[UA] Cultures in animals

[Timothy Toner]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Nick Wedig" <mrteapot at disinfo.net>
To: <ua at lists.uchicago.edu>
Sent: Monday, June 11, 2001 8:25 AM
Subject: Re: Re[2]: [UA] Cultures in animals


> >Look at Madagascar, actually.  The idea is (As I remember it) that
> >Madagascar broke off from Africa before Primates evolved.  And, because
the
> >environment was less stressful, Primates never evolved there.
>
> There's an incredibly short Burroughs book about Madagascar (to relate
> to another thread) and all the weird lemurs.  Then he gets off on rants
about
> deadly diseases, homosexuality and pirates.

Among the lemurs? 8^p

I wrote the Transformed Animal section of Golden Comeback for Feng Shui,
and, after rifling through tons of neat ideas, I twigged on Our Friends The
Lemurs, who must have an interesting view of the Wheel of Reincarnation,
because I don't think they see primates (and the ultimate primate) as
necessarily the best way to go with that.  Imagine achieving sentience,
wondering whassup with your lemur buddies on the mainland, and finding them
all gone, replaced by these hairless primates who're messing everything up?
I was rightfully reined in, since it would have added one more faction with
a convoluted motive to what is already a fairly dense game.  Still--cool
idea.


ObUA:  Whenever I think of Madagascar, I think of Mozambique, and whenever I
think of Mozambique, I think of Martinique (so much so that I spent a good
piece of my life thinking Mt. Pele was on/in Mozambique, and, if so, the
1902 eruption was something else and a half).  And whenever I think of
Martinique, I think of poor ol' Cyparis, who had the good fortune of being
locked up in the pokey the day the experts were wrong.  He spent the rest of
his life, touring the world with Barnum and Bailey, telling one and all
about his horrific experience.  But, methinks, could there be more than
that?  Seeing Unbreakable rekindled the interest I had in this...thing.
It's a hybrid of necromancer and godwalker, and it takes two forms--the sole
survivor who's infused with the will to live of the hundreds who died around
him, and the deathbringer, who engineers the demise of hundreds in some mass
extinction.  There are, of course, rules for both.  The 'accidental' seldom
uses his power consciously.  Instead, they reflexively lash out at key
moments, making him seem like he had nine lives (well, he actually has 300+,
but who's counting?)  The deathbringer also gains powers, but his sins are
almost visibly etched across his brow.  Most demons in an area flock to him
to harrass him, and a good many of his great works are undone by their less
than tender involvement.  This interesting, unbalanced hybrid is possible
because of a loophole created by the Compte's existence.  The universe is
'holding a spot' for the Compte, and in anticipation of his eventual
ascension, it leaves a space in the universe large enough to accomodate,
without too many specifics.  It is the role of The Last Man Standing.  By
channeling this demi-archetype (hey, the universe is gettin' lazy...there
was an archetype like that in the last few hundred universes, so it figures,
'why wait for the last minute rush?'  There are quite a few people who can
claim this unique distinction, with Cyparis being the most famous.  Of
course, the most potent of all would be someone who wrested the
deathbringer's prize seconds before he claimed it.  Such a man could
possibly challenge the Comte himself.


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