Okay, I sat down and thought about this for a while, so I have to ask out loud. (Forgive me if it’s already been asked, please?

The Seraph and Ophanum are obviously aliens. They have technology that’s advanced enough to create Bio-engineered beings (Grigori), and pop up on/around Earth every ten thousand years, give or take a few weeks for what appears to be ritual battle (as they appear to use primarily medieval-style weapons and armour).

Yet, the Elim race(s?), as a whole, can crossbreed with the indigenous life (ie. Humanity). So, here’s my questions.

How Close, genetically, are Humanity (as a whole), to the Elim? Based on my old Biological Sciences classes, you could argue for ‘practically indistinguishable’, simply because otherwise it’d be like convincing a Chimpanzee to mate successfully with a banana. Uncomfortable at best, with no chance of progeny.

Yet, Nephilim, Lesser Nephilim, and Lesser Grigori all exist, and even the Anunnaki have human, or human-derived genes.

So, question number two. As the ‘emplaced’ Elim moved around Earth, watching humanity evolve over ten thousand-odd years, would they have ‘meddled’ in some manner in order to A: create the prospect of Interbreeding, or B: to hasten Humanity’s general growth as a race?

And, finally, Question 3. Just how different are the Elim themselves? There’s no clear hints given about them, so we can speculate about this, But it Appears, at least to me, that the Evolutionary war is less ‘two alien races pounding on one another on neutral ground’ and more ‘two ideologies of one alien race’

Thoughts? Opinions? Telling me to be quiet, because I’m ruining plot ideas?

I can say that the upcoming book “Prelude to War” is supposed to delve into some of these questions if I read the description properly.
I don’t know the answer to your questions, but I’m sure most will be touched on in that book…. can’t wait myself.

I can respond to all of your questions…

Absolutely!

Hope that helps! 

Really it’s up to the GM, I would say.  If you really wanted to emphasize “secret history”, then you could have a bunch of crazy conspiracies to help or hinder humanity via the Evolved.  If you wanted to emphasize that the “present day” was the most significant time for humanity, you might have those that were left behind be ineffectual or minimal in numbers.

I am personally a fan of the consiracy storylines, wherein there is something off kilter in how the aliens and humans share DNA that are so similar that they are able to create offspring.
Consider that neaderthals were some of the early signs of intelligent life on planet earth, yet maybe the aliens were unable to mix with them directly.
So then the aliens introduced some sort of catalyst that generated homosapiens. Either a mutated neaderthal or some other expirement.
Thent he aliens help with the downfall of the neanderthal and the rise of homosapien.

That’s my take.

Thanks for all your responses. I have to admit, AO is one of the most fun and interesting RPG systems I’ve played in years, and a lot of what makes it so fun is the freedom to cook up our own half-baked ideas and theories about why the world is as it is, and how the Elim have basically watched over the planet like a bunch of jealous children would watch over their favourite sandbox that they play ‘war’ in…

Have to admit, it drives my friends (aka; the poor saps that play the game with me) absolutely nuts in regards to not having all the details. Which makes it So Damn fun to tease them about it.

You can always let them help define the world. It gives them all a stake in how things turn out and can make for some very powerful stories.

KaneSolo - 09 March 2010 04:37 PM

You can always let them help define the world. It gives them all a stake in how things turn out and can make for some very powerful stories.

I wholeheartedly agree. In fact, that’s how we got into that discussion in the first place; my friends and I sat down after playing for a few hours (emergency convoy run ‘sidequests’ are fun for making extra money in between ‘Plot’ or Modules) and we started discussing the hows and whys of the Elim interest in Earth, and why there was proof of interbreeding between humans and aliens. (We even suggested the theory that humans are not native to earth, but then I kinda pointed out the fossil record saying otherwise. Oops. )

but then I kinda pointed out the fossil record saying otherwise

what about that “missing link”???

As for genetics and interbreeding with the Elim, why don’t you examine what happens with Ascension and humanity?  What physical processes undergo with a Human when they reach Ascension Level 1?  That’s still within Human racial Quality levels, so what about higher levels of Ascension when the Physis must be greater than the racial maximums?  Is there a change on the genetic level?  Where do the extra abilities come from?  If an Ascended Human mates with a “regular” or “stock” Human, are they still genetically compatible or the same?  If they have offspring, does the offspring gain any of the Ascended abilties, or are they limited to just being Human?? 

Consider other science fiction settings that have “mutants” or other para-humans that have things like a triple helix (or more, like in 5th Element), extended genomes, different nucleic acids, different backbone structures (such as PNA - peptide nucleic acid), or a combination of these.

Determining this may lead to clues as to what/why/how the Elim are “genetically compatible” - perhaps only a portion of their genetic code that has similar nucleic acids are able to bond during the fertilization phase (adenine, guanine, thymine, and cytosine) while other Elim specific nucleic acids (purine or pyramidine) just spin off as “genetic waste” since they cannot find any place to bond.

For that matter, how does one determine wielding?  Is it a genetic quality?  Is there some missing gene that expresses under the right conditions?  Or is it some other subtle modification to the genetic code? 

After all, there seems to be a big demand for the capture of pure strained Elim, 1st generation Nephilim, and Wielders as a whole for study…

<grenade tossed>

And don’t forget that Grigori are bio manufactured by the Elim and are a hot commodity for the human bio firms.
Maybe they are considering the grigori as the middle link between human and elim, or just an offshoot.
So much to play with. YUMMY!

I was asking the same questions in another thread.