Praxian Infanticide

From: Matthew Thale <mattt_at_azstarnet.com>
Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2000 17:23:48 -0700

Guy, thanks for this tidbit of information.

>about 3 years ago i was working in a consultancy team for the egyptian
>government, and on our way to a site in the south-western desert we stopped
>off visit a small village about 350km south of the kharga oasis. (for those
>of you who have seen or read the 'english patient' this is the area Almasy
>etc were exploring - it is in the middle of vast sand sea).

<snip>

>all this is by the by, really, considering the question was about the
>_nomadic_ people of prax, but it might still be analogous (sp?) to the
>traditions of some of the oasis people.
>
>right now i can't for the life of me remember what the damn place was
>called. if anyone is _really_ interested i could probably set about
>excavating my notes..

If this place is 350 km south of Kharga Oasis (Kharga roughly translates as "out there"), then it really must be way out in the middle of nowhere. No need to excavate your notes, unless you really want to.

>the population of this village is 613 people, and had been for as long as
>history knows. the limited amount of water in the well only provided enough
>for that number of people to live comfortably (and safely) and infanticide
>was the rule whenever the population was at it's maximum of 613 people. the
>only way to survive more than a few minutes in this society was to be lucky
>enough to be born soon after an adult had died, making space for you.

Uprooting this unnamed village and moving it to Prax might add Mythic reasons to the obvious resource related reasons to maintain a population of 613 people.

Perhaps this village had exactly 613 survivors following the Great Darkness. And the current 613 villagers are reincarnations of the original 613. If a child is born during a time when there are 613 villagers, then it is obviously not one of the chosen 613, and is either sold or left out to die (in a ritually appropriate manner). If there are less than the chosen 613, then the next child born is obviously one of the chosen.

This reincarnation would obviously be some sort of ancestor worship, but with many of the ancestors being incarnated rather than the traditional Daka Fal type of worship.

I've got some fun scenario hooks in mind already...

1. A caravan travelling through the village happens to have a pregnant woman who gives birth during a time when the village is short of the 613 chosen. The villagers must rescue one of the chosen while the the caravan guards and family members of the pregnant woman must find the fiends who would kidnap a child!
2. Two children are born nearly simultaneously, and each family claims that their child is the one that is to be one of the new chosen. Feuds have started for less serious events than this. Who can convince the elders?

And thanks again to Andrew for his answer to my question. I'll avoid reposting his answer for the sake of bandwidth conservation and rule #3.

Thanks,
- -Matt Thale

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