fandomhigh | The Cryptozoologist's Field Guide, Wednesday, Per 1

Even if Verity hadn't been addicted to coffee on the regular, there was no way she would have been able to have her first class without an over-large cup of it this morning. Her evening before had been spent going over her notes, questioning her capability to teach such a course, and then remembering the class she'd heard about last semester, which had gotten her to dive back into the material again.

Rival-teaching: great for the pedagogy, terrible for the sleep cycle.

"Hi," she said, when all the students had filed in. "So, this is The Cryptozoologist's Field Guide, and I'm Verity Price. I come from a long line of cryptozoologists, I actually came to the island to study some of your native cryptids, and I promise this class will have a lot more to learn than perhaps other classes that had purported to share a topic."

See, that was calling out in a classy way. She'd learned it from being on reality TV!

"Since today is our first class, I figured we'd talk a little bit about what cryptozoology actually is." Turning, she wrote on the board:

Cryptid, noun:

1. Any creature whose existence has been suggested but not proven scientifically. Term officially coined by cryptozoologist John E. Wall in 1983.

2. That thing that's getting ready to eat your head.

3. See also: "monster."

"So, cryptids. There are lots of different versions of cryptids out there; including several cryptid species of plants. Cryptids can be sapient or not--this class is going to be focusing on cryptids of general animal intelligence." Because she didn't trust any of you with information on how to spot sapient cryptids yet. "Cryptids are not aliens or creatures of the supernatural, thought some may come from other dimensions or have things that appear to be preternatural powers. The study of cryptozoology is hardly exact, because to have exact information, you need access to large populations and the ability to carry out longterm studies. Neither of those are the case for cryptids, most populations are small, endangered, and scattered rather far from wherever their origins may have been and they all live in secrecy, trying to avoid notice by the normal, human world. Mostly because humans have never been kind to the inexplicable, which is also why so many cryptid populations are so small."

And if she ever did get around to teaching a semester about sapient cryptids, she'd even go into detail about some of what happened to them and why they were so rightly afraid of humans.

"Primarily though, if cryptozoology is the study of cryptids, being a cryptozoologist is primarily about preservation: of individuals, of species, of habitats, and of knowledge. It's a tough, thankless, tiring job, but there are a lot of wonders in it, too."

"But, that's all stuff we'll get into next week. I'm told that this week is for introductions. So name, why you took this course if you have an interesting reason, any experience with cryptids or magical creatures from your world if you have any, and if you don't have anything that suits...I dunno, ask me a question about cryptids or cryptozoology. Let's see what you're interested in and how fast think on your feet."

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"Neither Ursas or Boarbatusks are great at planning, like, ambushes or anything like that. They're more charge-in-murder-everything-now, unless they're really ancient. Waiting for the right time to strike is more the province of Goliaths or Lancers. Hang on." Yang whipped out her scroll, flipping it open and setting it flat on her desk to put it into hologram mode. "Display: Grimm subgroups."

The scroll flickered to life, and began projecting different images in the air next to Yang, changing from one to the next every few moments. "Meet the creatures of Grimm."

Verity itched to get her fingers on the information there, especially since she couldn't just stay and read it and ignore the rest of the class. "I'd love to take a closer look at that sometime if you're willing," she said. "Though it is interesting--by which I mean dangerous, likely deadly, and probably stupid--to study where the difference between animal-level trickery and cunning end and true sapience begins."

Verity stop grinning like that. It sets a bad example for the students.

"The disintegrate immediately after they die, and don't survive in captivity, so, it's not like they can be studied," Yang said with a shrug. "So, mostly we just punch them until they stop trying to make people dead."

She picked up her scroll and flipped it off, sticking it back in her pocket. "Though... wouldn't a sapient cryptid just...be a person?"

"People, yes, but not human," Verity said. "And most of them would be horrified to be classed with us, or even as mammals. There can be sapient cryptid people who hunt and attack humans. Apraxis wasps, for instance, or ghouls. All ghouls eat human flesh, though, since they prefer dead and decaying flesh, most have an arrangement with a local hospital, morgue, or crematorium. Most isn't all, however."

It was an excellent question, however, and Yang was getting an approving nod for it.

"Well, yeah. We have Faunus," Yang said, gesturing. "They're people with animal-ish traits? And yeah, they aren't all mammals, but, like, they're still people."

Vale -- and by extenions, Patch -- was very liberal, compared to other parts of the Kingdoms. Yang knew that not everyone shared her opinion, but, like, that wasn't anything she could change.

"This world is still wrapping its head around the fact that the concept of 'people' extends past straight, cis, white men of a certain age and class," Verity said with a sigh. "The idea that a giant snake or small mice or bogeymen are actually real and also people is still a ways away. So they hide, to not get wiped out."

The Cryptozoologist's Field Guide, Wednesday, Per 1

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