Rules of Genetics and Heredity

[attr="class","geneticnum"]Intro

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The study of genetics in Fortuna has had a long and fruitful life, particularly in thanks to the laws of inheritance throughout the lands. For many years scientists and arcanists worked tirelessly to create a phenotypical breakdown of the races of Fortuna, and from that - came the analysis of heredity. While this list shifted for many centuries of study and evolution, it has remained stable for the last two hundred years, and is considered by all determining lineage to be the "be-all" and "end-all" of determining racial inheritance.

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Demon blood is as powerful as it is evil, which is one of the reasons why all must be vigilant to not fall prey to their tricks. A child born of a single demon parent will carry many of the physical traits of the non-demon parent, but none of the physiological, magical, or psychological traits.

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Aasimar blood is the most powerful genetic force in the world -- outside of the evil power of demons, that is. The lineage of Aasimar is a proud one, as Aasimar are seen as 'chosen' by the gods. In truth, only the original patriarch or matriarch was 'chosen', but the truth is hardly important when it comes to the image of a long family line.

When a mortal is chosen by the Gods to act as their avatar, that mortal's entire being is altered. No matter if the method of childbearing is otherworldly as with the Kina, the genetics passed along will be that of the Aasimar.

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While female lamini are entirely unable to conceive children, the males are incredibly fertile, and their genetics are strong. It is this fact that has helped the lamini race from going extinct, as without their dominant genetics there would certainly be very few lamini today, if there were any at all.

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Kina are an extremely special case when it comes to genetics, as they do not have the same concept of pregnancy and birth as other races do, as Kina do not have any internal organs. Instead, they are a people of pure magic, formed into a likeness of both parents' magical essence. Due to this, a Kina can only create a child with another being of magical power, whether it be natural (like the Kina), divine (like the Aasimar), or even learned (like many humans).

One might thing that all children born of this method are born Kina - but they would be wrong.

A Demon is capable of tainting the union, twisting the magical essence (sometimes referred to as the "arcane embryo") into a darker being. These children become tied to Ephilroa, and this grounding gives them a more defined physical form.

The divine magic of the Aasimar forces the arcane embryo through a similar process, instead connecting to the powers of the "god parent" to grant, by deific right, a physical form resembling the aasimar parent, or the god themselves.

Finally, and most commonly, are the interactions between the Lamini and Kina. Due to the treaty between Rielcia and Malscure, many unions hosting Lamini are with Kina. The women are pushed to wed Kina to have biological (or arcanological) children, while the males are pushed to wed Kina because their genetics will overpower the Kina's, but will allow for the magical power of the Kina to live on. When an arcane embryo is formed between a Lamini man and a Kina man or woman, the embryo attaches itself to the Lamini man. It remains attached, feeding on the blood of the father to gain a physical form. This form is purely Lamini, with the only trace of it's Kina ancestry coming from the higher levels of magic, and magical aptitude found in them. All Lamini born to one Kina parent are High Lamini, even if the Lamini father was an Under Lamini.

Interestingly enough, Kina have been found able to create an arcane embryo utilizing items of great magical power. However,
many of these embryos die before they can form into a Kina, and there is a larger record of birth defects in these attempting singular conceptions.

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Whilst the races described above each dominate the genetics of the other, human genetics are much more malleable and adaptable. As such, when a human conceives a child with any of the races not listed in ranks 1-4, the child's genetics are an amalgam of the two parents. Or, in other words, they are of mixed race. Many believe, in fact, that Halflings are the result of human intermixing with Gnomes.

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The blood running through the veins of an embodiment are echoes of another plane far from the Prime Material, though that blood is weakened through intermixing already. When elementals come to the Prime Material plane and conceive a child with any mortal, it creates an embodiment. However, when an embodiment conceives a child, it is not so certain... Though it is certain enough to be one of the stronger phenotypes overall.

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While there is much controversy over the grouping of Beastfolk and Merfolk together (mostly from groups representative of Merfolk people), the fact of the matter is that the current science seems to show that the two have an equal rate of genetic inheritance. Even when the two conceive together - occasionally recorded between Merfolk and Bloodseekers - the young seem to be inconsistently split between the races - and yet rarely mixed.

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Another unique case, the genetic carriers for Ajatar seem to be directly affected by magic - or more accurately, lack thereof. If the partner of the Ajatar is of magical birth, or is capable of magic, and is of a race lower on this phenotype ranking, the child is a pure Ajatar. However, if the partner of the Ajatar is not arcane, the child will be of the non-Ajatar parents race, no matter what it may be.

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The phenotype of "Feyfolk" has been assigned to Elves of all kinds, Nymphs and Gnomes. Children of these races seem to easily mix with one another racially, the heredity of Sea and Wood elves seemingly connected to early age intermingling between Elf and Nymph.

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The remaining races - Dwarfs, Halflings, Orcs, and Tieflings - have all been shown (by current standards) to have an equal genetic strength. Unfortunately that strength is weak, which acts as an encouragement against intermixing, and has been cited as a reason for high levels of racial discrimination in communities with large Dwarf, Halfling, Orc, or Tiefling sects.

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There are three races which act as special cases, which do not rate on the phenotype ranks in any way. These races are Fairies, Lightborn and Shardmind.

Fairies are not born by normal means, and have no reproductive organs. Instead, they are born by the first laugh of a baby in the planes, and take on the physical characteristics of both the fairies, and of the babe who's laugh they are connected to.

Lightborn are not born of hereditary lines. Instead, Lightborn are chosen by Sriae, Temos, or Khades for a specific purpose, being granted powers beyond those of mortal races. If and when a Lightborn does father or mother a child, the genes passed along from the Lightborn parent are those of an Aasimar of either Sriae, Temos, or Khades.

Shardmind are formed asexually from rock and crystal, and have no organs whatsoever, including reproductive organs. An extremely powerful Shardmind may be able to asexually reproduce by breaking itself apart, but it is not capable of creating a child.