Universal Infertility & How Reproduction Proceeds Regardless
There is no natural reproduction in Theoma save of animals. Sex between sapient beings on Theoma has no fertile component. It is emotionally powerful, but not reproductive, as though everyone on Theoma were naturally sterile. This is one of the laws that the land gods enforce. The reward for those who tolerate it is the sustenance and immortality that the lesser divinities enjoy.
Despite this, the population of Theoma only grows over time. It grows very slowly, but quite inexorably. People do not die as often on Theoma as they are born. How is this possible?
There are rites of fertility on Theoma which can be enacted by any land god or any sufficiently skilled necromancer. They carve out a portion of the parents' immortalities with which to create a new immortal geomantic interface for a young soul to enter into. The result is nine years of unstoppable aging for the parents, and a new child born to live forever on Theoma. The price gets worse by two years for each child, so that the second child costs eleven years of unstoppable aging, and the third costs thirteen years. This proceeds to (approximately) these ages: 29 for a first child, 40 for a second child, 53 for a third child, 68 for a fourth child, and 85 for a fifth child.
Taking this bargain once is actually quite popular. Those first nine years of additional aging rest very lightly on most people; they can still keep up with youthful vitality and they can still argue that they are forever young. Having two or three kids is however rather rare, as the parents are no longer arguably young anymore. Having a fourth is bizarre, as a Theoman on their third child is fairly old and will struggle with infirmities that are quite rare on Theoma. That generally discourages pursuing a fourth child. Having five children is unheard of, for the aging burden at that point is such that the parents might not survive it. In this way the population growth on Theoma is checked by a transaction: the immortality of the lesser divinities may only be cut up for new souls so many times before it fails them.
Having six children on this bargain is theoretically possible, but in practice it simply does not happen without some manner of questing for the restoration of youth, which to be fair, is possible. Land gods can grant the restoration of youth.
There was once an earlier era where dragons were born in triplets almost always, while afflicting parents with only one 'charge' of aging, in order to accelerate the growth of the cities for the land gods who wished to have many lesser divinities in their territory. That, however, is in the past.
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This is one of the most essential foundational lores of Theoma, and it is considered a Necromantic Lore in-setting as well.
This is one of the most essential foundational lores of Theoma, and it is considered a Necromantic Lore in-setting as well.
I love the unique premise of your world! For presentation, I already mentioned some things on the discord (feel free to dm me there if you want to talk more!) However, some things that tripped me up here:
I'm confused where the numbers come from. Is it on the parents or the child? I think I remember three parents per child, so 3x 9 would be 27 - but it would be divided among the parents, right? Also, if outside of this, no one ages, are kids born as adults? Or do they age until they reach a certain age? Wait, dragons? xD For some reason, I defaulted to humans as inhabitants. Are there any humans, or are all inhabitants of Theoma dragons? Maybe consider making an introductory article for your world that explains the basics for someone like me, who comes across your world by chance and is missing the fundamentals. Often, a new world is really enigmatic for a random visitor, so try thinking about what your mother would try to do when she came to the page thrying to figure it out. I'm still working on that myself, my own world is still very unapproachable, but one of the other Discord regulars has done a great job: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/the-morning-realm-nnie The homepage has a short explanation, then a link to an intro article, and then you're already in the world and can follow the offered links, or can explore on your own :) But I left a follow now, so that I can check back every now and then and learn more about Theoma. Keep on worldbuilding!I'll do my best to help by explaining again.
People age normally until they're 20, then their aging stops. Theoma is a world of perpetual 20-year-olds. If some of those 20-year-olds have kids with each other (which requires tapping a sacred necromancer), they start aging again for a while. The first time a couple has a child, they age for 9 years. The second child causes 9+2 years of aging, or 11 years. 9+11=20, so that after two children the parents are have suffered 20 years of aging, and are now 40. Most people don't want to be 40 in a world of eternal 20-year-olds, so this means that Theoma is a one-child world. The population still goes up over time despite couples having one child each, because there's very little death. (And some people get the land gods to cheat!) Each child ages two parents. The aging isn't broken up between them; both parents age 9 years for their first kid. The idea of having more than two parents here is interesting. If a larger group wanted to take on the aging burden together so that they could mitigate it, would the land gods let them? This would be up to the author of a story to make persuasive. All inhabitants of Theoma are dragons. Even the kalla (hippogryphs) are dragons, at least to the locals. Everyone else is a dragon, so the kalla are just dragons as well. There are no humans in Theoma. I'm the wrong person to talk to about their mother.