During the panel at KeoghCon 2, I made the remark that the Wamphyri leech was evil. Some people disagreed with me, which is ok, we all have our own theories and thoughts on the subject.

 

I am curious to see what the thoughts of those who couldn't be there, and those who were, on this subject.

 

I came to the conclusion the leech was evil by looking at what qualities it took and amplified in its host and what it removed. It encouraged the violent tendacies and behaviors and it destroyed or squashed the concience of the host, so much so that something unthinkable when the host was human is considered brag worthy as Wamphyri.

 

Any comments???

Hmmmm....

Evil?

I would say that the majority of the actions and the motives could be seen or understood as evil after the fact from an "outside" view. (the outside view being someone watching the event occur).

My opinion is that the leech is like any other creature of the wild. It does what it has to do to survive.

Nature as a whole is extremely cruel so to speak. an example.... a lion sufficates it's prey before it consumes it. But what of a coyote? A coyote lacks the power it it's jaws to do the same. So a coyote simple wears a deer or another animal until it's tired and falls down and begins to eat the animal while it's still alive. (Believe me... it's heart wrenching if you have ever seen it done). So is the coyote evil? Nope. It doesn't know the difference between evil and good. It only knows the difference between survival or hunger.

So back to the leech......

I feel it amplifies those characteristics that it feels will help the host survive and thereby lengthen it's own existence. After all... that's all it's really interested in. It's territory and it's survival. Or at least that's my humble opinion.

What a great question to think about ..... I reckon that the leech is like any other wild animal, and will pretty much do anything to preserve itself.

 

A typical parasite it needs a host to survive, so its first impulse is to 'latch' onto someone/thing. And then it evolves and grows and requires fuel to survive. Is it inherently evil? I certainly think its genes lead it to become a very domineering creature and with the host the Wamphyri is a very single-minded species......

 

So in a roundabout way I think I am saying I don't think that the leech is evil .... but its will to survive makes the leech do what humans perceive as evil actions .........(goodness me, I think I've confused myself!!!! :eek:

Confusing as it may be Ancient1 that was my very own opinion at KeoghconII.

 

The leech itself has no emotions as such, it just has the instinct to survive which means that it has to be ruthless, survival of the fittist and all that. If it used the hosts nicer emotions it might find itself being considerate or developing a concience, that would be disasterous in a kill or be killed environment!

 

It magnifies the hosts baser emotions because it recognises those as the ones to use to survive, in nature nothing gets anywhere by being the nice guy!

 

This is why occurences such as true love are so rare amonst the Wamphyri, if you had to care for someone else as well as yourself you would be at more risk.

 

In my opinion the only time the Wamphyri could love is if the hosts emotions were stronger than the leech, and because the leech grows strong enough to basically take control of the host, this must be a very special person indeed.

i have to agree with canker here the leech in it's self isn't evil i think it's the host that determines that because humans are quite evil in our own way, but if the leech bonds with a wolf will the wolf go around looking for fights and kill for the fun of it. i don't think so. look at harry and harry jnr they were wamphyri and they weren't evil. harry could of unleashed the plague on the world but he did'nt want to forsake man kind..anyway i agree with canker..

...i have to say that the leech is a selfish single-minded parasite. what it does for survival and what it changes in the host makes the host turn to evil things in a mortal's eyes just for the sake of survival. so...what Canker said.

To tell you the truth, when I read the third book of necroscope, I've seen some Wampyri do rather rash or stupid things. Sometimes, the Wamphyri's pride gets in the way of doing things that mights have better ensured their survival. Why is that? Even though the leech is supposed to be concerned with surivival, is it so full of itself that once in a while it disregards potential threats as nonthreatening? Also, does the leech contribute to the Wampyri's metamorphic qualities and their ablility to make all those creatures.

There are reasons why pride might get in the way of the common sense survival instinct. One, the host's own emotions may be ascendant at the time, if they are particularly prideful they might override the leeches usual survival instinct. Or, if they were to back down from a dangerous situation and look weak in front of their peers they might loose their status and become a target in the process. Or it may just be as simple as they misjudged the situation and didn't feel the danger was as much as it really was, just like in the wild even those with the keenest survival instinct sometimes get it wrong.

 

I think that the leech is directly responsible for the metamorphic quality and ability to make creatures. Whatever stuff the leech is made of that gets into the hosts system and changes them, allowing them to do all the metamorphic stuff they do.