(urth) shapeshifter hearsay

[b sharp]

Tony Ellis writes:

>And hearsay in a novel is a million times more significant than hearsay you 
>or I hear down the pub - >because the author has deliberately chosen to put 
>it in. As with Chekhov's Gun, if a good author >includes a reference to an 
>old legend or rumour in their story, we can be damn sure
>it has a bearing. If the author piles on such references, the way Wolfe 
>does with shape-changing >and mimicry in all three Fifth Head novellas, 
>then we know that something is definitely going on.

Does the same principle apply to the circumstantial evidence for 
shapeshifters in BotNS? Do they exist on Urth?
(no I will NOT mention the Piteous Gate ;-) )

-bsharp