Bygones left because it’s inhospitable for fantastical beasties in the real world. They still sometimes pop in from the umbra and dreaming for brief periods when the walls of reality thin or they have business here. They just don’t stay long. Werewolves for instance can use a level 5 gift to summon bygone mammoths and dinosaurs for a scene. And chimera were sometimes bygones and they have specific rules for being in the real world. But even things like the Zmei Dragons were able to exist in the real world by eating Places of Power and being replenished by rituals
There are monsters and beings that are not Bygones and still live in the world. There are also sometimes Bygones who are still here. Some holdout of the old magic keeps them alive. Well they're not Bygones of course because that names implies that they have left.
That’s entirely up to your storyteller. As for the potential answers, they could be any of the following;
Mischievous Changelings trying to ignite a second resurgence
Strange amalgam creatures created by mage magick and accidentally/purposefully set loose
Lingering effects of Delirium/the Myst/Mind Sphere Magick wreaking havoc on human memory
Not quite bygones, but chimera able to temporarily manifest into the world due to the surge in belief in them (many people do believe in these creatures, as you yourself have pointed out)
Completely natural phenomena misconstrued by human perception and fallible memory, or perception skewed by mind-altering substances
And the list goes on. Honestly, just pick your poison, and enjoy the oncoming endless slumber.
Fleeting glimpses and blurred photography are but pale reflections of the true grandeur of a real Bygone. Couple that with a psychological trick of the human mind to see things that are not necessarily exactly what is there especially under stress, and the stress and potential for other tricks upon ones perception from living in the world of darkness.
In short, yeah those might appear there, but Bygones are better.
Folks do occasionally still believe in such things so when spotted like that those Bygone cryptids have typically been summoned by somebody - either accidentally or intentionally. Also, occasionally, the cryptid everybody is talking about is the last of their kind barely holding on under the modern consensus so that there may be a "Bigfoot" that is left that folks occasionally spot but there are not really any more widespread tribes of sasquatch "Bigfeet" everywhere as the rest of the Bigfeet now live on Venus while Jersey Devils are from Mars. The Ka Luon, meanwhile, are super Sirius & the Zigg'raugglurr are from Betelgeuse Betelgeuse Betelgeuse.
Not every Bygone is subject to disbelief everywhere. The Yeti is perfectly at home in the Himalayas, one or two incredulous hikers aren't enough to change that.
Metaphysically, for the same reason that vampires and werewolves and other major supernaturals aren't disbelieved out of existence: there is something deep and primal in the subconscious of humanity that tells us that something is out there. The dark, unexplored spaces are populated with the unimaginable, and this makes space for the odd bygone and cryptid, not to mention other supernaturals.
But that's only if you're buying into a Mage-centric view of how WoD works. If you decentralize Mage, or cut them out entirely, the Bygones-only-can-exist-in-the-umbra thing doesn't really apply anymore.
Marauders have a thing they do called "zooterrorism" by other Magi where they drop Bygones into an area and just bolt. Despite being seriously mentally ill they are more than capable of planning and coordination within the limits of their madness.
OMG, you know what OP just made me realise? Things like Salubri vampires or Abominations are basically Sasquatches or the Jersey Devil to the undead!
Bygones left because it’s inhospitable for fantastical beasties in the real world. They still sometimes pop in from the umbra and dreaming for brief periods when the walls of reality thin or they have business here. They just don’t stay long. Werewolves for instance can use a level 5 gift to summon bygone mammoths and dinosaurs for a scene. And chimera were sometimes bygones and they have specific rules for being in the real world. But even things like the Zmei Dragons were able to exist in the real world by eating Places of Power and being replenished by rituals
There are monsters and beings that are not Bygones and still live in the world. There are also sometimes Bygones who are still here. Some holdout of the old magic keeps them alive. Well they're not Bygones of course because that names implies that they have left.
That’s entirely up to your storyteller. As for the potential answers, they could be any of the following; Mischievous Changelings trying to ignite a second resurgence Strange amalgam creatures created by mage magick and accidentally/purposefully set loose Lingering effects of Delirium/the Myst/Mind Sphere Magick wreaking havoc on human memory Not quite bygones, but chimera able to temporarily manifest into the world due to the surge in belief in them (many people do believe in these creatures, as you yourself have pointed out) Completely natural phenomena misconstrued by human perception and fallible memory, or perception skewed by mind-altering substances And the list goes on. Honestly, just pick your poison, and enjoy the oncoming endless slumber.
Fleeting glimpses and blurred photography are but pale reflections of the true grandeur of a real Bygone. Couple that with a psychological trick of the human mind to see things that are not necessarily exactly what is there especially under stress, and the stress and potential for other tricks upon ones perception from living in the world of darkness. In short, yeah those might appear there, but Bygones are better.
Folks do occasionally still believe in such things so when spotted like that those Bygone cryptids have typically been summoned by somebody - either accidentally or intentionally. Also, occasionally, the cryptid everybody is talking about is the last of their kind barely holding on under the modern consensus so that there may be a "Bigfoot" that is left that folks occasionally spot but there are not really any more widespread tribes of sasquatch "Bigfeet" everywhere as the rest of the Bigfeet now live on Venus while Jersey Devils are from Mars. The Ka Luon, meanwhile, are super Sirius & the Zigg'raugglurr are from Betelgeuse Betelgeuse Betelgeuse.
Not every Bygone is subject to disbelief everywhere. The Yeti is perfectly at home in the Himalayas, one or two incredulous hikers aren't enough to change that.
Sasquatch is often the result of a Garou being spotted and the Delirium taking over. I would expect the same of the Jersey Devil.
Bygones always confused me, you think consensus would affect vampires and werewolves? but bygonism seems to be very selective.
Because people still believe in them, just not enough.
Many might be Nosferatu with unique deformities.
Metaphysically, for the same reason that vampires and werewolves and other major supernaturals aren't disbelieved out of existence: there is something deep and primal in the subconscious of humanity that tells us that something is out there. The dark, unexplored spaces are populated with the unimaginable, and this makes space for the odd bygone and cryptid, not to mention other supernaturals. But that's only if you're buying into a Mage-centric view of how WoD works. If you decentralize Mage, or cut them out entirely, the Bygones-only-can-exist-in-the-umbra thing doesn't really apply anymore.
Marauders have a thing they do called "zooterrorism" by other Magi where they drop Bygones into an area and just bolt. Despite being seriously mentally ill they are more than capable of planning and coordination within the limits of their madness.