Here's the story as I heard it, right from Stafford's mouth, many moons ago:
The people of Teleos can be any of six different colors. There is always antagonism between peoples of different color. Inter-color marriage is taboo; such a couple would surely be driven from normal socitey.
Given that people only marry and breed within their own color, it is interesting to note that the color of all children born is almost entirely random. If mom & pop are Greens, there is only a 1/6th chance that any given child they produce is green.
Having a child of your color is a favourable omen, naturally. Having a child not of your color is a disappointment. However, it is only a temporary one. Every seasonal holy day, all the parents who had off-color children since the last holy day meet at the great volcano. There, they trade infant children with the other disappointed parents, with the intent of bringing home the "right" color child as their own.
This just goes to show that some people are so bigoted, they'll give up their own children to maintain the illusion of color-purity.
Best,
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