Reference: Fae reproduction, life cycle and social structure [Cold Case Spoiler]

[wyltok]

If we are to assume that the Tribute must be made of Changelings, it really makes me wonder if they've all made their Choice or not.

[Quantus]

If we are to assume that the Tribute must be made of Changelings, it really makes me wonder if they've all made their Choice or not.

Might not matter, in that there would still be tactical uses for mortals.  They'd have mortal magic which is unique in the context of outsiders, for example. If they choose humkna they'd still have been gifted to Winter by their parents, no different than a mortal First-Born baby or whatever traded away. Hell, that might have been how Rashid got his job once upon a time. 

[ClintACK]

Or maybe it was. Fae are basically immortal, so 6 warriors might be the fighting equivalent of 600 years. Assuming that some die young while others last several hundred years or millennia.

Sure, but you still have to put them in to proportion with the size of the army they will serve in -- millions strong.

This was more important as a symbolic gesture.  There are many, many more places where outsiders/Fomor have been picking away at Winter's recruiting -- because Winter appeared too weak to defend them.  Molly will no doubt have to make a few more examples, but word will get around.

[Karthak]

Or maybe Fae are simply capable of reproducing with each other, no humans needed?

[Mira]

Or maybe Fae are simply capable of reproducing with each other, no humans needed?

Don't seem to be or perhaps they choose not to...  At least that appears to be the pattern for the Winter Court..

[Quantus]

Don't seem to be or perhaps they choose not to...  At least that appears to be the pattern for the Winter Court..

Tossing out a Devil's advocate option here, but maybe procreating with Fae is equivalent to inbreeding, meaning they can technically get away with it but if done too often it leads to "undesirable" outcomes and they need periodic injections of fresh Mortal stock into a bloodline to keep it where it needs to be (ie.  mortal enough).

[Arjan]

Don't seem to be or perhaps they choose not to...  At least that appears to be the pattern for the Winter Court..

Actually we know very little about fae reproduction and there are many kinds of fae with very different mythological backgrounds.

We see the changelings because they live in the mortal world but many fae might not have that much contact with mortals.

And for some types of fae it might even not practical to reproduce with humans.

[Mira]

Actually we know very little about fae reproduction and there are many kinds of fae with very different mythological backgrounds.

We see the changelings because they live in the mortal world but many fae might not have that much contact with mortals.

And for some types of fae it might even not practical to reproduce with humans.

We do know what Mother Summer told Harry though... Cold Days page 326

"You are endlessly fascinating.  We conceive our children with mortals. We move and sway
in time with mortal seasons.

[Arjan]

We do know what Mother Summer told Harry though... Cold Days page 326

That one is quoted often but it does not mean with mortals exclusively.

[Mira]

That one is quoted often but it does not mean with mortals exclusively.

  No, that is true, but in the full context of what she says about how intertwined the mortal world and the Fae world is, I'd say not mating with a mortal is the exception rather than the rule..  Even the likes of Kincaid and Meryl who's father or mother didn't even remotely resemble a human, mated with a human.. Though granted according to Eb more often as not that didn't work out too well for the babies.  Even Mab, was either mortal like Molly when the mantle of power invaded her, or she was a changeling and made the choice to go Fae instead of remain human..  She mated with a human at some point and had two changeling children..  One would presume as Queen, she could mate with any of the Fae princes of her choice, but she didn't.

[Crazy Malk Lady]

Actually we know very little about fae reproduction and there are many kinds of fae with very different mythological backgrounds.

We see the changelings because they live in the mortal world but many fae might not have that much contact with mortals.

And for some types of fae it might even not practical to reproduce with humans.

While I completely  agree  with this statement it could go the other way too. The fae that don't resemble humans may not even reproduce in the same way. PURE SPECULATION : maybe some get a bit Shakespearean and impregnate or become impregnated  in a dream....Imagine how easy that could be dream sexy dreams with tall dark and dangerous poof one changeling  and one confused mortal.

If you look at the mythology of some fairy (spelled this way to denote stories told by mortals) stories they get weird with their reproduction. MAYBE some of these are taken literally by the Fae. Which means there could be thousands of changeling 

Remember close to 700,000 people were reported  missing in 2010 alone! Some of those could be changelings. If only 1/4 are winter tributes in just 10 years that's 1,750,000 tributes which could make winter's army a bit more realistic.

Some math for you....

131,000,000 people are born every year
if only .266% of those are are changelings....348,460 or 1 in every 20,000 which is about how common albinism is
If half of those are winter....174,230
And 1/4 of 700,000....175,000

[knnn]

Remember close to 700,000 people were reported  missing in 2010 alone! Some of those could be changelings.

So here's the fallacy in that claim:

It's true that ~700,000 missing person cases are opened every year, but what is not mentioned is that roughly the same amount of previously opened cases is closed every year.   In fact, in the last few years the amount of closed cases has been larger than the amount of open cases.  Thus the total amount of missing people has actually been going down in the last few years (about 2-3% per year).


See here for 2013:

https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/about-us/cjis/ncic/ncic-missing-person-and-unidentified-person-statistics-for-2013

[Crazy Malk Lady]

So here's the fallacy in that claim:

It's true that ~700,000 missing person cases are opened every year, but what is not mentioned is that roughly the same amount of previously opened cases is closed every year.   In fact, in the last few years the amount of closed cases has been larger than the amount of open cases.  Thus the total amount of missing people has actually been going down in the last few years (about 2-3% per year).


See here for 2013:

https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/about-us/cjis/ncic/ncic-missing-person-and-unidentified-person-statistics-for-2013

While this is true it should be noted according  to  the website you posted 84,961 are still unaccounted for per year!

I doubt all changelings would be reported missing.

Hey more importantly the Dresdenverse is fictional and Jim Butcher is its maker if he wants winter to have millions of warriors it's his world!

[knnn]

While this is true it should be noted according  to  the website you posted 84,961 are still unaccounted for per year!

No, this is the total accumulated number left after the additions and subtractions of all the previous years.   If you look a bit, you'll find it generally keeps decreasing year by year.

Quick googling says the total number is:


Active Entries as of  1/1/2008             - 105,229
Active Entries as of  1/1/2009            - 102,764
Active Entries as of  12/31/2009         - 96,192
Active Entries as of 12/31/2010          - 85,820
Active Entries as of 01/01/2012          - 85,158
Active Entries as of 01/01/2013          - 87,217
Active Entries as of 01/01/2014            - 84,136
Active Entries as of 01/01/2015            - 84,924

[Crazy Malk Lady]

No, this is the total accumulated number left after the additions and subtractions of all the previous years.   If you look a bit, you'll find it generally keeps decreasing year by year.

Quick googling says the total number is:


Active Entries as of  1/1/2008             - 105,229
Active Entries as of  1/1/2009            - 102,764
Active Entries as of  12/31/2009         - 96,192
Active Entries as of 12/31/2010          - 85,820
Active Entries as of 01/01/2012          - 85,158
Active Entries as of 01/01/2013          - 87,217
Active Entries as of 01/01/2014            - 84,136
Active Entries as of 01/01/2015            - 84,924

*hands raised* goodness I was just trying to say it's not unheard-of  that people go missing. I guess I'm just as wrong as Harry.....

Dead beat harry to Butters.....

"All right" I said " Last year in the U.S. alone more than nine hundred thousand people were reported missing and not found"

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah" I said "you can check with the FBI.....that breaks down to one person in three hundred and twenty five. Vanishing. Every year....."

I'm not trying to argue your real world statistics i was just pointing out people go missing and in the FICTIONAL  world of Dresden some  of them could be changelings. it was my take on this topic of fae reproduction and how it can go unseen....just my opinion. I'm leaving this topic as my two cents worth is unwanted....bye