Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 dulsi Jan 12, 2010 10:47:11	Did the entire kalashtar population originate with the 67 original?  Or did more humans get converted later.  Seems like the population wouldn't have grown to be too numerous if they all came from the 67. BTW the new EPG lists them as having come to the world 1800 years.  The wikipedia page says they came -1800YK almost 2,800 years ago which I've been told is in the 3.5 ECS book.
#2 Sarlax Jan 12, 2010 12:17:26	The wiki age is wrong, probably because of the unusual layout of the timelime. The history outline uses the -XXX convention to refer to years before Galifar, but the -XXX is years before the present year (998 YK). YK is like AD and is the Galifar calendar, which began 998 years ago. -1800 is then "1800 years ago," or, "About 800 years before the Kingdom of Galifar was founded." Anyway, yes, there were only 67 kalashtar founders (as far as we know). According to Secrets of Sarlona, Adar (the homeland of the kalashtar) has 144,000 kalashtar, which is a little under half of the population. At that number, the typical quori spirit is spread across about 2100 individuals. I wouldn't expect more than a couple hundred kalashtar expats in the rest of the world. They aren't a numerous race, but I expect that once the original population figured out how their "condition" was inherited (along same-sex parent lines), there was deliberate effort to expand their numbers in order to preserve their race. Such an effort shouldn't have been hard, but they probably would stop increasing their numbers at some point to prevent too much diffusion of their spirits.
#3 yakman Jan 12, 2010 13:30:49	Anyway, yes, there were only 67 kalashtar founders (as far as we know). According to Secrets of Sarlona, Adar (the homeland of the kalashtar) has 144,000 kalashtar, which is a little under half of the population. At that number, the typical quori spirit is spread across about 2100 individuals. I wouldn't expect more than a couple hundred kalashtar expats in the rest of the world. i gotta disagree with you on the bolded point. after all, the sourcebooks continually emphasize that there are Adaran communities spread out throughout Khorvaire.  there's no reason (that i can see in the sourcebooks) to expect that these communities have a different racial makeup than Adar-proper.
#4 Sarlax Jan 12, 2010 13:49:01	i gotta disagree with you on the bolded point. after all, the sourcebooks continually emphasize that there are Adaran communities spread out throughout Khorvaire.  there's no reason (that i can see in the sourcebooks) to expect that these communities have a different racial makeup than Adar-proper. I'm not familiar with that. Where is that indicated in sourcebooks? Not that I necessarily dispute it; I just don't recall seeing it anywhere.
#5 yakman Jan 12, 2010 14:27:58	i gotta disagree with you on the bolded point. after all, the sourcebooks continually emphasize that there are Adaran communities spread out throughout Khorvaire.  there's no reason (that i can see in the sourcebooks) to expect that these communities have a different racial makeup than Adar-proper. I'm not familiar with that. Where is that indicated in sourcebooks? Not that I necessarily dispute it; I just don't recall seeing it anywhere. in faiths of eberron it talks extensively about kalashtar priests in adaran communities in khorvaire (i was browsing it yesterday).  also, it (or SoS) states/hints that the kalashtar were the first to go to khorvaire from adar, and that there are many kalashtar in adaran communities in khorvaire.
#6 RedRider Jan 12, 2010 15:53:58	Did the entire kalashtar population originate with the 67 original?  Or did more humans get converted later.  Seems like the population wouldn't have grown to be too numerous if they all came from the 67. Yes, but with a "Sorta" on the "Conversion" thing. Basically, a child born from a Kalashtar and Human parent will be human if born the same gender as the human but Kalashtar if born the same gender as the Kalashtar parent. (I'm not too sure on non-human parents.) A child with two Kalashtar parents will, similarly, share the spirit of their same-gender ancestor. (In many ways, Kalashtar are basically human. This was even reflected in 3.5 by giving them no penalty to imitate humans with disguise skill checks.) So basically, the growth of Kalashtar population probably owes a lot to Adar's human population.
#7 Sarlax Jan 12, 2010 18:51:09	Basically, a child born from a Kalashtar and Human parent will be human if born the same gender as the human but Kalashtar if born the same gender as the Kalashtar parent. (I'm not too sure on non-human parents.) According to Races of Eberron, kalashtar can breed with humans and half-elves, with both races following the same-gender-same-race rule. This is interesting, as it suggests that the quori spirit finds the host to be suitable (by way of possessing the same gender), it can 'force' the expression of certain physical traits. So basically, the growth of Kalashtar population probably owes a lot to Adar's human population. It's interesting to think about what the kalashtar would be like if it hadn't been humans in Adar, but another race altogether. Could any race have served as a founder population, or is there something unique about humanity that made the race particularly suitable for hosting the kalashtar refugees? In the latter case, I could see the intrinsic potential of humans as being helpful (that potential being expressed by bonus feats, floating skill bonuses, etc.).
#8 RedRider Jan 13, 2010 2:11:19	According to Races of Eberron, kalashtar can breed with humans and half-elves, with both races following the same-gender-same-race rule. This is interesting, as it suggests that the quori spirit finds the host to be suitable (by way of possessing the same gender), it can 'force' the expression of certain physical traits. It's not so much posession as mass hybridisation. Note also that the Inspired Vessels have been specially bred by their masters to include a little elf and fiend blood for some reason. In a fantasy world, it's possible genetics is not the uncontested determinator for physical traits. Perhaps a Kalashtar/Khorvar hybrid would have some signs of it's elf heratige. Though given that the Kalashtar keep themselves to themselves I'd expect such a pairing to be rare. (Though an interesting source of plot hooks.) It's interesting to think about what the kalashtar would be like if it hadn't been humans in Adar, but another race altogether. Interesting idea: Quori spirits are also the source of the psionic goblinoid "Blue" race, which appeared when a Quori criminal attempted to escape his peers by posessing a Goblin in imitation of the Kalashtar spirits. (Perhaps they reasoned that given their breeding cycle, it'd be harder to track down and kill every last member of the new race or that they might be able to survive the turning of the age.) Due to differing quirks of the goblinoid race, the spirit's personality does not express itself strongly in the host race, is not tied to one gender and, of course, turns the goblins blue. The Dhakanni empire was already being crushed by Malleon the Reaver at this point, so their impact on history (or at least, what humans regard as history) has been minimal.