Lycanthropy

It's Fuckin' Werewolves Yo'

"I've spent so long studying those afflicted with lycanthropy, but I never expected to actually be infected by one. Unbelievable! I can feel the filthy cursed blood running through my veins and it makes me want to crawl out of my skin. I ache, I can't sleep, and my senses are going mad. I've got to resolve this problem quickly, lest I risk losing everything I've worked so hard to achieve, or worse being locked away on Lykos Isle for the rest of my life. Perhaps the Beastcia know something that would be of use to me."

— Journal of Ludin Emirsri, an elven mage werewolf.

The Infection

Lycanthropy is and infection magical curse in the Fantasme that causes involuntary shape shifting into half man half animal monsters called 'Weres'. The most common result of this curse are werewolves.

Transmission & Vectors

Lycanthropy is spread from other infected weres, typically through biting or scratching. However it's not the bite itself that spread the infection, but the were's own blood, which typically coats their teeth and nails after their rather violent transformations, where bleeding is typical. The curse changes the genetic make up of the infected, turning their own blood cells into virus carriers that can spread the condition further.
This can also spread through genetics as well. If the mother or father is carrying the curse in their DNA it will likely pass on to the child. However in the mother is human, this will likely lead to a miscarriage on a full moon, as there's a chance the fetus will try to transform while inside the mothers body.
Some creatures have immunity or resistances to the infection. Any undead or demonic creature cannot be infected, and Beastcia are completely immune to it. Fae have a resistance to the disease thanks to their magical nature, but it's not impossible for them to be infected. Elven werewolves are more rare, but exist.

Symptoms

Stage 1

The initial symptoms start an hour or so after the infection. The area around the wound will swell up and itch, and the victim will start to experience flu like symptoms, including fever, headaches, chills, dizziness, and lethargy. It can often leave the afflicted bed bound until it clears up. This is from the body trying to fight off the infection.
This can last about a week or so before the victum starts to feel better. Infected elves and some very lucky humans will also go through these symptoms, even if they don't end up contracting the curse. Instead their body successfully fights it off and they are able to return to their normal lives. If their body doesn't fight it off, they progress into the second stage.

Stage 2

During stage two, the infected recovers from the fever and goes back to feeling pretty good. This false recovery stage is often met with mild personality changes, aggressive tenancies, and increasing appetite.These symptoms are not invasive or crippling, and often go unnoticed unless one is watching for them. This stage is also met with more frequent nightmares, which will continue for the rest of the month, and sometimes even beyond.

Stage 3

In the third stage, people usually start feeling bad again. A week before the full moon, the victim will start to feel tense and uneasy. Three days before, their senses will start to go into over drive, people will experience ultra heightened senses of smell, hearing and sometimes sight. While it sounds cool, this more often leads to sensory overload, which causes anxiety, headaches, irritability and general discomfort.
A day before the moon, people will often start to feel sharp pains run through their body, getting worse through-out the day. People often feel muscle tension and nausea at this point. A few hours from the moon, the pain can reach near debilitating levels. It's not uncommon for people to get physically sick at this stage as well.

Treatment

In the fever stage, there's a chance that treatment can help the body fight off the infection. Modern New Earth medicine however won't work due to the magic nature of the condition. Typically the infected need to be brought to an infirmary and have a Light Magic user attempt to heal them. While not a full proof solution, it does increase the odds of recovery.
However, once the curse has reached it's final stage, it cannot be cured. The only known solution is undoing the curse itself, but due to Beastcia magic being so complex, reverse engineering the spell has proved to be difficult.

Prognosis

After a month of being infected, the infected will become a Were and experience their first transformation into beast form. These transformations will continue to occur every night on a full moon for the rest of the were's life.

Transformation

Werewolves will change at night around the same time every full moon, usually between 8-10 PM. Newer werewolves will typically change earlier than older, more experienced ones. As well, it tends to catch new ones off guard more often. The transformation is infamous for how gruesome and excruciatingly painful they are, as they involve the body physically changing shape against the will of the victim.
Those more squeamish can skip the gruesome details below.

Show spoiler

Typically moments before shifting, the were will be anxious, shakey, and losing much of their basic coordination. The will be experiencing dull muscle spasms that while painful enough to be distracting, are not crippling. This changes however when the shift starts, as a very sharp, electric pain will shoot through the victim's body, jolting from their stomach and spreading into their body and out the extremities. This is enough to stagger them to the ground, or jolt them awake from sleep.
From that point they will feel unbearable pain as their bones break and reform into a new shape, and their organs and muscled shift around to accommodate. This will usually cripple the victim and leave them immobile and likely screaming and writhing in agony. Fangs and claws will force their way out of the gums and nailbeds, forcing the existing teeth and nails out and causing significant bleeding.
Bones and organs will slowly start shifting into more beastly, monstrous shapes that are completely unrecognizable as being human. Bones in the hands, feet, spine, and face will elongate and the spine and rips will press painfully against muscles and skin. Thick fur will also grow on the body, which burns and itches. At some point, the victim will begin to lose consciousness.

The were will only regain their human consciousness after shifting back the next morning. Thankfully, when the werewolf runs out of energy at dawn, it will fall unconscious, allowing them to shift back with out experiencing agonizing pain again. They will wake up an hour or so later.
They will most often be dazed and confused, and not remember anything that happened to them during their time as a werewolf. They can also be left with dizziness, exhaustion, or headaches. Some with weaker constitutions may find their stomach not agreeing with their wolfy diet, leading to intense nausea and possibly vomiting.
Changing to such a large form also tends to destroy clothing, so most werewolves end up naked when they change back, and will need to make sure they have some emergency spare clothes packed somewhere near by, as during the colder months exposure can turn into hypothermia real fast.

Cause

While people know generally what causes werewolves to turn, few people have researched the intricacies of how the curse works. It's known that werewolves run on adrenaline, and when that adrenaline runs out, the beast will collapse unconscious and turn back. But it's also believed that the involuntary shape shifting is a form of Mana Poisoning, where absorbing too much mana causes them to lose control of their shape shifting magic.
This theory comes from the conditions that trigger changes. The full moon is believed to encourage magic use by making it easier to absorb mana, this could be enough to trigger a shift. As well, mages who have been infected report being unable to cast magic intensive spells with out experiencing pain or partial shifts.
This theory however is contested by those who point out that partial or full shifts can also be triggered by adrenaline intensive emotions like anger or stress.

Werewolves

Werewolves are the form those infected with lycanthropy most often take on when they shift. The are als called 'Weres' since beast forms are not restricted to wolves. Werebears, weretigers, wereboars and even weredragons have been reported before.

Physical Traits

Weres appear as beastly half human monsters, usually resembling an animal of some kind, more often wolves. They can be either bipedal or walk on all fours. Werewolves tend to resemble large canines with a vaguely human-like anatomy, like with their eyes, or their front paws still having human-like fingers and opposable thumbs. Their ears also rest on the side of their heads like a humans, rather than the top like dogs. Their fur color will also mach their natural hair color, for example a blonde person will turn into a werewolf with golden fur.
While werewolves can bark, howl, and growl, many of their vocalizations horrifyingly human sounding. The way the vocal chords warp with shifting will make voice sound much deeper and gravely. They are unable to talk though, as the lack the cognitive capability to, and their new jaw shape is not designed for enunciating human languages. Vocalizations usually consist of moaning and screaming.

Abilities

Weres are incredibly strong and fast monsters. They gain the physical and sensory abilities of the creature they turn into. They also gain inhuman healing powers which make them difficult to take down in their monster form. If they have any injuries or physical deformities, shifting into a beast can miraculously heal them. Near sighted infected have been shown to have perfect vison after their first shift, and there have been cases of people regrowing lost limbs entirely.
Because of how few physical weaknesses they have in monster form, it's advised to hunt out werewolves in their human forms, where they are significantly weaker and can't instantly heal from injuries.

Behaviors

Lycanthropy alters the brain of those infected. It tends to make them sensitive to emotions like anger or fear. Some infected have shown instinctual behaviors of their were form, like growling, being defensive over food or belongings, being easily distracted by prey animals, being more active, and even some who enjoy physical affection like petting.
In their werewolf form, they pretty much lose their humanity and run on pure animistic instincts. While being awake, many weres describe the state as like their mind clouding over and like they have left their own body and are watching their werewolf self act with a mind of its own. They are not in control and will very rarely recognize anyone unless they have really imprinted in their brain, like a family member or a close friend or loved one.
Werewolves are aggressive and very dangerous beasts. Though many have attributed their behavior to a combination of factors, like the stress and pain of shifting, or them being hungry. Some brave folks have found that it is possible to tame a werewolf by making sure it is well fed and comfortable, and speaking calmly to them.
Despite being so aggressive, werewolves will often get along with other werewolves and form packs with them. Werewolves will instinctively protect weaker members of their pack and treat them with kindness. Often times, packs form easily if the two werewolves know each other in person, and will recognize their scent.

Mutations

There have been mutations in the lycanthropy curse that have altered how it effects those infected. One known example is a mutation that allows the werewolf to retain some form consciousness in beast form. Whether this is just being able to recall memories after shifting back, or extremely rare cases of full control in beast form.
In the rare change a magic user such as an elf is infected, there's a chance their beast form may also be able to use some form of magic. For example, an ice mage werewolf may gain ice breath in their were form.

Sequela

Because the transformations are so taxing on the body, it will slowly start to wear it down. Werewolves are more likely to develop arthritis or a heart condition as they get older. Some experience parts getting 'stuck' in the reversion process, permanently altering their appearance, such as teeth ears or eye color being changed.
Elderly werewolves are more likely to experience permanent organ failure during transformations, resulting in death.
Werewolves my also start to experience long term neurological side effects as well. In mild cases this can be, mild memory problems, increased anxiety, paranoia, or depression. Werewolves may also catch themselves behaving strangely in their human forms, such as exhibiting traits similar to those of dogs. In extreme cases, the mental damage may start to alter the brain in more dangerous ways. There have been cases of subjects with no known previous mental conditions suddenly developing schizophrenia or sociopathy a few years after contacting the curse.
Older werewolves can also experience early onset dementia.

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Table of Contents

Infection

History

Werewolves

Culture

Type

Supernatural

Parent

Magical Mutation

Origin

Magical

Cycle

Chronic, Acquired & Congenital

Rarity

Uncommon

Affected Species

• Elf
• Human

Known Werewolves

Garret Rider

Transmission Style

Bloodborne

Related Articles

History

The First Cursed

It's believe that the lycanthropy curse was started centuries ago by the Beastcia, a magical half animal race who were masters at the art of shape shifting. But the Beastcia were also very protective of their home territory of Lilihum, and would deal harsh punishments to those who wronged them.
It all started when some human hunters were in hunting illegally in the territory, when one of them hunted what they thought was an ordinary wolf. However, when the viewed the corpse closer, they were left in horror at the sight of blue fur and distinct magical marking. What they killed was not just a wolf, but a Beastcia. This Beastcia was also the son of Chief Shaman at the time.
Word got to the city of Amaryllis about what happened, and the hunters were captured and brought back to the Chief. Filled with grief and anger, he punished the hunters with a curse, where on the moon of his son's death, the hunters were to painfully turn into monsters for the rest of their lives.
The hunters screamed as they were mutated into horrible creatures, and then sent back to their camp to kill the others staying there. However, instead of it being a slaughter, some survived, wounded, but alive. What the Chief did not account for, was the fact that the curse could be spread to others, and that the survivors of the camp had fled back to the Empire, bringing the curse with them.

The Spread

After returning to the Empire, of course a month later the survivors or the Lilihum attack turned themselves and attacked people in their hometowns, spreading the curse further. Every month, the number of infected increased, sweeping the area like a plague, until it was decided something had to be done about it.
People at first looked for a cure, and even begged the Beastcia to fix it, but they closed off themselves from the Empire and refused to help. Eventually people realized there was no way to cure the disease, so the next step was controlling the spread by culling those infected. Groups of werewolf hunters started forming to deal with the problem, killing known or suspected werewolves. It was the Fantasme's own version of witch hunts, as people accused each other of being werewolves, and often innocent people were executed over it.
Eventually the Empire realized the werewolf hunting was getting out of control, so the next step was quarantine.

Lykos Isle

The Empire secured themselves a island in Fanentous where they could quarantine the infected so the curse wouldn't continue to spread. It was dubbed Lykos Isle, and a blood test was developed to track down weres and drag them into the city by law.
The island was protected by a magical barrier and a heavily guarded gate. Those who wanted in or out had to take a blood test before entering and exiting, and only those who were clean were allowed to pass. Over the years, the island has remained an effective means of keeping the werewolf population in check.

Earth Werewolves

Unfortunately, some infected Fantasmians had managed to find their way to Earth using Portals, bringing their curse to the dimension as well. Luckily for earth, a few werewolf hunters also managed to follow them.
Because of the secretive nature of magic on Earth, both werewolves and hunters had to keep low profiles and not make their presence known. This forced the infected to be much more careful about where they turned and who they bit, and if they did bite someone, it was crucial to go find them and warn them of their situation as fast as possible.

Culture

In the Fantasme

Lycanthropy in the fantasme is a well known and feared curse that people pull out all the stops to defend themselves against. Werewolves are often seen as monsters and the fear of infection causes weres to be isolated from healthy people. Because of the curse's tendency to infect mostly humans, those with lycanthropy are often looked down on and called dirty animals.
The curse rarely infects elves, causing people to believe fae are immune to it, which is not the case, and if an elf is infected, they are quickly rejected by their peers. Known wherewolves are also forced to be isolated from others in quarantine cities like Lykos Isle. Those affected often lose their jobs, families and status in the Empire.
Other cultures outside of the Empire fair no better, as many still practice werewolf culling, or worse, keep them as slaves or twisted pets.

On Earth

Werewolves are far less known on Earth except for those who live in Mana Pockets and specialize in supernatural knowledge. Humans infected with lycanthropy after an attack are often completely unaware what has happened to them until it's too late.
Many weres have formed their own 'packs' where they gather up other people who have been cursed and form small organized groups that protect each other and help each other deal with their condition. However, some of these packs can get more cult-like, and will often threaten other weres to join their group or try and kill them.
There are even a few individuals who believe that werewolves should be the dominant race on Earth and will go out of their way to harm and infect humans as they see fit.