Vae asks...

[sythyry]

The apology do I make now for not replying so well the last of my questions; each and every response that comes to me I shall give a reply today.

And -- what sort of monsters do you and your people suffer from?

Comments

[redbird]

My people suffer from monsters that steal our goods and drain our blood, and that control the minds of many of us. The victims often don't even realize that there are monsters; they think the suffering is the result of bad luck or their own bad choices.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

Very wicked and insidious they sound!

[redbird]

Wicked and insidious indeed! And some people insist that the monsters are well-meaning. (Others, as sebkha has noted, doubt their existence.)

[sebkha.livejournal.com]

It's fairly mainstream to doubt the very existence of either monsters or even gods over here. If they exist, they are very shy.

We have fierce animals, but they are rare.

[terrana.livejournal.com]

Consider the World Tree definition of monster. It literally refers to every nonprime species of animal. Given that (arguably) the only prime-analogue we have on Earth is human, I'm pretty sure every domestic animal and everything that humans ever competed with for resources during their multi-millennial history counts for this purpose.

Therefore, I would tend to argue the following: most are subdued, some farmed, a few kept as pets. Some sneaky little insects and arachnids still cause problems, but most are harmless.

[delight-in.livejournal.com]

Nooooo monsters aren't *all* animals. Monsters are dangerous creatures that aren't Primes. Some animals are domesticated or harmless like guntries or blossomaries those aren't monsters. Otherwise it'd be doorwaying to have a pet or sell livestock in the city and that'd be just silly.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

The wonder is on me that some monsters here may be domesticated, though not so harmless.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

I am shy as well!

[heavenscalyx.livejournal.com]

Our worst, most destructive, and deadliest monsters are of our species, beings who lack empathy with or love of anyone but themselves, and trample/crush/destroy any who get between them and whatever mad goal they conceive of.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

Not so convenient is that, if you cannot tell who is a monster and who is not at a glance! The few we have like that, but for most it is easy enough.

[mmsword.livejournal.com]

Bonstables, mostly. Except instead of being shape shifters, they are just members of my species that act like bonstables, which makes them even harder to detect.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

The woe does that seem! And do these same-species bonstables breed true, as our bonstables do?

[mmsword.livejournal.com]

There is some academic argument over that, but it seems likely. Else, having a bonstable as a parent makes one inclined to act like one whether you are bred true or not.

[dracosphynx.livejournal.com]

Myself!

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

Woe!

[bloofox.livejournal.com]

We have many kinds of monsters, but few of them are sapient. We have horrible diseases that kill people outright, or worse steal their minds away little by little by little and take away everything that makes them who they are. Or others that rip away their ability to do things. Fortunately, we have been making steady progress to destroy these monsters.

But the worst monsters of all are the poisonous thoughts that invade people's minds and cause them to act harmfully to themselves and others. They are insidious because the people so afflicted will actively fight to protect the thing that is actively inimical to themselves and others. We have not been nearly as successful in comabtting these monsters. (I blame the fact that my world also has an unfounded prejudice against technicians of the intellect and emotion.)

[zeeth_kyrah]

Now, now, many of these technicians are still in the "early alchemy" stage of experimentation, where you don't actually know what something does to a particular person until you've already tried it, and nobody really knows why these things work. Technicians of the spirit (who can observe the problem directly and work on it in its own terms) are rare because half or more of the population refuses to believe in their capabilities, and thus training is hard or impossible to find.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

And how are these spirit-technicians trained, and how do they know what they can do?

[zeeth_kyrah]

Their training often depends on the school of thought which they are led to discover. Very few know their options from a young age, and many are led to believe themselves mad. There are few to no formal institutes for training, only individual teachers who may or may not be certified to teach. Often, spirits and gods substitute as teachers when no other teacher can be found; and often higher levels of attainment must be taught in this manner.

They know what they can do by the shapes of their own magerium, but rather than a simple observation by magical sight, they must be taught their limits and the areas in which they can grow. For example, my ability to move matter is extremely limited (perhaps a level of 1), but my ability to sense and direct pure energy is very strong for my world (somewhere around a 7), and I can communicate with spirits very well (30), including an ability to translate what they say to me if they normally speak a different language (uncommon but known to occur).

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

The subtle and complicated is this to me! Not mad are you, though?

[zeeth_kyrah]

Not to my knowledge am I mad, only sometimes disappointed. (:

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

The venomous mind-spirits seem particularly horrible and vicious!

[redbird]

It's not entirely unfounded; the lines between healing tech and malicious mentador are not always clear. There are still many who would "heal" some of us of who and how we love, for example. (For Vae's information: in many places in my world, a marriage between two women, or two men, of the same species is rejected and treated as a sign of disease, sometimes with more hostility than traff primes find in most parts of the World Tree.)

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

Not happily would I accept this hostility! For my wife and I are both women, much of the time, and terrible monsters are we, and thus should not visit your world unless it is to bring great and widespread woe.

[redbird]

Nor do many of us accept it happily. Some of us manage something similar to what you suggest—for example, I usually try to avoid places where I'm likely to meet this hostility, especially if I'm with my female partner. And I spend some energy on trying to enlighten some of the ignorant, and tell others like me who are stuck in such bad places that they are not alone, and that the world isn't all like that.

There are days when I would wish you and your wife on some of the evil-doers: the ones who are not merely ignorant, but actively enjoy their hatred, or encourage it in others because they think it will help them gain power or money.

[kensan-oni.livejournal.com]

I have little monsters that move my things when I put them down. JUST as I put them down and turn my back. They are sneaky and don't like to show themselves, and always put the thing back, in the most unusual places, weeks or months later.

My father claims that it's all in my head, mind you, but I've seen them do it to him, so it's not completely untrue... Just the fairies tend to be nicer to him then to me.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

And do they enjoy providing you with constant small woes and troubles?

[kensan-oni.livejournal.com]

I do not know. I think there may be more then one faction, for sometimes they return things just when they are needed, but not where they were... and others put things back where they were just moments after they take them. They are a complex lot, I am sure.

[arenhaus.livejournal.com]

We are our own monsters.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

And how do you decide who is to be a monster and who not?

[yotogi.livejournal.com]

Generally whoever's still breathing at the end of the discussion gets to decide.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

And do your monsters breathe fire or ice or some such thing, as some of the more appealing monsters of other worlds are wont to do?

[rowyn]

Teeeny tiny bacteria and even teenier tinier viruses, that colonize our bodies and reproduce inside us, making our bodies sickly and unable to function properly, sometimes killing us and sometimes being fought off by our natural defenses (which are also teeny-tiny and not something we are conscious of employing.) We supplement our defenses against the monsters with medicines and various medical implements. As with Prime vs Monster in World Tree, our weapons are not always sufficient.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

The very unpleasant does this sound, to be the host and birthplace of your foe!

[rowyn]

It's pretty unfair! Primes are lucky to have hardly any diseases.

[alex-muridae.livejournal.com]

Ah, but is it really now? After all, it's a very small number of said little things that actually make us sick; the grand majority are just living their lives, and a great many are actively helpful - we actually couldn't survive at all without some of the helpful kinds. Besides, they were here first.

[rowyn]

Hee! There is that.

[shurhaian.livejournal.com]

In absolute terms:

A) Even if they are a tiny portion of such microorganisms, there are so mind-bogglingly many different microorganisms that the pathogens are still legion.

B) Most of the ones that ARE pathogens probably weren't here before us, because they have altered themselves in time to thrive on us specifically. There are exceptions, but by and large, diseases - especially viruses - are very specific in their hosts, not unlike how the plagues that afflict the populous species of primes affect one species each.

(General note: Viruses are especially insidious in that not only do they grow inside us, they also use our very own mechanisms of life to do it... which is a large part of why they're so specific.)

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

Each other mostly, since we are monsters? None of us are allowed inside cities with proper city walls, which is fine because there aren't any here because there aren't any primes. You can tell we're not primes because we get all kinds of diseases and can't automatically use magic.

Of course, we only ever had one god, and he's dead now. So, whatever.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

And how did he die? And did you kill him off, as I would do with my creatrix if I could?

[rowyn]

That is one theory! Many of our religions include some gods dying. Our gods are apparently more fragile than yours. Although sometimes they come back from being dead.

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

We frustrated him with constant disobedience until he exploded. Or possibly left. We're not *sure* he's dead.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

Oh, no! Not a good thing at all is this! The adage is, "Never fail to kill a god!"

[cowboy-r.livejournal.com]

Each other.

[nekomavin.livejournal.com]

While I agree that the monsters that prey on us are dominantly our own species, there are a few true monsters as well.

We have creatures that would most resemble non-sentient Gormoror. When standing they're half again the height of a full grown adult of our species. Mostly harmless, except if you get between them and their cubs. The problem is, the cubs are pretty cute. Some of us who do not know these creatures well will approach the cubs... The result might be seen as evolution in action.

[alex-muridae.livejournal.com]

I'm a little late for the deadline of "today", but but I wanted to say hello there Vae, and nice to meet you. I missed the chance earlier, so I best take it now.

As to monsters, I'd say our nastiest monster lies within our own minds; waxing philosophical, the fear of the unknown is the greatest foe we know. It leads to all nature of ill-temperament, xenophobia, intolerance, and so forth. It may also be why we fear death and darkness; quite the potent monster, the unknown. Of course, it's not all bad; it spawns curiosity, which is quite helpful. Like aloe growing by nettles.

Of course, as to physical monsters, perhaps those of our species in the grips of such a fear; they can be quite terrible, though often foolish too.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

Hello!

The philosophical monsters seem silly at first, but with your explanation they seem properly dangerous and subtle to me.

[mharreff.livejournal.com]

Sometimes I deal with monsters, but they are not always the monsters of great suffering. When I heal cyarr, the cyarr do not cause me trouble, they do not cause Onaza trouble!

Also I work with wherriwheffle sometimes. If I do not have the shiny things there and do not take them very seriously, they are not the very bad monsters.

The scawn and the perdithorne and the remorshka - they cause the greater suffering. Mostly the perdithorne and the remorshka cause the suffering. The scawn spread suffering for the perdithorne, but the scawn I meet so far are not capable of great suffering themselves.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

The scawn I meet are very rarely worth much thought or attention. The perdithorne, they are clever creatures and much-loved by other monsters. The good trades can I make with perdithorne, of spell for spell, and that is not true of many other monsters at all.