#askredelf

Place of Origin: Zareen Empire

Year Founded: 3563

Founder(s): Bronte Lorent, Yana Gitoni, Nel Adayamo

OVERVIEW

Zygrow is a Zareenite technology corporation specializing in genetic modification. It was founded by a team of 3 brilliant (and morally questionable) scientists. Their goal was to “improve” living organisms through eugenics and forced DNA mutations. Their first experiments on animals were promising, so before long, they received contracts from private companies as well as the Zareenite government.

Zygrow is most infamous for “Operation Ironfae”, an ambitious project to selectively breed elven slaves until an iron-resistant individual was born. Using their unique DNA-altering technology, Zygrow successfully bred an iron-resistant elf in the year 3807. This special elf was named Dami Jani, and he would be forced to sire thousands of offspring throughout his life to pass on his unique genes. These offspring were bred further, and the population of these new “red elves” grew exponentially. 

Zygrow made a fortune selling these red elves as slaves, for not only were they resistant to iron, they were also totally immune to burning or overheating. This bonus effect wasn't intended by Zygrow, but it made these slaves very attractive to Zareen Empire's many hazardous industries, where workers were subjected to iron equipment and brutally hot temperatures.

Zareen Empire abolished slavery in the year 4350, and all the red elf slaves were liberated. By this point, Zygrow had many more projects and contracts lined up, so the company continued to grow regardless.

Aside from red elves, their most notable accomplishments include ironjaw hounds, super soldiers, and vat-growing technology.

Zygrow has had many secret and ethically questionable projects in its time, but today it is best known for its “fertility service”, where customers pay to grow their children in artificial growth vats. Zygrow claims that the children grown in their vats are physically and mentally superior to naturally-birthed children, all while bypassing the health risks and discomfort of pregnancy.

Its fertility business is now the company's biggest money-maker. Most clients are wealthy and willing to spend big on “premium” services, but middle-class families also make up an increasingly large customer base. Zygrow has even attracted the attention of foreigners, who travel all the way to Zareen Empire to use the service.

SEE ALSO

Ironjaw (Dogs of Looming Gaia)

Ask: Zygrow

Zareen Empire

Red Elf (elves)

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Questions/Comments?

Lore Masterpost

I think there is a degree of randomness to this, just like with other genetic traits.

Historically, Damijani red elves have encouraged a lot of inbreeding to keep their iron and fire resistance genes alive. They considered these genes beneficial, and this is still true today.

They did this because when a red elf breeds with a green elf, there is a roughly 50% chance the offspring will lose these unique resistance genes and gain the animal whisperer gene instead. The more green elf ancestry an elf has, the more likely they are to have animal whispering instead of iron or fire resistance.

I think the resistance to iron and fire are the same gene, meaning an elf can't have genetic fire resistance without also having iron resistance. They're a package deal. But this gene is incompatible with animal whispering, so they can't understand animals while also being iron/fire resistant (maybe there are some cases on Gaia but it is exceptionally rare)

I should also mention that the red elves have some nasty stuff in their genetics due to all the inbreeding, such as predisposition to cancers, impaired vision, lactose intolerance, higher chance of birth defects, and overall shorter lifespans. So while it may seem beneficial for red elves to "stick to their own kind" to keep their resistance gene, this actually comes at a huge cost. It's more beneficial for them to breed with green elves in the long-term.

(Ever notice how you almost never see a green elf wearing glasses? Meanwhile almost half of the elves in Damijana wear them! An elf's exceptional vision is one of their greatest strengths, so this is quite a big weakness for the red elves)

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Questions/Comments?

Lore Masterpost

Oooh very interesting concept! I like it! Totally sounds like something the Zygrow company would do...I could see them launching a secret program where they figure out exactly what chemicals/conditions created the red elves, then applying that to other species to give them iron and fire resistance.

Eventually some of these test subjects might escape the testing facility, hide out somewhere, and multiply for a few generations...

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Questions/Comments?

Lore Masterpost

Hi! I really appreciate this message, that's very kind of you! Thank you so much! <3

There is actually a species like this in the existing lore, they're the red elves! They can't tell lies, but they're also immune to iron poisoning. Unlike other elves, they have lost their natural connection to animals and nature. They also have total resistance to fire and all forms of burning, whether by flame or chemical.

Iron will still block their magical powers, but it doesn't cause poisoning symptoms the way it does with other fae. Red elves can wear a full suit of iron all day long and they won't get sick or burn from it.

Red elves are unique because they didn't evolve these abilities naturally. Rather, their DNA was altered by years of experimentation and chemical exposure by the Zareenites.

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Questions/Comments?

Lore Masterpost

I talked about this subject more in this post. I recommend giving that a read if you haven't already.

The Boanningwad elves were enslaved by many different entities in Zareen Empire, such as corporations, the military, tech and healthcare sectors, and even private citizens.

Corporations tested new products on their Boanningwad slaves, such as chemicals, medicines, makeup, food additives, and so on.

The military used them for weapons testing.

The tech and healthcare industries performed a wide range of physical and psychological experiments on them.

All this testing led to huge advancements in Zareen's technological capabilities. However, it was also cruel, inhumane, and led to so many deaths that many call it this period of history an " elven genocide".

The full extent of these experiments were hidden from the public, and to this day, many documents are still classified by the Zareenite government. Damijani spies are always obtaining and leaking these files, trying to expose the dark history that Zareen would prefer to sweep under the rug.

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Questions/Comments?

Very interesting scenario! This would be a super significant discovery that would have the potential to shake up Damijani culture, so I think this could go one of three ways.

A) the Damijani government would shield their people from this discovery as much as possible. They'd spread propaganda, calling it a "Zareenite hoax". They would send special ops soldiers to quietly wipe out these Boanningwad and maintain the status quo.

B) The Damijani government would embrace the discovery and welcome these Boanningwad as honorary citizens of Damijana. Of course, the Boanningwad (green elves) don't have the adaption to pollution that the red elves have, so I don't think they'd physically want to be in Damijana itself. But the gesture would make the government look good in the eyes of its people. If they went this route, they would fiercely protect the Boanningwad from the World Athenaeum and not allow researchers to study them. Any research might undermine/expose the propaganda Damijana has been blasting its citizens with for so long. Damijana would have agents closely monitoring these Boanningwad at all times and doing research of their own.

C) Chieftess Serafeen would quietly have all the Boanningwad captured and dragged into her labs, where she would run all kinds of unethical experiments on them. These live subjects could give her valuable information about the genetics of her people, meaning it may boost Damijani medical research, among other things. This scenario is most likely, imo.

Assuming these Boanningwad had no knowledge of the red elves, I think they would be totally blown away by what their people had evolved into. I think they would most likely be disgusted and horrified after seeing how the red elves' lost their ability to communicate with animals, polluted their native land beyond hope, and became completely detached from nature. The modern Damijani citizen has completely different values from their Boanningwad ancestors.

Not much is known about Boanningwad culture, but it was clear that they had a deep respect for Mother Gaia and lived a "primitive", lifestyle that respected the environment. That was part of what made them so easy for the Zareenites to conquer--they refused to advance with the peoples around them, believing it would lead to both the destruction of their society and of Gaia itself (And they were right...)

Unfortunately, their dedication to their culture led to their downfall.

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Questions/Comments?

That's a great question! Electricity can hurt someone in different ways: burns, cardiac arrest, nerve damage, paralysis, and ear damage.

Red elves won't get burned from electric shocks, but they can still die or be harmed by all that other stuff, depending on how strong the shock is.

Being a red elf doesn't really give them an advantage when dealing with tasers or electromancers, for example. They'll still drop when the shock hits.

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Questions/Comments?

Lore Masterpost

I think Damijana was only a democracy in its earliest days, when the founders elected their very first leader (the chieftess). The chieftess chose her council, and from that point forward, the council was responsible for electing all of the empire's future leaders.

This empire was founded by liberated red elf slaves who were so afraid of Zareen Empire enslaving them again, they built a huge fortress and enacted strict rules upon it right away. They did this to keep out Zareenite spies and all foreign influence. It was very much an authoritarian ethnostate from the beginning.

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Questions/Comments?

Lore Masterpost