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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Rystil Arden" data-source="post: 3915916" data-attributes="member: 29014">[SBLOCK=Elves, Exceptions--LONG]There are a few exception to the general rule.  The first involves the case of no female heirs.  This might seem more common than it is because elven physiology is different than that of humans, part of what leads them to have such a long gestation and low birth rate compared to humans.  Unlike human females, whose lives, and particularly whose fertile periods, are extremely short, an elven female remains fertile for hundreds of years.  So while human females have produced the entirity of their potential offspring's gametes before they were even born, the elven female produces them over time like a human male does.  Also, elven females avoid a certain percentage of unnecessary monthly cycles due to the fact that they only produce gametes after declaring saa'covarath.  More interestingly, however, is the fact that while human female gametes are gender-neutral (the male alone determines the gender of the child), elven female gametes and elven male gametes are both gender determiners.  This contributing to the general rarity of half-elven children (human/elf pairings with an elven mother are 50% less fertile than usual, and the children always share the gender of the elven parent because that's the only time it matches up).  However, the interesting thing is that until her first completed pregnancy, an elven woman with a soul link to one of the trees (i.e. a noble) only produces female gametes.  This means that the first child is always a girl.  Though birth rates are low, elven infant mortality rates are rather low as well, so this generally ensures an heir.  However, sometimes the last female of the direct line will perish.  If there are side-branches of the family, another can be brought in, but in the rare case that none exists, one of two things may happen.  If all the family has perished, a tree may become 'sealed'.  This means that no elf alive is tied to the tree.  The sealed tree becomes independent and is considered a mystic and sacred source of inspiration and power, even beyond that of the regular trees.  Myth tells of a random elven woman reigniting a sealed tree and forming a new noble house with ties to an elder one from the ancient past, but no living elf remembers such an event as happening.  It may just be a cultural echo based on the other possibility when the last female dies--this other possibility is only an option when a male survives.  In that case, a commoner elven female with a strong and soul-deep bond (none of the lukewarm stuff that some nobles have for each other, or she will surely die and have her soul wrenched from her) to the man can attempt a dangerous ritual that likely as not will slay her and wrench her soul from her body to disastrous consequences.  In the unlikely chance it succeeds, she becomes a true scion of the noble house and will pass this on to her children and allow the family to survive, but she still must beware!  If her to'covaran bond slips or wavers for any reason, rather than the normal result, she will perish (this is because it is her to'covaran bond is what allows her to obtain the family bloodline connection).Okay, that handles dying off branches.  Now as for non-elves.  saa'covaran can be declared with non-elven humanoids.  It is looked down upon with incredible vehemence, not the least of which because it can have dire consequences (this applies to other humanoids a la the PH races, but celestials, fey, etc can be okay).  If an elf pairs with a gnome or halfling for whatever reason, it is considered disgusting enough, but with a human, it is even worse--they have a chance to create a damned soul, a half-elf.  Well, okay, not all half-elves are damned.  Specifically the daughters of an elven noblewoman and a human male can actually go to Arvandor and become petitioners there if they embrace their elven heritage.  But the other half-elves, daughters of elven non-nobles and sons of elven men, are damned.  If they're lucky, they might be able transmigrate.  Becoming a cleric can increase those odds, so many half-elves do so, but on the other hand, many others refuse to be religious considering their lot.  But the truth is, because of their conflicted nature, they often wind up in the wrong place, stuck in between in an empty nothingness, or unable to reach the final rest and risen as undead and restless spirits.  Although it is much more unlikely, something similar may happen to the extremely rare human males with elven noblewoman to'covaran (having an elven female saa'covaran for a human male, it's unlikely, but actually going through with to'covaran, while technically possible, is extremely rare, not the least of which because it requires someone to oversee the ritual knowing that it could lead to bad things).  A story tells of an elven noblewoman and human male to'covaran whose bond was soul deep and whose love was undefeatable, even by death.  When he grew old and perished, she ended her life to expire along with him.  So great was her love for him that as her soul sensed his drifting away from her forever, she infused him with some of her own essence and replaced it with his, giving up her pure status so that they both became half-elves with the connection to Arvandor, and they reached Arvandor together, even death unable to part them.Same sex romances are not considered as perverse as interracial ones, though they are still seen as unusual.  Males are unable to initiate saa'covaran, which means that male/male relationships can never be recognised as such.  Because the saa'covaran is so important to elves as part of the way they are attracted and develop love and attachment, this also means that male/male relationships are rather rare.  Still, elven men can fall in love without those factors to aid it--if that happens, one common arrangement is to find powerful magic to reverse the gender of one of them so that that one can initiate saa'covaran.  Doing so is a last recourse for a noble, however, since it will end any connection he has to the tree.For two females, it is a bit easier, since either can initiate saa'covaran.  In fact, two females can have a saa'covaran between themselves even if one of the two (but not both) has a to'covaran already because the other one can be the initiator.  This is, in fact, the only way for a female with to'covaran to have another relationship without breaking the to'covaran, so it is reasonably common when romantically dissatisfied with the to'covaran but still committed to it for other reasons (such as political expediency--sometimes a woman who wants to have total control finds the perfect man to do her bidding but isn't really interested in such a total pushover male beyond that so finds solace with another woman, for instance).  Also, sometimes the woman who isn't to'covaran may initiate saa'covaran with both to'covaran at the same time.  Humans sometimes mistake this as 'an elven man with two wives'.  This is very very far from the truth, as the situation is much more complicated than that.If both women are not to'covaran, they can each initiate saa'covaran for the other.  This state of double saa'covaran is unusual and special, and it is called za'saa'covaran.  Those engaged in za'saa'covaran can still initiate saa'covaran, but if they do so with a male who accepts and brings about to'covaran, this ends the za'saa'covaran.  The bond of za'saa'covaran can be almost psychic at times, like that of twins.  This is possibly caused by the two-way bond causing feedback.  There are stories of small groups of elven females greater than two who are all bonded by za'saa'covaran to all of the others and have abandoned elven society, seeking to live in complete harmony with nature and each other.  Some say that after a certain point, the bond reaches a critical mass and gains mystic properties, reverting these elves to their fey roots.Another possibility for two women who both have no to'covaran is en'covaran.  This is where one woman offers saa'covaran to the other and the other instead of doing the same and creating a za'saa'covaran bond, simply accepts as a man would.  This allows them to become en'covaran, which is a bit like to'covaran save for the fact that to'covaran implies the ability to produce a child.  Much like a female to'covaran, the woman who initiated saa'covaran leading up to the en'covaran (called the se'covaran) cannot initiate saa'covaran  without breaking the en'covaran, though she can still accept it.  However, it is not symmetrical--the woman who accepted (called the an'covaran) still can initiate saa'covaran  as she pleases.  The social, romantic, and behavioural implications on each side of this relationship vary greatly from that of either za'saa'covaran or saa'covaran between two women, though most humans can't begin to grasp that there is much difference ("It's chicks with chicks--that's hot!" is the typical reaction).  The fact that the an'covaran  can still initiate can lead to en'covaran chains, which are incredibly complex relationships, as one woman is simultaneously the se'covaran to her an'covaran and the an'covaran to her se'covaran!  Theoretically, this could loop back to form a circle.  It could also end with the last an'covaran in the chain initiating with a man and becoming to'covaran with him (a man cannot be both a to'covaran and an an'covaran at once though).Another aspect of en'covaran is that it can also be initiated with a non-compatible male, in addition to another woman.  This includes elven males who can't pass the to'covaran ritual (generally because their babies were at high risk for some defect and would not survive) as well as those from races that are not genetically compatible and even mates who could pass the ritual but choose not to or cannot find someone to perform it (this could be because they are considered socially unacceptable, are human, etc).  Because it carries the sense of a weaker commitment and does not tie the man to the woman's family tree, en'covaran between a man and a woman is usually considered more playful and less serious, and the relationship dynamic is different. Additionally, it grants no titles or status from the se'covaran to the an'covaran (only to'covaran ever does that).  This actually leads to an edge case where a viable male (an elven nobleman in good standing who could easily become to'covaran if he picked that (and the men do get to choose between the two in this case) ) choosing en'covaran over to'covaran can be considered extraordinarily romantic--some women of extremely high status (not just seats but heirs of the highest families, for instance, which makes their husband a Speaker and grants extreme power and privilege) will feel insecure about themselves because the status they grant is so incredible that they can never be sure that any male accepts their offer of saa'covaran for them and not just for their status--this is where the edge case comes in.  If the man who could have chosen to'covaran and have it all instead chooses en'covaran, he is basically saying 'Forget all that stuff, baby.  All I need is you--if I have that, nothing else matters'.Whew!  Exceptions are tough.  But don't mistake that just because the system of exceptions is so intricate they must be common.  They are actually quite rare, but the elves have had milennia to experience every edge case, so they know about all of them, even if you might see some of these less than once a century.  And since humans pretty much invariably can never understand the intricacies of these differences, even the most patient elf will eventually give up and just throw up her hands in acquiescance and tell the human that to'covaran and en'covaran both just mean 'Elven marriage' so that the human will go away.     [/SBLOCK]</blockquote>

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