[quote=@Dark Jack]
Will think on it some more, but generally take the details of my prior theory with a grain of salt; it was pretty much a flow of consciousness-kind of thing. I practically made it up as I went. I'll most likely change my mind about some things as well in time, it was just what I thought of in the moment.
[/quote]

Of course; hopefully I didn't come across as contentious. I was mostly trying to be a counterpoint, or an anvil upon which to refine your thoughts. I'll also try to be a bit more open minded when it comes to things I personally believe are guaranteed to be gameplay contrivances in the future.

[quote=@Dark Jack]
As for dogs and crows (and animals in general, I guess), no, they almost certainly haven't received blood treatment... but it's probably not too outlandish to figure that they could have gotten Old Blood, and possibly associated blood echoes, from feeding on corpses.
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I also thought of this possibility, but I also have to wonder... *all of them*? And also, can we say for sure that nibbling on the corpse of someone who has the old blood is enough to transmit, ehm, Yharnamism? It seems like it might be the case. But if it is, that also means that animals could transform into beasts, right? And if we assume that, then it begs the question of what those beasts would be like. Humans, for some reason, turn into wolf-like things. ...So what would happen if a wolf became a beast? Likely it would not become a man, disturbing as that might be. Maybe the fire dog in the old labyrinth sheds some light on this. Yet if that thing is a beast, it's also interesting that the Pthumerians have been able to domesticate it to an extent - it appears to be guarding their sanctum, after all. As for the crows, I have a feeling you already have something in mind.