Therian Blood Curse

"And so thy stand before me, two legs, arms crossed in defiance of law. I command the to kneel before me, and yet receive no grovel or worship in awe. I now command the wilds, and as thoust not bend thy knee, I destroy thine culture, thy memories, and last, humanity. Thine disposed of manners, and as dog, thy shall gain from two legs to four. With humanity lost, thy are naught but shame, tis thine curse, forevermore."

The Therian Blood Curse is the overarching name for the genetic curse afflicting thousands of people. Those that cannot control the Therian are doomed to lose self control, and revert to an animalistic form specific to the afflicted line.

Transmission & Vectors

Recipients of the curse are transmitted purely through magical, or direct ingestion of infected blood. This is not the case for every wielder of the curse however. For the original afflicted and their children, each has a chance of spreading the affliction through wounding, but not from that point onward from a genetic standpoint.

Causes

Though the initial infection for the blood curse has been lost to history, most likely relating to a curse from devil forces in exchange for power, all causes of the initial infection start the same. A living creature is attacked, and survives an attack from the 1st or seccond generation of someone afflicted by the blood curse.

Those afflicted by the blood curse have bloody sputem that coats the near razor sharp fangs of the afflicted. Should an afflicted not posess sputem, a mouth, or otherwise be unable to connect saliva to an open wound, the attacked will not be afflicted by the curse.

Though afflicted can spread the blood curse outside of the full moon, infection can only happen from a 1st generation on the night of the full moon. Infection can happen otherwise only at night for a 2nd generation Therian, and only when turned, not when in humanoid or what some consider to be the "deceptive" form.

Outside of affliction, the Therian blood curse only affects every member of a genetic family species from that point forward. There is no cure for Therian Blood curse for genetic members, only treatments.

Symptoms

After the first infliction of Therian Blood curse, in most cases while severely wounded or unconscious from a heavily aggressive attack, the infected individual becomes feverish and whatever wounds they have begin to heal rapidly while they are unconscious. This takes place within minutes of an attack.

After sunrise, the afflicted will notice a clean bill of health, feeling better than normal. No scars will be apparent from the onset, but a very slight discoloration will be noticable from the first wound that caused the infection to spread. This is commonly referred to as the Mark of Brugus.

After the first infection, the individual will notice an increased resistance against getting sick with common ailments, and even find some minor tasks easier to perform. Nighttime however plagues the mind of the first generation of Therian, with grand dreams of traveling through an area, always looking for something to eat. These dreams usually leave the afflicted more tired than normal, but still able to perform daily tasks without issue.

On the night of the first full moon after affliction however, the curse takes its toll, afflicting the curse permanently to the subject, preventing its removal forever. If the light of the full moon touches the ground within a cubic mile of the afflicted at any point during the night cycle, the real affects of the curse activate. This activates even when deep underground and without direct line of sight to the sky. The afflicted transforms into a creature almost exactly like the one that transferred the curse to them. This first curse is increadibly deadly, as the sputum from this first transformation is potent enough to afflict even outsiders and living creatures normally immune to the Therian Blood Curse. But, the vastly increased strength, constitution, and overall power of the afflicted Therian also results in an absolute Blood Lust, and the afflicted will kill everything and every one it can find until sunrise.

Though it is not understood why, just before sunrise, during the twilight hours, the afflicted will flee from battle at top speed, and continue to run in the direction of the moon until they transform back into the "deceptive" form. From this point onward when the transformed turns back, the fate of the Blood Cursed is sealed, and the disease is completely incurable. Though all afflicted will turn every full moonrise till the end of their lives, those afflicted by the Therian Blood Curse will find they live nearly 50% longer lives than their peers, but also afflict more and more throughout their lifetime should they continue to uphold their life and the curse. However, after the first full moon of transformation, the initial creature is significantly weaker, but still provides a huge boost of strength and constitution to the afflicted while transformed, but the creature the afflicted transformes into is nowhere near as bloodthirsty, and can think on its own terms. The Therian however does not maintain control over the transformed version, as if it had its own thoughts and mental faculty.

If an afflicted of the Therian Blood Curse breeds with another member of their species, they produce a second generation of the Therian, and they too carry the curse within them. This second generation gains a much greater control over the blood curse, but gains the symptoms of affliction upon reaching puberty. During the first full moon after puberty for an afflicted, the subject transforms into a bloodthirsty creature nearly as powerful as their Therian parantage, and in some cases even more powerful, and try to go out and afflict as many as they can during this time. Unlike the first generation which attempts to kill and destroy, but sometimes afflicts, the seccond generation has a deep desire to expand the amount of afflicted within the world. This 2nd generation hunts more for sport than for food, but will usually leave food alive, or eat a few bites before moving onto another source of entertainment and dining.

Once a 2nd generation afflicted has their pubic transformation, they can learn the skills required to transform whenever they desire at night time. This transformation is much weaker than their parents, but still retains many skills and abilities the creatures normally posesses. In addition, during night time outside of the full moon, they retain a humanlike intelligence, and can change back into the "deceptive" form whenever they desire. During the full moon however, they loose all control, but still possess the humanlike intelligence, but cater more towards infecting more and more with the blood curse. If none are within detection, or capabilities of being afflicted, an afflicted will usually hunt for sport in an enjoyable climate.

If the 2nd generation of Therian mates, they produce a much watered down version of the Therian Blood Curse, which even during a transformation, which merely transforms the user into an animal of the Therian type, with no improved strength or durability, but, they may change at will during all nights, and may choose to change during a full moon, albeit with slightly improved capabilities. Therian Blood Cursed Afflicted of 3rd generation and higher no longer spread the afflicted through biting, and the blood cannot be directly used for transferring the curse.

Different varieties of Therian Blood Curse have different affects based on the generation, between only

performing a half transformation, either at will, or by force during a full moon, give extra hair or prevalance for certain actions or mindsets throughout the generational species. These different affects are mostly harmless, but experiences can differ.

Treatment

Upon becoming an afflicted of the Therian Blood Curse, the afflicted has only three chances to remove the curse before it becomes permanent.

The first chance is before the night of the full moon, a poultice of herbs is to be scrubbed over the skin, and washed off with Holy Water. The poultice is to be made of very fresh wild belladonna, garlic flowers, powdered silver/mercury, and a tuft of hair/fur/feather from the type of creature (does not have to be the exact creature, only a small bit of the TYPE). These ingredients are ground into a paste along with small bits of holy water and spread over the entire surface of the skin during the day, before nightfall.

The second chance, if any of the ingredients are unavailable, is to kill the exact creature that afflicted the Blood Curse, before nightfall, as the two are connected in order to help spread the curse. This can be nearly impossible however, as the only generations that can spread the illness may not know themselves who they spread the blood curse too.

The third and final option is only a great act of divinity, or cosmic change before the transformation back into the "deceptive" form from the first full moon after affliction. If none of these treatments are provided before this point, nothing can cure this disease.

Prognosis

Though the condition is permanent, afflicted will live much longer lives than their peers, though much more violent and dangerous for most. This affliction almost guarantees a healthier, albeit more potential for deadly life style. Past the 3rd generation of afflicted the transmission vectors completely dissolve from the genetic structure, and the afflicted live normal, slightly healthier lives.

Affected Groups

Any humanoid or giant type creature can become afflicted with the Therian Blood Curse. The only creatures immune to the Blood Curse are those already afflicted by the blood curse through their bloodline. The Blood cursed cannot take on another blood curse, not even within the first 30 days of affliction.

Prevention

As the Therian Blood Curse is both a disease and a curse, the prevention methods can be very diverse, as prevention methods from both are very helpful.

Eating a well balanced diet and maintaining a healthy lifestyle can help prevent the initial bite from causing the curse to spread. Other small physical acts one could take could include drinking belladonna tea once a month, or using belladonna as a seasoning during mealtimes can also decrease the possibility of becoming infected. Usually Therian hunter Rangers carry a large amount of dried belladonna and swears it helps prevent the attacks from the afflicted simply by the overwhelming smell.

Physical acts outside of health can help prevent an afflicted while transformed from attacking at all. Having a lit fire with multiple people on watch may prevent a cautious afflicted from attacking a campsite, as well as having windows smaller than an afflicted can fit through, or windows unable to be easilly jumped through can prevent them from breaking into a house to attack a family. Keep food in a locked container away from the main site, and high enough in the air that afflicted cannot easilly grab it, and must spend a lot of time and energy to do so. Many other tips and tricks exist to prevent attacks, but all Therian hunters reccomend staying out of areas known to be prone to Therian attacks.

Finally, basic curse prevention strategies help to increase the odds of not becoming afflicted by the Therian Blood Curse. Casting defensive magics against curses, as well as wards/runes against curses and the animal power that would normally be spread, can widely help eliminate the possibility of the curse spreading.

History

To this day, the largest population of Therian resides within the Weicheir Drovelands. Most within the drovelands carry the Blood Curse to varying degrees, and form societies around the various Therian bloodlines.

Cultural Reception

Both feared and ostracized by the rest of the world. Therian Afflicted are overall feared by populations due to the nature of the first 2 generations of afflicted. The over the top violence and destruction caused by the Therian over the years has caused a riff that has proven to be extremely difficult to mend between societies, even with an entire country of Therian, The Weicheir Drovelands, making concerted efforts to improve the lives of all creatures living upon Pondera.

Type

Genetic

Origin

Divine

Cycle

Chronic, Acquired & Congenital

Rarity

Uncommon

Mechanics

There are three distinct possibilities for a choice of mechanics in regards to being one of therian blood. The first generation will automatically transform during the full moon, but after that first full moon they can transform at will. During this automatic transformation, they will become hostile to all creatures in sight. Outside of automatic transformation they make their own choices.
2nd generation and further have more control, and will be able to control their transformation at will.
In either case, a therian blood cursed gains the following benefits when they choose their transformation: transformation changes armor as if they were doing a druid wild shape. They gain a +6 nat armor bonus, +2 STR and CON, A special attack and non attack ability based on their animal type, 1 or 2 natural attacks, and finally DR 10/silver.
If a creature transforms automatically, this causes all numerical values to double, and all creatures are consider hostile to the automatically transformed creature.