The Dresden Files > DF Reference Collection
Reference: Fae reproduction, life cycle and social structure [Cold Case Spoiler]
knnn:
But the overall reproduction rates can't be all that great, or the tribute wouldn't be as critical as Mab is making it out to be to Molly.
Consider that the human population has increased 6-fold in the last 100 years despite two world wars and countless other mortal frailties (and supernatural predators ;)). If fairies reproduced at the same rate as mortal, then how is it that Mab is having trouble guarding the Gates now if she had enough forces to do so at *any* point in the last millennium?
And remember that all this is exponential, so if the average birthrate of a Faerie is even slightly higher , that 6-fold ratio increases by huge amounts.
Quantus:
--- Quote from: knnn on November 02, 2016, 06:54:55 PM ---But the overall reproduction rates can't be all that great, or the tribute wouldn't be as critical as Mab is making it out to be to Molly.
Consider that the human population has increased 6-fold in the last 100 years despite two world wars and countless other mortal frailties (and supernatural predators ;)). If fairies reproduced at the same rate as mortal, then how is it that Mab is having trouble guarding the Gates now if she had enough forces to do so at *any* point in the last millennium?
And remember that all this is exponential, so if the average birthrate of a Faerie is even slightly higher , that 6-fold ratio increases by huge amounts.
--- End quote ---
I honestly dont think the tribute actually was all that critical in and of itself. It was critical that the Winter Lady make a good first impression to the court, it was critical that Winter make good on support that was owed the bird-clan and which was long overdue thanks to maeve, it was important that an outsider infiltration be stamped out asap, and it was important that Molly come to certain realizations about the reality of her new life (and Carlos being in the area was an opportunity for that). But those actual 6 or so kids are not going to make any real difference in the war effort, at least not enough to warrant the double-Queenly attention they received; and in other circumstances I sincerely doubt the Winter Lady would have been the one dispatched to collect them.
Serack:
--- Quote from: Quantus on November 02, 2016, 06:41:57 PM ---General thoughts on the OP:
Lea: I thought we had a WOJ that she wasnt a mantled creature and had just ridden Mab's coattails to power?
With regard to procreation and especially Mama Summer's comments, I'd caution against the assumption that Mortal=Human or that procreation=sexual reproduction in all cases. I could, for example, see Half-animal fae mating with their animal side just as easily as the human, and in the case of say Malks I could see them getting it on with mortal Cats. I dont really (want to) see the Rawhead mating sexually at all, and imagine it more that he takes in a human corpse and sort of buds a new rawhead off itself asexually.
I also dont necessarily think that the fae need to procreate at the rates and in the numbers that Humans do, which would skew the population calcs. In Cold Case there were only 1/2 Dozen children in the group, but that might be on the low side for their average tribute as compared to times when they havent spent years under the heel of Sleeper-cultists. And I wouldnt rule out the possibility that they might hatch whole clutches of children at a time rather than the 1-2 birth range of humans. Malks probably have cat-sized litters, and if toot started as a little blinking Elidee Im imagining dewdrop fairies spawning more on the scale of insects that come in batches of thousands if not millions.
--- End quote ---
Oooooooh, yah that's a great data point.
I think I managed to address most of your other thoughts in the fleshing out of the theory section.
Edit: Also, can you tell that not being able to discuss this stuff for so long has been rather painful for me?
Quantus:
--- Quote from: Serack on November 02, 2016, 07:04:36 PM ---Edit: Also, can you tell that not being able to discuss this stuff for so long has been rather painful for me?
--- End quote ---
Haha, ya, I can only imagine sitting on this kind of data trove for your favorite pet theorizing and not being able to engage.
Griffyn612:
It's easier to see the lack of conflict if you take Harry out of the conversation.
--- Quote ---"We appear much as humans, do we not? Most of our folk do -- or else they resemble another creature of the mortal world. Hounds, birds, stags, and so forth. You are endlessly fascinating. We conceive our children with mortals."
--- End quote ---
In short, the words account for the conflict satisfactorily.
* The Fae reproduce with mortal creatures of the mortal world.
* Most of the mortal creatures are humans.
* Some are not.
Likewise, the Mab conundrum is resolved by the fact that there were multiple Mab's.
* The earliest faeries were manifested spirits of nature.
* The spirits grew in power, as well as size, like we're seeing with Toot.
* Once advanced enough, they copulate with mortals, and sire/birth changelings.
* Changelings that adopted their faery spirit became the first of the Fae.
* The first Mab was a faery formed from nature like Toot.
* The Mab we know is the latest to have that name, who started as a changeling.
* Changelings that choose their human nature end up burying their faery nature, but like junk DNA, some of it remains in them.
* Under the right conditions, with the right preparations, the suppressed faery nature of human-changelings can be stoked.
As for the Miskani, we still don't know that they breed together.
* The Miksani might sire/birth children with mortals and take them back to their tribe.
* The Miksani might coexist within a mortal tribe they look like; there might have been mortal spouses present at the funeral.
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