Falconjudge's Ideas

I noticed a few other people making threads for their ideas, and since my mind is constantly full of ideas, I thought I might as well post my ideas here. Frist off:

TWANYM: Those who are not yet monsters

A group of people infected with a virus that at first glance resembles lycanthropy. Unlike Lycanthropy, and other diseases, however, coming to Felarya is no cure and makes no difference to someone infected with this. The virus itself is unnamed, and has completely unknown origins.

Symptoms: The virus affects mostly the young, as they are still developing, but it can affect adults as well, though this is rare. It controls the way the body's cells reproduce, and makes the cells reproduce versions of themselves that are only partiallly human, with altered DNA. As these new, unhuman cells are produced, and the normal cells die naturally, the subject finds his body becoming less and less human until it is the body of a monster. As children's cells reproduce and get replaced faster as they are growing, the reaction is greatly speeded up, and the final result can be reached in a number of months. For adults, the disease can stretch out over years.

The nervous system is one of the least infected, so you would think that the end result would usually have a completely human mind; regretibly, the mind sometimes "adapts" to its new body by reverting to its basic instincts, giving all the visible effects of going off the wall batshit crazy. Thus, only about 50% have a mostly human mind.

The disease has a kill rate of about 2%... maybe. Needless to say, this is incredible for a disease that puts the body through such a drastic change. It almost always simply caries out the slow transformation gradually and safely, and the perfection of the proccess absolutly baffles most scientists who study it.

It is also interesting to note that the strains of the disease are varied to the extreme. Very few resmble actal animals, which is among the easiest ways to tell it apart from lycanthropy. That and the fact that it is utterly impossible to reverse: contracting the virus translates into an inescapable slide into the form of a foriegn being, and the largest reason of death among the infected is suicide.

Also interesting, the "unique" taste of a creature in mid transformation is intolerable to most predators other than Slug Girls.

And that's it.

But you can't get sick or catch a disease in Felarya >>

The means of contracting this would have to be altered- as viral and bacterial infection are essentially void. This leaves a few more options however- fungal, parasitic, and magical (curse or enchantment) are options I think this could work with. On earth we have a disease that turns you into a tree (Google tree man), so I don't think something with effects like you've described are too far out there, it would just need a different avenue of infection.

That's part of what makes it mysterious... There is no strain of it in Felarya, you can't catch it there... the soil just doesn't dispel it.

My thought was that because the virus would cease to be a disease as much as a determining factor of continued developement; it could be that after x amount of days, the virus just causes the brain to naturally command your cells to grow that way, and thus would no longer be a disease in any sense... that could explain it.

FalconJudge wrote:

That's part of what makes it mysterious... There is no strain of it in Felarya, you can't catch it there... the soil just doesn't dispel it.

My thought was that because the virus would cease to be a disease as much as a determining factor of continued developement; it could be that after x amount of days, the virus just causes the brain to naturally command your cells to grow that way, and thus would no longer be a disease in any sense... that could explain it.

Viruses = still cannot be a factor. It would have to be a different avenue.

If the virus caused permanent changes in the brain before going to Felarya, then the virus would be gone, but the effects would continue.

Thus, if you had it for a week or two before you went to Felarya, the soil would kill the virus, but not the changing. But you're right, if the virus was still causing the problem, Felarya would fix it. But it can't fix a partial lobotomy.

That's what my previous comment meant...

Er... are you sure it couldn't? The brain is part of the body, like everything else and would probably start growing back or fixing itself if you were on Felarya. I would suggest some sort of curse of magical cause.

I think both fungal & parasitic infections are doable, even pepped up by magic.

There are other types of infections that could work (kinda like the hate plague from Transformers G1, that was based on a specific radiation poisoning). But I do have a question, if all diseases and viruses arn't a factor, then isn't ANY bacterial matter then rendered void? even nessisary and beneficial ones?

The brain isn't damaged. It's changed. On a structural level. At that point, it ceases to be a disease. And as I mentioned several times, no one knows anything about it. Thus, I suppose it could be magical, I mean, why couldn't it be? Either way, there are a few ways to get past the no disease thing. Let's just say its "mystical".

But is it a good idea...?

Darkstorm Zero wrote:

But I do have a question, if all diseases and viruses arn't a factor, then isn't ANY bacterial matter then rendered void? even nessisary and beneficial ones?

Well, bacteria doesn't simply not exist. It still gives people bad breath, rots stuff, etc. In living bodies, it seems that infection either cannot or has an extremely difficult time getting ahold. Since beneficial bacteria such as the kind that helps digestion isn't an infection, I wouldn't think it would be odd to see it carrying out such roles inconspicuously. : P

So it's only the kind that attacks a body that is rendered void?

Hmm, I wonder how that works on creatures that use infectious bacteria to bring prey down, like the Komodo Dragons do...

Starve.

I think the difference may be that bacteria are alive, while viruses technically aren't. Thus, bacteria can survive on Felarya unless they start to harm another organism, and that's when the magic soil kicks in. But I'm pretty sure there are no natural viruses on Felarya.