Forum:Qunari (Kossith) crossbreeding

Forums: Index > Lore DiscussionQunari (Kossith) crossbreeding

Note: This topic has been unedited for 3796 days. It is considered archived - the discussion is over. Do not continue it unless it really needs a response.

Okay, first I'd like to point out that I know members of the Qun do not interbreed with other races. But what about Tal-Vashoth? At some point, a Tal-Vashoth could have had sex with a human, elf, or dwarf. I assume that the result of a Kossith/elf hybrid would be a Kossith. Elfness seems to be recessive somehow, as elf/human and elf/dwarf pairings result in humans or dwarves, respectively. But what about Kossith/human or a Kossith/dwarf interbreeding? Would that result in hybrids, or is the Kossith trait "dominant"?

Of course, it could also be that Kossith hybridization is physically impossible. Sten tells Morrigan that the "act" is unpleasant, although he might have been BSing her. If he was telling the truth though, maybe Kossith breeding is dangerous or even fatal to other races. Or they could simply be incompatible - Kossith may not be able to fertilize or be fertilized by other races.

The fact that members of the Qun are explicitly prohibited from doing this makes me think that hybrids have been born in the past - why make such a rule if interbreeding were impossible? I suppose it could simply stem from the Qunari's extreme xenophobia, but the Qunari are very practical, and if a hybrid had any sort of beneficial traits, or if hybridization were impossible, Qunari converts would be allowed to breed with Kossith. Perhaps all hybrids are deformed, or at least perceived to be.

Maybe this question will be answered in Inquisition. I don't think BioWare would bar a Qunari character from all or most romance options. I guess a Qunari Inquisitor could romance a non-Kossith NPC without ever addressing that aspect of their biology. I hope not. I would rather have Qunari romances be impossible than for the topic to be deliberately avoided for the whole game. That would be incredibly frustrating. I want to know more about these mysterious people, especially if we're going to be able to play as one of them. --Silver Warden (talk) 23:01, November 25, 2013 (UTC)

Please do not use the term "kossith" as it confuses people even more. 23:55, November 25, 2013 (UTC)

Erm, what? Why? It's pretty practical to use the term kossith, especially since the topic is specific to the race of people, and not the followers of the Qun. There's nothing wrong with the term, and it's a little messed up to just tell somebody not to use it or something 72.196.14.33 (talk) 04:01, November 26, 2013 (UTC)

Both Tal-Vashoth and Qunari are (primarily) Kossith. There can be elf, human, etc. Qunari, as it a culture and not a race. Here I'm referring to the race and not the culture - I figured it would be more technically accurate, and it seems necessary to differentiate between the two on this subject as its about Kossith biology. I could just say "grey ones" or "horned people" if confusion is really an issue, but if someone doesn't know the term the can just look it up. There's a page about on this wiki and the search box is right there... --Silver Warden (talk) 05:01, November 26, 2013 (UTC)

Then I suggest you use it. Read the article and educate yourself. There really is no need to differentiate when talking about genetics. Everyone will know you mean ashen giants when you say "Qunari have good digestive system." But when talking about culture, and you don't mean the ashen giants, just add the race. For example, "Life's not easy for a dwarven Qunari" or "any Qunari elf is stronger than a Dalish." Just use Qunari for ashen beasts, dwarf Qunari, elf Qunari and human Qunari, when talking about the culture. Henio0 (talk) 08:33, November 26, 2013 (UTC)

Yeah, I've read the article. It says: "The only demonstrated usage of the term is to distinguish the horned race from their culture" which is exactly what I'm doing. What you're suggesting will cover the issue of dwarf, elf, or human Qunari, but not the Tal-Vashoth, who are Kossith but not Qunari. But whatever. Not sure why it's such a big deal. BTW, I've seen other people use the term in the forums without being scolded. It seems clear to me that everyone either knows what the term means or has easy accesses to information which will clear up any confusion they might have. --Silver Warden (talk) 18:28, November 26, 2013 (UTC)

That line was added because the word appeared in The World of Thedas. Whether the codex entries in the book are written correctly is up to debate. The fictional people in the World of Thedas may be using the term incorrectly, as are so many online people who just can't grasp the idea that there is one word for culture and race. Just think of it like this: an Asian may be a person from Asia, or a noun describing something, i.e. Asian politics. Henio0 (talk) 18:46, November 26, 2013 (UTC)

I understand the difference, but I shouldn't assume that others do. I think extra clarification usually makes things less confusing. On this topic I think it's better to draw a clear distinction between to the two as both the culture and the race are not synonymous, nearly merely so. It is that slight difference which is at issue here. And your example is not relevant, as Asian (as a people) and Asian (as a culture) are synonymous. There's no significant biological difference between the human ethnicities; human "races" exists as cultural constructs, not biological ones. The same can not be said of Qunari/Kossith as there can be non-Kossith Qunari and non-Qunari Kossith. A single term used to describe the race separately from the culture is simply more efficient than elaborating on the difference every time the biology of Kossith is mentioned. That's happening anyway for some reason, so I'll say "grey ones" since everyone should know what that means without looking up the term.

And Heni0, you yourself started a thread called "did humans live in the of the land Kossith" where you use term the same way I have here. --Silver Warden (talk) 21:49, November 26, 2013 (UTC)

The Qunari breed people to fill in job slots. With that in mind they most likely already experimented to see which pairing makes the best offspring for a particular job. They probably didn't get many good offspring between the successful candidates and/or the non-Kossith (Kossith being the people with horns) died from the act of procreation because their bodies were too fragile. Sten in DAO said the act is very dangerous and potentially life threatening. With those results the branch of government which specializes in breeding thought it was pointless in continuing cross breeding the races and ceased to use it. --boots 01:13, November 26, 2013 (UTC)

I'm not sure if Sten was being serious in that conversation. He might have been getting Morrigan back for all her teasing and/or just trying to get her shut up about it. I think he is capable of humor...I vaguely remember him telling Leliana a joke one time. But, maybe I'm over thinking it.

I image birthing a large, horned baby would be difficult for an elf, human, or dwarf woman, so perhaps the pregnancy itself is dangerous. Though that wouldn't apply to cases of female "grey ones" being impregnated by males of other races. As for the hybrid offspring themselves, I understand that Qunari would find them undesirable for one reason or another, but the Tal-Vashoth are not bound by those societal restrictions. They could wind up siring or birthing a hybrid, if hybridization is actually possible. --Silver Warden (talk) 05:01, November 26, 2013 (UTC)

I don't know why you were given such a hard time over using the term "kossith." I agree with you that Qunari (followers of the Qun) probably don't interbreed. I don't really see them being with someone for love, if that's even something they do at all (maybe they do, and we just don't know enough about their normal lives); breeding might just be seen as another job or duty to fulfill. It does seem like it would be dangerous to mingle with other races, though. The only way I could see it being less dangerous would be if the kossith involved were female, because whatever she has (elf, dwarf, or human) wouldn't be huge compared to her size or have horns. It's pretty likely that the horns come when the kid gets older, though, which negates a bit of the danger or risk, but not all.

I feel weird talking about this, and it's really late. Sorry if any of that came out weird sounding. 72.196.14.33 (talk) 06:31, November 27, 2013 (UTC)