Thanks to David and Roderick for the references. Ian and I have Borderlands, River of Cradles, Beyond Pavis, and possibly the Tradetalk issue. We had consulted the first two, and will check for the second pair.
A bit more background as to what we're up to. Anyone who's run the 'Troubled Waters' scenarios in RoC should remember that His Riverence Che'enshashan was the newtling HP of the Zola Fel. We've just finished the Cradle scenario, and Che'en will have to step down to appease the Lunars. He has one final legacy project planned, and that is to re-introduce the newtlings as a breeding population to the ZF. (Yes, I know that there is supposedly a secret pop'n already there, but that was a retcon that is not in our game. 'Sides which, drama dictates.)
If Che'en comes from Sartar (Rainbow Caves, near Apple Lane), then with enough help it should be death-defying but doable to get back to the ZF in time. At the moment, we're thinking of a HQ with Che'en as Father Newtling courting a fertile female, refusing the Dragon Path, refusing to help Magasta fill the hole in favour of saving his precious eggs instead, and encounters with Storm, Darkness, Chaos, and probably Fire Elements. Storm's easy - that's us, the Orlanthi River Voices.
The historical refusal of Father Newtling to abandon his babies to help the waters of the world means that just hiring a boat to sail from Choralinthor Bay to Corflu is out. Yes, we have a GM that thinks that travelling through Heortland and the Shadowlands to get to the sea as a joint party of Orlanthi loyalists plus an edible newtling is easier than crossing the Long Dry. (Actually, it's going to be ruled out partly because our bunch already own a seaworthy boat, and the GM figures that that would make it too easy. Plus, it would have been done already, if that would work.)
The sorts of things that we were wondering about were what people's opinions were on newtling society. Who rules the pools? Is it a matriarchal, patriarchal or egalitarian society? How does a male get the right to breed? Just how secretive are the adults? What is needed to make a good breeding pool? What would be a reasonable gestation period for the eggs? Are there any weird reproduction habits (such as one parent embedding the eggs in their backs, or holding them in their mouths, until hatching)? Do the parent phase newtlings change significantly in size once they mature? Which sex is larger, if there is sexual dimorphism? How long can the adults live out of water?
What would work? If there's enough interest in newtlings, I'm wondering if it would merit extra space in one of Rick's next publications. They're a small race, but probably fairly important to many river economies.
Thanks, Alison
> Check in Borderlands. A page worth of newtling
goodness.
> RR
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