Full Moon Curse

Written by BloodAndLeaves

The Curse of the Full Moon is a condition that is contagious, extremely dangerous, and has no cure. When Coriner saught to conquer the world similar to Vander, the light magic who granted the werewolves their strength for victory cursed him and the species. Originally designed to protect the weaker species from the vampires and those who followed them, werewolves were suddenly dangerous monsters under the glow of a full moon. Villagers would leave out freshly killed cattle and sometimes a recently deceased individual with the hopes of detering moon-crazed wolves from their living residents. The condition renders werewolves completely wild and bloodthirsty. Their ability to communicate becomes exclusively wolf sounds and body language. Powered only by hunger and instinct, werewolves on a full moon are the most dangerous creatures that roam Terdja.

The curse can be transmitted to any species through a moon-crazed bite. Even though a bite from a werewolf on a cresent or new moon is not as potent, the bite should be carefully monitored and kept extremely clean. The probability of being cursed by a normal bite is 70% while a moon-crazed bite is 100% even if it's just a nip of the skin. Upon being infected, a creature will suffer excruciating pain until the next new moon. The pain of the curse burning in their veins and the alteration of their body into a werewolf (heart pumping excessive blood, bones detatching and reattaching, enlarging of the heart, and skin ripping in different places to prepare for transformation,) they committ suicide or their body fails to handle it. If the creature survives this process, they become a werewolf like the rest of the species. There is no definite difference between a bitten wolf and a born wolf once the alteration is complete and packs often except bitten wolves into their packs.

The danger of this curse lies in the wildness of the werewolves. No creature is safe if they come across a moon-crazed wolf. The hunger remains throughout the night which leads to mass killings of herds and even villages. Even though the light magic cursed the wolves, it provided rapid reproduction of prey animals to satisfy the ravanous hunger. Villages leave out offerings of cattle and other food to keep the wolves from attacking the village itself. This led to the tradition of leaving food out during #Vandisal.

No matter how hard the vampires tried, a cure of the Full Moon Curse could never be found. Very few species tried as hard as the vampires to find a cure since once the alteration passed, being a werewolf wasn't seen as a horrible thing. Humans, satyrs, elves, and other species learned to cope with the curse if it entered their members. Vampires, however, are sentenced to death if they are ever bitten. Because of this, they labored the hardest to find a cure. But since it is a curse more than a disease, they failed. Any vampire bitten by a werewolf is immediately killed.

When Devesta's wife was bitten while being pregnant with Hydron, the curse carried over to the child resulting in a hybrid. Due to her power in dark magic, she was able to conceal her alteration well enough that Devesta never noticed until Hydron was born. If a creature is bitten within a month of pregnancy, the child is also cursed, but is a born wolf and goes through no alteration. If the mother is bitten after the first month, the child has no werewolf in him.

Type

Magical

If a child is bitten by a werewolf, they usually won't survive the alteration process because of the intensity. Species have searched for ways to ease the suffering, but nothing is strong enough for a child to endure it.