It time for another What if... Thread!

[Tonus]

Actually, I was thinking that if witches were real like they are protrayed in the movies, no wonder they were burned.. Then I thought well according to scripture, witches were in league with demons, and just about anything thier could be possible.. Which made me turn to the salem witch trials, and what most of you think about that... which made me say to myself the atheist arguement is based in the belief/faith that nothing supernatural could ever occour, which beggs the question what if it did to the degree we see in the movies what would those buggers do then?

If a handful of people began to fly around, shape-shift, teleport, cast spells, and so on, pretty much everyone would accept that such things were happening and therefore possible. If they were assaulting people or murdering and eating children, society would seek to address that. If they proved impossible to incarcerate and continued to hurt and kill people, society would likely decide to invest in flamethrowers and water pistols.

It's also possible that many people would seek to become witches, desiring the power to fly and to get back at others with a few incantations, and enjoy the occasional baby-back ribs Fat Bastard-style. The question then would become, is there a countervailing force that would make that a bad decision? That is to say, would there be some benevolent force that would allow people to fly and cast beneficial spells and live off of tasty dirt so as not to harm any living creatures, and who could conjure rain showers with a snap of their fingers?

Or would there be a few crotchety old preachers insisting that the power of god would solve everything... just as soon as he got around to it? And that the only way to save the town was to give them as much political and social power as possible (along with a good helping of money and material goods)? And to blindly follow their lead so that if they pointed at a person and said "SHE'S A WITCH" they'd immediately lash her to a stake and set her ablaze, without bothering to confirm that she was a witch?

[Violet]

this would be avaiable to anyone looking to turn their solu over to said demon, based on the rituals in said witch book...

Very well, what is the net cost in life of one's soul being removed, that is to say: are they capable still of free will, do they lose every shred of their humanity, what's the overall effect of turning a soul 'over' to a demon in this scenario?

Maybe they taste like a crazy good bacon from an extinct pig, whos meat products taste so good it cause humanity to hunt them out of existance. Children+ some spell= insanity Bacon

Maybe... but I can think of plenty of soul-retaining humans who would love a taste of insanity bacon. In the era in question: other people's peoples don't have nearly the worth of their own... and people like bacon.

We are long pork, after all.

We don't generally farm and eat other people's kids.

Sure, but we have all sorts of bizarre rituals (Aztec, Roman, Judeo-Christian, Hindu, Incan...) that involve killing people/eating dead people. Why not use witch magics to mark the end of a drought, and engage in free trade between the peoples for mutual societal benefit?

Demons are spiritual in nature, and appearently have some weakness to fire.

Spirits don't care about Fire, Earth, Air, or Water... they are planar; they cannot be (harmed?) killed 'here'... and they cannot be fought with said elements in a spirit realm devoid said elements. To battle the spirits is a contest of wit and of will.

Most 'witches' worship gods and goddesses, not demons... but we're speaking about this as though they did.

Eat children, fly on a broom, etc... The what if.. states these qualities were observed at the time of the salem witch trials as well

And how is one having eaten children in an era without forensic science going to be observable? That they *can* fly on a broom does not mean that they necessarily *do*... in such a time, witches would (assuming they continue to be 'human', or that the demons controlling them are intelligent) recognize the need for stealth, and for caution...

Regardless, the salem witch trials were performed without state involvement, as were the great majority (if not all) of witch huntings/witch burnings/witch hangings.

How do you *find* a 'witch'?

The idea of burning was spawned from the denzel washington movie fallen.

Where Azazel was a demon who could pass from person to person by touch. I have transposed this power from that movie in these controlling witch demons. If you kill a confirmed witch by any other means other than fire that demon is free to possess another host willing to be a witch. so in effect the same 'witch/demon' different host.

Okay... and my idea of witch burning was spawned from the history of witch burning, and from the psychological elements of fear what might bring a mob to perform such.

In your supposition: how are we supposed to *know* which ones are witches before we set them aflame? How on earth can we *catch* witches, and can we do so without accidentally nabbing some poor innocent wretch in the process?

feel free to use any of this in your project, just send me a copy.

Not much for me to use in this, as I've utterly eliminated judeo-christeo-islamac'n'cheese from my texts Luckily, I've found older traditions of demons

Again what if the reasonable counter measure was death by fire?

It's as-of-yet an identical process of death-by-fire between innocents and witches alike (and note, witches may not necessarily not be innocents, themselves).

Again got to stick with the parameters of the what if.. These witches are real and can act with impunity. if they did not want to goto trial they would just walk away and nothing we could do could stop them.

In which case there is nothing to be done, and any brokered violence in the populace is folly alone, re: bend over for our magical girl overlords

In this senerio witches are not really able to completely hide who they are for very long. The demons powering this rampage are not shy. they want people to know its power

Until this point, you hadn't said that they can't hide... and I would ask: by what mechanism can they not hide? They are not all immediately violent; how could they sucker suckers into succor without being able to manipulate quietly?

After all... not all demons are built the same... pride and wrath and gluttony are not shy... but desire and greed and sloth have quite a bit more patience. These beings are otherwise held in "hell" for eternity... you think that they would not do *anything* to not go back there? Mimicking a mortal existence is child's play.

[Drich]

Ok you all win we should let witches make insanity bacon out of our kids and should all just roll over and let them do what they want.

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Or better yet we can all just sit around a fire eat insanity bacon together (we don't want to seem better than them so we shouldn't decline when offered) and discuss our feelings with them.

[Losty]

Ok you all win we should let witches make insanity bacon out of our kids and should all just roll over and let them do what they want.

Wow Drich you have such lovely comprehensive reading skills, oh wait, that was someone else. I love how you just straw manned us in the witch thread. I hope I get to be Dorothy in this game. DQ can be Toto

[Drich]

Ok you all win we should let witches make insanity bacon out of our kids and should all just roll over and let them do what they want.

Wow Drich you have such lovely comprehensive reading skills, oh wait, that was someone else. I love how you just straw manned us in the witch thread. I hope I get to be Dorothy in this game. DQ can be Toto

I'm a black or white (no the irony given my mongrel status is not lost on me) kind of guy.

For me it's either we kill/burn witches, or we let them run amuck in this senerio. I don't see the middle ground here.

[Violet]

Ok you all win we should let witches make insanity bacon out of our kids and should all just roll over and let them do what they want.

Only if they are as supposed. Because there is nothing that can be done in the situation you hypothesized.

Luckily for the human race: witches are neither as they are supposed, nor are they real.

Or better yet we can all just sit around a fire eat insanity bacon together (we don't want to seem better than them so we shouldn't decline when offered) and discuss our feelings with them.

I am starting to get hungry. I think I'll just go cook myself some insanity bacon.

Yes, Nine... if you read this: I'm after your big belly.

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For me it's either we kill/burn witches, or we let them run amuck in this senerio. I don't see the middle ground here.

1: Kill all humans, as you can't be sure they're not a witch. It's okay, they'll go to heaven. Or... maybe not.

2: Humanity lives as a cattle/slave race until magic is weakened.

[Losty]

Wow Drich you have such lovely comprehensive reading skills, oh wait, that was someone else. I love how you just straw manned us in the witch thread. I hope I get to be Dorothy in this game. DQ can be Toto

I'm a black or white (no the irony given my mongrel status is not lost on me) kind of guy.

For me it's either we kill/burn witches, or we let them run amuck in this senerio. I don't see the middle ground here.

That only shows your lack of reasoning and morals. It doesn't reflect on me or anyone else here. And do I get to be Dorothy or not?

[Drich]

I'm a black or white (no the irony given my mongrel status is not lost on me) kind of guy.

For me it's either we kill/burn witches, or we let them run amuck in this senerio. I don't see the middle ground here.

That only shows your lack of reasoning and morals. It doesn't reflect on me or anyone else here. And do I get to be Dorothy or not?

Only if I could wile away the hours
Conferrin' with the flowers
Consultin' with the rain...
And my head I'd be scratchin'
While my thoughts were busy hatchin'....

-or-
If I could; unravel every riddle
For any individ'le
In trouble or in pain

With the thoughts I'd be thinkin'
I could be another Lincoln....

Wow, kinda painted myself in a corner with this one.

[Losty]

That only shows your lack of reasoning and morals. It doesn't reflect on me or anyone else here. And do I get to be Dorothy or not?

Only if I could wile away the hours
Conferrin' with the flowers
Consultin' with the rain...
And my head I'd be scratchin'
While my thoughts were busy hatchin'....

-or-
If I could; unravel every riddle
For any individ'le
In trouble or in pain

With the thoughts I'd be thinkin'
I could be another Lincoln....

Wow, kinda painted myself in a corner with this one.

Sounds like you just gave yourself a theme song, my love

[Drich]

Only if I could wile away the hours
Conferrin' with the flowers
Consultin' with the rain...
And my head I'd be scratchin'
While my thoughts were busy hatchin'....

-or-
If I could; unravel every riddle
For any individ'le
In trouble or in pain

With the thoughts I'd be thinkin'
I could be another Lincoln....

Wow, kinda painted myself in a corner with this one.

Sounds like you just gave yourself a theme song, my love

Actually I love that song I learned it a few years ago when they had that ge commerical. And the scare crow was my fav. Because he by far was the smartest character in OZ.. He just couldn't see it himself.. hmm maybe not