Xenogenic Children (A to Z Challenge)

The Sundering, and its aftermath, unleashed massive forces, magical, natural, and other, changing the world in so many ways.  The after-effects of which are still being felt, though they have subsided in power and frequency.

One such effect that was common in the first century after the Sundering but has greatly tapered off, is the birth of xenogenic children.  Xenogenic children are those that are of a different kindred from either of their parents.

Such births of xenogenic children usually happened in clusters, such as in the City of Giresh where for nearly a generation, half the children born were of the Earth elemental-tied Terrakine (and strangely, a third of the first children born to the Terrakine couples were Earthkine).   Other places had other such changes and the people adapted, though there was usually much confusion and angst at first.

After that first century, xenogenic births tended to be tied to certain locations.  Settlements that had been built in the abandoned ruins of Earthkine towns found that some of their children were being born as Earthkine, once the other Earthkine learned of such they did their best to adopt such children to help make up their falling numbers.  As the Earthkine offered gifts to the parents such adoptions were often approved.

In the settlements around the Kavalant Forges, perhaps one in a thousand of the children born has but a single eye and the traits of the Giant-Blooded.  The birth of a cyclopean child is seen as a good omen and the parents are usually showered with gifts and the child is encouraged to join the workers in the forges as soon as they are able and many have gone on to become great smiths.

Very rarely, divine essence will emerge back into the Sea of Stars and be propagated through the children born in a small area.  The divinity is sometimes apparent from the first and sometimes not, strangling a snake in the crib is usually a dead giveaway.  Once such is realized . . . well, different groups react in different ways.

The children may be hidden or spirited away to be hidden and raised in secret.  Possible just to keep them safe, sometimes for other mad schemes, such as trying to restore the gods.  Hiding the divine children usually ends poorly for all involved with draconic forces purging them with sword and fire.

If revealed to the dragons, the children are usually taken, sometimes killed as a threat, other times they are incorporated into the Draconic House that ‘acquired’ them for the use of their quasi-divine talents.

The Imperial House does its best to acquire such quasi-divine children and set them on a productive path where they will not be seeking to increase their divine power.  Such children are kept well away from other quasi-divine children especially once they have become adults, the Empress hates to waste valuable resources but has even less of a wish to have to refight the Gods War.

Game use: Xenogenic children give players a chance to place someone who was always an outsider even if born into a tight and caring community, it certainly gives them a good excuse to go out into the world.

The rescue of xenogenic children is a potential plot thread but remember that the default in the Sea of Stars is xenophilia, so they are less likely to be mistreated just because they are different.

Notes: X is always tricky in the A to Z.  So, here in this case, it leads to a whole new idea for the Sea of Stars!  Welcome xenogenic children to the background of the world.

Image from pxhere and is in the Public Domain.