Evan asks Glarka about her culture's stance on sexual parters and life partners, and what he knows within his own field of knowledge

"Given the nature of what is dominating the room," said Evan, "maybe we should reorient our thinking. Glarka, what are your tribe's beliefs on procreation and life partners?"

The orc woman didn't seem angry or confused, which is what you would usually get if you asked any human, elf, or gnome, she was actually more amused than anything else, she also had a hint of wanting to have had this discussion earlier. Glarka sat down, cross-legged, directly in front of Evan just shy of 9 feet from him before answering, "In my tribe, you need to prove yourself, either physically, or combat, or some other beneficial way before you are allowed to mate with anyone, we have the same general attitude with people from outside the tribe. My tribe really doesn't have a concept of life partners, if the union of two individuals results in a child then they stay together as parents to the child for the first 11 or 12 years of their life, after that they stop being a paired parental unit and turn the raising of the child to the whole community but the child usually remains living under the roof of their mother until they either establish their own abode or just leave the area."

"Oh," said Evan as comprehension dawned on him, "the humans in my area practice what is known as matrimony, are you familiar with it?"

"I have heard the word, but know not its meaning."

"Basically, two or more people legally, and in some cases even spiritually, bond themselves together in a social contract stating they will be faithful to everyone in the relationship, and usually are in agreement about the raising of children. Every once in a while you will encounter matrimonial pairings that either are unable to bear children for whatever reason or have no desire for offspring for whatever reason."

"Why would anyone not desire to bear offspring, a natural inability to produce offspring I can understand, but having the possible ability to do so but not wishing to partake in the producing of offspring confuses me."

"Well, some matrimonial pairings aren't well-liked by some religious orders, often the religion in question is actually pretty violent to the social pairings they disapprove of. It might be familial pressures, a desire to not disappoint your family or dishonor your lineage can cause one to second guess a desire for offspring, especially if your family has a history of having individuals that possess unfavorable or unwanted aspects or features."

"Such as?"

"It usually depends on the socio-cultural elements of the family and cultural norms of where they reside. Usually, in general, you'll find families with a strong warrior or military lineage usually not liking someone with a physical deformity being born among them or be more interested in intellectual pursuits."

"The more intellectually inclined in my tribe are usually disregarded, it's believed they have fewer ways to show how they are useful to the tribe and what they do bring to the table almost everyone else can do. The only time they really seem to prove themselves more useful is in times of war or crisis, so we let them pitter around and find someone willing to at least entertain spending the night with them."

"That's a very simplistic way to look at things," commented Evan.

"How so?"

"Think about it for a moment, how did you get your metal weapons, initially? Chances were the first metals used were found by some random member of the tribe but it was one of the more intellectually capable ones that figured out how to make the tools the tribe used and how to make new tools to acquire those first metals. They probably experimented with things until they found out how to make the fire hotter, keep the heat where they wanted it, melt the material to the point they figured it was workable, and worked the material for the first time. The more intellectually inclined are the ones that usually come up with new things that are continued to be used in the ways they first showed off. It was the smarter ones that brought us into the tool age and first figured out how to work with metals, and even figured out how to combine metals to produce a stronger material, they even were the first to notice how much better steel is than iron."

"I hadn't thought about it that way. You're pretty good with this discussion stuff."

"That's funny, before I set foot in this place, I had barely passable social skills, most days. Why do you prioritize those that are physically capable?"

"They make the best combatants when a monster or other tribe attacks. They're also the most capable in the harsh environment of the desert we reside in."

"So you're people are nomadic, moving from one advantageous area to another with the seasons, the water, and your primary food sources."

"Yes. But some tribes have established more permanent settlements near some of the oases, especially the larger ones."

"The town this dungeon is near is in a temperate environment, which means it doesn't experience the extremely hot and cold periods a desert would, but we have our own problems. Having a forest nearby means an increased probability of monsters attacking, and forest monsters have behaviors considerably different than what you are probably used to seeing out in the desert. Anyway, we went off-topic for a moment there. The statue's presence likely means something of a sexual nature needs to be done or said in this room," Evan took a quick look over at the door, "and since our discussion of sexual practices, mating rituals, and life partners doesn't seem to have unblocked our way, that would mean some sort of act of a sexual nature is required here."

"Well, we just barely met and I have yet to see anything to display why I should be impressed. I will admit, you are pleasant company, but that's about as far as things go at the moment, I feel that way about half my tribe, it really doesn't mean anything special."