Werewolves

To most people across the Valedori Empire, Werewolves are a ghost story - monsters cursed with vicious lupine bodies bent on slaughtering any in their path. To those who live in settlements along the treeline of the Muldrotha Wilds or the Stormvane Cliffs, there is a chilling reality to those stories - some having seen or heard tales of Werewolf attacks of decades past. However, while most think of them as mindless, corrupted beasts, there are those who know that they are a people, with history, culture, and intelligence. Something that can make them intriguing, or even more fearsome.

ORIGINS IN THE AGE OF DARKNESS

It is believed that Werewolves were once peoples of other mortal races such as Humans and Orcs, though there are many conflicting legends of the first Werewolves. What is true is that these mortals were cursed with a terrible blood magic called lycanthropy, which permanently altered their beings into hulking, bipedal wolf-like monsters. The first recorded Werewolves in history are found in the Age of Darkness, many believing that Werewolves were created by some lost Haven city as a last-ditch salvation against the Undead hordes that overtook the land after The Breaking.
What is true of that legend is how Werewolves aided the mortal peoples during the Age of Darkness in their survival against the Undead and Vampire Lords of the time. The regions around Csillasloch have many stories of the heroics of Werewolves in fighting against Markov Ambrose and protecting the people of the region from his armies - culminating in Werewolves actually joining the armies of King Caspian Valero during the War of Thorns and playing a vital role in the victory over the Vampires.

WEREWOLF CLANS

While packs of Werewolves existed throughout the Age of Darkness, it was only after the War of Thorns that true clans began to form from the disparate hunting packs and refuges within the Muldrotha Wilds. Each clan can number from a handful or Werewolves to over a hundred, the largest of these being able to declare dominion over certain hunting grounds and swaths of land in the wilds beyond the reaches of civilization - such as the Ironfang Pack of the Csillasloch region and the Bloodmoon Prowl of the Stormvane Cliffs.
However, as the decades of the Imperial Age passed, and the reach of the Valedori Empire grew more and more - the growth of the clans met the boundaries where they could freely hunt. This led to many years of conflict between the Werewolf clans for land amidst the Muldrotha Wilds, as well as conflict with settlements and Devilblood Companies beyond the edges of the forest. This series of conflicts, and incidents of great death at the hands of the Sons of Fenrir or The Red Riders, is sometimes referred to as the Clan Wars and is largely responsible for Werewolves losing any social acceptance in the broader Valedori Empire that they might have earned in their contributions during the War of Thorns.

IN SOCIETY TODAY

Today, the Werewolf clans remain in the wilds beyond the reaches of modern society - and while the Were-Touched may be accepted in some parts of the Valedori Empire, full-blooded Werewolves remain a feared and distrusted peoples. However, with their place in Valedori society long-forfeit, some have found acceptance amidst the Diaspora Fractals, where they have also been found to be quite useful in helping clear the region of Undead and safeguard many of the settlements in the Southern regions.

by Riot Games