Lycanthropy is an uncommon infectious dermatophyte fungus hosted by most furless mammalian sophonts that thrives on the filtered light reflected by Sphaera’s secondary moon, Selene. Infected individuals appear to spontaneously become “hairy” when exposed to moonlight– the fungus is extending long, filament-like photoreceptors to collect light that has been filtered through the unique lunar surface crystals. Though primarily feeding on mere dead skin cells, when exposed to the right combination of electromagnetic wavelengths Lupodermatis will attempt to extract much higher quantities of fresh nutrients from the host, resulting in a dramatically increased metabolism for the duration of the exposure.
Transmission
Because of its nature as an epidermal parasite,
Lupodermatis can be contracted via physical contact with an infected individual. However, sophonts with heavy fur (such as
gnolls) are much less likely to be infected, and non-mammalian sophonts appear to be entirely immune.
Causes
Lycanthropy is caused by the presence of the parasitic epidermal fungus
Lupodermatis photoselenus over large regions of the body.
Humans are most susceptible to this condition, though the elven races are also considerably prone to infection. The worst symptoms of lycanthropy are caused by direct exposure to selenic moonlight, which triggers a particular response in the parasite.
Symptoms
Symptoms of lycanthropy when the infection is dormant are fairly trivial, the most prominent being a slight itchiness all over. However, when the fungus is active, the itching is significant, sometimes even painful. The host will also experience extreme hunger during active phases. For these reasons, infected individuals prefer to stay indoors at night until they are cured.
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