Xenophobia

X is for Xenophobia in our twenty third installment of the Deepest Sea A-Z.

Webster's defines Xenophobia as: (N) fear and hatred of strangers or foreigners or of anything that is strange or foreign.  Which seems about right.

In the Deepest Sea setting, xenophobia is pretty much the default setting of a random NPC.  If you are not from this barony, let alone the country or race, well, that is a pretty big negative to his or her opinion of you right out of the gate.  With a few exceptions, humans do not care for Dwarves, Elves, or Havlings (and certainly not orcs).  Correspondingly members of those races, do not as a general rule care for those of other races either.
 
Of course, in a world where different humanoids are common, there are some whose interests are, shall we say, peculiar.  This sort of person can be found at every social strata; however, only the rich can afford to buy exotic slaves, or otherwise indulge in xenophillia.  This trait is slightly more common in Elves, as they are, as a rule, thrill seekers.
 
For role play purposes, it is assumed that a PC does not have xenophobic tendencies, or if they do, they are sufficiently subsumed as to not prevent normal congress with them.  NPCs on the other hand should have a negative to any reactions if a PC or NPC is from a different part of their own country, a negative if the PC/NPC is from a different country, a further negative if the PC/NPC is from an enemy country, and on top of that, a negative if the PC/NPC is a different race (human to elf say).  That means that the PC/NPC better have a pretty darn convincing argument, or be willing to pay a high price for that gee-gaw, or otherwise will be suffering due to the xenophobia of the target NPC.

[JB at B/X BlackRazor also posted on Xenophobia, and as usual, expressed the concept quite well.]
 
Friday, more Deepest Sea A-Z with Yeoman.