So are Kerrn Asexual or Hermaphroditic? are they all test tube babies, or can the both have children and impregnate others…
I was looking at giving my Ghetto Sheef the Trait Breeder to simulate having a whole bunch of children in the Ghetto, but then I am not sure that is legitimate.
Who wants to admit they know more about Kerrn Physiology than is healthy?
Kerrn bud.
So I could have a bevy of off-spring in the Ghetto?
Sure, and since they’ve sprouted off from you, they could be genetically identical. (Although I guess this isn’t required. Kerrn could reproduce like other plants, through some sort of pollination carried out via…something. I like the asexual sprouting under certain conditions idea, though.)
Mel
Chris really needs to give us the goods on this one (and then we need to put it on the wiki).
Well, here’s the thing. I don’t know either. Here’s what I “know”:
That’s basically what I’ve got. If you can flesh out something cool out of this, I’ll write it into canon. If not, you’ll have to wait around until I dream something up. This is your chance to fire the canon cannon, people!
-Chris
If you are up on your current events this seems to mean that they could eb hermaphroditic but may express a Gender depending on their personal experience. This social expression could easily bring that sexual trait into focus (boozums and nubs). However a traumatic event could easily force them back into the other Gender, and then have them express the other sex.
Example:
A Kerrn joining the Omshiip staff may become use to nurturing their fellows and express as female, but following a stressful attack where they were required to act in a “male” role, tough, mean, etc… they might switch genders. and follow that switch with a different physical expression of their sex.
And vice-versa.
Some Kerrn might not express any sex and be just kind of there… you know the ones I am talking about.
This has of course all lot of social baggage that goes along with this type of interaction. The Kerrn are likely getting their social clues for appropriate gender behavior from the humans. After all the Vaylen are not much of a model for any sort of typical more, much less social identity.
This makes sense if you have a species you want a species that can be dropped on a plant and begin to create more, regardless of which ones survive the insertion. as long as two survive they could continue the struggle.
I see the seeds more as something that is birthed following impregnation and a short gestation period, and then has to be nurtured in the soil or nutrient bath. other ideas…
I would never have thought of this. It’s a bit creepy. Great! The best part is, since it’s instinctive it can be manipulated by appropriate circumstances. I’m happy to go with this for our new game, although we should make sure the other player with a Kerrn PC is on board.
Mel
Thinking about this from a biologist’s point of view, maybe it could work something like this - male and female Kerrn need to combine their genetic material in order to produce baby Kerrns. However, the gene seeds are also a required component in reproduction - prehaps they act an ‘egg’ of some kind that the DNA is loaded into somehow. Assuming we’re still talking about internal fertilisation here (which makes a million times for sense for a land-based species), then a neccessary step could be the ritual implantation of the seed within the female, to be made ready for fertilisation by the male. Once the seed has been fertilised, it could be laid and function like an egg, or something more plant-y (a bulb, perhaps).
I’ve no idea where the seed would come from in all of this - point 3 implies that it’s some kind of limited resource and presumably hard to produce. Perhaps when a Kerrn gets to a certain age, they begin to bud seeds that other Kerrn can use? Or maybe there’s some arcane and difficult process to grow them from special plants kept safe deep within the Ommshiip. The Vaylen know if they could only destroy those plants, then they’d get the revenge they want on their upstart slaves.
The Vaylen know if they could only destroy those plants, then they’d get the revenge they want on their upstart slaves.
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I like that!
EDIT: Though do they send a few with new Colonies, so that they can get up and Running, who would guard the Seed?
New Omshec or Omshiip LP:
Seed Watcher
Yrs: 5 Res: 1 Cir: 2 Trait: +1 M
Skills: 5: Seed-wise, Security, Observation, Administration, Fertility-wise
Traits: 2: Overly Curious, Omshiip Staff
Requirements: Mamma, Drei, Fazia, Sguridee
Fulfills requirements for: Medeek, Fazia, Mamma, Sheef
Another trigger could be being in a environment dominated by just one sex, as the Kerrn imperitive to reproduce (something the Vaylen probably would’ve been keen on) always finds a way to make more Kerrn possible. The only issue I can see with the environmental/behavioural change is defining exactly what male or female behaviour is.
Double post…
My stab at it:
I’d go with an established pattern for sequential hermaphrodites:
[ul]
[li]The Kerrn organism starts as a male, and changes gender to a female later in life. Which is backed up by having to take the specific motherhood life path in the Kerrn Character burner.[/li]
[li]Generally each ghetto contains several ‘harems’, each consisting of a reproductive female, a large/fit reproductive male, and a group of non-reproductive males that act as care-takers/extended family.[/li]If the female is removed, the reproductive male will change sex and the largest/fittest of the non-reproductive males will mature and become reproductive.
[li]The gene seeds are so valuable that only the fertile females are allowed access to them, and remain out of the reach of the vast non-reproductive Kerrn masses.[/li][/ul]
I like this system because it provides a vast military force of mostly non-reproductive males. It centralizes the reproductive capacities of the Kerrn, a feature I assume would have been desirable for their Vaylen overlords. Additionally, it meshes well with the gene seeds being special, and doled out only to those individuals who have become female. Instead of putting a selection process at the social level, the selection is encoded in the Kerrns at the biological level.
The requirement for gene seed provide a cut off point which the Vaylen had hoped to use against any rebellious group of Kerrn. Unfortunatley for them, the Kerrn escaped with some seeds intact.
The concept of the best, largest specimen becoming reproductive-capable also fits well, in my opinion, with the Spartan-like warrior aspect that the Kerrn seem to have in some respects. In this manner the Kerrn strive for improving themselves.
Edit: also in this way the females can breed several batches of young Kerrn and the harem system enables for them to be taken care of. The harems are socially and biologically coded in some way. That is people become linked to their extended family through pheromones and the like.
Another approach is to go about it like the bees, instead of having the removal of a female be the trigger, the insertion of the gene seed is what causes a reproductive male to become a reproductive female. In this manner a social contract is included, which would have allowed the Vaylen to control which of their servants gets to breed.
So instead of having female absence trigger the sex change the use of the seeds is what causes the change. Once the seed is used Kerrn revert to non-reproductive male status. Until they get more seed or a female partner.
Until they get more seed or a female partner.
What does th female partner have to do with anything?
Well, if they’re non-reproductive males, having a female partner would give them a chance at becoming reproductive males. 
That is the female hormones during courting active their sexual organs.
Otherwise they’d remain non-reproductive males, focused on important things like gear, war, omshiip, etc… 
That’s a nice idea, and keeps the seeds as having a really important role. If they’re extremely rare, then you’d only want to entrust them to the most trusted males, which keeps the idea of the developmental cycle from sterile male -> fertile male -> fertile female. This would presumably also lead to some slightly odd views towards humans, with their crazy gender numberical equality and continual fertility ;).
I’m not sure what should happen to a female after she’s reproduced; she could carry on for as long as she has a seed (or additional seeds), she could die like a salmon or revert into a sterile male (perhaps reproduction is so draining that this happens to help space out the drain on a given individual. It’d also help maintain genetic diversity, as more Kerrn would reproduce if you’ve got this cycling-effect).
Dying doesn’t fit with the cannon from the brick (Fazia for example was a mother). I’d say it’s up to the individual to keep the seeds or pass them on, additionally after reproducing along with the batch of kerrn younglings new seeds are created. (otherwise the original batch of seeds would run out quite quickly). So successfully reproductive females are in essence independent of the gene seed handlers, which allows for some degree of freedom. It also places great importance on the females of the species despite the male numerical superiority.
And in the end the sexual differentiation isn’t as marked as in humans, where (traditionally) we can only ever live one role.
Are we caught in a human/earth way of thinking?
Do the Kerrn have a very different type of gestation than we do?
Options:
Kerrn Females are capable of holding Seed inside of them and allowing it to be fertilized by a male. - Disticnt sexes, but the “X” is not included withthe femails genic code, rather the Seed is a required. Maybe it is almost like a fungus or other spore like plant that is grown in the depths of Omshiip.
Likeway it could require all three: Genetic coding from the female, male, and the Seed. without all three you get nothing. A limit on the Kerrn, which they were lucky enough to get a hand on their Racial Seed. It would make Omshiip even more important.
We coudl do way with bi-sexual Kerrn, and just say that they need all factors (X, Y, and Z) with X and Y being different Kerrn and Z being the Seed. This may be more in line with that Chris had in mind. (though I like the hermapheridic Kerrn, whihc still must procreate sexually, since it is so alien to our mindset). they may only Express their current sex following “Relations” and for the female until she reaches birth/budding and uses her “big Boozums” to feed the youngster.
Many ideas… not well organized. sorry.
That’s basically what I was aiming for. I’m basing my ideas on what I’ve been reading on hermaphroditic animals in our world. Sexual reproduction has distinct advantages (genetic variety, selection process, etc…) Hermaphroditic organisms have the advantage of being able to equalize gender inequalities. The seed I see as a leftover from their plant origins and a requirement put in place by the Vaylen to control Kerrn reproduction. (who says all plans succeed!?)
So the seed is necessary, it’s what triggers the female conversion. But we’ll also need a way to create more seeds. If the females are independent and can create more seeds this takes away form the gene seeds importance, so I’d have to say, that some of the seeds have to be harvested as regular plants. The fruit of these plants is what enables the Kerrn to become females.
So in summary:
[ul]
[li]Kerrn are born non-reproductive male, they change into females later on in life. (as evidenced by the Fazia/Mamma LP)[/li][li]The gene seed acts as a catalyst in the Kerrn body to allow a male to convert into a female. Without the seed the Kerrn reverts back to male status. [/li][li]The gene seed must be harvested in order to yield more gene seeds, this places importance on the maintenance and care of the gene seed. A bad harvest/disaster could wipe out an omshiip/ghetto’s capacity for reproduction.[/li][li]The genetic material for the offspring comes from the reproductive male/female Kerrn couple, with slight recombination from the female’s gene seed.[/li][li]Kerrn without a female partner are non-reproductive, and thus are more focused on their jobs. (in keeping with the Kerrn being created to be workers/soldiers by the Vaylen)[/li][li]Female Kerrn can release the seed in their bodies, if they’ve reproduced the gene seed will most likely have changed. In this manner the stock of gene seed can be crossed and preserved. (the fact that the gene seed still needs to be harvested maintains the importance of omshiip and the gene seed care takers)[/li][/ul]