Eating your own species is something altogether different. But then we know that female black widow spider and scorpions eat males of their own species. And adult chimpanzees and pigs are known to eat their own children. So I guess it depends on the species. Humans consider it gross, but some other species don't.

Is an imp really the same species as a djinni anyway?

I don't think so. Maybe it's like humans and cows, for example. Both are mammals. But humans eat beef.
Hasn't God said anything about this?

Of course, this said, djinni will happily eat each other given the opportunity, too.

Sentynel wrote:Is an imp really the same species as a djinni anyway?

Okay, they are not the same. They are a different kingdom altogether. With sub-kingdom, phylum etc.
?

SevenPentacles wrote:

Nero wrote:WHOA. I just realized that spirits back then got feed meals. Meals of their fellow spirits!

How sick is that?

I'm pretty sure it's no different than say eating a rabbit, cow, or chicken (well for the weaker spirits anyway).

I'd just like to say that when I started this whole conversation of species and eating, when I said sick, I meant awesome, not disgusting....

Maybe you should use words that don't have an obscure slang meaning entirely opposite to their dictionary meaning, then...

Man I never got the slang 'sick'.

Also I was vaguely horrified at the beginning until I realized 'OH it's Bart PFFF WHAT'.
And now I am even more impatient for it to come out.

GUHH UK you have no idea how much I want to be you guys right now.

How did we go from the sneak peak to djinni's eating habits and outdated slang...?

Fio wrote:How did we go from the sneak peak to djinni's eating habits and outdated slang...?

Welcome to Bartiforums.

Fio wrote:How did we go from the sneak peak to djinni's eating habits and outdated slang...?

^ NAZIS????
well Godwin's law would happen eventually

This is not the worst topic derailment I've seen.

More on topic... from what I gather, imps and the like have lower intelligence, so higher and more intelligent species have fewer qualms about cannibalism? And life is kind of tough when you're a spirit, so you can't be expected to have much sympathy for your suffering comrades in a dog-eat-dog world if you expect to live (i.e. Asmoral and Ianna).[/s]

Fio wrote:How did we go from the sneak peak to djinni's eating habits and outdated slang...?

It's not outdated...

Ozy wrote:More on topic... from what I gather, imps and the like have lower intelligence, so higher and more intelligent species have fewer qualms about cannibalism?

Is it really cannibalism if imps can't really graduate/grow into becoming djinni or whatever? And Barti maybe an unreliable narrator, but he described marids and afrits as being pretty slow as well. I guess when you're enslaved you tend to lose interest in moral codes. I'm going with your dog-eat-dog theory.

Luciene wrote:

Ozy wrote:More on topic... from what I gather, imps and the like have lower intelligence, so higher and more intelligent species have fewer qualms about cannibalism?

Is it really cannibalism if imps can't really graduate/grow into becoming djinni or whatever? And Barti maybe an unreliable narrator, but he described marids and afrits as being pretty slow as well. I guess when you're enslaved you tend to lose interest in moral codes. I'm going with your dog-eat-dog theory.

Huh, I always thought that they weren't defined by species, just variations, being from the Other Place and technically 'cut out of the same cloth'. Y' know, made up of the same stuff (unless you want to compare Other-Place-Stuff to atoms and somehow make chemical makeup part of the equation).
Like, um... what's an apt comparison.... silly puddy or clay, maybe?
Man, someone tell me if this has already been discussed. /whisks off to the Q board

Well, I don't think we are doing right by classifying the spirits like we do things on earth but it is fun nevertheless.
Okay, grounds for classification (and I'm not going the classical way because it doesn't make any sense to me. I mean, species are the bottom-most in the hierarchy of biological classification and here, they seem to be the only main method of classifying spirits. And, there can be taxonomic ranks below species over here as we know a "14th level djinni" exists) ont he basis:
1) Whether they are spirits of air, fire, water etc. and varied combination.
2) Species level i.e., marids, djinn, afrits, foilots, mites etc.
3) Levels within species (like greater and lesser djinn).
4) Sublevels within that (eg: fourteenth and fourth level djinn).
5) Greater classification that puts marids, afrits and djinn under one category (due to some similar characteristics) and mites, imps and foilots under one and so on.
6) The higher spirits, golems etc.

It seems messy, to be honest. And I know I haven't put that in order.

I seem to remember Stroud mentioning that the Fourteenth or Fourth was a typo. 'tis only supposed to be one.

Yeah, Bartimaeus is supposed to have been only a fourth or a fourteenth level djinni, not both. But it doesn't mean that both the levels don't exist.

n&B wrote:1) Whether they are spirits of air, fire, water etc. and varied combination.
2) Species level i.e., marids, djinn, afrits, foilots, mites etc.
3) Levels within species (like greater and lesser djinn).
4) Sublevels within that (eg: fourteenth and fourth level djinn).
5) Greater classification that puts marids, afrits and djinn under one category (due to some similar characteristics) and mites, imps and foilots under one and so on.
6) The higher spirits, golems etc

In addition, according to Nathaniel in AoS, there are 13046 listed Spirit Species.

haha, all i keep picturing is bartimaeus turning into a guy and not the woman he was in the excerpt and describing him in all that loving detail. It makes me cringe but i can't stop. it was automatic. haha :P

This is so awsomesaucefullness(Sorry i used your word destiny sandgem)