Mutant Werewolves?

[Ganthan]

I hope you aren't yet being driven nuts by all these "Oh yeah, what about this? Oh yeah, what about that," threads asking all these questions about your intriguing werewolf setting, but there's another thing I'm curious about.

I understand that the extremely humanoid appearance of your werewolves reflects the fact that this story isn't really supposed to be your typical horror werewolf tale, but are there ever rare cases of mutation that end up with much more 'wolfy' bodies or bearing some other odd deformities? I mean, that can't ALL be basically statues of Greek gods and goddesses with a wolf's head and tail.

Say, for example, something like this: http://images.quizilla.com/A/AP/APO/apo ... rewolf.jpg

[Wakinyan]

I would guess more feral aberrations are difficult to deal with and might have to be put down or very well hidden. If of course they even exist.

[Kris@WLP]

[PHDrillSergeant]

[Timberwolfer]

[Kaeto]

[DesertRat]

[K-MacK]

Probably the mutation would be "accepted" by the Were's regeneration system as "normal", since for that Werewolf, it would be physically normal on a genetic level.

I suspect that in the PItW universe, nobody has tried sequencing Werewolf genes against standard Smoothskin Human genes. After all, if something were found different, the researcher would want to see just what that aberration did to the person that had it, and one doubts that saying "It was an anonymous donation" would work. Then again, Werewolves might check out as perfectly human, genetically.
Were that to happen, I'm sure Gus would demand a re-test, if no-one else.
And when asked why; he'd probably be dumb- or arrogant enough to say why...

[Timberwolfer]

Cancer is another mutation issue, since the body sees it as a normal growth, it doesn't attack the growing tumor.

Imagine a werewolf body's regenerative powers turned toward a tumor... now that is a frightening idea, and given the other thread discussing operations on a werewolf, how would they explain the needed insturments!

And what do you do with that much werewolf flesh?

[Kris@WLP]

[Happygun]

[Timberwolfer]

[K-MacK]

Evolution is simply living long enough to reproduce and having your offspring do the same.
Humans mutate all the time: think of the Sherpas, who live at altitudes that would make us sea-level types weak and debilitated in no time at all. Yes, sea-level types can acclimate, but lose that acclimation once returned to their sea-level environment; Sherpas don't. They continue to keep the extra red cells and improved oxygenation of their tissues wherever they are: a Mutation for extreme altitude in Homo Sapiens.
The reason this happened is that they have lived at over ten thousand feet altitude for generations, and only the people who had the extra capacity for Red Blood Cells and better oxygenation lived to reproduce; everyone else died off before they could make babies.
I don't see any difference in Werewolves: the mechanisms are the same-their Environment and what's needed to reproduce. They are probably as differentiated as any other branch of the Homo- tree.

[Happygun]

You can still get adaptation without mutation via changes in gene frequency in the population. Mutation rarely benefits the individual in any case. It's like firing a rifle* at a car's engine to improve it's performance; it COULD work, but more than likely it will do nothing or seriously damage the vehicle.

Actually, werewolves COULD evolve without mutation. How? When a human is transformed into a thrall he or she represents an influx of novel genes into the population. Some of the thrall's genes may be expressed in whole new ways leading to whole new phenotypes (i.e. Sarah). I'd go as far to say that werewolves need a steady trickle of thralls in order to maintain a viable degree of variation within the population.

*Bonus points to those who get the "gene gun" reference.

[K-MacK]

Point well taken: every Thrall is another genetic version of the base Werewolf gene-structure, since you are adding in Smoothskin Human genotypes to the semi-established Werewolf geneset.
In Sarah's case, it produced Giantism. In another case, it might produce extremely long fur.
That's another reason to oppose making Thralls: Genetic drift. That's also another reason for occasionaly deliberately making a thrall: Risk of Population In-breeding and loss of genetic diversity.
Sometimes you can't win for losing.

[Kris@WLP]

Not only do thralls improve genetic diversity...

... but without thralls, the low rate of reproduction (and high rate of death by violence) in werewolves leads to slowly reducing were populations. The birth rate is about 1.6 per every two werewolves, 2 per 2 being a stable state.

Today, lycanthropes of all types make up about one out of a thousand people. It used to be considerably more, in past ages...

The scientific school of thought among werewolves in Peter's world says that the ability to transmit lycanthropy is a genetic survival trait, without which lycanthropes might not have survived to the present day at all.

This point of view, of course, is not popular among the traditionalists, many of whom believe in "pure blood" and lineages.

[Happygun]

Yay! I got it right! What's my prize? Cash?

[Timberwolfer]

[Happygun]

[K-MacK]

Okay: here's a question for the floor.
Would Werewolves deliberately make Thralls-not as disposable warriors-but as necessary for continuance for their people?
I'm not referring to Peter and Sarah,here: that was an accident...and why they're both still alive.
I'm asking: Would a Pack decide to take the risk and make a Thrall to raise up as a Werewolf to bolster a declining population level? Orphans would have worked in the past: They were literally "sold" to families to raise and use as servants.
Today's different: fewer Orphans, and those that are-are possibly the best "documented" childern around: they're State Property until they're eighteen, under most laws.
Today, it would seem that a Pack in dire straits might make an offer to one or more of their generationally longest Non-Were' friends to "Take in" an adult as a Were'-just to support the population. Children would be easier, but children are too well tracked today; while Adults aren't. If a Pack needed new bodies, and had no other resources (other packs or free roaming Were's)-would they take in a human to keep their numbers viable? Or would they just merge with other small packs and give up their specific identies as the Pack of "......." town/region/county/whatever?
This has me curious, since their birthrate won't keep them viable and they realize the need for "new blood" on occasion.
Rather than Accident-would it be done delilberately?

[Happygun]

I'm no expert on the subject, but from what I've heard the United States could be doing a LOT more to track, document, and care for orphaned children. Assuming a pack or family wanted to adopt an orphan - and it is an accepted practice among werewolves - they wouldn't have any trouble finding one the government wouldn't miss, especially with the werewolf network. Of course, this runs into a nasty ethical problem, i.e., is it right to transform an unwilling or unknowing child? Then again, werewolves aren't exactly known for sticking to accepted social norms, and the orphan would probably be better off in the long run.

[llearch]

While the orphan might well be better off in the long run...

... how much do you trust said orphan not to tell anyone about the Big Secret? That, I think, is the major issue with this particular scenario. Unless you're talking -real- young, and at that stage, how do you demonstrate to the social worker that you're taking good care of the child when the child is too young to not change in front of said social worker? The only solution to that would be to have a social worker who was in on it all. And that's a huge conflict of interests, there; do you find in favour of the parents, or of the child? If the child, do you take it away from the Were parents and pass it to someone who isn't, and cross your fingers? (noting that your average social worker will be able to take the child away, but won't necessarily be able to place the child somewhere else without someone higher up the food chain sticking their managerial fingers into the pie...)

Maybe I'm cynical.

[RBrigham]

I'm going out on a limb to play devils advocate...

If I wanted to adopt a child into a were society, I would first require the approval of the entire pack and if granted, then I would have to go through all the proper channels for adoption. I would also be looking for a child that is young enough and hasn't been bounced around to many foster homes or that child will become very hard to control.

And if giving that same child the "treatmenet" to covnert into a thrall, I would have to be pretty damn sure that the child will conform to pack society.

Now, as the social worker, I would be keeping track of the adopting parent(s), checking background for any previous charges, probably be very courious as to why there isn't much info on them in this day and age.

Also, as Hearch stated, if the social worker did reclaim the child, how is he/she going to place a thrall in a new foster home?

[Happygun]

All this, recall, is assuming that adopting a human child and/or transforming him or her isn't frowned upon or outright verboten in werewolf society.

[llearch]

Well, we -do- have the mention in strip 19 - "Nobody in our pack has made a thrall in decades! it's too dangerous!" - which suggests that generally, this sort of thing wouldn't be done too much...

And one or two other mentions elsewhere in the strip. Nothing 100% specific, though. Yet. ;-]