I've just finished re-reading "The Mote in God's Eye" by Larry Niven and James
Pournelle, and was struck by the similarities between Moties and Droyne.
Both are caste-based societies, and most of the castes match, e.g. Droyne
Leaders = Motie Masters, Droyne Technicians = Motie Engineers. Droyne don't
have miniature Watchmakers (that we've seen), and their Drones don't have any
Motie equivalent that I recognised, though. Still, it set me thinking about
resolving the Riddle of the Ancients in terms of Moties. Anything is better
than the official explanation, so try this.
In their earlier times, the Droyne had the same problem as the Moties. They had
to reproduce, or they would die. This led to immense population problems, which
were solved to some extent when the Jump Drive was invented. "Some extent"
means that it was only a matter of time before the worlds which were colonised
were also overcrowded. Inevitably, interstellar war resulted, but not before
the Droyne had reached very high tech levels. Some colonies were wiped out;
others were blasted back to a Stone Age equivalent. Bases were left behind,
some intact, others ruined. No two bases were ever the same, as no two Droyne
did the same thing the same way.
Civilisations rose and fell several times before one Droyne, the Yaskoydray of
legend, formed a new society in which the needs of society totally overrode
the wishes of individuals. If an individual had to reproduce or die, and no
more children were needed by society, tough - the individual died. The impact
was lessened to some extent by the discovery of a hormone-control drug which
counteracted the biological need to reproduce. Yaskoydray tested this first on
himself, and when it appeared to be effective, issued it to his society.
Other societies were divided in their opinions of these developments. Some
welcomed the apparent end to millenia of rises and falls, of creation followed
by destruction. Others were reluctant to take the step into an entirely new
system. There was one more, cataclysmic war. Yaskoydray's side won, but it was
a Pyrrhic victory, as the few survivors were once more reduced to primitive
levels. Most of the survivors were on only two worlds, Andory and Candory. A
few isolated groups exist throughout space, but very small groups.
While the survivors of Andory and Candory were struggling to revive their
society, a new factor made itself felt. Humanity was, for the first time, also
capable of jump travel. The Imperials were the first to discover the twin
worlds. Their archaeologists learnt a few fragments of the above history;
enough to regard the Droyne as a potential threat, but only potential. There
was no reason to exterminate them, but they had to be watched in case they
expanded again.
In fact, there is no such threat. The concept of the individual being totally
subordinate to society is still in force. The hormone control drug was lost,
along with much of the Ancients' technology, but the rigid society attitude,
backed up by quasi-religious rituals such as those of the coynes, keep the
population in check. An individual lives just as long as it is needed by
society, then it dies. A few choose not to die, but they soon run into the
old problem. They have to breed, or they become listless and unhappy, and
eventually die anyway. But so long has it been since anyone bred for that
reason, that none know the cause of their unhappiness; and besides, none except
perhaps another one of these "deathless ones" will have anything to do with
them.
There is a legend which persists, that Yaskoydray is alive and well, and
occasionally visits the Droyne. The presence of coynes which cannot be
otherwise explained lends some credence. In truth, although none but Yaskoydray
himself know it, when he first tried the hormone control drug on himself, he
overdosed. But as the need to reproduce or die was nature's way of trying to
keep Droyne from living too long, and as he has overcome that need, he is in
effect immortal. Which does not make him very happy; even Ancients can get
tired of life when they've seen everything. Yaskoydray has seen more, and knows
more, than the sum total of the experience of all the human subspecies put
together. He's also slightly cowardly. He won't commit suicide, or take actions
which threaten him. Thus he is tired of life, but afraid to die.
Well, there you have it. Yet another Theory of the Ancients. Any comments?
Interesting side note, as this is inspired by "The Mote in God's Eye"; there
is a star called "The Eye Of God", or more correctly, "L'Oeuil d'Dieu". (That
high school French had some use, after all! :-) What a pity this star is on
the wrong side of the Spinward Marches.
"Keyboard? How quaint!" - M. Scott
Adrian Hurt | JANET: [email removed]
UUCP: ..!ukc!cs.hw.ac.uk!adrian | ARPA: [email removed]