Silver carrying Tradition / Ritual in Magaia | World Anvil
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Silver carrying

An old habit which was common among magical humans (especially from Europe) was known as silver carrying, and supposedly protected them from attacking werewolves. Though it could certainly be used that way, it mostly served as a way to discriminate against werewolves, to show the (supposed) purity of one's blood, and as a symbol of opposing werewolves.   In modern times the tradition has fallen into disfavor because of its innately dehumanizing and discriminating manner. Werewolves are just people as well, and no more violent or rabid than anyone else, despite what the tradition suggests. Though many treat it as a foolish old habit of times long gone, it only stopped being normal among European magic users very recently, with especially the rich and powerful (and, often, white) continuing long after everyone else had changed their ways.

History

It's unclear when, where, or why silver carrying begun as a tradition. It seems to have originated in Europe, and was most present on that continent, but where exactly it came from remains unknown. It seems to have spread quickly, at least once it caught on, and before long almost everyone was participating.   It was only when large-scale changes to society came about that silver carrying fell out of favor. As more and more non-human species joined with human society, building a shared community, that werewolves (and other weres) became more accepted as well. They were no longer dehumanized, seen as vicious monsters, but as people. And, as such, habits to protect oneself against werewolves, or to show which people were werewolves and which weren't... fell out of use.

Execution

Silver carrying involved people always carrying small silver items on them. Common were buttons on clothes, but also frequently used were rings around fingers or beads attached the wand. These small silver items could easily and quickly be removed, and could be launched with great force (using magic) to cause severe injury to an attacking werewolf.   Because werewolves were naturally allergic to silver, they could not wear any silver themselves, even while not transformed. As such, anyone not carrying silver themselves were assumed to be werewolves. Even if not a werewolf themselves, then surely the other was a sympathizer, which was quite possibly worse (to their minds, at least)!
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