theme for a fantasy campaign

whswhs · 05-04-2013, 10:24 PM

It seems to me that the early development of selkies [stranden] as a species has a problem if the females stay on shore with the young and the males go out to sea: What sort of male-female cooperation is there going to be? Indeed, is there going to be any? Men go out to hunt, but they only stay away for a short time, and then come back, bringing high-value nutrients and useful industrial materials to women. I can't readily see a stable cooperative relationship existing if the men go away for long journeys and only show up occasionally. There needs to be a form of durable and portable wealth to make that functional, I think—that is, trade needs to have emerged first.

Before then, there may be a considerable separation between males and females, but the males are still going to want to come on shore to rest, and to provide the females with their catch.

I'd also note that if the males take, later, to going on long voyages to trade or whale, the females will be left alone. To keep up their protein and calorie intake, they may need to develop their own fishing customs. And if their fishing grounds are valuable, they may have to fight for them, against men or halflings or even trolls who want to muscle in.

Bill Stoddard

05-04-2013, 10:24 PM	#11
whswhs Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Lawrence, KS	Re: theme for a fantasy campaign It seems to me that the early development of selkies [stranden] as a species has a problem if the females stay on shore with the young and the males go out to sea: What sort of male-female cooperation is there going to be? Indeed, is there going to be any? Men go out to hunt, but they only stay away for a short time, and then come back, bringing high-value nutrients and useful industrial materials to women. I can't readily see a stable cooperative relationship existing if the men go away for long journeys and only show up occasionally. There needs to be a form of durable and portable wealth to make that functional, I think—that is, trade needs to have emerged first. Before then, there may be a considerable separation between males and females, but the males are still going to want to come on shore to rest, and to provide the females with their catch. I'd also note that if the males take, later, to going on long voyages to trade or whale, the females will be left alone. To keep up their protein and calorie intake, they may need to develop their own fishing customs. And if their fishing grounds are valuable, they may have to fight for them, against men or halflings or even trolls who want to muscle in. Bill Stoddard