Category Role-Playing (4)
Topic Half-Elven (24)
By GS3-WARDEN from PLAY.NET
On Aug 6, 2002 at 22:07
Subject Tehir (892)
Hi folks,
The Tehir are something that I created to add flavor to the Sea of Fire while writing the history of the Turamzzyrian Empire. They were intended to be a human nomadic group very much like primitive Tuaregs, and were to be something 'special' for human PCs to RP with (it was, after all, primarily a history of humans, and I was taking up the human banner).
Before the cultural selection system was released, I had commented that the Tehir option needed to be reserved for humans only, in keeping with my design intent. As Murphy's Law would have it, the comment was inadvertently not incorporated, and the system was released allowing Half-Elves to choose to be Tehir.
Certainly, the Tehir are able to mix with Elves just as other humans can do so. People of the Tehir have also mingled with the people represented by the NPCs in Khan'kel Bazaar, and there will be some cultural blurring. However, even this cultural blurring would be primarily between humans on both sides. Human/Elf comingling is possible, but these hybrids would be rare and exceptional, much like a human could claim to be born in a Giantman clan yet not have it as a Cultural option.
To clarify another important point, not all people from the Sea of Fire are Tehir. An example of such would be the NPCs that GM Mikos created for the Bazaar, who have a culture that is more of a combination of the Bedouins and Turks. Unfortunately, because I hadn't fully defined the Tehir in the history doc and didn't clarify the distinction between them and the other people of the Sea of Fire, many players and GMs alike believed they were one and the same. Events that were run based on this misconception solidified the beliefs that Tehir were human/elf hybrids and that the NPCs are actually Tehir.
I agree with many of the posts displaying player angst, however. Players choosing the Half-Elf Tehir option were not coloring outside the lines, they were coloring within misdrawn lines. As a result, I agree that the Tehir Half-Elven option should remain.
I am aware that players are enjoying RPing Tehir, and I'm thrilled that it has drawn such a following. However, as players were told when they began their PRO group, they are coloring on a map that has only partially been revealed to them, and if their coloring goes outside the lines, they could find themselves with conflicts. An example of such a conflict is the creation of an entire tribe of Half-Elven Tehir. As I mentioned above, Half-Elven Tehir are rare, and any Elven blood would be diluted within a few human generations.
While I would love to be able to devote my time to working with Mikos to finish a more comprehensive document on the Sea of Fire, neither of us is able to allocate our efforts to such a project at this time. When we do, player-written material and player-initiated events will be considered insofar as they don't conflict with what we already have planned.
To help point players in the right direction, there are a few other misconceptions that I have seen in this thread and others on the Tehir:
* The Turamzzyrians do not hate the Tehir. Prior to the discovery of copper within the desert, they were on good terms. Presently, there is conflict over the copper mines, yes, but there are also many folk that seek to make extra silver by trading with the Tehir. There are also tribes among the Tehir that are not involved in the conflict. As a general observation, I've found that the Turamzzyrian Empire is incorrectly used by many players as "The Great Evil".
* The Tehir have not been around for 50,000 years, though there have been people in the Sea of Fire for that long. Regardless, as noted in the halfling history, the trek of the Paradis was a very slow one, taking many millennia.
* Demons are virtually unknown to Tehir culture. Their fears lie more in spirits and the powers that led to the destruction of Bir Mahallah.
Warden