Eonwind makes a lot of very valid points here. I'll address a couple things in particular, but I want to make my main point clear here: We are not playing in a medieval fantasy setting. Our
characters are. We are pulling on the puppet strings of someone in an entirely different reality, without any of the social constructs, morality, politics, or religions of our own reality. We can liken elements of Planeshift's setting to our own Middle Ages, but it is merely a comparison. You cannot draw direct analogies to something that is fictitious.
Prefacing with that, let me get into the specifics.
- A homosexual couple can't procreate: The incompatibility of same gender relationships won't allow for them to procreate, that is, produce offspring (despite Kran abbility of "gemming").
The nature has its limits and so that's why in ancient times, even when being homo or bisex was fashion, marriage was never ever socially approved.
In a world where less than 50% of children was able to reach adult age the society needed a form of family which was able to produce enough children to keep the birth-death rate count balanced, and also never forget the frequent plague and illness which were quite frequent and could easily decimate the population.
About adoption it was not a common practice and was only recurred at in extreme cases when there was the need of an offspring to avoid a family name extinction.
Also what about threesome rights? Yes why limit ourselves only to 2 core family members instead of 3 of mixed genders?
Eonwind is exactly right. Homosexuality was forbidden across cultures during Earth's Middle Ages. I'll remind the reader about my first point about drawing comparisons to our own Middle Age, as it's an irrelevant comparison to begin with. However, that being said, the reason for homosexuality being forbidden was not merely a religious dictate by the Catholic Church, Islamic Law, and other main world religions at the time. The reason for governments and kingdoms banning homosexuality was a far more practical one: You can't produce offspring in a homosexual relationship. World population levels at the time were far lower, and at a constant threat of things like the plague, and a relationship that could not produce your family an heir and a successor was entirely useless.
- The Octarchy doesn't allow for same sex marriage: This is a poor, cheap, hurried excuse for not wanting to implement same gender marriages mechanically. I have read the lore, and nowhere have I seen that homosexuals were prosecuted for their preferences.
You've never read of any persecution of homosexuals because there has never been one, and something like that will never happen as well. The Octarchy would not approve any persecution, however it doesn't automatically mean that same sex marriage can be officially sanctioned. However my personal opinion is players are free to play whatever they want, including same sex marriage, until it's not exceeding the limit of decency (especially in public channels).
Eonwind is again correct on the matter of settings. The Octarchy will not recognize same-sex marriages, but that does not mean they're outlawed. If you, as the player, want to put your character in this situation, be my guest. Just be mindful of how this relationship would fit into Planeshift's setting.
People in this setting are not like people today. They are biased, prejudiced, and fundamentally different. They live under a very different moral and legal system. Now, if Planeshift's setting had been made so that, for example, the Klyran race had a strong dislike for the Kran race, it would be perfectly normal to see establishments in Amdeneir with "NO KRAN" signs outside. Now, the current setting explicitly does away with any form of racism, but were the game made like this, a Klyros and Kran who are best friends would draw some funny looks for the rest of the city's population, and they would not be wrong to do so.
That sort of blatant racial exclusion seems taboo to us today, but this was commonplace in a system like ancient Rome, where left-handed men were publicly and blatantly discriminated against. The same is true in some modern societies, even. So again, while the Octarchy's stance against homosexuality may seem taboo to us, in today's setting, be mindful that our characters are not playing in today's setting. That sort of bias is common, and normal. Those who think more liberally are eyebrowed at for being strange.
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