Transformative Lycanthropy (Lycanthropy)

As is the case with transformativism, the syndrome is passed through means of a bite from another infectee. The infection becomes full and irreversible after approximately 30 minutes.

And infection is passed on only from a bite from another werewolf, it cannot be received from a bite from a regular wolf. A human infected with lycanthropy is still genetically human, but their magical being is mixed with a wolf's (or alternatively one of their imaginary species chromosomes has become a wolf's).   Lycanthropy is also hereditary and congenital. A child of two werewolves will also be a werewolf, and a child between a werewolf and uninfected human will also be a werewolf, as it is a single dominant infection. However, children between a werewolf and a normal human is uncommon (partly due to this fact). Mostly, werewolves have self-contained families, or packs, that are self-sustaining without the need to infect others to continue.

Lycanthropy is a single dominant infection, as a wolf has 78 chromosomes and a human has 46, where one of the human's imaginary species chromosomes becomes that of a wolf's. The body of the person infected is taken over, but not the mind, which means a werewolf will retain their personality, but will gain some physical attributes of a wolf, such as increased speed and sense of smell, and can transform into a wolf, either by will, or by force under the full moon. When transformed they still keep their personality (as their mind has not been affected), and are the same being, but have all the physical capabilities of being that organism. Lycanthropy only involves the grey wolf subspecies (canis lupus). It is not known why other subspecies do not manifest their own infections, however this is common to all instances of transformativism.   In the process of transformation, a werewolf's DNA will magically convert themselves from human DNA to a wolf's. After this, the rest of the body will metamorphose into a wolf to fit the new DNA. This process is quite quick but uses a large amount of magical energy, which can be detected. The wolf that a human will transform into will have less mass, therefore energy will be released by the process as the excess mass is converted to energy. This means that the process of turning into a wolf will empower the werewolf, and can be done to make a getaway. On the other hand, converting back to a human requires energy to be input (the same amount in fact), meaning that an exhausted werewolf in wolf form may be unable to. If they are forced to without the required energy, it could be dangerous or even fatal, as it may cause organ failure.

Once a human has been infected with lycanthropy, it is uncurable and irreversible, and cannot even be alleviated by any known means. This is likely due in part to the magic involved being poorly understood.

Werewolves have an acute allergy to elemental silver. Even touching pure silver is dangerous, and if it enters the body it is easily fatal. Impure or trace silver is less dangerous, though will still cause some reaction. Silver in key parts of the body is lethal almost immediately, and in non-essential parts of the body the damage spreads quickly. Thus, werewolves have to avoid pure silver carefully, and if silver enters the body, the area should be amputated very quickly.

The only possible prevention is if the bitten human is immersed in a strong anti-magic field before the 30 minute infection period is up. However, due to the short time-frame, this is often unfeasible.

How lycanthropy (and other cases of transformativism) came to exist is unknown, though there seems to be a link between historical werewolf populations and places where human and wolf populations were in close proximity. There are theories as to the origin. Some suggest instances of bestiality in the presence of magic, others suggest forgotten dark magic created it artificially.

Werewolves were normally accepted in the magical community, as they still possessed their original human personalities. Normal humans were mostly unaware of their existence (though legends abounded), though some werewolves attempted to integrate with human society, and managed to do so somewhat successfully. Some werewolves chose to remain isolated, and they were mostly ignored.   ORCHESTRA regards werewolves as simply another abnormality to be eradicated, though a moderately dangerous one. Under ORCHESTRA's campaigns, werewolf populations have declined significantly, though they are still treated the same in the magical world.