Werewolf

Werewolves have two forms: their original human form and their wolf form. When in human form they are indistinguishable from a normal human and possess all the same anatomy as a normal human. Similarly, when in wolf form they are indistinguishable from a normal grey wolf (canis lupus), and have the same anatomy.

The biological traits of a werewolf conform to whatever form they currently possess. When in human form, if they were bitten, they will have the human traits they always had. If they were born a werewolf, they will grow up with normal human traits. When in wolf form, they will have traits that would correspond to their human characteristics. For example, if they are a tall human, they will be a tall wolf; if they had long legs as a human, they will have long legs as a wolf, and also possibly a long tail.

If two werewolves reproduce, the child will also be a werewolf. If a werewolf mates with a human, the child be a werewolf too, though this rarely occurs. Werewolves can mate in either wolf form or human form and the result will be the same, however they must both be in the same form for it to be successful. The gestation period for werewolves is the same as human's: nine months.   The process of transformation is very flexible to werewolves that are pregnant. A pregnant werewolf will still be able to change forms without fear of harming the baby, as the foetus will also be a werewolf, therefore will also be able to change forms to match. However, the foetus cannot do this consciously, therefore in the process of the mother transforming the process will be enacted for the child automatically. The mother will appear as the pregnant version of whatever form they are in currently.   When they give birth the child will be in whatever form the mother had at the time of birth. Due to this, a baby werewolf may be unaware of its ability to transform for several years, though it may do so accidentally in the meantime, and will be forced to during and immediately after the full moon. The first time a baby werewolf transforms, it can lead to great confusion, and the baby will almost certainly have a very different childhood than a normal human child.

The growth rate of a werewolf is the same as a normal human's. The lifespan is the same, and the stages of development are the same as a human's, thus a werewolf's human form will match it's human age. However, due to the mismatch between the average human lifespan and the average wolf lifespan, a werewolf's wolf form will appear to grow at a slower rate. The stage of development for a werewolf's wolf form will match it's human form, and since human developmental periods last longer, the stages in growth for their wolf form will last longer.

Werewolves can theoretically live in any habitat that a human can. However, due to the secretive nature of their existence, they prefer semi-wild areas; areas that are far enough away from large human populations to remain secret, but not too far away as to be unable to have the amenities of civilisation, as most werewolves will be more accustomed to features like electricity and WiFi, especially ones that were formerly normal humans. For this reason, most werewolf populations will live in the countryside, typically on the outskirts of small towns. Sometimes they will try to integrate with the local human population, but will largely remain away, living in remote communities.   However, some werewolves will live in the wild, completely away from all civilisation. Werewolves that do this are called 'wargs', due to their wild nature. These werewolves are usually very territorial and aggressive to outsiders. They are more adapted to life in the wild and not adapted to modern society. However, due to the near ubiquity of civilisation, there are very few of these werewolves left.

Werewolves are still able to eat all the foodstuffs that a human is able to eat, however they will have a particular affinity for meat. Fruit, vegetables, and dairy will provide less nutrition than normal to a werewolf in human form, and meat will provide more. Yet, in wolf form, a werewolf's diet will switch to a wolf's, and they will become completely carnivorous, only being able to eat meat; fruit and vegetables and dairy will provide no nutrition.   Werewolves living in or near civilisation will mostly source their food from regular human sources such as supermarkets, thus saving the trouble of catching and preparing wild animals, and helping to avoid suspicion, as well as offering more taste and variety than raw meat. However, werewolves that live in the wild, wargs, will only source their food from the wild, eating raw meat in wolf form and occasionally plants in human form.

Most of a werewolf's biological cycle is similar to a human's, therefore not much affected by seasonal changes. However, werewolves are very much affected by the lunar cycle. Werewolves can either have an affinity for, or fear of, the moon, and more sensitive werewolves can have their behaviour change somewhat depending on current stage of the lunar cycle. In particular, all werewolves are forced to shift into their wolf forms during the full moon, and cannot change into human form until the night is over. After the night is finished, werewolves will then be forced to transform back into human form, but afterwards will regain the freedom to change as they please.

Werewolves have a social structure that is a hybrid of a human structure and a wolf structure. Werewolf communities live in a way that externally fits in with whatever society they live near, but internally they still have a pack-like structure. There will be a werewolf or werewolf couple as the alpha/s that control the pack, and the relevant ranks beneath them. However, when dealing with outsiders, they will act as a normal community of people. Werewolves have a strong sense of family, and have loyalty to the pack structure they are in, even if they are not all their biological family.   In the past, werewolves sought to become the leader of a pack through strength, and if they could not, they would wander as lone wolves until they could form a pack of their own. Nowadays, however, werewolves have mellowed, and while they still do seek power, they do so more passively, and not often with violence. Also, the process of a lone wolf creating a new pack has become difficult with ORCHESTRA's presence, so most werewolf communities now stick together more closely. They are not helpless however, and have also become more defensive in recent times, quite willing to defend themselves with force if necessary.   However, for werewolves that live in the wild, things are different. They follow the regular structure of a wolf pack much more closely, and still work with rank being determined by strength, and lone wolves forming their own packs. However, even for them, life has become more difficult with ORCHESTRA, and lone wolves are much more rare.

Werewolves can theoretically be found in all the same areas as humans, however they are noticeably more concentrated in areas with wolf populations or historical wolf populations, such as Europe or North America. However, in recent times, because of the activities of ORCHESTRA, their presence has shrunk significantly. They still exist in the same regions, but are sparser, and more likely to exist on the outskirts of wilderness.

Werewolves have the same intelligence as humans, and keep their level of intellect if they were formerly human.

When in human form, a werewolf will have heightened senses above that of a normal human. Particularly, their sense of smell, sight, and hearing is greatly improved, similar to the keenness of a wolf's. When in wolf form their senses are no different from a normal wolf's.

No one knows when or where werewolves first appeared, or were created. However, for most of human history, werewolves were much more animalistic. Werewolves that were born were more prone to living wild, existing in a pack structure, hunting in wolf form, eating their kills raw, and avoiding the rest of humanity. Some were even known to attack humans, and so myths and legends about vicious werewolves began to appear, and humans became afraid of them, while some hunted them. Werewolves that were bitten humans had troubled lives, often unwilling to join the wild packs, but unable to tell anyone. Most lived a life of secrecy and fear, and if they were ever discovered, they were either killed or fled into the wild.   However, as time wore on and humanity became more civilised, so did werewolves. Werewolves living wild could less and less avoid the expanse of human civilisation and industry, and were forced to integrate secretly into society; though while still remaining on the outskirts. For most of the twentieth century, werewolf society developed alongside human society, and werewolves shared in the advances in technology and philosophy alike. While werewolves still kept the pack structure to some degree, and still favoured the wild, they began to use modern technology, and adapted things like a scaled-down version of democracy for their packs. Werewolves became more educated as well, and moved on from their animal tendencies.   Magic users initially had mixed feelings about werewolves, but as they became more civilised, they grew more tolerant of them. When the Enneagram Alliance was founded, it helped werewolves keep their lives secret as part of its efforts to sustain the masquerade. They viewed them as a magical subspecies of humans, and werewolves viewed them back with some respect for their abilities. Most werewolves did not ever learn magic, though a few did, and became members of the Alliance. But, in general, werewolves were quite passive towards the Alliance, assisting them occasionally.   By the middle of the twentieth century, werewolves shared a lot of common attributes with humans, such as a fondness for modern technology, modern food, senses of fashion, and others. Most werewolves were very tolerant of humans, and some even actively sought to integrate more, becoming friends with normal humans. However, they still had to keep their lives secret, and uphold the masquerade. As such, too much interaction was frowned upon, and werewolf children were often home schooled. However, some packs remained wild, living closely to how werewolves lived in the past: living prominently as wolves, hunting, having a proper pack structure, as well as having territory and being aggressive to human trespassers. Yet, even for them life became more difficult as regular human society has expanded.   When ORCHESTRA was founded, werewolves were one of their targets, due to their supposed perversion of the human form, proximity to humans, and ability to infect other humans. They set out hunting them, as well as the rest of the magical world, developing weaponry utilising silver. Werewolves fought back, and when the Unseen War began and the Enneagram Alliance fought ORCHESTRA on a global scale, werewolves willingly joined the Alliance's efforts to fight them, contributing their strength, senses, and agility. In particular, werewolves tried to convert ORCHESTRA members to werewolves in an attempt to bring them onto their side and gain information, though this never worked, due to members' especial loyalty.   Despite the werewolves' help, it wasn't enough, and the Alliance was destroyed. After the destruction of the Alliance, werewolves suffered greatly. ORCHESTRA hunted down the majority of the world's werewolves, reducing their populations by 90%, and in some areas like Japan, eradicating them completely. Nowadays, there are very few packs left, invariably in hiding, and there are almost no wild packs. Those that remain try to keep themselves and each other alive, but will gladly assist anything magical that is fleeing, hiding, or fighting ORCHESTRA.

Werewolves are generally quite tolerant of, and respectful towards, regular human beings. This is partly due to the fact that a lot of them were formerly human, and partly due to the importance of the masquerade. Some werewolves have human friends, and even allow their children to mix with human children, all while never revealing anything. On the other hand, wild werewolves are generally more aggressive towards regular humans, and seek to avoid them. All werewolves are hostile to any humans who are hostile to them, such as ORCHESTRA.   Werewolves are also generally very tolerant of magic users and the magical community, seeing as they are part of it. They will gladly make friends with other supernatural creatures or magic users, and may even take an active role. Again, however, wild werewolves will be more seclusive, and may be aggressive toward other supernatural creatures or magic users. And again, all werewolves are aggressive or defensive towards other supernatural creatures that are dangerous or hostile, such as vampires.