Travolore Wrote:Kara and Cal incur the wrath of Izuza Zirzae as they attempt to navigate the dangerous waters of the Academy. At the same time Malya's role in their fate becomes clear but is she ready to walk in the light?

Origins Of The Grand Thing, Edinburgh Press, 1631 Wrote:One particularly thorny problem that faced the Imperial Assembly Of Law was the question of legal definitions of marriage.  At the time of the Assembly, there were no less than twelve legally and culturally distinct practiced forms of marriage within the bounds of the Empire, and the general legal chaos this caused was part of the impetus for the Assembly in the first place.  The jurists thus assembled faced a significant problem in trying to reconcile the various forms.  Consider the difference between Latin Catholic marriage, which did not allow for divorce, and every other form, which did allow for divorce (and several forms were, in fact, explicitly temporary unless renewed). 
Divorce was just one area of consideration, albeit a contentious one.  The necessity of witnesses (needed in Christian forms, not needed in Judaic forms), multiple spouses (allowed in Norse, Islamic, and Gaelic forms, recently outlawed in some Judaic forms, and strictly forbidden by Christian forms), the necessity of clergy or ceremony, the obligations of the spouses to each other, the allowance of same-gender marriages, and, most contentious of them all, mixed marriages between members of different groups… all of these and more were potential problems that needed to be overcome. 
The solution which was eventually adopted was, in the general vein of the Assembly's solutions, a broad secular code that stepped back from the religious arena and concerned itself strictly with recognition by the state.  Under that code, any consenting group of adults (barring certain degrees of consanguinity, itself a topic of debate) could choose to register as "married" in the eyes of the state, so long as the group—ranging from the typical two to a record nine—had an agreement arranged beforehand on the particulars of their nuptials in regards to divorce, inheritance, descent, and marital obligations (there were a number of rules instituted there as well, to avoid cases of marital slavery and other abuses). 
A number of standardized formulations were likewise hammered out to suit the needs of particular forms of marriage, but these were not required by the law, and it was completely within the realm of acceptability to submit more esoteric arrangements (and often needed in the cases of the larger marriages).  In effect, it was the official legal position of the Empire that the relationships between the marriage participants and their religious and social home groups were not a concern by the Imperial state, at least not beyond how those relationships informed their marriage contract.
While this was strongly opposed by social conservatives, the fact was that bickering between the conservative groups sabotaged their efforts to stop it.  No one group of them could get the rest to agree on which implementation of marriage they desired to be backed by law, even as all of them agreed that they did not approve of the more broadly defined version.  This strife among those who wished to have marriage be more narrowly defined according to their own desires allowed for the passing and implementation of the law in the Grand Thing.  And while this did not bring an end to strife regarding marriage within the Empire, it at least allowed for a legal unity in terms of recognition of what a marriage was and wasn't.

(05-14-2020, 03:39 PM)Norgarth Wrote: Cross Purposes 2
https://www.tthfanfic.org/Story-32792-89/DianeCastle+Cross+Purposes+2.htm

An Introduction To Dragon Biology, 17th Edition, Oxford University Press, 1793 Wrote:The "Species Problem" is the general term in the biological sciences for the difficulty in defining what a "species" is, with literally dozens of recognized methods and criteria for the definition of a "species."  And in the context of this text, one of the more well-known examples—which has literally been known to start fist-fights among biologists of the author's acquaintance—is the question: are dragons one species, or many? (Note that first priming the biologists with strong drink or a lectern podium aids in achieving the desired results). 
The issue with defining dragons as a species is that dragons are, both in their genetics and phenotypes, a "terrible mess," to quote Frelsifrædi, Haddock, Levi and Lewis in their seminal paper "Genetic Variety Of Worldwide Draconic Populations: Diversity And Bottlenecks" [Journal Of Genetic Studies, Summer, AD 1781].  Dragon genetics and populations resemble a river delta, with numerous braided tributaries and links of gene flow between different populations.  In general, the archaeological record tells us that ancestral dragon population originated on Syndriland and migrated to the Javanese archipelago between 18 and 15 million years ago, where the numerous volcanoes and rich fishing waters of those island arcs helped define the dragon species' specializations as flying, fire-breathing semi-obligate piscivorous social animals who use geothermal hot spots as breeding sites. 
However, genetic analysis shows that, even during those early days, dragons were already specializing into different forms that were still part of a larger population capable of interbreeding and gene flow.  After leaving the Javanese islands and spreading out over the rest of the world, population isolation and mutation resulted in the creation of more breeds of dragon—but, like dogs, they are still generally capable of interbreeding with other members of their species.  Generally.  And here lies the headache of defining dragons as a singular species or as several distinct-but-closely-related species.  Because where does one draw the lines for the distinctions?
To illustrate this, consider that there are a number of general parent categories of dragon, with the precise count depending on the schema used.  The ancient Norse used a six-category system based on the dragon's general affinity (Stoker, Sharp, Boulder, Strike, Tidal and Mystery), a system which has survived to the present in various technical vestiges and common parlance.  Other systems have been devised in the years since those days, many of them more accurate but also more technical, and we will be addressing those later in this text.  But to use the familiar terms from the archaic system, generally speaking most Stoker-class dragons of the same size are capable of interbreeding and producing viable young.  The same goes for most Boulder-class dragons and so forth.  However, a Boulder-class and a Stoker-class might not be able to interbreed as successfully, although such crosses are known. 
To quote Dr Susana Fyodorna, the leading dragon geneticist at the University of Kyiv, "It looks as if the dragon genome takes the feature sets from the parents, smashes them together, and sees if it explodes or not.  Six limbs?  Four limbs?  Heptane or kerosene?  Spawn it and see if the build works!"  (Further note: Dr Fyodorna has a very potent left fist).  And her statement is essentially accurate; if the genetic code proves viable then a dragon is hatched, possibly one with unique features.  If the genes aren't viable, then the fetus might miscarry, with the most extreme examples resulting in the egg exploding in a manner similar to embryos with developmental defects.
In essence, the more similar two dragons are, the more likely they will be able to mate and produce viable offspring, but, to the frustration of biologists—and the amusement of their onlookers—this does not preclude successful matings and breeding between dissimilar dragons.  And while there are populations which are so dissimilar that there are no records of successful crosses, a line still cannot be drawn around one population separating it from another as "one species," not when there is still gene flow.  Yes, a Terrible Terror and a Bewilderbeast are certainly not capable of mating together, much less producing viable offspring… but the Terror can mate with breeds adjacent to it in size, as can the Bewilderbeast, and, via a dozen or more intermediary breeds, there can be gene flow between them—and drive the recording biologists to drink and pugilism. 
The reigning theory at present is that most dragon breeds are simply specific sub-populations of the greater dragon species which have achieved self-sustaining population numbers, and as a result can find similar mates without too high a degree of consanguinity.  Some of these populations have almost completely diverged from the greater species, such as the multi-headed breeds, where others, especially among the Strike-class dragons, have small populations and require regular interbreeding with other dragon breeds in order to avoid dangerous levels of inbreeding.  Strike-class in particular have high rates of egg miscarriages due to this factor—the biological tolerances on their plasma-generating organ systems are simply so stringent that developmental disorders are nearly always fatal, but their numbers are often so small that they must mate with dragons from different breeds to avoid inbreeding, meaning that the parental differentials often have terminal results for the embryos.