Lycanthropes

Lycanthropes
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Introduction
Therianthropes are the 'blessed' of Voar, God of Bloodlust and the Hunt; twisted unions between man and beast, created to be both hunters and the hunted. All Therianthropes originate from men who have been afflicted with one of the Therianthropic diseases, each of which plagues the victim with the form of a different animal. By far the most infamous form of Therianthropy is the Lycanthrope, victims of which can turn into humanoid wolves.

Physiology
Prior to transformation, all Lycanthropes appear to be normal men and woman; the only outward symptom of Lycanthropy is a ragged, sleepless appearance. Upon transformation, however, they undergo an extreme change, rapidly spawning fur, teeth, and claws, often growing up to 2 times in size. No matter their previous form, all Werewolves experience a significant increase in muscle mass, in some cases gaining half-again their previous body weight. Transformed werewolves are sexless, with no sexual organs to speak of. Transformation is an exceedingly painful experience, one that often drives the newly turned Werewolf feral in it's agony.

The resulting Werewolf is a hulking monstrosity with a feral appearance. Werewolves are tremendously strong creatures, far stronger than most men - there has been more than one recorded instance of Werewolves tearing through a stone wall with nothing more than it's brute strength. They are also very quick, and prolific climbers; the average werewolf can scale a three story building in under ten seconds and leap over a six foot wall. Werewolves have never been seen to use any form of weapons or armor beyond their teeth, claws, and natural hide. Their teeth and claws are far longer and sharper than the average wolf; recorded instances have shown that, under the right conditions, werewolves can disembowel a human male with a single swipe across the abdomen, and nearly decapitate with a single powerful bite on the neck. Their claws have been known to inflict deep gashes in the toughest steel armor and even tear through iron. Their hide acts as a natural armor that can repel most normal weapons, and even protect against certain caliber of firearm, including the Arquebus.

With the change comes a great growth of the senses. Werewolves can hear, smell, and see far better than the average human, and use them to their advantage. Werewolves have a prodigious sense of smell, in particular the smell of fresh blood. A werewolf can track wounded prey from a mile away, and can identify creatures and people from the scent of their blood alone. Slightly less powerful than their sense of smell, werewolves can hear and identify sounds that normal humans cannot. Werewolves are, by nature, nocturnal, and thus have a strong night vision.

Werewolves, however, have a number of limitations inherent to their nature. Werewolves, especially the recently afflicted, tend to lack the agility and cunning of a normal human being. Werewolves are not agile enough to dodge an arrow or an oncoming blade, and certainly not bullets. They lose the ability to use tools and weapons, and often resort to brute-strength solutions to problems. Although werewolves can transform at will, the pain involved leads most werewolves to avoid the transformation. Many afflicted are consumed by self-hatred and repulsion, and secret themselves away from the world. A Werewolf, however, cannot avoid the transformation on the Full Moon. As the Moon waxes full, it agitates their beast blood more and more. The transformation becomes easier, and many werewolves experience restlessness and sudden seizures. At this time powerful emotion may force the afflicted to transform. Upon the Full Moon, the Lycanthrope is driven mad and transforms unwillingly, forced into the night to hunt for flesh. The Werewolf also has an infamous weakness to silver; proximity to large amounts of silver agitates the blood much as the Moon, and Silver can inflict terrible injuries upon the Werewolf, ignoring their powerful hide. Werewolves are also susceptible to the rare metal Selenium, being fragments of the Moon itself. Selenium plagues the werewolf, driving it mad, forcing it to transform. Selenium strikes terrible wounds upon Werewolves, far worse than silver, and is the bane of werewolves everywhere.

Of special note are the White Lycans; werewolves blessed by Selas to hunt other Lycanthropes, whose claws are silver and whose coats shine like the full moon.