Creatures and Their Eating Habits (specifically eating Beings)

[Arcblade]

Because I'm fairly sure this falls under "thinking too hard about DMFA", I was going to start it in the Tinfoil Hat Tearooms, but I, err... can't.  So I'll just post it here and leave the decision up to those with the might.  

This is probably going to be long, sorry.  Two paragraphs of introduction/evidence, then my musings.  

I got to thinking about Creatures and their eating habits.  We know from several comics that some Creatures eat Beings as a matter of course.  There is, for instance, early-probably-not-canon-Lorenda's devouring two predators who were after Jyrras.  Right after that, she alludes to eating the landlord with barbecue sauce and a frying pan.  And Lorenda was apparently evicted because the other tenants were afraid of being eaten.  Again, these comics are probably not canon (unless Amber wants them to be).  

When Lorenda's father cheated on Kria, our favorite demon-mare promptly ate him.  This is also found in Kria's bio, so it's probably canon.  There was the mother-daughter trip (might not be canon) where Kria ate the guide.   There's also Lorenda's insistence on buying food rather than eating a random being, here.  I think this last one is what started my train of thought.  

With all that, I got to wondering.  Do Creatures eat beings raw, or do they cook them, or both?  If Lorenda's friend was going to have a being for lunch (presumably on lunch break), wouldn't she have to eat him or her raw?  I mean, it takes awhile to cook ribs or a whole turkey, and you're talking something much bigger than a turkey.  That can't be sanitary, what with all the bleeding and maybe even diseases and parasites.  Demons possess magic, so perhaps there're some nice cleaning spells for use after devouring Beings.  Are there cookbooks for preparing and eating different kinds of beings?  Specialty cooking spells for extracting the equivalent of TV dinners/fast food from freshly-killed victims?  

TL;DR:  Creatures eat beings, see evidence above.  How does that work?

[Ignuus66]

Yea, you are overthinking.
However, I think that as most creatures ARE carnivores, and being restaurants probably serve feral meat, demons can easily eat that instead of beings. Also since animals (probably furries too) have a much stronger metabolism than humans, they can eat meat raw.

[Tapewolf]

There is a picture someone commissioned of Kria about to devour someone.  The last lines of the description read:

"As for Kria herself, I always figured she'd be the type who can nearly dislocate her jaw and eat a turkey whole, bones and all. Cause Kria can do anything she wants. "

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3879859/  (Rated 'General Audience')

EDIT:  Note that if this is canon (and the fact that Lorenda etc seem to be able to devour someone in a few seconds suggests it is), it would apply specifically to Demons, and perhaps Angels as well since they seem to share the same basic abilities.  Other Creatures are liable to work differently.  'Cubi for instance, probably lack the ability to rapidly digest someone.

[Arcblade]

Oh God the TEETH!  (hides)

I don't think it'd make sense for Cubi to eat Beings... well, unless they really wanted to.  Eating solid food is optional for most Cubi, or possibly all Cubi depending on how you interpret Abel's words there.  One could make a case for a Kish'Ta clan member, or maybe Destania, eating parts of a Being so as to provoke their favorite food, but in general it would seem to be a waste of effort.  

Hm...  Iron stomaches would make sense for demons (and possibly angels).  Perhaps the biology is sufficiently different in most cases, such that disease and parasites wouldn't be an issue.  Though it's been noted that creature/being distinctions are getting blurred as time goes by.  (This was in a QFTR at some point, which I can describe ("He has his father's eyes!" - Being mom holding three eyed baby next to Creature father with the same eyes) but not find in the archives easily.)  It begs the question, do Creatures eat other Creatures?  

[Plotting]

It begs the question, do Creatures eat other Creatures?

Perhaps. Are you talking about Creatures eating other Creatures physical bodies? Or eating their souls?

Demons might view the eating of other Creatures in the same light as the eating of Beings - i.e. the stong have the right to use their might over those too weak to defend themselves, who deserve to be abused for being weak.

It is possible that Clan leader Zezzuva may have eaten the soul of her Cubi sister in order to ascend to tri-wing status. After all, Cubi are known to become more powerful, and live for longer, if they eat the souls of others. And Zezzuva did use the soul of her sister to become a tri-wing Cubi according to the Clan Leader Mini Arc.

Of course, if Zezzuva did eat her sisters soul then it was to gain power - as opposed to simply eating out of hunger.

I theorise that:

Creatures may choose to eat beings for food to alleviate hunger.

Creatures may eat other Creatures to gain power.

[Arcblade]

It begs the question, do Creatures eat other Creatures?

Perhaps. Are you talking about Creatures eating other Creatures physical bodies? Or eating their souls?

Demons might view the eating of other Creatures in the same light as the eating of Beings - i.e. the stong have the right to use their might over those too weak to defend themselves, who deserve to be abused for being weak.

Oh, I meant eating other Creatures bodily.  It makes perfect sense to me that Creatures would eat other Creatures' souls... probably for the exact reason you brought up: Zezzuva's ascension.  Certainly, Creatures could snag all the souls they want from Beings, but other Creatures are probably better power sources.  More magical might, physical strength, etc etc. 

Philosophically, the view "the strong can do whatever they want to the weak" makes perfect sense with what we know of demons.  But eating other creatures of seemingly equal and near-equal status is a taboo in nearly every culture in existence.  Cannibalism is all but unheard of, and humans tend to shy away from eating monkeys and apes as well.  Of course, "everything else works that way" doesn't mean demons and other Creatures in DMFA have to follow suit. 

[Mao]

Because I'm fairly sure this falls under "thinking too hard about DMFA", I was going to start it in the Tinfoil Hat Tearooms, but I, err... can't.  So I'll just post it here and leave the decision up to those with the might. 

I can put it there if you want.  I do agree that you guys seem to be overthinking it, but at the same time it doesn't seem too off the wall.  I guess I'll check back in a day or so, and if I see a post or two thinking that it'd be fine down there then off it'll go.

My 2c?  Creatures are a pretty diverse group.  I'm pretty sure that some of them couldn't care less *what* they ate.  Beings, other creatures etc.  Similarly, I'm sure, could be said for beings.  I don't think you're going to find any hard and fast rule that applies to all.  However, I do think that there are likely factions/species etc who will advocate one way or the other.  That said, in general, your average creature has an advantage over your average being so the concept of them eating one is a bit more likely just due to their ability to get away with it.

[Alondro]

*Charline de Lyon grins*  Beings are tasty!  And I just love they way they beg for their lives and scream in terror as my jaws descend upon them!  *giggles devlishly*

Also, souls.... nom nom nom

[MT Hazard]

I tend to think of as Keri and Lore's eating habits as (for the most part) Early instalment weirdness and leave it at that.

It even has an entry to that effect (I didn't put it there BTW)

[Tapewolf]

I tend to think of as Keri and Lore's eating habits as (for the most part) Early instalment weirdness and leave it at that.

It even has an entry to that effect (I didn't put it there BTW)

I dunno - last year's shirt depicts Kria gnawing on a bone with the caption "Top of the food chain = top of the world".

[Hariman]

I suspect that creatures only eat creatures weaker than they are, and probably not as often as they eat beings.

A dragon can probably get away with eating a lot of different things, but demons, cubi and mythos would have to be more circumspect about who they eat.

Which is why beings get eaten so much. They're weak and easy to catch, for the most part.

[nevwyn]

Sorta make you wonder where a Hoo-mon would fit in the food chain, they tend to be weak and easy to catch but with the addition of fire will eat damn near anything. fire makes everything better. 

[Ignuus66]

fire makes everything better.  

that was a pizza  btw.

[Ryy Lazurus]

I'm of the option that magic in Furrae means that we see a lot of unnatural logic. I think Furrae is just a bit more subtle than the Fae lands (Kira eating some poor sab would cause some kind of space and time warp, allowing her to eat beings whole in seconds without appearing tae gain weight).

When you consider the shape-shifting and the like, it's no that implausible.

[Hariman]

Sorta make you wonder where a Hoo-mon would fit in the food chain, they tend to be weak and easy to catch but with the addition of fire will eat damn near anything. fire makes everything better. 

If the humans WERE in Furrae's food chain. Then they'd all get eaten, killed, and eventually wiped out.

I THINK that's in the info pages somewhere, but I'm not sure where it is.

[Ignuus66]

If the humans WERE in Furrae's food chain. Then they'd all get eaten, killed, and eventually wiped out.

I THINK that's in the info pages somewhere, but I'm not sure where it is.

actually I think the humans were highly resistant to magic, but were thus incapable of using magic themselves.
However if you transported humans from earth to furrea (along with human weaponry) we would be far above the other races in the food chain.

[ChaosMageX]

I'm of the option that magic in Furrae means that we see a lot of unnatural logic. I think Furrae is just a bit more subtle than the Fae lands (Kira eating some poor sab would cause some kind of space and time warp, allowing her to eat beings whole in seconds without appearing tae gain weight).

When you consider the shape-shifting and the like, it's no that implausible.

I think I agree with Ryy here.  Magic probably does play a role here, not only in allowing them to rapidly consume such a large meal, but also in eliminating some of the harmful bacteria that would come from eating raw flesh.
However, it might not stop the spread of the more vicious and deadly STDs.  If anything beings could and probably do use that as propaganda to help prevent creatures from eating them.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

fire makes everything better. 

that was a pizza  btw.

And isn't it better? ;-]


(more seriously, a touch too much fire, there.)

[littlekreen]

Digestion of live meat would probably be in the area of necromancy. would fit demons rather well.

[Beezle Bub]

actually I think the humans were highly resistant to magic, but were thus incapable of using magic themselves.
However if you transported humans from earth to furrea (along with human weaponry) we would be far above the other races in the food chain.
[/quote]

I agree, totally, that most modern guns would wreck a dragon up pretty bad, and than knowing human's, we'd bar-b-que them up right and dandy

[Ignuus66]

I agree, totally, that most modern guns would wreck a dragon up pretty bad, and than knowing human's, we'd bar-b-que them up right and dandy

Well untill creatures got above their superiority complex and managed to manufacture weapons like that too,
though that would take quite a lot of years due to the amount of electronics in every modern weapon.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Well untill creatures got above their superiority complex and managed to manufacture weapons like that too,
though that would take quite a lot of years due to the amount of electronics in every modern weapon.

Electronics?

Where? I mean, just to select an item at random, in terms of modern weapons, a .357 revolver? Or, if that's based on "old tech", how about a Barrett .50 caliber sniper rifle? I don't recall there being much electronics in that. Or an AA-12? Very little that might be termed electronics in that, give you can drop it in a bucket of water and fire it as you pull it out of the water...

[littlekreen]

Well going from no guns to guns isn't entirely easy in a pressured timeframe. You still have to understand the underlying mechanics of making the weapon and the forces involved or unless you're duplicating them exactly they'll likely explode. Even figuring out what alloys go where and why is a non-trivial engineering task let alone how to preserve those structures in a manufacturing environment. Making the tool chain to produce bullets alone if you haven't a history of making cartridges would eat a lot of time. Probably would have to steal a lot of those tools to make up the gap.

[Ignuus66]

Electronics?

Where? I mean, just to select an item at random, in terms of modern weapons, a .357 revolver? Or, if that's based on "old tech", how about a Barrett .50 caliber sniper rifle? I don't recall there being much electronics in that. Or an AA-12? Very little that might be termed electronics in that, give you can drop it in a bucket of water and fire it as you pull it out of the water...

you'd be surprised, lots of weapons have electronic, well "expansions"
of course the base firing mechanism is (usually) not electronic based ( metal storm is an exception)

Also try creating massive amounts of guns without electronics.

We should also get off the topic of guns before the thread is placed in the mine or the tearooms.

[Beezle Bub]

Sorry about my encouraging of the firearms race.
I think that it wouldn't only be the strong creatures that would consume the weak ones, remember that a big idiot is still an idiot and is prone to fall for a smarter and perhaps weaker creatures attacks. As we've seen Dan falls into the most obious traps and often needs to be rescued.
that said, perhaps there is a group of creatures that work togeather to kill strong monsters and take turns consuming them? I think it's this ability that has allowes weaker speices to survive.

[Ignuus66]

Sorry about my encouraging of the firearms race.
I think that it wouldn't only be the strong creatures that would consume the weak ones, remember that a big idiot is still an idiot and is prone to fall for a smarter and perhaps weaker creatures attacks. As we've seen Dan falls into the most obious traps and often needs to be rescued.
that said, perhaps there is a group of creatures that work togeather to kill strong monsters and take turns consuming them? I think it's this ability that has allowes weaker speices to survive.

I think the weaker species survive due to the fact that they are most in number, and thus reproduce very quickly.

[Alondro]

*wonders how potent a nuke would be against Hizell...*  I must make some plans and fire up the old Transdimensional Portal...  after I swipe the secret 2nd Tsar Bomba from Russia!   

[Ignuus66]

*wonders how potent a nuke would be against Hizell...*  I must make some plans and fire up the old Transdimensional Portal...  after I swipe the secret 2nd Tsar Bomba from Russia!    

to clarify only the case of the second tzar bomba was manufactured, the USSR cancelled the project due to the inefficiency (and the fact that a 100 megaton explosion would have been a *slight* overkill)

To give a backround of the tzar bomba: it was originally built to be 100 megatons, but due to the fact that the USSR wanted the explosion NOT to leave too much residual radiation behind, and so that the airplane dropping the bomb has a chance to survive. Even at half power, the tzar bomba's shockwave could be measured on it's third  passage around the earth
The sheer explosive power of the tzar bomba alone surpassed all the explosives used in the first and second world war combined, the heat wave could be felt and the flash seen 270 kms away, and if dropped on paris, the zone of total annihilation would have been larger than the city itself.
keep in mind that this was at HALF the intended explosive power.
I'd say it would be a overkill dropping it even 40 kms away from hizells den.
Swiping an icbm from ukraine when the USSR collapsed would be enough considering those had on avarage a yield of 15-25 megatons of tnt, and considering they were just going to dissasemble or sell them too the russians means that they won't miss 1 from the thousands they had.  

Also keep in mind that if you don't make the dimension gate carefully, you might not be the only one to come through.

And to be frank, in a battle of Incubus vs tank, I think the tank will win..  

also I wrote all of this WITHOUT use of wikipedia