The quellvisk – created or made?

[Lord Foul]

How do you think? Doesn't all described qualify as a creation? When genetics in real life succeed in even a quite slight altering, they may already call that creating new, and remember the alteration described in AATE. That's far from slightly altering, that's creating anew.

[Hashi Lebwohl]

You should know, Foul--you were there.

Seriously, though, in this context we could use those words interchangeably--they were "created" because they didn't exist before that but, on the other hand, they were "made" by their makers.

[Lefdmae Deemalr Effaeldm]

Actually, hard to say. I think maybe this depends on which is found more important - the presence of creativity in the process or the creation-like quality of the result.

In most cases shown in the books Foul just takes parts and slaps them together, that hardly counts as creativity. However, the way the quellvisk appeared wasn't described much, and the bones don't appear to resemble those of any known creatures, so maybe the untouched predecessors had them that way, but maybe Foul used a different approach, at least the way the bones look has a feel fitting for his work.

A completely different thing is the creations that appeared as the result. Their minds changed, yet remained theirs, they turned out different and new, but with a view on things and goals of their own.

And being somewhere and doing something may not mean much. Like if you try to make some bread using a standard recipe and just slightly altering the proportions and the ingredients and end up with something vaguely amoeba-like, greenish in color and contemplate if that may yet be called making bread or creating something new.

[High Lord Tolkien]

I took them to be natural lore-wise beings that Foul warped to his own designs. Kind of like what the Ravers did to the Viles but on a more powerful scale.
Since we have been given no information about the origin of the Quellvisks whether or not they were created or not is unknown for sure but I don't think it matters.
Their purpose was to show how LF wasn't sitting on his hands in the History of the Land until Kevin's time.
And give a nice little lego bone factory for Jeremiah.

[Lefdmae Deemalr Effaeldm]

IIRC, we were given at least some information on the origin, I'll have to look for an exact quote later. At least that was far from converting the Viles. It looks like they were basically a different species.

And SRD doesn't tend to write otherwise empty plot devices. Even the Insequent, who are most often accused of that, have their personalities, are people to like or not. I was even pleasantly surprised when deer requested the Mahdoubt in the character generation game thread, and Linna said she was intrigued from the pictures and wanted to meet this character) kevinswatch.ihugny.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=22365

The quellvisk are a whole new species. I just don't think they exist just to say Foul wasn't lying unconscious or shocked into inaction for a few millenia after getting to the Earth and to give Jeremiah something cool to play with.