Edible Poets

Overview

The edible poet first appeared on the planet description screen of Classic Elite - and from there naturally transferred to the F7 page (data on "system") in Oolite.

Ethnology of the edible poet

Today we classify at least four distinct genera of them:

the edible wood poet

the edible mountain poet

the edible savannah poet

the edible swamp poet.

There is still a (sometimes heated) debate going on about the question whether the coastal manifestation of the edible poet is to be treated as a genus of its own, or has to be classified as a subgenus of the respective adjacent inland form. Purely maritime types of edible poets have too rarely emerged yet to really have been studied at all; the most widely agreed hypothesis is that they are rather an aberration of the coastal type (or types — depending which side of the 'coastal escarpment' you're on) than a genus of its own. No aerial edible poets have been reported yet. There have been, however, sketchy descriptions recently of sightings of a possible new genus, the edible cave poet. Although another heated argument has risen immediately, whether they might not be a sub-type of the edible mountain poet.

But this shall be enough of this kind of scientific narcissism and vanity.

They gather for a few days each year for the only social interaction between them worth mentioning: exchanging poetry — and of course mating (in the ethnology of edible poets these two are considered more or less the same thing).

Analysis by Commander McLane

Biargean Scandal

The Soylent Green scandal in Biarge. See the Commander Munchausen thread for lengthy details of this blood-curdling event.

Where did the edible poets come from?

See Where do these crazy names come from?

New Cargoes OXP

The edible poet appears as a specific food commodity item in the New Cargoes OXP.

After the infamous conservation disasters on Biarge, export and consumption of edible poets was placed under strict control. Shipping poets outside of their native system is an offence.

Poetry also appears as a specific luxury commodity item:

While the majority of poets in the galaxy are more renowned for their taste than their literacy, the rarefied mountain atmosphere of a few worlds gives the right environment for poetry with superb emotional resonance.

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Appendix on Edible Arts Graduates

From the Famous Planets description of Sector2/Rave:

The Raveian edible arts graduate is considered to be a food source by the smart Shrews of Rave. This form of cannibalism is infamous around the local sector but on Rave it is a tradition. The smart Shrews of Rave believe that by eating arts graduates they can acquire a higher form of knowledge. The graduates provide themselves of their own free will after living for 20 years in royal conditions. The eating ceremony is an ancient ritual and remains off-limits for the visitor.

From the Vanilla game code description of Sector8/Reonar:

The planet Reonar is scourged by killer edible arts graduates.

It should perhaps be noted that these terms come from the game code in Classic Elite. Both authors of Elite, Ian Bell and David Braben were science students at Cambridge University, which was then dominated by the scientific dons, and may not have regarded their arts student confederates as quite being up to the mark!

New Cargoes OXP

The edible arts graduate appears as a specific food commodity item in the New Cargoes OXP.

The export of edible arts graduates breaches numerous local and galactic regulations, but the gourmets of worlds such as Malama may be prepared to break them.