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Nicholas_A_Rose Nicholas A. Rose Export 
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ABNECUL APIRAC SARA 
(SIMPLE INTRODUCTION TO SYLPHS) 
III   

Enanina 
(Gender Ratio) 
Of the three sexes, females and infertiles are born in litters, males individually.  Females are born as twins or triplets; infertiles as triplets or quads.  As the three sexes are conceived equally, this works out as fifteen females and twenty-one infertiles to six males at birth.  Infant mortality is higher in infertiles, so the ratio falls to seventeen infertiles to six males by age five and thereafter remains constant.
   
Litter-sisters form a close bond that lasts for life. This is so important, that litter-sisters often marry the same male, although this is frowned upon among wild sylphs.  However, litter-sisters are rarely separated among wild sylphs (they prefer to trade males between colonies, rather than break a sisterly bond), which is not the case for enslaved sylphs.   

Infertile sylphs also prefer to keep their litter-sisters close, though again this is unlikely in human civilisation.  At some studs, infertiles are separated at birth to help prevent the bond forming between litter-sisters.   

*** 

Neculen Hisa 
(Male Wound)
Male sylphs are born individually.  They become aware of the lack of litter-siblings by about two years of age.  Although the "wound" is nowhere near as deep as for infertiles (see below), male sylphs only find a cure for it through marriage.   

Unmarried adult males are rarely fulfilled and often deeply unhappy.  Males form a very tight bond with their wife or wives when they marry and the institution of lifelong mating is more important to them than it is to females. This need ensures male loyalty to wives and family. 

*** 
Neculin Hisa 
(Infertile Wound)
Mentioned above, this occurs when parents distance themselves from their infertile
offspring.  This is an inheritance from the old sylphs, when infertiles were the preferred prey of predators.  It serves as an emotional buffer for the parents.
   
But nobody told the infertiles that.   

By age five, infertiles realise they are not going to be treated the same as their fertile brothers and sisters.  Although they can accept a lower status, being shunned is deeply unpleasant.  Parents usually do not name infertile daughters.   

In wild sylph colonies, infertiles form their own sub-society.  They serve their colony, but know they are excluded from the running and control of it. They name each other and, as one small way of getting back at the breeders, keep those names secret among themselves.   

With the civilised sylphs, infertiles are usually sold to their owners at about the time
the infertile wound occurs.  They form close bonds with their new owners and are usually named by them.  [There is an increasing trend in studs for infertiles to be named before sale, but this is done by human intervention, rather than volunteered by sylph parents.] 


No matter how they are treated, infertiles quickly become fanatically dedicated to their owner.  Unfortunately, this does not always have a happy ending, as they tend to love their owners far more than their owners love them. However, the infertile
worldview believes that negative attention is better than no attention.   

*** 
Necul Caricha 
(Genetic "Throwbacks")
Given the manipulated genetic history of sylphs, it is unsurprising that throwbacks (or sports) occur.  The most common type of throwback happens when some of the older sylph construct characteristics show through.  As with the other oddities, these usually manifest in the infertile gender.

Rounded ears are fairly common.  These sylphs are unable to express themselves using ear-points.  They tend not to be trusted by other sylphs, perhaps because they can hide their feelings, should they wish.   

Tawny eyes, which are not cat-slit, are also fairly common. The main drawback for these sylphs is that they cannot see (as well) in the dark.   

From a human point of view, neither of the above differences is important.   

Sometimes sylphs who closely resemble the original sylphs are born.  They are usually deformed, with poorly formed wings (much as the original infertiles).  As the original sylph forms so little of the new genome, these rarely survive long.   

The most important throwback is the gwerin.  These are so different as to form a sub-species in their own right.  Genetically, these look more to their human inheritance.  They are pale-skinned and red-blooded.  All are infertile, and grow
to a similar height as normal sylph infertiles. From their sylph parents, they usually inherit cat-slit eyes (but not the irises) and manoeuvrable ear-points.   

Unlike other infertiles, gwerins confer much honour on their parents.  Valued by humans, gwerins are very intelligent and usually become advisers to rulers or nobles.  There is jealousy because of their intelligence (from humans, not sylphs), so they usually need the protection of rulers.   

Gwerins revere any sylph parent of a gwerin.  As they are so long-lived, their own parents are gone long before a gwerin would like, so all parents of gwerins are treated with the same respect.  Rare, gwerins are highly sought after, but they can be more mercurial than ordinary sylphs.   

Among wild sylphs, gwerins always attain great rank in their own right.   

***   
Vuna 
(Diet)
Sylphs are able to eat almost anything.  They enjoy a wide variety of plants and these form the staple of sylph diet.  Though able to eat grass and leaves, and gain
nutrients from them, they are not digested very well.
   
Sylphs are fond of fish and fowl, but tend to avoid red meat. They can and, as a last resort, do indulge in red meat, but like grass and leaves, this does not agree with their digestion. 

When food is scarce, sylphs slow their metabolism, which prolongs life, but even they eventually starve.  An overfed sylph does not get fat, but his metabolism increases.
   
Choca [chocolate!] is the enslaved sylphs' favourite treat.  A sylph will do (almost) anything to get his hands on the stuff, but over-indulgence has consequences on a sylph's delicate digestion.  Withdrawing the treat is the worst punishment (almost) a sylph can imagine.   

***

(cont'd)

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