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Message no. 1
From: "Jason Carter, Nightstalker" <CARTER@***.EDU>
Subject: The Metagene
Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1993 14:14:11 -0800
Ouroboros said:

>>Or maybe that it's really a matter of the mana triggering the genetic
>>code which, once triggered .doesn't.need.more.mana.to.sustain.it. So
>>ka, chummeros?

Possible, but I remember a non-official qoute from the DLOH that said that
the reason the more exotic Earthdawn races did not exist in the Sixth World
was that the mana level was not high enough. When then asked what happened to
them at the end of the Fourth World, he replied that they reverted to their
prior forms.

Stormy said:

>>I don't see how they could be in Stasis for all that time. Recall,
>>Harlequin and Ehran, at least ,were active during the Renaissance
>>(remember the fight story from "Harlequin"?) If they turned into
>>humans, by your reasoning, they would die. So they probably were
>>elves. I can see the mana battery, possibly, but otherwise, what
>>little we know indicates that it IS one way, otherwise the Professor,
>>the troll from "Changeling", would have been able to change back
>>by merely going to some location where the mana was low, such as a
>>natural low place where lots of spell-casting, etc. had been going
>>on.

I haven't read or played the end of Harlequin so I don't know. As for the
Professor in "Changeling", according to the novel he had discovered a means
by which he could turn off the metagene, he just didn't use it. If it can be
done be science, it can be done by magic. Also you are assuming there is any
area in the Sixth World where there is not enough mana to sustain the
manifestion of the Metagenes. I believe that no such place exist. That is
also why I don't believe that anyone born before the manaspike around 2011
could have been born an elf. I don't believe that any area, even the area at
the intersection point of two ley lines held enough mana during the Fifth
World to cause the manifestion of metagenes. You must remember that the
difference in mana levels between the Firth and Sixth Worlds are drastic. It's
like walking in mist and then jumping in a lake.

>>For you, Jason, a quote. STech, p 69 [How kinky :)] "Once the collected
>>energy reaches the repression point and the metatrigger is activated,
>>the resulting physical manifestations will remain until death." This is
>>in the section where they are discussing the "metagene" so I think that
>>I might be right on this point, God forfend. Unless you are saying *gasp*
>>that the books and FASA are wrong! :) The repression point is the point
>>to which certain hormones and chemicals in the subject represses UGE aka
>>Awakening.

FASA products are not always correct, by design. Much of the contents of books
are misleading or conjecture on the part of the Shadowrun (not FASA) writer.
That's why you can't believe everything written in Shadowtech, Tir Tairange
or Tir Na Nog.

Ouroboros said:

>>Only one .minor. problem with the theory there..... specifically, the
>>fact that Elves and Dwarfs are born, but Orks and Trolls can either be
>>born, or else Goblinize at puberty. Interesting difference, yes?

Call it a gentic anomoly or defense mechanism. Or maybe it's a side effect
caused by the elf-produced VITAS I plague :)

See Ya in Shadows, "I can count the number of days I've worked
Jason J Carter since graduation on one hand." - ME!
The Nightstalker Carter@***.EDU

Further Reading

If you enjoyed reading about The Metagene, you may also be interested in:

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