Under the Crescent Moon

by [unknown author]

Under the Crescent Moon is a long essay extrapolating on points from the text Counting Frame Analysis of Trends in the Bloodlines of the Dragonblooded Gens by the scholar Crescent Moon. That text holds that a child’s aspect and level of breeding have no provable relation to those of its parents, using mathematical formulae to support its points. The essay takes that conclusion but abandons the math, instead seeking to reconcile Crescent Moon with the reality that certain families do seem to be dominated by certain aspects and purer bloodlines seem to produce purer offspring. The essay holds that a child’s aspect and breeding ARE related to their parents, but not through the blood: rather, those two traits are a product of the child’s environment, and the environment influences the transformation of the blood upon Exaltation. Thus environments which favour aspects of air produce air-aspected families, even when no quality of the blood demands this.

The text is on the Realm's list of proscribed texts, illegal to read or own for any but the Dragonblooded. It is a rare text, with no print copies available, but within the front cover of the book is an Immaculate notice advising that the contents of the book are both incorrect and heretical.

Selected Quotations

"Is it not wonderful that poor soil,

blessed with a favourable season from the gods,

bears corn in abundance,

whilst good soil, deprived of what it should have received,

yields but a poor crop,

yet with humankind and the blood of Dragons we say the worthless is always base,

the noble never anything but noble?

Is it the parents who make the difference,

or the modes of training?"

"Sometimes a noble offspring

does not spring from well-born parents,

nor an evil child

from worthless parents."