker looks are, however, dominant.

[Rhindeer]

Hmm...well it still makes sense to me. I mean, like I said, I just feel all that intermingling would dilute their blood enough. xD And to me, the iron aversion was already diluted in Serenians. In full fae, iron can do a lot more damage than just make them weak or uncomfortable, so it already seemed weakened. By the time it gets to Adelans, with all that native blood mixing in, I really don't see an Adelan as having a problem with it, especially since I figure there were more natives than Serenians in what is now known as Adela.

Besides, it's been established that the native genes are dominant and the Serenian are recessive. :3

On a less logical reason, I just don't want Adelans to be weak to iron. xD I like that being unique to Serenians and to me, it just makes sense. x3

[Goldie]

no, no, I definitely don't want them having that aversion to it either, which leads me to wonder if we shouldn't be re-thinking their heritage to exclude Serenian's mixing in with them instead of trying to justify it with saying it's diluted because then, as a player, I would question, "What is diluted? How far removed does it have to be to no longer effect the Adelans but it still (even if it's slightly) effects the Serenians?"

I guess kind of like the plot hole of why is Connlaoth still standing, this to me is that gaping of a hole >_<;;;;

And I'm really completely open to suggestions, alternatives....I mean heck, you could even say something along the lines of Adelan blood has a negating effect against the fae in the Serenians.... But....while that could explain it away, I feel as if it's kind of a cop out >_>