Do Ikeshti mate just once?

[whew]

I was doing my "Beware the Amok Time!" schtick, when another player suggested that ikeshtis only mate once.

So, do Ikeshti mate only once?

[The Drunken Dragon]

I'd argue this would be more appropriate in the general discussion section as opposed to rules...but...

it *appears* to be the case. They look like one of those species, based on their description, which is hormonally driven to sexual reproduction only once in their lives. It's not an uncommon characterization of non-human sapients (The Listeners from Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archives also had a conditional sex drive, for e.g.), so I don't think it's out of the ordinary, per se.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

I agree, especially given how the mating process results in the death of one of the parents. If they mated more than once, then the risk of that resulting death goes up, and if the ikeshti is a broodminder, that could put his young in danger of being orphaned, which seems like it'd doom the species if it happened often enough. So I imagine that's correct, the ikeshti only have to go through the horrific rutting period once, and once they get past that they're basically free and clear from those impulses for the rest of their lives...or they're dead.

[Metaphysician]

Does make you wonder why they haven't put some effort into making the reproduction process less lethal, mind. Even if they aren't bothered by the ethics of such rampant self-inflicted mortality, it is a highly precarious life cycle. All it takes is one big, poorly timed catastrophe, and the species could suffer a population collapse from which they'd never recover.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Metaphysician wrote:

Does make you wonder why they haven't put some effort into making the reproduction process less lethal, mind. Even if they aren't bothered by the ethics of such rampant self-inflicted mortality, it is a highly precarious life cycle. All it takes is one big, poorly timed catastrophe, and the species could suffer a population collapse from which they'd never recover.

From my understanding, ikeshti as a culture are really, REALLY ashamed of the existence of riveners, and work to put down any that go without getting a mate for too long, and I think may even work to keep their existence a secret from other species, so on the off-chance you DO meet a rivener, you might not even realize it began life as an ikeshti, and if you ask an ikeshti about it, you'd most likely be rebuffed with some variation of "that's not something we share with outsiders."

The first step to solving a problem is admitting the problem exists, and while the ikeshti certainly aren't IGNORING the problem, they haven't been able to solve it on their own, and probably won't solve it until they allow outsiders to see the problem and accept their help.