General and Random Sam Questions!

[Harroway]

Ori and I were discussing some random questions we had about the Sam world that weren't exactly covered in the FAQs or on the site, and we thought we might ask them here! This thread is up for people to discuss anything from breeding to RP-specific questions. We do ask some of these in the Ustreams, but they get so hectic sometimes that they may not be seen! Plus, some people on the boards might already know the answer, or we can just have fun giving it our best guess.

So, without further adieu, some of my questions are as follows:

How much are humans involved in the world of Shar? Do our Sams know we are their caretakers? And do they know we're the ones causing them to have weird, off-species babies (aquatics, deserts, etc.)?

How does one go about getting a Mystic of an element beyond the standard four? I've seen a light and a lunar Mystic, and I know that sometimes these new elements are the result of breeding. Is this the only way to get one of these Mystics?

How do Sam stallions in already-established Songs feel about being chosen to be the father of a Healer's foal? Is this considered an honor among Sams?

How do Sams feel about Elementals?


Feel free to muse and/or post your own!

[Sushidragon]

Good questions And if you ask something in the Ustream and I don't answer, it's only because I missed it - just ask again!

• At this point in history, humans have limited acess to the Sharian realms, and vice versa. The two peoples are at peace, and efforts are being made to integrate into each others' socities. If a human wanted to come into the Sharians realms for trading, or even just for a visit, they'd probably be able to.
  
  It's up to you to decide if your Sams have some kind of character or person taking care of them. I assume for the most part that the Samanayrs are acting autonomously, though some could have human (or other) caretakers, much like the Song of the Rainbow Hotsprings and the surrounding hotsprings have the Sharians watching ovre them.
  
  In-character, I assume that the couple has decided they want to use the modiems to affect their foal, rather than their caretaker/adopter XD
• Mystics with non-standard elements are usually obtained through breedings, but they can also be commissioned or occur randomly in wild Mystics.
• This will vary from Song to Song. It is generally considered an honor to sire a foal with a Healer, but in practice there can be jealousy and tension from the other mares of the Song. A considerate stallion will consult with his Song before breeding with a Healer, although some will just go ahead with it even if their mares object. Whether this is because he considers it his duty, is taken with the Healer mare, or if he just wants to create tension within his Song for whatever reason, will again vary from stallion to stallion.
• I imagine Elementals as being rather aloof and for the most part more interested in the intereactions of their element with the rest of the world rather than interacting with other Samanayrs.
  
  They're also powerful magically, which can be intimidating. A regular Samanayr won't know if an Elemental is 'good' or 'bad' without some interaction first, without the more clearly defined 'good magic' and 'bad magic' boundaries that Mystics and Miseries have. Although Elementals generally keep to themselves, you never know what could set a volatile one off.

[Echos]

I imagine Elementals as being rather aloof and for the most part more interested in the intereactions of their element with the rest of the world rather than interacting with other Samanayrs.

They're also powerful magically, which can be intimidating. A regular Samanayr won't know if an Elemental is 'good' or 'bad' without some interaction first, without the more clearly defined 'good magic' and 'bad magic' boundaries that Mystics and Miseries have. Although Elementals generally keep to themselves, you never know what could set a volatile one off.

This will make playing Plume much more interesting. I've sort of been toning down his interactions with his element just because I wasn't sure how powerful or "in touch" elementals were. I still have to figure out exactly what a feather elementals power would be though, I've been treating it like a branch off from an air elemental until I figure it out.

I was curious about the size of the samanayr world, like how long it would take a sam to travel from the far north to the rainbow hotsprings to the desert ect.

[Harroway]

Ah, thank you for the information, Sushi! I figured that since the Ustreams get really hectic, especially during Frankens, you might not see questions, and that's totally cool. I also wanted to open up a space on the forum for chatting too. I really appreciate the info, as this will help me get a better understanding of the world we're playing with. <3

[CosmicDragon]

Me, well, all my questions are really breeding related, what with the upcoming season and all. XD

- What are the actual percentages of parents producing magical babies? Say, in Mystic/Non-mystic or Elemental/Non-elemental pairings? Or Mystic/Elemental, are the chances higher in that pairing, and is it guaranteed to have a foal from on species or the other?
Also, with the new Sybils, what are the chances for one of them appearing in a Magical/Magical species breeding, as it says they occur randomly through that?

-If you want to breed for one of the Very Rare breeds, is there any way to do that? Or is it more luck-of-the-draw rather than having a way to plan for it?

<3

[Harroway]

I do know that Mystic x non-Mystic has a chance of something like 10%. I know I saw it somewhere on the site... I think Mystic x Mystic is 50% chance of producing another Mystic, and Mystic x non-Mystic is 10% or so.

As for Elemental x non-Elemental, we saw in the breedings with Grove that both babies ended up as hybrids, with traits from both, so I assume you can only get a full Elemental when you breed two of them together, but that's Sushi's call. XD

Sushi told me once (and Sushi, please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) that the chance for breeding a Sibyl happens through a die roll of some sort. The chance of producing a Sibyl is rolled when two magical species breed, and is the same chance as breeding twins naturally or spontaneous mutations happening, I believe. But that's also Sushi's call.

EDIT - I found the Mystic percentages part! Quoth the Sushi:

Foals of Mystics are determined differently. There is no such things as a hybrid or partial Mystic - a Samanayr is either one or not. There is about a 20% chance that the foal of a Mystic crossed with another species of Samanayr will be a Mystic, and if two Mystics have a foal the chance is increased to 50%. The same is also true for Miseries - a Samanayr can't be a part-Misery.

[CosmicDragon]

I do know that Mystic x non-Mystic has a chance of something like 10%. I know I saw it somewhere on the site... I think Mystic x Mystic is 50% chance of producing another Mystic, and Mystic x non-Mystic is 10% or so.

As for Elemental x non-Elemental, we saw in the breedings with Grove that both babies ended up as hybrids, with traits from both, so I assume you can only get a full Elemental when you breed two of them together, but that's Sushi's call. XD

Sushi told me once (and Sushi, please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) that the chance for breeding a Sibyl happens through a die roll of some sort. The chance of producing a Sibyl is rolled when two magical species breed, and is the same chance as breeding twins naturally or spontaneous mutations happening, I believe. But that's also Sushi's call.

EDIT - I found the Mystic percentages part! Quoth the Sushi:

Foals of Mystics are determined differently. There is no such things as a hybrid or partial Mystic - a Samanayr is either one or not. There is about a 20% chance that the foal of a Mystic crossed with another species of Samanayr will be a Mystic, and if two Mystics have a foal the chance is increased to 50%. The same is also true for Miseries - a Samanayr can't be a part-Misery.

-IS FAIL-
^^;;
Yep, and that shows just how together I am this morning... I shall come back with better questions when I'm awake and functioning... -dies-

[Origami_Dragon]

Sushi told me once (and Sushi, please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) that the chance for breeding a Sibyl happens through a die roll of some sort. The chance of producing a Sibyl is rolled when two magical species breed, and is the same chance as breeding twins naturally or spontaneous mutations happening, I believe. But that's also Sushi's call.

And I know on the last Ustream Sushi said that to get natural twins or a spontaneous mutation her D20 needs to roll a natural 20. So...apparently that's what it takes to get a Sibyl from a pair of magical Sams?

And I know I have questions...I just can't get them to pop up to where I can remember them... *pokes brain*

[Harroway]

Ori, I <3 you for the DnD references. Where's my D20...? I bet Sushi's D20 is awesome, if she has one. Salmon colored too, I hope!

[LvSoulFriend]

Actually, I think it's silver and gold XD

[Harroway]

Actually, I think it's silver and gold XD

PIMP!

[Britain]

Throwing out some questions I asked Sushi a long time ago about the sa'grisayrs, and her answers. ;D Some of it's specific to me, but thought others might be interested.



1. Is it a species trait for sa'grisayrs to have wings? (All of the ones in the database do.) If so, would I be able to incorporate the loss of said wings into my Claw’s storyline? Or would she by default have been born somehow without them? I’d prefer the more complicated storyline, since I plan to RP her with Riddle.

Answer: I'd say that the majority of Sa'grisayrs do have wings, so it would be unusual for one to not have them. It's not a species-required trait, but you could still have the wings be lost instead of her being born without them!

2. Would their beaks cause them to speak differently when they use the human language? (For example, Mercedes Lackey’s gryphons hiss their sss’s and roll their rr’s.)

Answer: The beaks would probably cause them to speak a little differently, you can decide in your RP how that goes. (Based on this answer, Steele and I had them using both of the traits I mentioned in my question in our RP.)


Other info from Sushi: Sa'grisays can be vegetarian, omnivorous or carnivorous, depending on their preference.

[Harroway]

My Cresting of the Amethyst Waves also is wingless. I'll have to think about why she doesn't have them...

EDIT - Err, yes, abbreviated wings, she has. I like to think of them as flightless buttfeathers. XD

[Origami_Dragon]

I found some questions!

How would a foal refer to one of the other mares in their mother's Song? Would they consider them part of the family?

Can traits such as Guest Artist, Animal Mimic, or Object Mimic pass down to foals?

Cresting does have abbreviated wings...they just won't let her fly...

[Delicious]

They can exist without, the very first one that shows up in the database has none.

[Bluestarwolf12]

I had a question or two.

If you were to breed two Sams that each had a different type of wing (ie, one has Draconic, the other Fairy), would any of the following be possible?

-Could the child be wingless due to neither trait passing on?
-Would the child be garunteed to have wings because both parents did?
-If the child inherited both types of wings, what would happen? Would they become combination wings? Would they become double wings? Would one be more dominant and only that one showed? Would any of these be possible?

[Sushidragon]

@Echos - Yeah, I'm not sure what Plume's 'feather elemental' abilities could be either XD I think one thing is that he'd be incredibly light and able to drift about with little effort - although he'd have to watch out on windy days!

• I need to draw a map sometime, but the Samanayr lands around the Song of the Rainbow Hotsprings are essentially the Sharian lands as well, since Samanayrs haven't ventured far into human territory. The Sharian lands are on the western side of the continent, and as for size.. I'll have to figure it out more exactly XD The Song of the Rainbow Hotsprings is located more or less in the center of the Sharian lands and it would probably take a few weeks for a Samanayr on foot to reach the northern and southern extremes.

@Harroway - Thanks for asking, and it looks like this post has opened up discussion, which is good Since I'm so terrible at updating the website, it's good to have this kind of information in one place instead of scattered around Ustream and PI and such!

@CosmicDragon - What Harroway said for the percentages XD And anything that's randomly determined in a breeding, like magical species, twins, spontaneous mutations, what traits are inherited, gender, etc are down to the roll of the dice! Some percentages are secret ;D

Mystic/Elemental would result in a Samanayr foal that would probably have some elemental traits and also a 10% chance of being a Mystic. The only way to get an Elemental from breeding an Elemental is to breed it with another Elemental.

@Britain - Thanks for posting those

@Origami_Dragon -

• How the foal sees the other mares of the Song depends on the dynamics of the Song. If the mares of a Song are close, they'll share in the care of the foal and it will view them as 'aunts' or even additional parents. If the mares of a Song don't get along, they might shield their foal from the influences of the other Song members and so it probably wouldn't become very close to them.
• Guest Artist, Animal Mimic, and Object Mimic don't pass down to foals. The two Object Mimics have had a foal together, and it was just a regular Samanayr XD

@Bluestarwolf12 - I roll for every inheritable trait, there is a chance that the foal wouldn't have wings. However, since the chance of inheriting a trait is 50%, the foal would probably have at least one pair of wings! If it rolled for both pairs of wings, they could be combination, double, or one pair vestigial, depending on what I felt like doing at the time XD Although some wing types are rarer than others, there isn't one type that's more dominant than another type.

[Britain]

Delicious: Yes, that's my Claw, the one I was asking Sushi about. XD I got her lonnnnnnnng ago, way before Steele requested her sa'grisayr song (which is how we got Riddle and his other two non-Mystic mares).

[Origami_Dragon]

We're seeing more and more Northern types appear, so far the N. Lamanayr, N. Aquatic, and N. Sa'grisayr. Will all species (with the possible exception of Desert and maybe Aboreal) have a Northern counterpart? I think N. Miseries or N. Shifters or N. Tribals or N. Sa'krien and so on would be fun to see too!

The species page says this about Mystics:

Any Samanayr species except for Misery, Mystery, or elemental is also capable of being a Mystic.

Does that mean that a Sa'krien Mystic is possible?

[silvermoondragon]

woah... Sa'krien mystic... that would be weird!!! O_o that would mean if it bred with another mystic or another sa'krien then there's the chance of having a misery... right?

How many other species could end up combined? I mean it seems possible that there could be a dessert sa'grisayr, or an aquatic kirin lol!

[LvSoulFriend]

Don't think Sa'krien Mystic is possible, 'cause a Sa'krien + Mystic = Misery

[Origami_Dragon]

Species page says this though:

A Misery has a small chance of being produced when a Sa'krien (usually a stallion) is crossed with a Mystic (usually a mare). The Mystic is rarely consentual. Miseries try to breed as often as possible in order to increase their numbers, but it's very difficult for them to find willing partners - normal Samanayrs do not want to add to their numbers, and Miseries cannot stand the company of each other, seeing each other as rivals. A Misery crossed with another species has a small chance of producing a Misery.

Which sounds like not every Mystic x Sa'krien breeding will result in a Misery. Which raises the question of, if a Misery is not produced, is a Sa'krien Mystic at all possible. It seems odd and I'm not sure it would be possible, but I just figured I'd throw the question out to Sushi.

[silvermoondragon]

I just remembered I had some questions about aquatics awhile ago that I asked Sushi about and here they are in case you're interested:


1. Can aquatics breath underwater or can they just hold their breath for a long time?

Answer - Aquatics can't breathe underwater, but they can hold their breath for a long time (several hours).

2. Do they have inner eyelids like some underwater animals have to help them see underwater? Also, do they have a special aquatic samanayr language, kind-of like whales and dolphins that is easy to hear through the water?

Answer - I haven't specifically said they have inner eyelids or their own language, but they definitely could if you'd like to RP them that way

[Origami_Dragon]

I thought of a new question! I don't think the info page on the website answers this... How old do Samanayrs live to be?

[LvSoulFriend]

How long do Sam pregnancies last, as well?