TRUE BLOOD AND FALSE BLOOD Kan Pol was the last of the original Lintha to die, and the last true Lintha in Creation. He knew that the pure bloodlines died with him, but he believed the Great Mother would reinvigorate the dwindling blood of her distant children when they had done her enough honors. The curse was a thing to endure, a penance instead of a condemnation. By the time of the Usurpation, the noblest- seeming halfbloods called themselves true Lintha. Only Lintha whose heritage was an obvious mix were halfbloods. From convenience and pride, they forget that the last pure bloodline died with Kan Pol. This continues today. Lintha elders accept only a few bloodlines as true and guide their eugenics accordingly. Purer Lintha blood brings infertility and dangerous childbirth, forcing the septs to sometimes breed outside approved lines just to conceive. De- spite the Lintha’s efforts at eugenics, even children of unions between two “pure” bloodlines display traits that should prove the lines fl awed and thin- ning. The Lintha Family deludes itself.
