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Pearl Islanders


assault

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So, I'm toying with adding a new area to my game: the Pearl Islands.

This is a small group of islands noted both for the high quality pearls grown there (hence the name) and the population of Sirens that make them dangerous.

There is a small human population - the Pearl Islanders I am talking about.

I'm thinking that this group experience hereditary deafness, giving them immunity to the Sirens' calls. They communicate with sign language, which is also understood by some of the merchants who trade for the pearls, and by some of the Sirens.

Marriage outside their community can give rise to hearing children, who are at risk from the Sirens. They can also intermarry with the more friendly Sirens (merfolk), giving rise to aquatic half-breeds who, if they can hear, are resistant to the Sirens' calls, and well equipped to harvest the pearls.

So, how to build them?

Within their own community, their deafness is no big deal. However, they still have trouble communicating in poor light (at night!) and may not be able to detect and respond to certain dangers. They also have obvious difficulties in communicating with outsiders.

Clearly some kind of Disadvantage is appropriate. Not as bad as if they were Deaf within a hearing society, but there are things they can't do.

On the plus side, they are immune to the Sirens' effects.

That's the first necessary build.

The half-breeds aren't really necessary, and can be based on any aquatic humanoids. Again, they have the immunity to the Sirens' effects, being part Siren themselves, but are otherwise stock demi-humans, with both some extra abilities and limitations. Straightforward enough.

The hearing children would be standard humans. I'm not sure how they would survive on the Islands, which suggests they are rare, or living off the Islands, perhaps with their Deaf parents. This suggests my next point.

I suspect that the Islanders (the ones living on the Islands) would be somewhat genetically isolated, or more bluntly, inbred. The interbreeding with the Sirens would assist with this, but I doubt it would occur frequently enough to eliminate it entirely. Maybe over time it would have an impact on the small population, gradually shifting the population away from a pure human one to one of demi-humans.

Any thoughts, ideas or condemnations? I am, after all, walking through the "disability" minefield, and representing a Deaf culture from outside.

Urgh. A cool fantasy idea, but I may not be the right person to write it... I may need to bowdlerise it somewhat.

Edited by assault
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If you are concerned about misrepresenting deafness, you could simply say that the islanders have restricted hearing (possibly not being able to hear in the treble ranges).

 

That simply provides them with a hereditary defence against the sirens but leaves them interacting essentially normally. 

 

However, unless you want to sell the scenario or run with people outside your usual group, sensitivities are more easily managed, no?  My group has been gaming with each other for over 20 years, I reckon we could put anything in the game as long as talked about it first.

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I like the whole idea of this set of islands and think it is very well thought out. 

 

I can't comment on your concerns about representing something from the outside other than to say, treat it respectfully.  It sounds like you are being quite thoughtful about the whole thing, which is a good sign.

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A hearing child in this society will probably be viewed as a liability, since they won't be able to go out on the water to fish or gather pearls. If their deafness is truly hereditary, then pregnancy resulting from sex with a hearing outsider would likely be socially unacceptable. Any child found to be hearing, for whatever reason, might be exiled to the interior of the island, maybe joining a "leper colony" of other hearers.

 

However, there's the question of how this group came to be "hereditarily deaf" in the first place. It would be well within human precedent for them to have adapted to their unique environment by ritually physically deafening their children when very young, in the manner of so many other socially-motivated mutilations.

 

BTW, communicating at night by sign language would not be difficult often. A clear sky with moon and stars, or bringing along a lantern or torch, would obviate the problem. OTOH not being able to hear approaching danger could be more problematic, but much less so if there are no large predators on the islands.

Edited by Lord Liaden
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2 hours ago, Lord Liaden said:

 

. It would be well within human precedent for them to have adapted to their unique environment by ritually physically deafening their children when very young, in the manner of so many other socially-motivated mutilations.

 

 

 

 

That.

 

That right there is the most likely cause of a shared cultural deafness.  As the culture developed, it was likely noticed that those with poor hearing did not suffer the affevts of the sirens.  If those effects were awful enough.....

 

Alternatively, this is a fantasy game, right?  So it is quite possible they begged some deity for protection and in a fit of pique he granted them the boon of deafness.

 

Who knows?

 

Though I am fairly certain that the cillagers would find it more practical and prudent to deafen a hearing child rather than banish it and take a chance on it becoming a real problem.

 

Miss me?

 

I have just awakened from five days of Corona fever.....

 

People aren't lying to you:  that is the sickest I have ever been.

 

And now, I return to bed.  Typing that was exhausting.

 

This sucks.

 

 

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I think the reason is to ensure he is not casually misrepresenting a minority group, or simply appropriating a disability for a cool story trope.  If this group will even just be the focus for a story arc, it is a responsible thing to consider potential social faux Pas.

 

I think it would be a better world if everyone paused every now and again to do this kind of thing.  This could be an inclusive thing where something that is seen in many other cases as a disability to be an evolutionary advantage.  Done the wrong way, even just presentationally, it is a freak show.

 

Doc

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This is something that I know about from personal experience.  I have severer to profound hearing loss. I have hearing aid that allow me to function, but that does not mean my hearing even with them is normal.

 

Hearing loss is not always all or nothing.  Hearing is classified as normal hearing, mild hearing loss, moderate hearing loss, severe hearing loss, and profound hearing loss.  For immunity to the song of the siren you probably only need moderate hearing loss.  Moderate hearing loss is when you need to have a hearing aid to understand most conversations and sounds start blending together.  With any hearing loss it gets worse the farther away you are from the sound.  This is particularly true when it comes to being able to distinguish individual sounds.  The farther away the sound the more difficult it will be to be able to distinguish what the sound is.  Even with my hearing aids I have difficulty understanding people who are too far away.

 

Someone with a moderate hearing loss would be able to hear some noises but may have difficulty identifying what they are.  They will be able to understand a spoken language but will have some difficulty.  The person speaking may have to speak loudly or even shout.  In some cases, the person with the hearing loss can read lips to figure out what is being said.  Even if you cannot fully read lips being able to see the other persons speak often helps.  Most of the time the person with a hearing loss will have trouble pronouncing words so may be difficult to understand.  This is not always the case but is pretty common.  Most audiologists who have tested me are surprised at how clear my speech is.  

 

For the natives of the island, I would buy the hearing loss as Very Frequently, Slightly for 20 points.  Their native language is sign language so it has less impact on them.  A character from outside the island it would probably be greatly impairing instead of slightly.  If an islander buys a spoken language, they should have to make perception rolls to fully understand a normal conversation as long as they can see the speaker’s lips if the speaker was within a meter or two at most.  This would also mean if the siren was right next to the islander, they may be able to be affected by the song.  This would represent the minimum level of hearing loss for an islander to be safe.  They would probably be taking a -4 on other hearing-based perceptions rolls. 
 

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Thank you very much for that helpful experienced-base breakdown, LoneWolf. :hail:

 

However, I think you're underestimating the effect of the Sirens' song. This is not a matter of being able to distinguish individual sounds. This is a magical song which can compel the hearers to steer their ships to smash against rocks to reach the singers. Odysseus' crew had to stuff their ears with beeswax to block it out.

 

I would think the equivalent of severe hearing loss would be the minimum to grant immunity to the Sirens.

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Early in my "Hero" experience a young lady joined our group (introduced by one of the other ladies), who was profoundly deaf. She had not been born that way, going deaf over a period of time and by her mid teens was completely deaf. While she could speak a little and lip read her primary communication was sign language. We all tried to varying degrees to learn same, one of our number putting a lot of effort into it. (he became her interpreter in game) She was a musician, playing the violin and had a decent singing voice. One thing, you, could, not, sneak up on her. We were all practical jokers and after noting this fact all tried to sneak up on her none of us succeeded! She went barefoot in the house, which had wooden floors throughout. She claimed that she could feel the vibrations of us moving on the  - thru the floor. Those who were trying to be sneaky were the easiest to spot. 

     A few points -- 1 - LL is right to be protected severe to profound hearing loss would be needed.

                               2 - the other 4 senses would likely be enhanced to some degree, particularly after some generations. 

                               3 - likely they would develop some form of danger sense. 

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With my hearing aids I have the equivalent to a moderate hearing loss.  Even with the hearing aid it is difficult for me to hear a song on the radio.   When I am in the car I cannot hear the radio at all if the volume is less than 10.  For me to understand the song the volume has to be at least 15.  Most people consider to be incredibly loud.       

 

One of the biggest issues with having a hearing loss is that it is difficult to deal with background noise.  With my hearing aids I can usually understand people fairly well in an otherwise quite environment.  But if any background noise is present, it becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish individual sounds.  In a loud noisy environment, it is like a constant roar of noise where nothing can be distinguished.  The other issue is distance.  The further away you are from the source of the sound the harder it is to hear.  If someone is right next to me, I don’t have as much trouble, but if they are any distance away it become a lot more difficult to hear the sound.  What other consider close by is far away for me.  The two issues are cumulative so hearing something from a distance where there is background noise is really difficult.  On an island there will be a lot of background noise especially near a beach.  The sound of the wind and the waves makes it difficult for someone with a hearing loss.  

 

Supposedly the reason the song of the siren affected the sailors is the music was so beautiful it entranced them.  If all you hear is a low hum I don’t think the song is going to affect you.      

 

A moderate hearing loss is probably not going to offer total protection but will make it difficult to be affected by the song except at extremely close range.  More often than not the target is going to spot the siren before they are close enough to be affected by the siren's song.

 

When you have a loss of one sense your other senses do not really become more acute, what happens is you learn to use them better.  My vision is not better than normal, in fact I am a bit nearsighted due to spending all my time looking at a computer screen.  But I do notice things that other people seem to miss.   Part of this is that I am in the habit of constantly scanning my surroundings.   When out driving I often spot things before others do.   Part of this is that your brain can only process so much sensory input.  Since you are not getting as much sensory input form one of your senses your brain has more time to process the others.  
 

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I remember from back in grade school we had a recorded lesson on hearing loss. I don't know if what we were told is true; I hope LoneWolf can confirm or deny.

 

Anyway: According to that lesson, hearing loss tends to work from the higher frequencies on down: The recorded samples of speech as heard by people with greater and greater degrees of hearing loss started by filtering out the high frequencies of the voice, then lower and lower until there was just a low hum or rumble that I at least could not interpret at all.

 

The few portrayals of Sirens that I've encountered tend to make them sopranos or contraltos. So, even moderate hearing loss might make it impossible to perceive the haunting, supernatural beauty of their song. Perhaps they could learn to channel the supernatural power of their song through a death metal growl, but... Well, it Tuvan or Mongolian throat-singing can be impressive, but I don't know how many people would find it seductive.

 

Dean Shomshak

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Dean, I can confirm what you are saying.  Hearing loss is not always the same, often different people have slightly differences in what they can hear.  In most cases where people are diagnosed with a hearing loss a lot of the difficulty is in the frequencies that human speech takes place.   It also depends on the cause of the hearing loss.  Someone with a “Tin ear” probably has a hearing loss even if they don’t have trouble understanding speech. 

 

Growing up with a hearing loss meant that music was never that big of a deal for me.  I simply could not hear some of the sounds even with hearing aids.  Modern digital hearing aids have really improved on the old analog models.  With the newer hearing aids I was able to hear sounds that I had never heard before that allowed me to appreciate music more.   Even that has its limits.  My hearing aids have selective noise filters that can cut the background noise so I can function in more environments.  When those filters are in working music sounds a lot different and I cannot always hear everything.  If I turn off the filters I can appreciate the music, understanding speech become more difficult. 

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I don't think we should lose sight that assault started this thread for input about a work of fiction, set in a magical fantasy world. As such, whatever might be the situation in the real world is secondary to the dramatic needs of the story assault wants to tell. Whether his Pearl Islanders will serve his purpose better with partial or complete hearing loss is what he'll have to decide. However, with the inclusion of magic in his setting, how hearing would be affected realistically doesn't have to be a restriction.

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I am certain that the discussion of the real world hearing loss will inform assault, in just the way he hoped it would when he started the thread.

I admit that Lone Wolf's contributions have been enlightening and I am sure I have heard these things before - it is a common thing among the able bodied to think about disabilities in a kind of binary fashion.  I think that being able to integrate some of that stuff in-game means that those who play the game get a small insight into the world of people who do not percieve or interact with the world in the same way as the majority.

Edited by Doc Democracy
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I appreciate all the input. For what it's worth, this is the same world that has ornithopters being launched from Stone Age technology (Melanesian/Polynesian etc) sailing canoes. And there are Halfling sized people living on an island which is totally not Flores.

Mechanically, I will, in the end, make my own decisions, of course. But I appreciate the suggestions - I wouldn't have asked for them if I didn't.

And yes, besides my "here's my cool idea! What do you think?" motive, I am concerned with any sensitivities involved: we live in the era of culture wars, where disrespect and edgelordism is rewarded, and where respect needs to be asserted against them. (And that can lead to a measure of hypersensitivity.) In this context, I chose to err on the side of respect. (How woke of me! Clearly I am some kind of communist bed-wetter...)

So it looks like I've mostly got it OK.

 

Thank you.

And yes, the Flores Hobbits are coming. Think North Sentinel Island with very small elephants, not the Shire... Don't get me started on Komodo Dragons, yet, anyway.

Edited by assault
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Most people don’t really understand all the implications of a disability.  Often it has both more and less challenges than people think.  In the case of hearing loss, this is something I understand from personal experience.  I am happy to share my experiences with others.  Not only does this make someone game better, but it also gives anyone reading this some idea of what it is like.  

 

It seems to me that there are two main thoughts on how the sirens song works.  The first is that the music is magic.  With this version if the person hears the song at all they are affected by the magic even if they cannot distinguish what it is.  The second version is the magic is the music.  In this version the magic is delivered by the music, so if you cannot really hear the music it does not affect the target.  Both of them are valid concepts.  @assault as the GM, it is your right to define how the song works.  
 

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