>>Matthew Thale wrote:
>>IMHO, infanticide is relatively common among the Praxians due to the
>>harsh living conditions under which they suffer. The sickly and
>>deformed children are definitely going to be abandoned, but I think
>>that a certain percentage of healthy infants are left to die simply
>>because the tribes cannot support more unproductive mouths.
> I have to voice strong disagreement to this concept. While it makes
>sense that Praxians are capable of abandoning infants, the harsh realities
>of life in Prax and the Wastes would preclude the need to do so.
> Far too many children will die from infant disease, animal and plant
>poisons, trampling and crushing accidents, falls, famine, collateral death
>during raids, and several other grisly ends, to ever need to intentionally
>kill a healthy, well formed child. Any child that can survive past the age
>of 8 is a blessing for the clan because they will probably survive to
>adulthood and are capable of performing useful work as they grow and train.
>The absense of children to raise is far more likely than too many children.
This would be true for a RW nomadic society, but in Prax, spells to heal people are fairly common. A lot of the infants and children who would die from an accident in the RW will survive in Prax because someone nearby can throw even a Healing 1 or 2 and stabilize them long enough for a trained healer to arrive.
Likewise the diseases that kill many infants and children could be cured by healers and shamans, thus substantially reducing the mortality rate.
Andrew E. Larsen
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