An Experiment is Planned
The Never Ending Quest - Episode 14947
|
The elders moved far enough away from the door to ensure that they could
not be
overheard by Fred and Astra. Then they conferred. "I confess that I don't
know what
to make of this," Ringroot said. "Whatever else they might be, they are
clearly not
werecreatures." "Is it possible that we have a new kind of lycanthropy
here?" an elder
called Quince asked. "One where the victim's form is stable rather than
dependant on the
phase of the moon? On their own admission, this dragoness Malachi told
them they
were lycanthropes. She might have lied, I suppose, but to me it seems
clear that the
female must have infected the male. This theory could tie in with the
rumours we
have heard about what Minestus was working on. We had assumed that if he
could change a
member of one Race into another it would be done solely by means of magic,
but
perhaps once initiated it could then be spread in a similar fashion to
traditional
lycanthropy? This might also tie in with the rumours concerning Moreau, if
the
assumption we have been making that lycanthropy must be tied to the moon
is
incorrect. That would mean that Synizn is wrong - or lying - of course,
but that should
not surprise us."
Another of the elders - Hanfast - spoke: "Perhaps we can test your theory. One of the advantages of Walants is that almost anything can be obtained for money. I dare say that, for a modest bribe in the right quarters, some poor wretch from the condemned cell can be obtained. Then we will see what the effect is on him of a bite from one of our prisoners - preferably the woman, since it was she who infected the man and also from her appearance she seems to have undergone the greater degree of transformation. Or we could take some of her saliva or blood, and force the man to swallow it, for I assume that any sort of transfer of bodily fluid would do. Since our male prisoner supposedly transformed within a matter of hours, we should get a result fairly quickly. "Assuming that the victim changes, then we will still not know whether the Folke are at any risk of being infected by this new form of lycanthropy, of course. But at least we will know for sure that our two prisoners can never be let go free, for if they should infect other humans then our people would be sure to be blamed, and we would be hunted down. If released, our prisoners might not go around biting people, but it would be unrealistic to assume that they would totally abstain from sex with anyone but each other. Especially as we know that the female, at least, is subject to going into heat. And no doubt her cubs would also bear the same curse." "What do you make of this so-called Crystallic?" Quince asked. "Do you think that there is any hope of curing them with it?" "I'd be very surprised if it had the powers claimed for it," Ringroot said. "That is perhaps just as well, since anything that powerful would be rather alarming. But since it was found in a dragon's hoard, we can't dismiss it out of hand. As I told them, [14122] I'd like to get the opinion of a trustworthy mage on it - though such are hard to find in Walants." When the discussion had finished, Ringroot went back to speak to Fred and Astra.
|
JH
1/8/2001 12:17:54 PM
Extending Enabled
21495835 episodes viewed since 9/30/2002 1:22:06 PM.