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 Post subject: WereWolves
PostPosted: January 7th, 2012, 1:36 pm 
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Hmm, I've never posted anything about any of the peoples (yes, WereWolves are a 'people', read on and you'll understand) of Vadra (my fantasy world), but I'll do my best to do this right, I hope some of you will make it to the bottom and have some questions to help me figure these complex people out! :cool:

The WereWolves (I like to capitalize the second W as well because to completely encapsulate their identity, you have to acknowledge both their man-form wer and wolf-form with a capital letter [at least and especially on formal occasions {did you know some WereWolves *it's really annoying how the word 'WereWolf has a red underline on it...I think I'll 'add to dictionary', what does spellcheck know?* can be quite gentlemanly and official, solemn, ceremonial, ceremonious...}]) are descendants of a group of people that dabbled in black magic, trying to acquire the power to become wolves at will, needless to say, it didn't work and God (Vadrans don't have a name for him yet) spoke to them, asking why they had acted so foolishly.
God then punished them by partially granting their wish, but instead of being able to transform at will, they would only be able to become wolves on the night of a full moon. Indeed, they had no choice but to undergo an extremely painful process that takes three to five minutes, go about in wolf form assuming the intelligence of "wild" wolves (as opposed to intelligent wolves that are able to converse with humans) and sometimes (usually) do things they never would have done had they retained their mental capacities.
Most of these Werewolves (this time only the wer W is capitalized because their wolf form requires no formal recognition [these Werewolves weren't nearly so gentlemanly anyway {I mean, come on they dabbled (and continued to dabble) in black magic}]) only rebelled further against God because of this. Some of them even became quite...er...fluent in black magic, but even so they weren't able to lift the curse on their race, only God could do that.
Then, a few generations of Werewolves later, (their population had shrunk drastically due to internal conflict, effects of black magic, massive losses from Werewolf hunters of several different races, the list might go on some day if I think of anything else...) God reveals himself to some of the younger Werewolves and they repent, and those that turned away from black magic and turned to serving God, the curse was turned on its head. The WereWolves were born!
Now, having covered their history (and the difference in spelling), I will now describe WereWolves:

In human form
they are basically the same as humans, but their clothing is made out of mats of wolf hair (though the lady WereWolves are very good at making clothing that closely resembles other people's and coloring it for camouflage, etc), the reason for this is, that if their clothing is made out of wolf hair, they will morph along with the person, into wolf form, and back out again (thus removing the need of a lot of awkward scenes where a wolf turns into a clothes-less human, and also removing those scenes with wolves carrying garments with them, which is what Werewolves had to do).
Although from looking at a human-shaped WereWolf you wouldn't be able to tell they 'aren't quite human', you might be able to tell if you hang out with one during dinner time. For one thing, they are more accepting of raw meat than normal humans, and consider cooked meat a delicacy instead of standard procedure. It also takes more effort for them to be polite and keep from grunting, chomping loudly, and snarling at the table, but they can do it.
They are also very comfortable around wolves, and wolves with them (though wolves hate the Werewolves that were before them).

Changing shape
When WereWolves want to shift from human form to wolf form and vice-versa, it depends on how recently and how often they have performed the shapeshifting procedure. They usually prefer to change form at least once a week, so that the process is relatively painless and takes less than a minute-if they wait a month or more, the pain can be excruciating and the process lasts several minutes.
But those that really want to stay in touch with both of their forms change form every day (these are the healthiest ones, because transforming has a healing aspect to it, and helps keep them 'in shapes'), this way it takes only a few seconds and the shapshifter hardly feels it happen.

Wolfman form This is when they stop the process roughly halfway through. In this form, they are able to walk bipedally or on all-fours, (sort of like the werewolves in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe) they have the head of a wolf, and immense human strength and good speed. Some of the WereWolves think that this is their "true form" because they have an amazing clarity of thought and wisdom in this form. But those that stay in this form for more than a month (might make that time smaller, or depends on the werewolf) will lose the ability to shapeshift, and will become wild wolves.

Wolf Form
In Wolf form, they are, again, basically the same as those whose form they have borrowed, but have the same sorts of differences as in human form, accepting human food, etc.

One last detail, the symbol they wear when they want to make themselves known as WereWolves, is ༼༽, showing a human form with (artfully depicted) wolf ears.


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 Post subject: Re: WereWolves
PostPosted: January 7th, 2012, 5:46 pm 
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Very cool!

I like your backstory a lot. The curse God placed on them for their sin, and the interesting and unexpected form of redemption (at least, from the physical and mental aspects of the curse) offered to the children later. You can almost see a sort of exile theme there. Your description of the different forms the WereWolves can take is very illuminating. I have a bunch of questions/suggestions. Forgive me if there's a lot, these are just the things that occurred to me, reading your excellent description.

1. I understand that the Werewolves (lower case deliberate here) would essentially lose their minds when they transformed, or at least from a human point of view. What about the WereWolves in wolf form? Is their human thinking fully intact, but just tweaked a bit by wolfish instincts? Or are they just wolf-minded, but a bit smarter and more friendly? Somewhere in between?

2. Somewhat related: for the Wolfman form, where does the clear thinking/wisdom come from? Is it human reasoning combined with the strong (spiritual?) instincts of a wolf? A canine sense of loyalty and ability to detect intentions, and resistance to intimidation?

3. Why does a Nothlit (Animorph lingo for being stuck in a form from staying in it too long ;) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nothlit) Wolfman revert to wolf, instead of just staying Wolfman? (Meaning your intentions for the world as opposed to a physical mechanism. It sounds like you don't want there to be permanent Wolfmen; just curious as to why)

4. If a WereWolf stays human to the point where transformation is essentially impossible, is it essentially a human again? Would it eventually shed its fur "clothing" and need to wear normal clothing again, and develop table manners?

5. What about the children of a WereWolf and a human? Are they impossible? Are they some kind of hybrid? Does the species of the mother determine it? Perhaps the transformation of a pregnant mother conveys WereWolfhood onto an otherwise human child? This would result in a serious choice for a mother WereWolf, since it sounds like 9 months of not transforming into a wolf would probably leave her stuck, in return for having a human child.

6. Do Werewolves still exist, alongside WereWolves? (I imagine the two peoples would probably not have the best relations, lol...)

7. (bit of a suggestion) If both species do coexist, do the WereWolves have a name for themselves, in whatever language they use? Having capitalization as the only distinction could be confusing, especially in verbal communication.

All in all, neat stuff! :book: :D

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 Post subject: Re: WereWolves
PostPosted: January 7th, 2012, 6:08 pm 
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I really like the WereWolves.

So... are there normal humans on Vadra as well? Is it possible for a WereWolf to revert to a Werewolf? Is it still possible for a Werewolf to become a WereWolf? How do they make their clothing?

Also... How did you get your symbol to show??? That's cool...

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 Post subject: Re: WereWolves
PostPosted: January 7th, 2012, 8:51 pm 
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Really cool. I like the backstory you've come up for them. :D

*makes a mental note for etymology involving his wolfmen*

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 Post subject: Re: WereWolves
PostPosted: January 8th, 2012, 12:28 pm 
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Very cool!

I like your backstory a lot. The curse God placed on them for their sin, and the interesting and unexpected form of redemption (at least, from the physical and mental aspects of the curse) offered to the children later. You can almost see a sort of exile theme there. Your description of the different forms the WereWolves can take is very illuminating. I have a bunch of questions/suggestions. Forgive me if there's a lot, these are just the things that occurred to me, reading your excellent description.


Thank you! Yes, I like it too! :rofl: I didn't know so much about their history before I wrote that post! Yeah and that redemption theme was what I was going for, hence my wording: "The WereWolves were born!" 'born' as in a new type of creature, just like we become new creatures in Christ!
Don't worry about asking questions, even if a lot of them! I like answering them, it helps me to develop the thing the questions are about, and shows that you are interested! Thanks for asking questions! Now to answer them... *enlarges the 'post a reply' window sort of like rolling up sleeves in preparation for a large task*

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1. I understand that the Werewolves (lower case deliberate here) would essentially lose their minds when they transformed, or at least from a human point of view. What about the WereWolves in wolf form? Is their human thinking fully intact, but just tweaked a bit by wolfish instincts? Or are they just wolf-minded, but a bit smarter and more friendly? Somewhere in between?


Hmm, yes, the WereWolves are still fully human in the mental department, but tweaked a bit by wolfish instincts, possibly wolfish desires (maybe a more ravenous appetite, but if they gorge themselves and switch back to human, their liable to get sick) as well as just subtle differences caused by extremely sharp hearing and sense of smell. Many of the wolves in Vadra are actually sentient beings, so these wolf-shaped humans would be a lot like them, but with more humanly influenced thinking (I'll have to think about how that 'takes shape' (pun intended :dieshappy: ), if you have ideas/suggestions, I'm open to hearing them!).

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2. Somewhat related: for the Wolfman form, where does the clear thinking/wisdom come from? Is it human reasoning combined with the strong (spiritual?) instincts of a wolf? A canine sense of loyalty and ability to detect intentions, and resistance to intimidation?


Yes, those ideas of how that would come about are quite good. :) I think that it is because wolves and humans think differently, know different things and have different abilities, and in Wolfman form, they have a near-perfect balance of the two sets of abilities/perspectives, so they can, say, fight like a wolf (using teeth and claws) and also grasp a specially shaped dagger and fight similarly to humans. You can see how this could give them an advantage over either humans or wolves, and this sort of 'balance between the two natures extends to the spiritual and mental levels as well. They also can view the world the way a wolf does and the way a human does at the same time. I don't mean that their entire personality changes, but more subtle than that, sort of like the assumptions we make without knowing it, they are hard to see (especially for us), but they have a huge impact on how we think (man it's going to be hard to get that to take shape, too!). Does that make sense?

Quote:
3. Why does a Nothlit (Animorph lingo for being stuck in a form from staying in it too long ;) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nothlit) Wolfman revert to wolf, instead of just staying Wolfman? (Meaning your intentions for the world as opposed to a physical mechanism. It sounds like you don't want there to be permanent Wolfmen; just curious as to why)


Right, well, I guess because though God gave the WereWolves the ability to be wolf-shaped, and wolfmen, he wants them to continue to be humans, he does not want them to try and stay wolfmen for their entire lives, thus developing an identity in that shape. But I do think they should be able to stay in that form for a long time without consequence. I might just leave that 'rule' out until a WereWolf 'falls away' and stays in wolfman form for the sake of becoming more powerful, and leaving his human form for dead, seeking a new, 'better' identity. To look at this from another angle, Wolfman form is like being high (as in, drunk with) intelligence, physical strength, and spiritual fluentness (I'm not sure how this will take shape yet, maybe they will have some 'wolfish sixth sense' and mind control or something), it is good as a tool, and even is acceptable to assume this form for years on end (though I wouldn't want to be the guy that had to go through almost an hour of convulsions and excruciating pain to change form after that), but it is wrong to sacrifice the human form because it is their original form, it is what they are. So reverting permanently to wolf form would be like God again saying "you want to be a wolf, do you? So be it!", similarly to how Ginger the cat loses his ability to speak in Narnia, The Last Battle. I hope that makes sense, phew, you're good at asking tough questions that make me think! o.O

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4. If a WereWolf stays human to the point where transformation is essentially impossible, is it essentially a human again? Would it eventually shed its fur "clothing" and need to wear normal clothing again, and develop table manners?


I don't think they are able to lose their ability to shapeshift from human form like they can lose the ability to shapeshift to human form. However, it get's very painful, and time consuming if not done regularly. Hopefully telling you about this WereWolf I've thought about will help you: He lived in a time when WereWolves were still being hunted alongside Were-wolves (there I put the hyphen so it's easier to see the difference). It wouldn't have been hard for him to find a haven where others of his kind are holed up, except that at first he is injured by a Were-wolf hunter, and can't escape and take care of himself. So in order to survive in a human village, he remains in human form, wearing normal clothes and hiding his wolf-hair garments, and making sure no one sees his WereWolf charm (the little symbol they use to show others of their kind that they are WereWolves as well), he ends up staying in human form 24/7 (if that's how time is structured there, I'm not sure yet) because he is too scared of being caught in another form and being killed. This lasts for, I don't know, let's say ten years, and as time goes on, the WereWolves have mustered forces and are declaring war, people are starting to suspect the strange man that tries to suppress grunting noises at the table really is a Were-wolf after all, and the refugee WereWolf is in a pretty bad spot. But then he finally makes up his mind, locks himself into his room, and with all his might, shapeshifts into wolfman form in only twenty minutes (the short time is due to extreme will power and strength of mind, sort of like strong muscles make it so you can lift something easier, and the fact that he was only shifting into wolfman, so it only took half as long). But the pain is so excruciating that he screams near the end, and just barely manages to escape getting killed in his room. Then the main force of WereWolves attack at that moment, and our WereWolf friend is happily reunited with his kins(wolf)men after the battle. I hope that rambling achieved something...
In short, WereWolves don't lose the ability to shapeshift, but it gets harder, more painful, and more time consuming as time goes on if they don't do it regularly.

Quote:
5. What about the children of a WereWolf and a human? Are they impossible? Are they some kind of hybrid? Does the species of the mother determine it? Perhaps the transformation of a pregnant mother conveys WereWolfhood onto an otherwise human child? This would result in a serious choice for a mother WereWolf, since it sounds like 9 months of not transforming into a wolf would probably leave her stuck, in return for having a human child.


I'm not sure, it probably wouldn't happen often because of cultural differences (human woman don't appreciate grunting at the table! lol). I think it could happen though, just like people from different cultures can get married in real life, the cultural differences would just be difficult, and make things interesting. I think the possibilities are: the child is not able to take wolf form, the child is able to cultivate the ability, but it is very difficult at first and takes years to achieve, or the child is able to shapeshift with ease just like a full WereWolf.

Quote:
6. Do Werewolves still exist, alongside WereWolves? (I imagine the two peoples would probably not have the best relations, lol...)


Right! the WereWolves and Were-wolves are both few in number compared to humans, at least for awhile, due to being hunted almost to extinction, but both of them survive, and are almost constantly at war with eachother.

Quote:
7. (bit of a suggestion) If both species do coexist, do the WereWolves have a name for themselves, in whatever language they use? Having capitalization as the only distinction could be confusing, especially in verbal communication.


I know, I was thinking about that too. Also languages are probably the least developed portion of my world. I think they speak a similar language to humans, and can speak with the friendlier races of humans with ease. To answer the question, I'm not sure yet, but I might just have them call the Were-wolves (the evil race) The Wer (pronounced wear) which could have similarities to both the word for man, and their word for wanderer, as in, those that are lost, going the wrong way, etc. Right now, the hyphenated (Were-wolves) ones are the evil ones, while the dual-capitalized ones are the good ones.

Quote:
All in all, neat stuff! :book: :D


Thank you! I'm sure it'll all be even better for your questions! Your questions really helped me think them through more in ways I hadn't thought too. Hopefully you'll be able to meet them someday (I mean, hopefully you get to meet the good ones)!


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 Post subject: Re: WereWolves
PostPosted: January 8th, 2012, 12:43 pm 
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Seabird wrote:
I really like the WereWolves.

So... are there normal humans on Vadra as well? Is it possible for a WereWolf to revert to a Werewolf? Is it still possible for a Werewolf to become a WereWolf? How do they make their clothing?

Also... How did you get your symbol to show??? That's cool...


Thank you! Yes, there are normal humans, I just haven't posted about them yet. :) Yes, in a way, If a WereWolf decides it wants to stay in wolf or wolfman form, and tries to shift their identity as well as their 'shape' to that of a wolf, thereby abusing their gift of shapeshifting, they will revert to a 'wild' wolf that cannot talk or think as humans can. This isn't to say that they aren't allowed to stay in wolfman or wolf form for extended periods of time (even years, though that would make for an extremely painful, and possibly harmful, transformation), just so long as they have a God-centered motive for it, and/or are not trying to change the fact that they are still human. I hope that answers your question!

I know, that symbol is pretty cool-looking huh? ;) Unfortunately, I didn't really design it. I downloaded a 'unicode map' app for ipod touch and spent like half an hour or more looking through strange symbols to use for naming my castles in a mmog (massive multiplayer online game) and I found these odd shaped characters: ༼ and ༽ I noticed that they might make a cool archway if put close together, so I tried it and got:

༼༽ and ༼ ༽ but this one was my favorite: ༼༽ and while I was writing about my WereWolves, I thought that it would go well with them!

Oh, and about a Were-wolf becoming a WereWolf: I'm not quite sure, maybe they can, in some cases at least, but I don't think it happens often. Bottom line, I think it is possible, but extremely unlikely.

Thanks Suiauthon! I really like backstory-writing! I'm glad you like it, and have fun developing your wolfmen!

God Bless you guys, and thanks for helping me with my WereWolves by asking good questions and showing interest in them, that encourages me to keep writing/world-building.


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 Post subject: Re: WereWolves
PostPosted: January 9th, 2012, 2:42 am 
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Great discussion!

So, some main points I see emerging from your reply are...

1. WereWolves are still, at their inmost being, human; they simply have a body with extra abilities. There is nothing fundamentally different about their spirit, identity, or role in the universe.

2. It's not the physical length of time spent in wolfhood/wolfmanhood that would get them stuck as a wolf, but rather an unhealthy/sinful state of mind that causes them to regress to being a wolf.

3. Wolves (at least some) are thinking, sentient beings, which think roughly as well as a humans but differently from humans, and you're figuring out in what ways. As a Wolfman, both these aspects of intelligence complement each other (and can be used together to God's glory) but this is not a natural state of being for a human and should not be treated as such.

Did I understand these right? :)

Here are some thoughts to consider on wolf intelligence:
1. Are the naturally sentient wolves un-fallen? Has God given them commands that they can obey or disobey? Are there rules of moral engagement in how they deal with humans and each other written on their hearts?
2. I think that giving the wolves a sharp sense of spiritual discernment would indeed be an interesting and vaguely wolfish attribute to assign to them. Because the morality of various different choices and intentions would be so obvious to them, this could potentially lead to a more black-and-white system of ethics among wolves, and less concern over the more abstract implications that humans tend to deal with. Perhaps human notions such as "moral responsibility" and "justice" are so blindingly obvious to wolves that they don't even recognize them as concepts. This could also mean that a wolf with a deficient sense of morality (a trapped former wolfman, for example) couldn't really be reasoned with to correct their error. That would give a sort of finality about the punishment, if that seems appropriate to you. Finally, I think this would help endow a wolfman with the kind of complementary wisdom you describe--as mentioned before, able to access the spiritual discernment of the wolf, but also able to work out its more complex implications with the philosophical human intellect.

Finally, I offer the term "Lycanthrope" for your consideration, as a possible placeholder name for members of either race. It means the same thing as werewolf. Could be conveniently shortened to "Lycanth" or "Lycan" if desired. ^_^

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 Post subject: Re: WereWolves
PostPosted: January 9th, 2012, 7:22 pm 
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So, some main points I see emerging from your reply are...

1. WereWolves are still, at their inmost being, human; they simply have a body with extra abilities. There is nothing fundamentally different about their spirit, identity, or role in the universe.

2. It's not the physical length of time spent in wolfhood/wolfmanhood that would get them stuck as a wolf, but rather an unhealthy/sinful state of mind that causes them to regress to being a wolf.

3. Wolves (at least some) are thinking, sentient beings, which think roughly as well as a humans but differently from humans, and you're figuring out in what ways. As a Wolfman, both these aspects of intelligence complement each other (and can be used together to God's glory) but this is not a natural state of being for a human and should not be treated as such.

Did I understand these right? :)


Yep! :D

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1. Are the naturally sentient wolves un-fallen? Has God given them commands that they can obey or disobey? Are there rules of moral engagement in how they deal with humans and each other written on their hearts?


Hmm, I don't think they are un-fallen, but maybe some of them are (maybe the "adam of wolves" didn't sin, but one of his sons did, so there are some that are fallen while others are not). I do know there are some wolves that are bad, though, so that rules out the race being completely un-fallen.
I think there are rules of moral engagement in dealing with humans...the good ones respect them as being creatures made by God, and that they are more capable of invention than most other creatures, or at least do it more often than any other. They also have very strict morals about protecting and training their families and protecting other members of the pack. Including other packs with which they have made peace and share parts of their territory.
As for specific commandments specifically to the sentient wolves, they are not to mate with a werewolf of any kind (because werewolves are human, and, like our world, different species aren't supposed to mate), and they are not to prey on humans for food (for the reason mentioned above, but this doesn't mean they can't be at war with humans). They are only to eat animals that they are at war with or animals that don't talk (because many of the talking animals also serve God, but if they are at war with some animals, it's assumed that their enemies aren't servants of God). There are others, but I don't know what they all are yet. ;)

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2. I think that giving the wolves a sharp sense of spiritual discernment would indeed be an interesting and vaguely wolfish attribute to assign to them. Because the morality of various different choices and intentions would be so obvious to them, this could potentially lead to a more black-and-white system of ethics among wolves, and less concern over the more abstract implications that humans tend to deal with. Perhaps human notions such as "moral responsibility" and "justice" are so blindingly obvious to wolves that they don't even recognize them as concepts. This could also mean that a wolf with a deficient sense of morality (a trapped former wolfman, for example) couldn't really be reasoned with to correct their error. That would give a sort of finality about the punishment, if that seems appropriate to you. Finally, I think this would help endow a wolfman with the kind of complementary wisdom you describe--as mentioned before, able to access the spiritual discernment of the wolf, but also able to work out its more complex implications with the philosophical human intellect.


That, my friend, is an awesome idea! This would indeed make the WereWolves a race more advanced than most others, in wisdom, at least. And there are so many different things I could do with that, if there is ever a counsel in which the different races of Vosmerre are represented, their discussion will be very interesting! Yes, I think that is what I have been looking for! This will also help me with forming personalities for wolves.

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Finally, I offer the term "Lycanthrope" for your consideration, as a possible placeholder name for members of either race. It means the same thing as werewolf. Could be conveniently shortened to "Lycanth" or "Lycan" if desired. ^_^


I really like that! Hmm, what if I call the WereWolves 'The Lycanis' from other races' perspective, and called the werewolves the 'Lycanth'? That would help differentiate when speaking from, say, a real wolf's perspective (normal wolves hate, and I mean hate the werewolves, but [like humans and other races] eventually learn the difference between the Lycanis and the Lycanth).


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 Post subject: Re: WereWolves
PostPosted: January 10th, 2012, 8:25 am 
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Great! I'm so glad some of the wolf-intelligence ideas are going to help you! :D

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 Post subject: Re: WereWolves
PostPosted: January 11th, 2012, 12:35 am 
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This is a fascinating take on this particular legend; it's utterly different from my own version, but this supernatural/metaphysical explanation of lycanthropy makes just as much sense, and seems just as likely. Well done!

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 Post subject: Re: WereWolves
PostPosted: January 11th, 2012, 12:42 am 
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Thank you so much! I had a lot of fun with it! It's amazing how much more you discover when you try to type it all out, too. But Cephron helped me a lot with the finer details, as you can see! Thanks again!

P.S. Have you posted about your version of werewolves yet? If you do, I'll be interested to see what you have. God Bless!


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 Post subject: Re: WereWolves
PostPosted: January 23rd, 2012, 3:55 pm 
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Inesdar wrote:
*groans * I want to steal this, I have werewolves in my world and I have been pondering their origins and this fits so well. Ah well, I will be good and not plagiarize, but even so, you have certainly inspired me! I really like the idea of divine punishment. I was toying with the idea of demonic tampering, but I didn't think that would be powerful enough to change them.

Question, do your werewolves have a culture of any sort?


I'm honored to know you like them! I know how you feel about wanting to copy someone else's idea. :( But I'm glad God could use me to inspire you! I'm sure you'll figure something awesome out for them! Another idea might be that species are able to interbreed, but it is wrong for them to do so and the results are never good, if you don't like that route, you could say that no one knows where they're from but they first appeared in a place sopping with odd magic that made everything around it run amuck. lol

"do your werewolves have a culture of any sort?"

If you mean the lycanths, the evil, unredeemed version of werewolves, yes. Their culture is similar to that of real wolves, but in comparison to them wild wolves would seem like nobility having a tea party. That is to say, their culture is very violent, chaotic, backstabbing (backbiting would be more accurate I suppose, :-) ), and overall just plain terrible. But it's even worse when they are in wolf form.

If you meant the Lycanis, or the WereWolves, the good, redeemed version of werewolf, yes, it is similar to human culture, but their children are probably tougher due to harsher (but not cruel) upbringing. Sorry to be vague, like that, but I really haven't spent much time with my werewolves since I discovered them-a problem I hope to fix in the near future!

Did I answer your question properly? Sometimes I have trouble formulating my answer, so don't hesitate to ask me to specify something, etc.


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 Post subject: Re: WereWolves
PostPosted: January 23rd, 2012, 6:29 pm 
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Inesdar wrote:
*grins * well I sadly can't do that as my story takes place sort of in the real world, so I am limited in that respect. I was thinking of making mine Nephilim, the offspring of possessed men.


:D Ah, yes, using the real world definitely complicates matters, which is partly why I like fantasy! I do like your idea though, I think that would be a good way to put it since you want it to fit into real history pretty neatly.

Inesdar wrote:
Are fallen werewolves more intelligent then wolves? (Not less bestial, but simply more cunning)


Um, I would probably say they might be a little more clever in certain ways maybe, when in human form at least. But the wolves in my world are actually quite sentient. But when the fallen werewolves are in wolf form, they are rendered only as intelligent as one of the "wild wolves" which are wolves like what you'd see here in our world, so at that time they are less intelligent than most wolves in Vadra (the sentient wolves outnumber the wild ones).

Inesdar wrote:
Interesting, I would have a lot of questions on the redeemed werewolf culture. Is it one where emotions are discouraged (sort of 'resisting the beast withing). Also I was picturing it as being something of an honor society. Where honor is more valuable then life. Would this be true?


I like those ideas...hmm. I think they might have extra explosive tempers, and some fighting tendencies that need to be restrained in society. Ok, if I understand what an honor society is, there would be a lot of duals and such, some of which possibly result simply from someone insulting someone else? I might have a little bit of an honor society element in their culture, I'll have to think on that one! Mostly, they are like humans in culture as well, but their culture is definitely effected by their differences from normal humans, so thanks for those thoughts/ideas!


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 Post subject: Re: WereWolves
PostPosted: January 30th, 2012, 6:01 am 
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You did a very good job with this RunningWolf!

I like the idea of the wolfs hair clothing. I suppose they take the hair from a Wolf form WereWolf, or else it would not work? Could they also make clothes from the hair of their Human form? (I have thought of human hair cloth before, this might be an interesting use for it.)

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 Post subject: Re: WereWolves
PostPosted: January 30th, 2012, 5:51 pm 
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Tsahraf wrote:
You did a very good job with this RunningWolf!

I like the idea of the wolfs hair clothing. I suppose they take the hair from a Wolf form WereWolf, or else it would not work? Could they also make clothes from the hair of their Human form? (I have thought of human hair cloth before, this might be an interesting use for it.)


Thank you! Yeah, I suppose they would need to somehow get hair from themselves or another WereWolf (maybe they brush it and collect what stays in the brush?). The only problem then is that the first ones would have had a problem until they had enough fur to make clothes with...I suppose I could have God provide coverings for them somehow, that would be a neat allegory maybe?

Using human hair is an awesome idea! Yeah, I think so. Maybe they'd mix the two types of hair, which sort of creates a connection between their two forms...I like it!
I really like what parts of your world I've explored...you have good ideas, thanks for sharing a couple of them!
I'm going to have to compile all the things I've learned about my WereWolves into a single note one of these days... :)


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 Post subject: Re: WereWolves
PostPosted: February 1st, 2012, 11:00 am 
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I suppose they would have used some other solution until they developed the transforming clothing. I believe it would have been something God would have had them work out for themselves. The transforming clothes are more of a convenience than a necessity, since shape changing could easily be done in private, like taking a bath or changing clothes, which is about the equivalent of what they would be doing.

Have you researched how wolf or human hair could be made into cloth? I am thinking it would be a process like making felt, rather than woven cloth.

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Servant of God, Brother of Christ, and Sealed by the Holy Ghost.

Tsahraf is Hebrew, meaning to refine, cast, melt, purge away, try.

Chahsid Mimetes means Follower of the Holy One, or saint.

Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.
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May Sir Emeth Mimetes find you doing this.
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 Post subject: Re: WereWolves
PostPosted: February 1st, 2012, 1:52 pm 
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Tsahraf wrote:
I suppose they would have used some other solution until they developed the transforming clothing. I believe it would have been something God would have had them work out for themselves. The transforming clothes are more of a convenience than a necessity, since shape changing could easily be done in private, like taking a bath or changing clothes, which is about the equivalent of what they would be doing.

Have you researched how wolf or human hair could be made into cloth? I am thinking it would be a process like making felt, rather than woven cloth.


Yeah, that makes sense. No, I haven't researched that yet, but I agree, it seems like it would be better for making felt, I'll have to add that to my research list! Thanks for your help, I appreciate your thoughts/ideas!


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 Post subject: Re: WereWolves
PostPosted: February 2nd, 2012, 11:07 am 
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You're welcome!

Bye the way, my computer is not displaying the WereWolf symbol, do you think you could post a picture of it?

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Servant of God, Brother of Christ, and Sealed by the Holy Ghost.

Tsahraf is Hebrew, meaning to refine, cast, melt, purge away, try.

Chahsid Mimetes means Follower of the Holy One, or saint.

Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.
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May Sir Emeth Mimetes find you doing this.
Thank you, in Gods name.


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 Post subject: Re: WereWolves
PostPosted: February 2nd, 2012, 1:18 pm 
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Sure I can! It's interesting that it's not showing though...can you see it in my signature like this: Image

if you can't, here's a link to the picture on dropbox: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/36332877/Screen ... 7%20AM.png

Hope that works!


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 Post subject: Re: WereWolves
PostPosted: February 2nd, 2012, 4:33 pm 
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That's a really neat symbol, RunningWolf! :D Just curious, how did you make it?

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 Post subject: Re: WereWolves
PostPosted: February 2nd, 2012, 5:37 pm 
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Thanks! To tell the truth, I didn't really make it, but I found two symbols in a unicode map application for my ipod touch:


༼ and ༽ and I discovered that if you put them closer together you get something like: ༼༽ they're actually pretty fun to bracket words with like ༼this!༽ They sort of look like royal archways accept when they are put closer together, then all they communicate is: WereWolf.


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 Post subject: Re: WereWolves
PostPosted: February 3rd, 2012, 3:59 pm 
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*Laughs* It's ingenious! :D

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 Post subject: Re: WereWolves
PostPosted: February 3rd, 2012, 4:07 pm 
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Thanks! :D


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 Post subject: Re: WereWolves
PostPosted: February 18th, 2012, 1:28 am 
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Theological question. If the first Werwolves went against God by acquiring the ability to shapeshift, then why would the redeemed WereWolves retain it? If it's not part of God's original plan for them, then why would Redemption not undo it's effects rather than simply modifying them?

My thought is this. By having the history unfold the way it does, there is almost a message sent that the original created state is still inferior to the shape-shifting ability and that once the ability had it's source rooted in God, then it became right. If shape-shifting was truly what God thought would be best for these people, would He not have given them the ability to begin with?

Sorry for the rambling. Just me over-thinking things again. :roll:

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 Post subject: Re: WereWolves
PostPosted: February 18th, 2012, 1:22 pm 
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Seer wrote:
Theological question. If the first Werwolves went against God by acquiring the ability to shapeshift, then why would the redeemed WereWolves retain it? If it's not part of God's original plan for them, then why would Redemption not undo it's effects rather than simply modifying them?


Good question! Ok, first, I think I said that they were trying to acquire the ability to shapeshift, and God punished them by letting them shapeshift (just not in the way they had imagined it would work. as is so often the case, they didn't really want what they thought they wanted).

Seer wrote:
My thought is this. By having the history unfold the way it does, there is almost a message sent that the original created state is still inferior to the shape-shifting ability and that once the ability had it's source rooted in God, then it became right.


Those are good thoughts, and I don't expect to be able to answer this question satisfactorily, but I will try.
The original created state would not be called inferior except by those that thought it was (and tried to gain the shape-shifting ability), they didn't realize that God will use us in our current form to grow us into the servants he wants us to be for him. They tried to shape-shift out of selfish desire for gaining power and glory for themselves, but God took what they tried to do and shoved it in their faces (similar to when Israel cried out for meat, and God 'buried' them in quail until they were sick of it).
Then God had compassion on some of them, revealed himself to them and drew them to himself. Those that repented were granted the ability to shapeshift at will as long as they kept their Human identity and only used their ability in His service (and survival or whatever, but the point being that they do not use it simply to bring themselves glory). So the defining factor between the ability being "good" or "Evil" was the motivation behind it.

[I'm having a terrible time organizing my thoughts on this, so I hope that this post is making some sense]

Seer wrote:
If shape-shifting was truly what God thought would be best for these people, would He not have given them the ability to begin with?


I think that this may have been God's way of giving them the ability. God doesn't always just "make things happen" the way we think would make sense for him to.

I believe that when God created Humans (in real life, Adam and Eve), he knew that they were going to sin, in fact, I think he knowingly created them in a way that they would sin eventually (free will). Think of it: God's command to them was to "fill the earth", if they did that, and none of them had sinned or died ever, wouldn't the earth have been filled up awhile ago? Would we even exist? My point is that God knows what his creations are going to do, and makes them in a way that will bend to his plans in spite of their best efforts. In spite of their best efforts, they will become the creatures God wants them to be, do the things God wants them to do, and in the end fulfill God's plan. (I hope I'm not being heretical here, you can PM me if you think I am!)

Another thing to consider is that these people are from the same branch as the 'Rangers' in my world, they are somewhat described here: http://www.holyworlds.org/fantasy/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=5429
The reason I mention this, is that you can see that the "normal" humans are also given abilities that will help them to do the things God will call them to do (kill monsters, etc.).

Another thing I want to illustrate through these people is that God uses our sins to do his will (otherwise, he wouldn't use us at all!), I think that Samson is an awesome example of this. Again, in spite of our best efforts, God uses us to fulfill his plan for us and give glory to Himself.

Again, I hope this makes sense, and I'd love to hear your thoughts on it. I hope I didn't accidentally ignore any of your post. :)

Seer wrote:
Sorry for the rambling. Just me over-thinking things again. :roll:


Hey, I didn't notice any rambling! Just a well thought out point. Thanks for posting it! :D


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 Post subject: Re: WereWolves
PostPosted: April 22nd, 2012, 12:01 am 
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If anyone's interested, here's an updated and revised history of these WereWolves, please let me know what you think of their history if you are interested: A Brief History of WereWolves


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