Snoofman wrote: ↑Mon May 03, 2021 8:43 pm
If Loroi civilians are not permitted to reproduce, or rather can reproduce if they are influential and/or wealthy enough, what use does a civilian have to birthing their own child if said child cannot be admitted to being a warrior? Do they desire an heir of sorts? Or do they simply want a child for the feeling of fulfilment and love that comes with parenthood?
What use does any person have birthing their own child? It's a biological impulse to pass on one's own genes; those organisms that don't have the impulse go extinct. The majority of Loroi civilians were born to warrior mothers, so are part of the same genetic pool; any typical civilian has the same impulse to bear children as any typical warrior (though both need to be able to accept the significant possibility that they may not be able to). Earth peasants or other underclasses don't stop having children just because those children are forbidden from rising in social rank.
Another point to consider that while a female child of a civilian is not eligible to become a warrior, a male child of a civilian isn't treated any differently under the law than a male child of a warrior. He will be at a disadvantage in terms of starting social status, but he will still be mated primarily with warrior females, and if he distinguishes himself in his vocation he may rise in status to the same degree that any other male might. So having a male child is a way of getting your genes back into the system.
An influential civilian female who amassed a large amount of wealth may feel the need to have a biological legacy to pass her wealth down to, and a desire to found her own dynasty, and perhaps even her own civilian subculture. A number of powerful multinational corporations have achieved this, with multi-generational civilian offspring inheriting their parents' wealth and power, and even gaining tentative control over the mating rights of some of their male offspring. (Though since the leaders of some of these groups tried to overthrow the government in 2140, there are fewer of these now than there used to be.)
The vast majority of Loroi civilians are not permitted to have children, and even some of those who are influential enough to possibly arrange it choose not to, as they prefer to spend their political capital on other things.
Snoofman wrote: ↑Mon May 03, 2021 8:43 pm
In fact, are there Loroi orphans? Is adoption a thing among Loroi cultures? Or at least might have been in ancient times? I could imagine why a Loroi male born from a civilian might be taken from his mother to be cared for in a monastery as a ward of the state.
Loroi society isn't based on the nuclear families the way ours is; the traditional Loroi family is communal, excluding fathers and including a wide range of extended female relatives. Because most mothers are military, it is common from them to be unavailable at times, and may become casualties. Loroi without influential family connections are raised by the state. Beryl would be an "orphan" by our standards, as her mother died when she was still an infant, and her relations were too distant and lacking in resources to have a hand in her upbringing, but this is a common circumstance for Loroi children.
As mentioned above, males are considered outside the class system; they are considered wards of the state, and are usually raised by specialists from a young age.
