Werewolves
As Terdja fell into the bloodthirsty grip of Vander and his new species, vampires, rebels and freedom fighters of all other species searched for any light magic to help them defeat Vander. On the highest mountain, they found the magic in the small summit above dark clouds which covered Terdja in an eternal night. Being careful and respectful toward it, the rebels were granted the help they needed. The light magic flowed through their veins turning them into a new species: Werewolves. The werewolf became the symbol of loyalty, strength, and family. With this power, the werewolves conquered the vampires and brought freedom to Terdja. They became the guardians of the weak, and helpless for centuries.
Seven hundred years after the defeat of Vander, a young ambicious werewolf named Coriner rose up as the alpha. He believed werwolves should rule Terdja because they were the strongest species. Apalled by Coriner's ambition and ego, the light magic cursed the werewolves with the Full Moon Curse. Once the protectors of the realm, fear swept across the land when the full moon rose. Werewolves tried to break the curse, but nothing worked. In the end, the full moon made blood gleam on the ground.
In the present age, werewolves are respected, but not as dominant. Ramos, the alpha of Lupo, keeps them in a low profile but always watching. His attempt at creating a super-wolf backfired so badly he believed werewolves should lay low for a time. With the Rabid Wolf terrorizing Terdja, he felt ashamed of his mistake. All missions to destroy the monster failed and now it has a pack of outlaw wolves. Werewolves keep the peace when needed, but are not as spread out as they once were. Ranger wolves live in villages, cities, and among other species as protectors. Many go unnoticed and just live peacefully but flee far once a month. Intermingling with other species is not forbidden nor looked down upon so many crossbreeds wander the land. The only crossbreed that is utterly forbidden is a vampire with a werewolf.
The only immortal creature is a vampire, but werewolves can live up to 300 years old. They're more durable than a vampire. Because of the silver glow of the moon, property of dark magic, the metal burns them and a mortal wound dealt by silver will kill them. When silver is close to a werewolf's body, it glows bright hot red as if the metal sat in a furnace for hours. This heat is only felt by the wolf which allowed vampires to wield silver weapons without being burned themselves. Another effective way to kill a wolf is by decapitation or the removal of a vital organ. While Vander bound dark magic against its will, the light magic willingly gave the freedom fighters this power. This easily turned the war on the werewolve's side.
Because of the unique nature of these creatures, their reproduction is important to point out. How a new werewolf is conceived, that's based on the parents. When a female wolf is pregnant, she can stay in her humanoid form up until her fourth month. After that time, she has to be a wolf. Werewolves give birth in their wolf form and have a litter of 2 to 5 pups. A wolf's gestation period is ten months and the male usually digs her a cozy cave for them. The pups remain in their wolf forms until their first year. Upon transforming for the first time, they are a five-year-old. After that, they age normally.
The birth of a litter of werewolf pups is different from the birth of a crossbreed. A crossbreed is always a single baby that is born from a humanoid mother. This was the work of the light magic in case the mother was not the wolf. A litter of four wolf pups would kill another species once they grew too big. A crossbreed ages normally and learns to transform in their own time and strength.
Werewolves in their humanoid form are simple-looking humans. Their hair color doesn't determine their wolf fur color. Their eyes stay the same in both forms. One wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a human and a werewolf in his humanoid at first glance. If the werewolf is a bitten wolf of another species, they retain the form of that species when in their humanoid form. A bitten satyre will still be a satyr when they transform back from their wolf. The wolf form is what gives them their fierce reputation. Many wolves stand between a meter and two meters tall at the shoulder. Their claws are retractable like a cat's but bigger than a bear's resulting in four very sharp daggers on each paw. Their teeth could pierce steel and crack iron thanks to an overwhelmingly powerful bite force. Compared to a normal wolf, the canines of a werewolf are longer in ratio to their mouth size. Extremely powerful and immune to most means of killing, werewolves are the dominant species of Terdja.
I feel it's necessary to add some important notes about a werewolf's anatomy. Instead of the normal five liters of blood that flows through a human's body, wolves have seven liters coursing through their veins. This amount of blood is pumped by a larger-than-average heart. The reason for this is that the transformation requires a lot of energy and strength that a normal human doesn't possess. This is why a bitten human or other species goes through such an agonizing process before becoming a functional werewolf. The extra energy and blood supply allow wolves to heal much faster than normal and makes them a prized food source for a vampire. Even if all the blood is drained from a wolf, the heart keeps pumping blood until the body recovers. A wolf suffers a coma but survives. However, if a wolf is injured by silver, the wound takes longer than normal to heal and, if bad enough, can keep a wolf in their humanoid form due to lack of strength for the transformation.
When a werewolf transforms from wolf to humanoid, the body shrinks back as if the wolf is returning to the smaller body. The fur solidifies into leather clothing so the wolf isn't naked every time they transform. The clothing does keep the color of the fur. A grey wolf will have grey leather pants and a shirt, a brown wolf will have a brown leather outfit, and so on. During the winter, the extra fur coat becomes a long, thick coat of leather lined with fur over the other clothing. Wounds leave tears in the clothes where the fur was torn away.
When transforming from a humanoid to a wolf, the wolf bursts through the skin within seconds. The previous leathers tear off to reveal the new soft fur. Werewolves can transform at will and can partially transform certain things such as their teeth, claws, and tail.
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