In fairness, inhabitation by a malevolent spirit was the 'classical' explanation for everything.

"We beat him to death to get the devil out of him."

Works every time!

Do you think the whole "lycanthropy virus" thing came up before people even knew there were contagious diseases, let alone what caused the contagion?

Leaving aside the 'virus' aspect, contagious diseases aren't *that* new. And we tend to mash lots of distinct legends together; no reason that every 'bestial (wolf) man thing' is even the same.

Yeah.

Just like there are a whole slew of different vampire-themed legends from around the world, there are a whole slew of wolfman-themed legends - and the two are mashed together in many places as well.

Do you have any idea how long it took to convince surgeons to wash their hands? If diseases were not caused by some flying spaghetti monster it was "bad blood" or miasmas.
Invisible things on our hands which make people sick? C'mon, be serious...

I didn't say germ theory, I said contagious. Victims of leprosy, poxes, and plagues were certainly shunned (rightly or wrongly) at many points in history. Even in recent times, people are afraid they'll get AIDS, cancer, or (obviously not a disease) homosexuality from touching people. And surely the bite of the werewolf is a popular (if not fundamental) aspect of the legends?

Not to mention the very real and proven mental condition known as Lunacy, a periodic form of insanity that was once thought to be brought on by phase changes in the moon. Instances of people going insane and sometimes brutaly murdering people when the moon is full, only to have no recolection of it afterwords. These mixed with the oh so brilliant legends and mans inevitable attempts to come up with a explanation for everything served to propagate the lore.

THREE pages, and NO-ONE has done the Mel Brooks reference yet? *facepalm*

I was thinking of curses as explanation, not evil possessing spirits.

And as asinine as it may sound, it took centuries for people to get that idea. Sick people emanated bad fumes, helping somebody who incurred the wrath of god made the boss angry (analogous if the sickness was caused by witchcraft), dead bodies developed a "corpse toxin" (well, that belief still lasts)...


Nope, at least in the werewolf trials which went hand in hand with the witch hunts that idea seems totally absent. You could involuntarily become a wolf if born under the wrong star or whatever, but contagious werewolf bites are a modern theme -- probably from vampire stories, if you ask me.

Not quite sure how old it is, but yeah - there are places were wolfman legends and vampire legends are connected. Even vampires didn't necessarily make other vampires when they killed - it depends on which legends you go by. There's a lot of different versions...

Neat, Sengir. I still think the idea that 'evil is communicable' is pretty old, though.

There's that, I'm gonna call it a disease for simplicity's sake, which makes people grow hair everywhere. I always thought that was one of the causes of the werewolf legends.

Don't we still do that for furries?

Furries don't count. Besides it's for their own good.

Bullying is socialization.

Misanthropy is virtue.

You say that until a grown ass man who's dressed like a dog comes up and starts humping your leg. Are furries the precursors to shifters?

No, I say that because it's accurate.

The purpose of bullying is to bring outliers in line with the norm.
Meanwhile, the essence of virtue is to fight ones own nature.

Not necessarily related thoughts. They just both bubbled up at the same time.

Ah, but it's not mis *anthropy*.

I ever have a child that's bullied, that's going to be my defense argument when I bully right back.

EDIT: They're *NOT* going to grow up to be me.

Only one way to find out, test if they regenerate

----Ooops......shouldnt have used the silver headed walking stick....my bad.

no, no...you did good!

I can confirm that from sources more reliable than Wiki, were it not for the lateness of the night. And the fact that the books are long gone missing from numerous moves.

But seriously: I posit that literally everything in the world has had *someone* attribute it to evil spirits/demons/devils.

Is it possible that the view of literally everything in the world has been influenced by evil spirits/demons/devils? There's some philosophical theology for you.

1. puppies

2. kittens

consider yourself proven wrong

Whoa, phlapjack. Kittens are cats, cats *are* demons.

As for puppies, there are crazy people out there who hate dogs. I wouldn't put it past them, and I only said "someone'. All I need is one person in all history.

QUOTED FOR TRUTH!!!

I have been in martial arts for over a decade, including weapons forms, and I have done a many stupid things in my youth. The past 5 years of owning a cat has scarred me more than the rest of my life, and the scary thing is that the cat in question LIKES ME!

Cats = evil. Pure, unadulterated evil.

...the person you have as of yet, failed to produce...I'll take this as tacit agreement of my position

I will give you the kittens thing though..

kittens *shudders*

Don't worry, inkjet printers will save us from the cats.




-k

To get back on topic Snow fox had some house rules for were animals. I think she was drawing a lot from the Antia Blake series but it was treated as an infection that could be passed on like the ghoul disease could.

Hate to break this to ya, but...

Vampire mage with Alleviate Allergy => Sparkly Vampire.

Interesting thought.... does that mean it would have different effects for different metatypes?

I don't know. All of the "infected" were human so it did not come up. The 'pack' were a group of mobsters involved in smuggling.

From here.

Dogs....Cats....they pale in comparison to the TRUE evil that plagues us.....





....squirrels.....


::Shudder::

Yeah, they have been getting out of hand lately.

Mrs. Crit and I have three dogs that spend their every waking minute on the prowl for the squirrels that plague us from nearby trees. In honor of their valiant and noble defense of our homestead, we've taken to referring to said squirrels in increasingly sinister ways, to show that we're not taking their threat lightly (and that we would never, of course, belittle the barking and yowling of our three ferocious dogs as they confront the skittering monsters).

Squinjas, squirglars, squissassins, squinsurgents, squerrorists, street squamuras, squorm troopers...you name it. We have a vast array of threatening NPCs scouting out the house at any time, looking to take our stuff, take our food, or take our very lives.

Here in Sacramento, the boldest animals I know of are the squirrels in Capital Park (right outside the state capital building). Fear of humans? You must be joking - humans are their catering staff! Try walking through there - they come right up to you like little begging dogs, it's hilarious.

"Oh, what's this? Food in your hand? Thanks ever so." [runs up your body, grabs the food from your fingers, and hops down again]

"And I see there’s something in your bag as well. Don’t trouble yourself, I’ll get it." [jumps into your bag, rummages around, grabs any food, and runs out again]

Bold as brass and sassy as you please. Dogs, they’re wary of. Humans? Oh, they love us. My once-visiting aunt still occasionally tells the story of when she was "mugged by squirrels" in Capital Park.

Squinjas......Why did it have to be Squinjas....I HATE Squinjas.......

::tip my invisible hat to Dr. Jones::

Weresquirrels? Has that happened yet?

Yeah....a friend of mine did it in 3.5 D&D...bonus to climb and jump and dex etc....bleh..creepy

And, of course, let's not forget the most powerful superhero in the Marvel universe...

Just Awesome, Critias...

Doc Doom is her b****!