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Old 09-26-2017, 08:26 PM   #31
whswhs
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
Default Re: Our dwarves are different

Quote:
Originally Posted by Flyndaran View Post
Has anyone made a eusocial species without one or more groups being cannon fodder property?
Well, in my version of dwarves, the worker dwarves definitely aren't cannon fodder. In fact they're mostly kept safe inside the mine, doing everything from cleanup chores to delicate crafts.

The ones who are expected to face danger are the adult males. Often this is simply being on guard at the mine entrance (with a genetically male worker dwarf at hand to run messages). But if someone needs to go on a trade journey, or take part in a war, or engage in diplomatic negotiations, that's male work. Of course, if you think about it, that's also largely male work in humans, and human males aren't quite thought of as cannon fodder, at least not in their relationship to their families, even though biologically we're the expendable ones.
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