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[holyposition]

WELCOME TO THE SALTBURNT NETWORK

USERNAME:
t.laughlin

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[holyposition]

Queer means something else now, remember?

But...yeah. It's frowned upon in most societies. Science has learned a lot of things about inbreeding, none of them good.

Yeah, he is.

[provoke]

[ heh. ]

That it does.

Is inbreeding a genetics thing? I've heard tell of it from another, how it can read the lineage in one's blood. A dna test, I think it was called.

Did you have one of these things? Is it something you undergo with your own family?

[holyposition]

It's...my schooling was in history, not science, but when you mix genes too much, you run the risk of birth defects, poor fertility, certain diseases. Have you had any experience with that?

We haven't undergone any testing like that, no. But we don't make a habit of marrying our cousins.

[provoke]

[ ??? ]

No.

Hm, but the smallfolk have a saying. When a dragon is born, the gods flip a coin. Madness or mediocrity, they would say. We are otherwise ourselves whole.

If anything, our blood is ever fertile. My mother has four children, my uncle four, my sister two, my half-sister five.

Three, I suppose.

[holyposition]

Mental illness, behavioral problems?

[provoke]

You're throwing phrases at me that require explanation.

50s understanding of mental illness incoming

[holyposition]

Behavioral problems seems self explanatory.

Mental illness is like, madness. Sick in the head, unstable.

woof

[provoke]

Every man is susceptible to madness, with enough reason. Problems with temper is a matter of discipline.

These are matters of the blood, in your world?

[holyposition]

Not always. But they've done studies, there's a higher likelihood.

[provoke]

I truly would like to learn more of this. This all sounds false.

[holyposition]

Like I said, I'm no doctor.

[ And the library snubbed him...anyway. ]

But we have a few in-house. Maybe once all this chaos is over, they can talk about it more intelligently than I can.

[provoke]

Account for yourself with a little confidence, Tim. You're not stupid, else I would not speak with you at all.

[holyposition]

I'm only saying that I have a different area of expertise.

[provoke]

You needn't qualify your abilities. Does this please you? To act humble? What pleasure do you gain from it?

[holyposition]

It's better than being boastful.

[provoke]

And who benefits from your humility, beyond the mediocre pretending at excellence?

[holyposition]

Everyone. People who can’t keep their egos in check make dangerous mistakes.

1/2

[provoke]

[ suddenly he can't read. ]

[provoke]

Do you speak from experience on the matter?

[holyposition]

I've seen it. I told you, my studies were in history.

But before Saltburnt, I worked for a powerful man, whose hubris went unchecked. He grew more corrupt, more stupid, and more sloppy over time.