I have 3 suitcases that came from the manufacturer set at 000, and I never bothered to reset them.  (What's the point when the department of homeland security will break your luggage when it cannot easily open it?)  I have also bought several little combo locks in the last few years, and they were all initially set to 000.  I only reset them when I started to use them.  Who's to say that the sextant was ever used before morphs had it?

I read a safe-cracking article a while back that said that a very high percentage of consumers do not reset their locks after they buy them.

Perhaps Rif is exaggerating the danger.

I don't think walking like Morphs later in life would work out.  I think my husband's feet are messed up because there is a lot of strain put on the little muscles in the feet, strain that should be supported by the larger thigh and calf muscles.  We humans don't have the luxury of shifting our weight between 4 limbs.  That means all of our weight is being supported by one foot or the other when we walk.  The heel and toe arrangement we have now is probably optimal.  Most of the weight rests directly on a large bone, which takes the shock of placing the foot down.   The arched foot-bones lend strength to the foot.  The toes are laid out flat, but flex upward easily to allow the foot to rock from back to front and provide a push-off in a way that conserves energy.

When I walk on my toes for a while, I notice that not only my feet ache, but the muscles in my calves get sore.   My ankle tend to wobble, exposing a weakness in design that would get me in a lot of trouble if I was running from a predator.  Trying to walk on the toes of our current limb design would be pretty disasterous in the long run.

If we had legs like the morph, we wouldn't have ankle problems but I think the problems I mentioned in an earlier reply would plague us.  We would also have no choice but to walk on our toes, so we couldn't switch back and forth.  Morphs' heels are where our knees are!

My husband walks on the balls of his feet.  He's done so all his life (he had to wear special shoes as a toddler because he walked on his toes).  His feet are like rocks; there is no flex to them.  They are also extremely sensitive to pressure.  So far, no knee or hip problems but his feet and ankles give him a lot of grief.

Anthropologists claim that our human legs are structured like they are because it was the best evolutionary development for bipedal motion.  Resting on our ankles gives us the best balance, while the long leg bones give us a bigger stide, saving energy.  The S-curves in our backs also help with balance, but we pay for it with back problems.

The ram does seem a little bit irascible, but if you encounter the ram at the fair in the game, you'll find him just as grumpy.  I think they have short fuses.  Or maybe just a gruff manner.  They are rams, after all.

As far as the ferrets are concerned, I don't think they are terribly troubled by Rif and Rhene's residence in their village.

The morph hares refer to themselves as hares (not rabbits).  However, Morphs are not immune from stereotyping.  It is unclear whether Rif is refering to Morph or animals, but he is refering to a stereotype nontheless.

By the way, my high school's mascot was the jackrabbit.  It has produced the top rated football team in the nation for more than a decade,  and has graduated more famous atheletes than any other high school in the U.S.

google "Long Beach Poly High" to find out more.

I think even morph bears can be very grumpy when you invade their den.  Bears often look cute (Just check out any of those polar bear calendars and greeting cards), but they are formidable beasts.  If it were early spring it would probably be all over for Sandy.  As it is, it looks like Sandy is in very hot water.

Do we know the bear is a Morph?  If it is Morph, do we know that all morph bears are civilized?  Maybe, as Bcates mentions, some Morph do eat other Morph?  Hmmm... there's an idea.  Let's up the ante a little bit.

Hmmm.  Since it is a village full of hares, I guess it could have been assumed that Elara was a hare too.  I suppose I didn't make Elara cat-like enough. 

In an interesting fashion comment, it should be noted that hares make ear-holes for their robes, while the rats seen earlier in the comic do not.  Since Elara's Temple of the Orb is located at the hares' village, and the hares act as support providers (I wouldn't say servants) to Elara, they offered her clothing that is aligned with hares' sensibilities.

As far as cannibalism is concerned, I would assume that Morph would have the same aversion to eating other morph that most modern humans have to eating other humans, even though they originated from species that did eat each other.  If they ended up like the Donner party of the 1800s (California pioneers who were reduced to cannibalism when they were trapped in a snowstorm), I think the story would be just as sensational as the human counterpart.  I prefer to think survivors would eat whomever didn't survive, if they decided to turn to cannibalism.  Maybe their anscestral forms would influence them a little.  Maybe.

Well, for one thing, Elara is a cat.  I have never heard of a cat that didn't like fish.

I think Morph diets have evolved towards being omnivorous in many cases, particularly among natural meat eaters.  That means eating non-meat products like bread and plant life.  On the other hand, I also think that the Vegetarians did not embrace meat in the same way that the meat eaters embraced vegetables.  It is not likely that the rabbits would enjoy the smoked fish that Elara had placed in Rhene's basket.  That is not to say that they wouldn't prepare it in their kitchens for other morphs.  Or perhaps trade for it to keep on hand for the travelers who pass through.

I do strongly believe that the morph would not eat each other.  We saw how Rhene reacted when she suspected that the fox furs came from Morph.  Annabelle assured her the idea was ridiculous.

I think he's a fair to decent tracker. He is a fox, after all.  He has good powers of deduction.  On the other hand, I think we city folks just don't think along those lines.  I also think Sandy (even though he is a wolf) has been kind of sloppy in his flight.  He was obviously careless where he stepped, and didn't bother to hide his tracks.

Also, small tribes usually are just large extended families.  It is only when the population gets organized enough to become kingdoms or states that populations begin to mix.  I personally think that Morph society is on the verge of transforming to such a society, but hasn't quite reached there yet.  The transition is often traumatic.  (At least in human society.  Maybe Morphs will prove to be a little better at it.)

I wouldn't want to be that poor door guard, that's certain.  Sure was a nice fellow.  I'm thinking that Annabelle will have a good excuse lined up when the time comes.  Hopefully, she will be able to slip into the store room later and put the stone back into place before it is discovered.  She may also have confederates who will take care of this for her.  Who knows how deep the conspiracy is?  That's a story in itself!

Yes, it is a pretty outrageous plan.  Of course, dogs do smell much better than they see.  (My dog is losing her eyesight and she still gets around rather well.)  If anything goes wrong, I think, it will be if the guard smells the powder on Rhene's face, or perhaps noticing the difference in height.

Annabelle will have a lot of explaining to do, but I'm sure she has it all figured out.

Please note that Annabelle had two *dresses* on when she walked into the room.  She had a belt on the outer dress, and a belt on the inner dress.  She did not remove the belt from the inner dress.  You can clearly see in the previous strip that while she is wearing a belt, there is a second one lying on the bed.  In the current strip, only her upper torso is showing, so her belt isn't depicted.