Werewolf

the Wolfmen of Jerain

The most famous of the Lycanthrope subspecies, werewolves are legends across all Aldern. Most societies of Ethae will kill a known werewolf on sight., They are terrified of these monsters, and their curse. So famous are the werewolf in folklore, the term werewolf and lycanthrope are considered by most as the same thing. Few, beyond the scholastic community, understand that there are other types of lycanthrope creatures beyond the werewolf.

Natural werewolves are native to the central forest of Jerain. They live in small packs, usually nomadic, though some have carved out territories for themselves. These creatures, born as a natural lycanthrope refer to themselves as wolfweres, to distinguish themselves from the vile cursed ones. Wolfwere communities hate the unnatural werewolves, killing them on site, often devouring them to prevent the curse from spreading. This communal hatred is so strong that wolfweres finding an infected subject will spread word and a hunt for the original wolfwere that started the curse strand.

Though like all species there is good and evil among them, general wolfwere populations keep to themselves and want to live their lives as hunters of the deep forest away from Human. Something that grows harder over time. Encounters between the two species are often deadly for one side or the other. Humans fear the creatures due to the reputations of the wild werewolves and the possibility of being infected with the curse. Wolfwere will brutally slaughter entire human communities when needed in fear of any infected escaping. A endless cycle of fear and death.

Those infected werewolves, as implied above, for the most part survive alone, fleeing where they were infected for fear of man and lycanthrope. This is how all werewolf encounters in Novyum have come to be. An infected person hiding in a remove village or town will almost always inevitably transform and attack the innocent. They then are either killed or flee to find a new village to hide in. The curse is often spread this way.

Natural werewolves have the ability to transform at will, usually preferring to live in wolf form, which has given way to the concept that they are wolves that can transform into man. Those infected, cannot control their transformation. Though with some training, they can learn too, do not and cannot. Finding a wolfwere to teach a werewolf control is a near impossible task, as they will usually be killed on sight. Infected transformation happens through extreme stress, and/or the lunar cycle, with transformations happening during the conjunction of the two moons at the beginning of each month, and one day before and after the conjunction.