In the Western Woods, a settlement called Last Hope remains a bastion of civilization amongst the terrors that lurk in the storybook woods clustered thickly from coast to the inner mountain ranges. This area has specifically given rise to tales of lycanthropy, and werewolf hunters are some of the most common travellers to leave Last Hope in search of their prey.
More's the pity for them that they often chase after misty lies, while the true lycanthropes hide under their very noses.
When the "children" of Tari and Sarapis began their existence, flux was the least of the words to describe the chaos that they brought. Isten, especially, found the thick forests to his liking, and spent much time amongst the moss-coated branches of the woods. Whimsy, perhaps? Insanity? Or simply the act of chaotic creation? Unable to question the god, there is no answer, only the result.
It began with wolves, gifted with the shapes and language of men. As those wolves grew and bred, they learned to use their man-shapes, and so began their own small civilization. Order grew from the nest of chaos, and Isten was displeased. Kvasir acknowledged his brother's displeasure, and the wolves were scattered, bearing a curse wrought by Revati that doomed their children and those who felt the pain of a wolf's bite to share the horror of their now-twisted forms.
Kindness came in the form of the goddess Cimil, and it was her touch that soothed the rages which had sent the wolves nearly into extinction as they fought amongst each other. She gave them the gift of control, leashing Revati's curse to the cycles of the moon, granting them a few days each cycle of peace of mind. It was she who sought to reduce the curse, taking the foaming hatred and the lingering sparks of chaotic magic to scatter amidst other creatures. So came the shifting hawks, the twisted felines, the skittering, red-eyed rats. Those who encountered Cimil on her mission of mercy walked away bearing fragments of Revati's curse, until the lycanthropy mingled with wolf and human blood alike.
Now the lycanthropes hide from the hunters, silent after centuries of their dual existance, and seek only to pass on their bloodline. There is no cure to be found for the birthright (or curse) save death, and no living creature with any iota of survival instinct would seek death. Only those closest to the lycanthropes are told the secret, as it is they who will care for the lycanthrope when he/she returns from the height of the moon to human life. Breeding is at the discretion of each lycanthrope, but with such a curse hanging over their head- and one that, without fail, transmits to the young- very few will breed with anything save another lycanthrope.
Lycanthropes:
Alignment: Any
Appearance: The lycanthropes cannot be distinguished from other humans by appearance alone. Many merely bear the signs of their local setting. All, without an exception, no matter what twisted form the curse has taken in them, have eyes that fairly bristle with restrained fury. It is only the look in their eyes which marks them as one of those birthed by Isten, destroyed by Kvasir, cursed by Revati and saved by Cimil.
Classes:
-favoured: druid, ranger, shifter
-disallowed: sorcerer, wizard
Lifespan:
250 +/- years, as their natural regeneration is enhanced when they take on their alternate form
-known breeds:
wolves
panthers
hawks/falcons
salamanders
rats
horses
boars
Notes:
*wolfsbane- lethal to lycanthropes, no matter their breed; small doses will cause physical illness- any size dose when combined with an herb called 'unicorn's horn' will result in instant, agonizing death (Lore 35+ for such knowledge if not an established priest/ess or a lycanthrope)
*silver- exceptionally painful wounds inflicted by such; no lycanthrope may wear silver or carry silver-coated weapons
*The Quanlier are a lycanthrope's worse enemy- as it is they who cause hunters to rise in packs, it is the Quanlier who create a dangerous environment. No lycanthrope can resist the opportunity to hunt a known Quanlier. A lycanthrope's skin is the greatest trophy for one of the skinwalkers, and lycanthropes are careful to hunt those particular Quanlier to a bloody death.
Shifting:
-each lycanthrope shifts voluntarily (i.e. the moon's light does not force them to shift) but their control over such a transformation weakens when enraged, frightened or during the height of the moon cycle
Infuriated: -5 Will Save to shift
Frightened: -8 Will Save to shift
Full Moon: -15 Will Save to shift
*failure on a saving throw against shifting means immediate transformation, regardless of situation
