Quote:
Originally Posted by DataPacRat
... what sorts of Proteus Plagues are likely to still be kicking around, in one reservoir or another?
|
Any of the mythological transformations could be the result of a Proteus Plague:
vampirism
zombification
lychanthropy (of a wide variety of animal types)
dryadism (photosynthesis, etc.)
Less radically, you could have versions that work permanent genetic changes on subsequent generations, producing populations of cat- and dog-people, dwarves, ogres/giants, etc.
Taking a cue from the manga
Ranma 1/2, you could have "naturally" occurring springs that take the genetic material of the first (or last) dead body thrown in them, and combines it with each subsequent person that drinks the water or bathes in the spring. So the Spring of Dead Girl makes males reversibly female or hermaphroditic, the Spring of Dead Cat produces cat/human chimeras or shape-shifters, etc.
In each of these cases, the idea is that transhuman diversity is a hedge against extinction (e.g., cat-people may survive better against the sudden appearance of nocturnal apex predators).
Edit to add: Depending on the amount of sample DNA required and the type of hybridization performed, the "cursed spring" version could be manipulated into a genetic Fountain of Youth -- as long as you're absolutely certain there isn't a dead fly in the water when you put in the cutting of your hair from when you were a baby. (It's probably a good idea to set a high mass threshold for just this reason.)