rodentus_callidus | Generations

Generations.

Tchu. That is a long and complicated discussion, to anyone native to Carogne. And it rapidly becomes an issue even to strangers. This is because both the Wekha and die Polizei, at the higher levels, are run by powerful families, yes?

Die Polizei, it is simple. There are four families, Carogne nobility, who have held political power since the early ... oh, 1500s or so, and who have sworn the familial oath to 'defend' the city. In the old days, that meant army. Nowadays, it mostly means thugs. But members of these families are automatically granted power and influence in the Polizei at birth. There are some who suspect the existence of a fifth family, too, to explain certain people in power with no ties to the four, but I find that along the lines of stories of living shadows in the sewer-systems - possibly true, but not worth worrying about until it comes for you.

The Wekha, that is more complicated. Wekha is what non-members call them. Inside, they calls themselves 'mehwet', or family. Think Sicilians, only the word is actually Egyptian. Long story. There are a number of blood lines inside the mehwet that are considered mostly 'pure', those closest to the original family, and descendants of those line command a lot of influence. Even if individually they are morons, but that is neither here nor there. There are other families, closely related still, but not as close, who have been slowly rising to de facto power, too. Jan's family is one of those, which is possibly why they nearly killed him when he decided to join the Polizei (a bizarre choice I have yet to understand - he claims he wanted to 'help people').

To hold any real power in either organisation, to leave any legacy within it, one must be of the families. Nobility or mehwet, either or. That is why Sorka, as efficient and ruthless and powerful as she is, will never be more than a particularly good henchwoman in the Wekha's eyes, and she knows it. It explains much about her, I think.

Myself? I have no proof of my origins. But two things speak to them. The first is my deformity. The second is the fact that I am yet alive despite it.

To the first ... let us say there is beginning to be a trend towards minor deformities in the upper levels of the families. They are ... a very closed bloodline. And the second ... It is considered the greatest crime in Carogne for anyone, even themselves, to kill a member of the Noble Families. Only one of them would have suffered a deformed child to live, though they would have gotten rid of me as soon as possible. By which I mean I was found feral on the surface two years after I was born. But by their own laws and traditions, they could not kill me at birth, though that does happen. I can only assume I had a soft-hearted mother, or a particularly patriotic father.

I have no proof of this, of course. But it is the only reasonable explanation. Among rats it is still common practice to kill deformed or runt infants, everywhere but the High Families. And it seems to be somewhat common knowledge. *smiles grimly* Certainly it is a common reason for those of my persecutors with a few braincells, but not too many, to grant me their attention. Revenge on superiors by proxy, I assume. *shakes head* Stupid, tchu, but nothing I can do.

Generations ... in Carogne, this is a very important issue. Where you come from, who will come from you. Myself ... perhaps I was lucky. Only born where I was would I have survived. Then again, had I been born from a different, perhaps fresher bloodline, then I might not have been blind to start with. So I suppose these things balance. And it does not matter so much now. I will not pass on this blood. Too risky, too much chance of ... less favourable things being passed. And too little chance of there being someone else to pass them with, tchu. *shakes head, smiles* Never mind that. I did not say it.

No. My only concern with blood these days is in the more practical sense. I am a doctor. And a target. That tends to keep me more focused on keeping blood inside veins than wondering where it came from, tchu!