Lycanthropy: Ruled by Rage

A man may live for forty years, and a wolf only seven. But at the end of their lives, which one knows more of the tundra?
The man and the wolf know the same.

Lycanthropy is a disease that passes from lycanthropes to people that are nearly killed at their jaws. All that is necessary to become a lycanthrope is to be bitten, nearly die, and yet survive the ordeal. It's like rabies. Only your heart has to stop at least for a little while.

Once afflicted, a newly created Lycanthrope will find their wounds closing rapidly. The essentially deadly injuries suffered in the initial attack heal without leaving a scar or discoloration to mark their passing. The victim will feel feverish to the touch and chilled in the chest - a condition which will follow them until the end of their days.

Lycanthropic Culture: There really isn't any ancient lycanthrope culture. For the vast majority of time a lycanthrope would come into being only by surviving an attack by another lycanthrope. As such, most lycanthropes came into the world with their creator either defeated or hostile. The vast majority of lycanthropes either learned the ins and outs of their condition on their own or had it explained to them by someone else in the know (usually another supernatural). So it is quite common for lycanthropes to be adapted into the cultures of other supernatural creatures. A werewolf who was taken in by gypsy witches would generally have the same traditions and prejudices as those gypsy witches, not those of whatever werewolf tore into him with its fangs and left him for dead.

An exception to that generalization can be found in small family groups. Lycanthropes often go all crazy with rage and are a severe danger to their families and friends. A loved one pushed nearly to death by the rampages of a wererat is rather likely to spurn the creature which transformed it, running off and ultimately forming a new "culture" of one. However it is not unheard of for such a victim to stay on and create a pack of lycanthropes. These groups tend to avoid contact with humans and supernaturals alike and have strange views.

Lycanthropes take aggravated damage from silver weapons. Every type of Lycanthrope has a Lunar power source. Most Lycanthropes are dominated by Master Passion Rage, a fact that leads them to sometimes go berserk when the moon rises. Lycanthropes of all kinds are well advised to avoid fragile things and people.

Therianthropes? Fuck that noise! It is important to note that the word "lycanthrope" literally comes from Greek words for "wolf" and "form" but that it is an English word which means a human who transforms into a wolf or other beast. Many people will try to get you to use the word "Therianthrope" or "Zoanthrope" because of a misguided attempt to use Greek root words correctly. Those words are however not English, and using them is not "technically correct" - it is stupid. The plural of Octopus is "Octopuses" and not "Oktopodes" like it would be if we were speaking Greek, because if you are reading this document the chances are excellent that you are not an ancient Greek.

Werewolves

The better to eat you with, my dear.

Somewhere in the howling wilderness of Scandinavia a "wolf warrior" of the North became darkly fused with a wolf pelt he was wearing while fighting the Huns - an event which places the creation of the Werewolf at approximately 600 CE. Passed from warrior to enemy warrior and conquered victims, the curse spread throughout the lands of Europe and beyond along the warpaths of the Huns and later the Vikings. In later nights, it spread itself throughout the world on the backs of European conquistadors and imperial marines. By the twelve hundreds it had spread as far as Central Asia, and the Wolf Mother Asena led the Syndicate of the Bumin Horde of Ergenekon to rule much of Eurasia until her presumed death and the dissolution of the Syndicate in 1844.

Werewolves are instilled with a love of combat and destruction even in their human forms. In their monstrous forms they take the shape of awkwardly toothy man-wolves. Glistening with drool and usually fast covered with speckles of blood, the claws and fangs of a monstrous formed werewolf are a terror. Every Werewolf can transform into a "regular" canine as well as a huge canid beast. Not all Werewolves transform into an actual wolf when they become a mundane animal. For whatever reason, some become dogs, coyotes, foxes, or even hyenas.

Though they gain no magical power or sustenance from it, Werewolves are quite drawn to eating human flesh, and will often succumb to this temptation while in a frenzy. The curse of Lycanthropy comes with unusual and often unwanted hair growth on various parts of the body for Werewolves. In the era of waxing and depilatories, a Werewolf can keep this under control, but changing into the War Form causes hair to come back no matter what has been done. On the plus side: baldness is totally curable through infection with Lycanthropy.

Werewolves have an Astral power source and a Lunar power schedule.

The First Werewolf?

The secret histories are fairly clear about the source of the canine form of Lycanthropy. There was a Norse warrior at the beginning of the 7th century who got cursed and every single Werewolf in the whole world traces their condition back to him. However, while this story is fairly well documented and has a lot of evidence behind it, there are still those who insist that there were earlier Werewolves or that canine Lycanthropy has occurred more than once. It is certainly true that the exact mechanics of the wolf pelt curse are unknown to modern sorcery, so it is within the realm of possibility that it could happen again. Or that it already has.

Werewolf Starting Powers

Core Discipline: Call of the Wild

• Beast Form (Basic Call of the Wild)
• Tongue of Beasts (Basic Call of the Wild)

Basic Powers

• Revive the Flesh (Basic Fortitude)
• Vigor (Basic Clout)
• Quickness (Basic Celerity)
• Repel (Basic Magnetism)

Advanced Powers

• War Form (Celerity / Clout Devotion)
• The Beckoning (Advanced Call of the Wild)

Distinctive Flaw: Temperamental

Story Inspiration: Larry Talbot, Ginger Snaps, Dog Soldiers

The Nezumi: Plague on the world of Men

"Tear him up."

The most frequently told story of the origins of the plague of the Nezumi is that originally someone turned their back on the teachings of the Buddha and was cursed with reincarnating in a lower form during their own life. If even partially true, this would mean that the plague started no earlier than about 500 BCE. Once afflicted, a Nezumi Lycanthrope begins to twitch their nose like Elizabeth Montgomery and click their tongues nervously.

A Nezumi's animal form is that of a large rat. Nezumi are immune to the effects of diseases, but carry virtually every disease they come into contact with. Unlike other lycanthropes, Nezumi have no monstrous war form, though nothing is stopping them from eventually learning one and some certainly do. While most Nezumi lack the brutal jaws or rending claws of other lycanthropes, their bites are still often quite deadly because of the pestilence they carry. Still, it is important to note that even their animal form is of little help in a fight, being as it is just a large rat.

Most Nezumi are mastered by the same all-consuming rage of the other Lycanthropes. However, they don't normally possess any great strength, a fact which frequently causes them to become quite cowardly and fearful of authority. Many Nezumi become quite resigned from the world: hiding in sewers, jumping at sounds; knowing that the heat of battle runs in their veins and feeling dreadfully afraid that it will eventually drive them to a suicidal battle over nothing. Interacting with the world of men seems to be a never ending river of frustrations, and many choose to simply not do it. Those who master their rage usually do so only by trading it for Master Passion Fear.

A Nezumi has an Infernal power source and a Lunar power schedule.

The First Nezumi?

Opinion is divided as to the historicity of the Buddha offending story in the secret histories. The oldest living Nezumi is Hamamoto Yoshi, who was born in the 8th century CE in Nagaokyo, Japan and now lives in cryptic hermitude in Kyoto's sewers. Most Nezumi do in fact die of old age, and when Yoshi has deigned to answer such questions at all, he has denied being the first.[/table]

Nezumi Starting Powers

Core Discipline: Call of the Wild

• Beast Form (Basic Call of the Wild)
• Tongue of Beasts (Basic Call of the Wild)

Basic Powers

• Abyss of the Body (Basic Descent of Entropy)
• Hide From Notice (Basic Veil)
• Learn the Heart's Pain (Basic Names of the Blasphemies)
• Revive the Flesh (Basic Fortitude)

Advanced Powers

• Hide in Plain Sight (Advanced Veil)
• The Beckoning (Advanced Call of the Wild)

Distinctive Flaw: Red Taped

Story Inspiration: Willard, Torment, Fruits Basket

The Bagheera: The Lady or the Tiger

"You can fool everybody, but landie, dearie me, you can't fool a cat. They seem to know who's not right."

The origins of the Bagheera are confused. The legends say that the Bagheera were formed when a Bengali priestess refused to abandon her gods and goddesses when the Mughals took control of the province and banned idolatry, calling upon Shiva for a mighty boon. And yet the legends also say that the Bagheera were formed first by a jaguar warrior pledged to Huitzilopochtli fighting against Cortez, an event which would necessarily push the formation of the line over fifty years back. When consulted on the subject directly, the Stellar Oracles enigmatically state that both stories are true. Regardless, once infected a Bagheera is a creature of Death and finds that their mere presence alarms and angers animals of all types, especially cats.

A Bagheera's War Form is that of a great and ghostly cat. Perhaps a tiger, jaguar, or leopard. Most Bagheera do not have the ability to transform into a remotely reasonably sized cat that can pass as something "not terrifying." It has been suggested that the beast inside a Bagheera isn't really an animal at all, since they seem to show less than no affinity for the mundane beasts they appear as - a marked departure from other Lycanthropes.

A Bagheera has an Orphic power source and a Lunar power schedule.

The First Bagheera?

The origins of the Bagheera are clouded in mystery, but not in particularly ancient mystery. Bagheera are not present in the secret histories before the 16th century, and they came on the scene quite rapidly with sightings all over the world in 1578 CE. Most stories appear to agree that the first Bagheera was female, but beyond that little is known for sure.

Bagheera Starting Powers

Core Discipline: Celerity

• Quickness (Basic Celerity)
• Nimble Feet (Basic Celerity)

Basic Powers

• Vigor (Basic Clout)
• Hide From Notice (Basic Veil)
• Touch of Darkness (Basic Lure of Destruction)
• Revive the Flesh (Basic Fortitude)

Advanced Powers

• War Form (Celerity / Clout Devotion)
• Alacrity (Advanced Celerity)

Distinctive Flaw: Offensive to Animals

Story Inspiration: Cat People, The Cat and the Canary, Geobreeders