How did animals survive the scourge ?

[treorai]

I always liked the theory that the concentration of magic in the Theran controlled areas attracted more Horrors, thus making the Scourge less severe in other areas of the world. The Horrors are attracted to magic, so the very existence of Kaers and Citadels acted as enormous magical beacons, making the Scourge worse than it otherwise would have been. So other peoples may have survived simply because there were fewer Horrors there.

[Kasbak]

On that note, don't forget that Naming has a huge influence on magical aura, since Names create True Patterns. If a culture is primative enough that they don't tend to Name things (or are animals and can't Name things), they give off less of an aura.

[Slimcreeper]

Treoral: I like that one too. Explains how the Cathans survived in natural caves.

Another angle: The Horrors are kind of like pathogens - even the Black Plague wasn't 100% efficient in killing off all Europeans, and small pox didn't wipe out every American Indian. Name-givers and the ecosystem at large are not without defenses, and it wouldn't actually benefit the Horrors to eradicate or drive insane all life on Earth even if they could.