Of Promiscuity and Procreation

In a world of immortals, the creation of a new life is as extraordinary as the end of one. By the will of the Goddess, birth rates amongst dark elves are extremely low and their potentially endless lifespan makes it a matter not to be taken lightly. Nevertheless, a numerous family is a sign of prestige, prosperity and status, not to mention Lolath’s favour.

Pregnancies are planned and more often than not, require complicated and orgiastic rituals. Those dark elves who wish to become mothers will move out of their homes and live as guests at the High Temple, or within the confines of an allied noble house, until their prayers are fulfilled. During this time, they will spend most of their waking hours preparing, performing, or recovering from the repeated sexual encounters.

More often than not, the candidates spend months, and sometimes years, in near constant copulation with multiple partners before being blessed with a child. The Goddess’s whims remain unpredictable. From time to time, she may reward the supplicants after a single encounter, especially in the case of an extraordinarily alluring match.

A pregnancy, from conception to delivery, can last a full twenty years. Over this period, the future mother shall be celebrated and protected by her friends and kin as appropriate for a bearer of such a miracle. At the same time, her sexual appetite will significantly increase and will require constant care to stave off the risks of the long lust. Once the newborn has come, her education from childhood will be a long and expensive endeavour, as no dark elf would be considered an adult before her one hundredth birthday. There is no equivalent to fatherhood. Each dark elf has but one mother, normally selected before any attempt at conception is initiated. In the rare case of a spontaneous conception, the matter is settled by the matron.

It is believed, and with reason, that reaching ever-rising apexes of perversion and pleasure is the most reliable way to attract the Goddess’s favour. Nevertheless, a consolidated minority of sexual scholars believes that a romantic bond between partners, if sincere, may favour conception. This theory would go against the axiom of polygamy and is therefore seen as unorthodox. And yet, one cannot deny that those partners blessed by mutual love are those who are most often granted the miracle of twins.