specific character-building questions
#1
Raze was being a moron and, once again, getting random ideas for future (likely far future) characters. One of these was a maned wolf, which introduces a few problems about realism I need help solving!

First of all, I know that maned wolves are not luperci-compatible species. Wink I just wanted to play a Creature that was Canidae, so it'd make for interesting interaction. And I wanted to be difficult, which is why I haven't chosen like... a fox.

While I feel that a maned wolf as a thinking creature would be similar enough to the Canis species here, as in being able to grasp concepts about as well as any non-luperci, and so there shouldn't be terrrible social issues, I do recognize that there will be others: namely, how and why the hell one would travel from South America to Nova Scotia, and how they would deal with the climate change. :|

For the climate bit, I suppose silly scarves and blankets are in order, but I didn't know if there was a very realistic way to go about this other than piling on the clothing!

The world travel is the bigger issue. I've looked at the RP Guide, but it only addresses travel from Central America, which involves some walking and sailing north like usual. I would like my maned wolf to come from Paraguay, which is south of Bolivia and Brazil, but I didn't know if she should march to the nearest realistic port or what. I do know that I'm giving her plenty of interaction with luperci (Catholic dog missionary types, yaay), so she would have more reason than an isolated member of her species to check out the north.

Aaand, one other thing I just remembered -- diet. Maned wolves nom on flesh, no prob, but a large part of their diet seems to be made up of fruit! This article goes into their diet a bit and suggests substitutions for captive maned wolves, which include stuff like "avocado, pineapple, peeled orange, caqui, banana, and cerrado fruits." I'm not sure, but I kind of doubt that such things would be readily available in the 'Souslverse since a ton of it is imported? This one goes a bit more into maned wolf nutrition (like, science what I skimmed this) but talks about dog food and rice and stuff in addition to unspecific kinds of fruits. :| So... If I want to be realistic, I'm talking a very malnourished maned wolf with kidney stones if she doesn't get the "weird" half of her diet (which, hey, that's an idea for how to kill her off).

OH! And I close this with random fact of the day: Did you know that maned wolf urine apparently smells like marijuana?
#2
1. Heat/climate -- I think clothes are probably the best way to deal with this. There might be more esoteric ways, but clothes are probs the one that makes the most sense, imo. Maybe someone else has a more outlandish suggestion!

2. I kind of consider the northern Brazilian coast to have some pretty hefty interaction with Luperci. Most ships heading over from Europe end up landing somewhere in the Caribbean islands, so it's conceivable to me that there'd be some hefty Luperci activity along the gulf coasts in general, extending to probably... well, lemme just get a map. >_>

The red area is probably "typical" landing spots for Luperci, but smaller boats and landed activity probably occurs all along the blue coastal areas, too!

3. The fruits you've listed are primarily tropical. I doubt they'd be able to grow this far north. However -- apples, grapes, and other non-tropical fruits can certainly be found northward. Other sources of these nutrients might be equally weird -- pine nuts, maybe? And, though IDK what nutrients, precisely, this character would need, I looked up treatments for scurvy for some "weird" sources of vitamins and minerals:

Quote:Scurvy can be prevented by a diet that includes certain citrus fruits such as oranges or lemons. Other sources rich in vitamin C are fruits such as blackcurrants, guava, kiwifruit, papaya, tomatoes, bell peppers, and strawberries. It can also be found in some vegetables, such as carrots, broccoli, potatoes, cabbage, spinach and paprika. Some fruits and vegetables not high in vitamin C may be pickled in lemon juice, which is high in vitamin C.

So maybe veggies and lemon juice pickling can help? :3
#3
Awesome Sie is awesome. <333

I suppose the character can just travel north to that coastal region with her luperci buddies, then, to get whisked away to magic 'Souls land. I was working on the settlement she's "from" (before the Wiki ATE IT) where there are luperci on the mainland, but the coast doesn't seem too far away for actual travel. Big Grin

And about fruit... I will look into it more and probably hurt my brain. *grin* But if I can't find anything to substitute for tropical fruits, I guess I can pull the whole "hey, this is a friggin' werewolf rpg" mantra and just give her lemon-pickled vegetables and call it close enough. :|

Off to violate Wikipedia and Google some more.


EDIT: Putting my findings here, I guess?

The Wolf's Apple, which is a large part of the maned wolf's diet, is thought to protect it from a particular kidney worm (I think I mentioned kidney problems in the previous post). The plant is also part of the genus Solanum, which includes other fruits like tomatoes, potatoes, and eggplants (which sound a lot more realistic for the area). I dunno if this is significant at all. :|

However, the second scary scientific article mentions a lot of stuff like rice and bread and whatnot, and if it's really just a matter of diverse food and not letting the maned wolf nosh on meat all day, it sounds more doable? She can just have issues from not getting all the vitamins she would have in her home region, and I'm fine with a character weakness like that. x3

I LIKE TO DO RESEARCH OKAY?


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