BACKTRACKING...
After their conversation in his office, Dean Myers led future history professor Harold Jenkins to the private archives of Moon Lake College.
"Only faculty and serious history academics are allowed down here, because we certainly don't want any of this to become public knowledge until the world is actually ready to accept the existence of weres, whenever that will be," explained the dean, while punching in a special code into the keypad at the secured door.
"Of course," agreed Professor Jenkins.
He and his daughter Melissa had moved to Moon Lake in hopes of finding a fresh start after his wife passed away, unaware of the existence of weres, let alone the town's Mandatory Were Law, stating that one of them would have to join were society themselves to have a vested interest in protecting Moon Lake.
"You can look over any document you want to, provided you follow proper archival procedures," began Myers, as he handed Jenkins a pair of special gloves from an end table inside the room once the outer door resealed behind them. "I'll answer any question I can too, if that helps."
"Appreciate it," said Jenkins, as he set out to discover everything he could about the situation he and his daughter now found themselves in.
It is debatable between the wolves and the foxes, also known as the Skulk, as to who the oldest species is, he read in a history book, first compiled in 1910. While the lupine have the oldest public record of both myth and fiction, the vulpine can trace their roots back to at least Feudal Japan, with some indications of other 'trickster' gods and characters possibly being Skulk as well.
As time passed and civilizations developed, weres found themselves moving westward, first across Europe, and eventually finding themselves on the shores of "The New World": America.
While it is unknown exactly how many species of weres exist, let alone the locations of all in the present, were society developed more slowly than human civilization, due in part to the fact that their existence had to be kept hidden from "regular" humans, who would not accept the existence of such creatures except as dead and buried distant memories best forgotten.
Naturally, organized groups within individual species developed first, leading us back to both the wolves and the Skulk. The vulpine have the advantage of having more time in one general area, the Orient, while the lupine were the first to develop the skills necessary to maintain order while being mobile, dating back to mid-European gypsies and other nomadic cultures. However, it should be pointed out that exactly how many of these groups/tribes might have actually been weres is unknown.
The wolves reached America first, while the Skulk only ventured as far as what was originally known as the Sandwich Islands, now called Hawaii.
Along the way, both groups discovered the existence of other were species and extended the paw of friendship to each other, with all benefiting from such alliances.
While regular humans, or "normals" as some called them, were content to stay along the East Coast until the early 1800s, weres were the first (unofficially) to venture past what is now known as the Mississippi River.
Although exactly when is unknown, most weres grew tired of running, and started establishing communities along the way. Naturally, knowledge of these establishments was only passed by word of mouth, especially once humanity started expanding past the Mississippi too.
"While no one was big on keeping exact records at the time, Moon Lake was established by a group of mixed weres sometime between the end of the Civil War and the start of the 20th century," said Dean Myers. "There were already some weres in the area, who knew the terrain and ways of the land agriculturally. Over time, the wagon wheel shape of the town was developed, with the namesake lake at its center to give everyone as much open land to be themselves whenever possible. Within reason of course."
"How so?" asked Professor Jenkins.
"Except at sanctioned events or in case of dire emergency, no were can transform during the day in public. At night there's more freedom, but we stay away from the two roads bordering the town that lead on to other parts of Washington state."
"I never realized just how... persecuted a minority weres actually are," admitted Jenkins.
"While I'll agree with minority, I'm not sure persecuted is the proper descriptive," replied Myers. "Personally, I prefer the term, potentially misunderstood myself. While we've gotten to the point where we're able to spread misinformation to defuse normal humans fears of us, the wolves and others have been hunted for quite a while. Usually for our pelts. Being a weretiger, I know of a group of us in Africa who do nothing but strive to protect all tigers, were and natural."
"I see," said Jenkins, leaning back in the chair and thinking over everything he read during the past couple of hours. "I have a better understanding of weres now, and I do apologize for some of the nasty stuff I might have thought or said about the species in general, but this doesn't change the fact that Moon Lake is expecting either me or my daughter to join you within a few days on our own, or the choices or who and what will be taken away from us."
"That I'm afraid I can't help you with," admitted Myers, as he put the last book away. "I've talked to people in your position before. Usually students who either became fascinated with were society and wanted to join or they fell in love with a member and wanted to be with them.*"
"What did you tell them?"
"The ones who were just fascinated? I made sure their heads were on straight and they knew what they were getting into. Most turned 50/50. They either did or they didn't."
"And the others?" asked Jenkins.
"Believe it or not, divorce is practically unknown in were society. So, other than making sure their hearts were in the right place, I wished them well, for love is the most powerful reason I can think of to be with someone who is already a were," said Myers, thinking of his own background and unaware that Jenkins had a brief thought of his new neighbor Virginia McCoy.
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*The most recent being Karen Yuletide in the "Moon Lake, Andersons" thread.—tmw.