To ask questions for the Being Q&A, ask at the FAQ or on the forum discussion thread.
Q. How long have the Beings been in existence?
A. Some estimates put their origin at approximately three thousand years ago. Other estimates think these first estimates are nonsense, and cast aspersions on the ponderosity of the estimators’ mothers.
Q. How has the presence of the Beings in human history made this world different from ours?
A. Not much at all.
Think of it this way: Imagine an alternate universe exactly the same as ours, but with no such thing as dog shows. How different would its history be? Probably not at all, except for the absence of certain specialty breeds of dogs.
Q. Do Beings have technological or scientific knowledge different from us? Or do they learn what we’ve learned?
A. They learn what we’ve learned — if that. Most Beings are pretty technologically inept, frankly. And they’re useless at creating new things on their own.
Q. Are Beings considered animals under the law or something else? Even in human form?
A. There aren’t any legal precedents for dealing with Beings; nobody’s ever brought a case involving them, as any such conflict would get resolved between their masters. For a fun evening, get a group of half a dozen freshman law students together, wait a few drinks, then ask what how moral they think that is.
Now I want to know, but I know no law students…
All I get is an image of an entire apartment with every available surface covered in papers pertaining to laws or arguments, and everyone passed out in their own stack.