Application essay to the noble scholastia of the great city of Vendria.

By Anabell Fairchild. 

 A treatise on The Event, its effects on the environment and on humans, and humans reaction to it

Part 1: effects on the environment and on humans

It has been 234 years since The Event rocked our world of Anria to its core. Its effects dramatically changed both the environment and human civilization. Indeed, the changes that resulted from this catastrophe are often so numerous that the common person can easily become lost in their attempts to understand why our society is in its current state. This essay will attempt to be a focusing point for all new learners as they attempt to deepen their understanding of our world. For ease of reference and to reduce confusion, I have structured the easy into topics. 

The Event:

To begin our quest for understanding it is necessary to start at the beginning. Unfortunately, this means we will also be starting at the point of greatest mystery. No records exist of what life was like prior to the event. Be it art or literature, no work that referenced life prior to The Event has been found. However, we know there was a time before The Event and we know what The Event changed. From these two certainties we can speculate as to what life was like but with litte certanty. Similarly mysterious is The Event itself. It is widely accepted to be an act of incredible magic, but it is unknown what caused it. I have seen scholars shout themselves hoarse arguing over if The Event was an experimentation gone wrong, a natural disaster, or a divine occurrence. No progress has been made in answering this question and it is beyond the scope of this essay to detail the numerous attempts. Sufficient to say, The Event must have affected our memories and our works as much as it affected the natural world. 

Changes of The Event: Magic

The most dramatic change following The Event was the birth of magic. This seems to be new force of nature, though even that is fiercely debated. Since the majority of magic is poorly understood this essay will focus on its manifestations in the natural world and the observations that have been noted by scholars.

Summoning circles: Throughout the wild travelers will occasionally encounter circular areas of clear ground. If a traveler were to stop and wait, they would eventually notice a tingling sensation similar to static electricity. Immediately subsequent to this an animal would appear from thin air in the exact center of the circle. The type of animal varies wildly but the circles appear to only generate herbivores and only generate animals native to the environment they are located in. The great scholar Hebas the explorer dedicated a significant portion of her life to the study of these circles and our knowledge of them come mostly from her work. She observed significant deviation in the size of these circles with the largest being 10 feet in diameter and the smallest being 1 foot in diameter. She also observed that these circles periodically change location but that there are always a defined number of them in a certain area. She theorized that these circles kept the population of prey animals constant and that this was why ecosystems have been able to sustain so many of the monsters we see around our homes. When her work was accepted it was widely hoped that these circles could provide an answer to the question of hunger. If they could be harnessed and controlled it would eliminate the need for hunters and dramatically reduce the pressure on farmers. The first attempt to try and harness these circles was undertaken in 114 A.E (After Event) by scholars in the capital city of the nation of Penuria. The result was catastrophic with the only survivors being those near the borders. As an aside, this is the origin of the insult “penu” meaning someone who is stupid, recless, and cavalier with the lives of those around her. Another attempt was made on the island of Drandia in 168 AE with similarly disastrous results. Following this second failure, all attempts at harnessing or exploiting the circles was stopped. They are now accepted as part of life and their bounty is hunted with caution.

This is only the best understood example of wild magic and many strange and confusing magical events can occur without any obvious predictability or pattern. An example is the white-flash, an event in which a flash of white light will engulf a victim. The victim is subsequently transported to a different location, sometimes thousands of miles away. No connection between locations has been established and the white-flash does not seem to follow any predictable pattern. It is not hard to understand why magic is regarded with awe and with fear. 

Changes to Fauna: 

The major changes to the fauna of Anria all stem from an emergence of a new way to attain sustenance for certain animals. The classic carnivore, herbivore, omnivore, and parasite have had a new addition to their ranks, the gynovore. 

A brief note on terminology: this name is criticized by some intellectuals who argue that it is missleading. They argue the name implies these creatures eat the genitals of their victims and argue that the classification of “enevore”, a combination of “energy” and “vore”, is more accurate. Others even argue that the term should be abandoned altogether. These individuals point to the fact that all gynovorous species seem to be able to eat meat and do so when they are unable to obtain human prey. The debate on which term should be used, if any, is ongoing but it is not uncommon for both terms to be used interchangeably. This paper will use the term “gynovore” as this is more commonly used by the poorly educated, who are the target audience of this paper. 

Gynovores feed by the extraction of human life energy. This is done through the stimulation of the victims genitals until climax is reached. The resulting fluid is then “drained” or “drunk” or “absorbed” by the predator and the process repeats. Some species continue this process until the prey is dead while others have been known to trap their prey and extend the process as long as possible. Indeed, some species have been known to keep their victims alive for days or weeks, forcing them to consume the food and water the predator brings to its prey. Many theories as to why some species feed this way, if it is a necessity for them, and as to why some keep their victims alive for so long have been proposed and intensely debated. Unfortunately, the extreme danger of studying these creatures has prevented us from gleaming much evidence to support any of these theories. Whatever the reason behind it, gynovorous species seem to strongly prefer this method of feeding despite being able to consume meat as well. This suggests to me that there must be some extra benefit of feeding this way that we do not understand.

Another of the changes to the fauna was some species gaining the ability to implant their embryo into a surrogate host. This host then bears the child to term and delivers it. Hosts are typically not killed in this process, though there are exceptions to this. Hosts are most often humans though some species have been known to use bovine or equine hosts as well. Any host that is aware of the implantation and able to act freely will obviously attempt to remove the embryo from her body. To prevent this, each species has its own way of ensuring the host is able to bear its children to term. Some capture the host and force feed her until delivery. Some alter the host’s memories so that she is unaware of the implantation. Some protect the embryo by stimulating the host’s maternal instincts. The social reaction to implanted hosts in human society varies dramatically based on culture. Some see hosts as victims and either help the host rid themselves of the parasite or assist them through the process and then immediately kill the animal on birth. Others view hosts as abominations and either banish them or simply kill them outright. Further information on this topic can be found in the great libraries of Vendria. 

Changes to Flora: 

The Event resulted in the emergence of many new species of plants throughout Anria. The exact properties of these plants are still being studied and a full description of each is beyond the scope of this essay. I will mention one plant in particular due to its impact on human society. In the face of the reduction of males, to be discussed in the following section, the human race faced extinction. The solution was found in the Progenia tree. This apple-like tree grows in all climates and does not appear to require food or water. It produces fruit year-round which begin as green balls approximately the size of a cherry and develope over the course of a month into a fruit approximately the size of an apple. The fruit takes on a golden coloration when ripe and is easily picked by hand. When a ripe fruit is consumed in its entirely within one hour, the result is an alteration of the woman who consumed it. The clitorus enlarges, lengthens, and takes on the shape of a male phallus. If, while in this state, that female has vaginal sex with another female she will ejaculate semen that is able to impregnate the other female. Similarly to intercourse with males, pregnancy is not garnered and several attempts are sometimes required. The differences between the subsequent pregnancies, female-famale (f-f) vs male-female (m-f), are numerous. 

F-f pregnancies last significantly shorter than m-f pregnancies, approximately 3 months as compared to approximately 9 months. Children born of these f-f pregnancies are observed to reach mental and physical maturity far more rapidly than their m-f counterparts, 9-10 years as compared to 16-21 years. There are countless wife’s tales regarding if f-f children are inferior or superior to their m-f counterparts and each culture seems to have its own superstitions. Unfortunately, due to the rarity of males, no conclusive studies have been done.

Many other species of strange flora exist and an in depth exploration of them is beyond the scope of this essay. More information can be found in the great libraries of Vendria. 

Changes to Humans: the reduction of males and the emergency of the genus Homana

The Event resulted in two changes to our species, both with dramatic social consequences. The first to be discussed is the reduction of the birth of males. Prior to The Event it is speculated that the ratio of male to female was as high as 3:10. Subsequent to The Event, it is unusual to have a ratio as high as 1:1000. 

Different cultures treat their males differently. Some hold them in high esteem and lavish them, and the mother who bore them, with riches and high social status. Others consider their males as simply another citizen and offer no special protection or assistance to their male population. Still others see them as property, to be bought and displayed as status symbols. There are innumerable other ways in which males are treated and eye witness accounts can be found in the great libraries of Vendria. 

The second change was the mutation of approximately 4/5ths of the human population into a new genus termed, homana, also known as monster girls. These beings are further sub-categorized based on the animal they acquired the traits of. As an example, wolf-girls are classified as homana canis lupus, with the canis referring to dog and the lupus referring to wolf. This naming structure is applied to all monster girls when speaking in scholarly company. In all other circumstances, the colloquial names (the animal name followed by "girl") is used. 

Monster girls are universally female and almost all of them are gynovorous. It is unclear how they reproduce. When being gynovorous, monster-girls seem to prefer to prey on humans but will happily prey on different species of homana as well. It is unclear what social structure, if any, exists between species of homana. The danger monster-girls pose to individuals and to cities varies dramatically between species and in the early years following The Event it was common for responses to their presence to either be overly wasteful or to be insufficient. To combat this, a tier system was developed to group species of monster-girls into categories that describe the danger they pose. While there is some minor variations of this system between human cultures, the general system is consistent and is as follows:

Tier 5 monster-girls: These pose no danger to humans whatsoever or actively avoid contact with them. Most species, such as homana bos taurus (cow-girls), that are in this category have been hunted to extinction. 

Tier 4 monster-girls: These pose some danger to an unarmed or untrained woman but can be safely engaged and killed by a solo guardswoman. They show either situational interest in hunting humans or actively hunt humans. As with the previous tier, most monster girls in this category, such as homana felis catus (cat-girls), have been hunted to extinction or near extinction. 

Tier 3 monster-girls: These pose significant danger to an unarmed woman and actively hunt humans. They should not be engaged by anyone who is not well trained and well equipped. Gaurdswomen should engage these in pairs and avoid solo-engagements if possible. Most extant monster girls fall into this category. 

Tier 2 monster-girls: These pose extreme danger to even trained and equipped guardswoman and actively hunt humans. Some in this category can even pose threats to entire towns. Combat should be avoided unless a well thought-out plan has been made with adequate strength to ensure victory. The definition “adequate strength” varies based on the women involved and the monster-girl in question. 

Tier 1 monster-girls: Monster-girls who fall into this category may be impossible to kill without the combined resources of one or more cities. Even then, successfully slaying one of these monster-girls may be impossible. Fortunately, very few species fall into this category. Curiously, there seems to be very few living examples of these species as well. A good example is homana slimona (commonly referred to as Slimes). There have only been four verified encounters with one of these creatures in our records. Two of these encounters were just sightings and combat was only attempted in one of the other two encounters. The accounts of the few survivors from the 100 women who attempted to slay the Slime can be read in the libraries of Vendria. Very little is known of these creatures and for further information readers can visit the relevant works in the libraries of Vendria.