Posted by Lieutenant Sural (Chief Engineer) in An off-duty visit - Tag Sural

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Sathut (Counselor) in An off-duty visit - Tag Sural

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Sathut (Counselor) in An off-duty visit - Tag Sural
Posted by… suppressed (1) by the Post Ghost! 👻

<snip>

Sural didn’t bat an eye. “Nonsense,” he said, using a very traditional Terran expression. “Exploring assumptions is the foundation of learning. You offended me not at all. What is family life like among your people? I will tell you of my own assumptions that I have made of you. This way you may educate me better. I see your people as very community based and with a 81% chance of having many communal meetings around a great deal of food. I see your people as matriarchal and with great familial loyalty, and I give a high percentage that your people is one of much … play.” He said that word as though he didn’t entirely understand the concept, but that the word had come up in his life more than he had, at present, counted.
- Sural

Sathut listened to the Vulcan’s words. He was curious as to where these suppositions had arisen from. “You are accurate about the community-based lives. We live in the trees, in villages and cities carved into the trees which support us and give us our food. Families tend to have five to nine children, often with many twins. Twins are more common than single births. We don’t place particular emphasis on food, although we do quite enjoy eating it. Loyalty to the family is expected, but we do not particularly favour females over males, or vice versa. The Raka do not have much, as you say, sexual dimorphism. Our noses and other senses tell us far more than the eyes. It is better for a tree-dwelling species to be all equally lithe and strong, would you not agree? I have been amused by some humans who confuse is male and female before learning the more subtle differences that set us apart. Voice, coarseness of the fur, cheekbone shape… We do not play exceedingly much, although as with all children, our young ones are very playful. The Raka tend to be a little more focused on the idea of artistic expression, we leave the sports to the larger folk like the Lareri. When we have games, we prefer those which challenge the mind over those which challenge the body. Strategies are our strong point,” he explained.

Sathut

bump to get it back on the board
OOC: Thank you

All this information was intriguing, and he dipped his head in affirmation at the ‘question’ of strength needed for the trees, however, what caught his attention more was the ‘family’. No Vulcan in recent centuries could boast that amount of children. He paused to take more tea and ten inquired. “The numbers in your family - the children - are staggering. What are the family dynamics like? Logic, like most things, is taught as well as ‘caught’. It is a philosophy that Vulcans believe to be necessary - so much so that it is strictly followed by the vast majority of the population. At an early age it brings a discipline to life including family life. How is life among … so many?”
- Sural

Sathut thought for a moment upon the question, then a moment longer on his answer. “The numbers have never seemed staggering for me. I suppose it is because the Raka have a low heterosexual marriage rate. Most individuals either stay single their whole life and do not have offspring, or they find love with one of the same sex as they are. Or perhaps it is the other way around and the rate of child-bearing bonds is a result of the number of offspring from a single pairing…” he said thoughtfully, thinking for a moment before continuing.

“Life in a large family, as mine was, is quite fun. One is never lonely or in need of a friend, for there is always siblings nearby to harass or assist. The home was somewhat crowded when Umva visited after Res was born,” he chuckled, smiling in reminiscence. “I love my family, and still visit them whenever I am home. I think that familial bonds are one of the more important things to my culture.”

Sathut