>He then wonders about Newtling ancestor worship. If Newtlings dump
>their en mass eggs then individual Newtlings wouldn't know (or care)
>who their parents are. Maybe the ideas of Ancestry and Geneology are
>alien to them! Could the Great Newt be like a spirit cult but only be
>contactable by Newtlings? Anyone got any thoughts or ideas?
Another hmmm... I would like to square it withthe fact that newtling
roving bachelors drop out of all other cults when they reach adulthood,
at least according to Elder Secrets. Perhaps the adult stage is
instinctively drawn into a genetically-driven newtling "fertility cult"
which requires all of their devotion. This would also explain their
sudden increase in APP.
>The way I see Newtling reproduction is that there exist isolated
>communal breeding pools that all mum and dad Newtlings drop their
>eggs into. All the parents then spend a large chunk of their time
>keeping predators out and dropping food in. After a couple of years
>the older Newtlings are separated from the tadpoles and put in
>Nursery pools. As soon as they hit the nursery pool they're treated
>like members of the race.
The defenseless nature of their offspring would explain their need for
secret communal breeding pools, especially if my idea about their
instinctive cult is correct and they can't really strategically plan a
defense. The roving bachelors, realizing the huge vulnerability of
them, would make every effort to keep the secret.
>The catfish associate with the Newtlings and the Dolphins with the
>human fishermen. Both groups spend large amounts of time whineing
>about the other but as they're all "parts of" Zola Fel it prevents
>open hostilities. Still, occasionally, Dolphins get caught in
>Newtling nets, the odd catfish gets munched or speared, a Newtling
>gets a klonk on the head from an oar or a human fisher has his boat
>overturned by a boisterous Newtling.
This could even square with the Mudsharks, since the dolphin types would
have an easier time taking care of the menace (we all know how dolphins
can take care of sharks).
Roland
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