Comment by Obligatonym

Wait... theories about runewriters/aberrants just made me think... what even is an aberrant? I mean... we know vaguely magical creatures (e.g. dragons) exist in this setting but ain't considered unnatural. And yet aberrants are; they're not just a thing, but a Thing. I wonder why that is.

Also runewriters turning into aberrants was referred to off-hand as an old rumour or myth, but Sev dismissed it out of hand, claiming it just doesn't happen. Either it's so rare that it's only relegated to rumours, or (if we combine this info with the info that the sinister order's vows have recently changed) the fundamental magical mojo of runewriting has recently become destabilised.

Reply by Jeweleya

...Or runewriters who have miscast have frequently become aberrants? A word exists because a concept does; if aberrants were a new thing, they wouldn't have been a creature of history and myth. It's possible this has been happening for a long time. The hunters knew what to look for, too. And though Sev dismissed it casually, Sev seems pretty flippant about stuff in general! Still, it's entirely possible that runewriting is getting messed up... I bet we'll get to learn more when we finally see Loa.

I like your speculation! I'm bursting with questions about this world, and the hardest thing is to sit back and let the story unfold.

Reply by Obligatonym

Hmm... that makes some degree of sense. But then again, the lady with the magic knife in the first chapter acted totally oblivious to the idea that runewriters could become tainted. In fact, I think when Esra talked to his boss about the runewriter/aberrant connection as though it were some kinda secret, the kind he literally could not speak of. So it still seems like something relatively obscure in terms of knowledge.

That said, everyone seems kinda ignorant on how runewriting works, especially if you look at the various vote incentives. Sev says it's not researched and, even allowing for his trademark dismissiveness, Jonan talked about Loa researching runewriting as though it were something strange.

Also, the abberant thing... I mean... I get what you're saying it's just... well... who looks at the "shoggoth" that Sev faced and, say, them fiery dogs that chased him later, and says "yep, let's classify them as the same creature type". I mean, sure you have magic detection thingies to zone in on aberrants, but for all we know they were devised after aberrants were considered a Thing.

Reply by Jeweleya

You make some good points! It's clear that the classification for magic beasties and for aberrants indicates that aberrants are a whole 'nother category. The zoology of the world is definitely different from Earth's, though, so it's hard to say how things would be classified (the crazy octopus-headed horse beastie, those wolf-things, and the gryphon-thing that Sev turned into - natural, magical, some combo?).

It's intriguing to me that the magic knife was created specifically to detect aberrants (I assume), which means they're around enough that a way to detect them AND a way to fuse that detecting ability into a physical object have been devised. That indicates a baseline for detecting aberrants where they've been seen both consistently and frequently enough to know something like that works.

How long have aberrants been a Thing, I wonder? If it was a long time, then maybe the knowledge was hidden to protect power and/or people...? Perhaps only higher-ups know about it.