: Well, actually, a thousand years is a very long time for
: the human race to evolve, not blatantly like a fish
: growing a third eye, but evolution in terms of
: societial change. A change in the human race can occur
: in as little as 30 years. Look at America for example.
: In the 1950s, we still held on to that morale fiber
: that parents don't spilt up and kids always respect
: adults and you help the family in anyway possible.
: Then, the 1960s hit and the country goes to hell. Now,
: living in the 1990s, we see our mistake in the 60s and
: how we evolved into a total different society, where
: kids can open fire in schools and over 55% of our
: married population is divorced and its no big deal.
: So, saying that the Myrkridia created an evolution in
: Myth society is very believable, and I think that's
: how it worked. The Myrkridia were Nomadic and kept the
: populations alive by not coming back for many years
: and keeping everyone in a state of fear seems the most
: plausible answer to how they survived for so long
: without wiping everyone out.
The only reason I suggested that the evolution was biological rather than social was that it didn't seem reasonable that even the toughest soldiers would quail at the Myrkridia ("men hardened by combat cowered in miserable terror at first sight of them") unless something in their genes just overrode all their battle experience. But you're probably right that it could be just a social effect. Even if you're a bad-ass warrior who's been fighting for twenty years, it probably freaks you out to be attacked by the creatures your grandmother would always scare you with tales of when you were a little kid.
--SiliconDream
