Supernatural Creature Data Files: Lycanthropes

Supernatural Creature Data Files: Lycanthropes

Description: Despite ‘common knowledge’ amongst the rank and file, werewolves are not the only type of lycanthrope. They are, however, most common by far and the most deadly – they are the most infectious, and most psychotic, of lycanthropes. Most lycanthrope types are effectively harmless – they are simply humans that can turn into an animal, or a strange half human and half animal form. Many are not even infectious.

            A strange psychological effect usually inspires the lycanthrope to ‘act like’ the animal they can become; but this is not part of the curse (and usually echoes societal ideas about the nature of the animals, rather than any natural tendencies). Encountered lycanthrope types include two werebirds (an eagle and an owl), a wereboar, and a family of hereditary selkies that have integrated into ordinary society. Barring the wereboar, these are all hereditary curses; and apart from the selkies the lines are on the verge of dying out (there is only one owl, an old man with no children, and two eagles who did not pass their curse to their children). Wereboars are only very occasionally infectious, and although we suspect several others exist (and the wereboar is, like the werewolf, a strange and dangerous half human) they are still relatively stable.

            All lycanthropic varieties are the result of ancient curses – and actual curses, rather than the experiments of the group that created vampires (and, we unfortunately believe, werewolves). These curses (which are no longer possible for unknown reasons) forced the afflicted into animals or half animals according to some cycle – not always the full moon. Though rare, curses affected by high tide, any presence of the moon, planets, and even the passing of a particular comet have been detailed in certain documents.

            For completeness: the selkies must assume seal form when full immersed in the sea, the owl shapeshifter whenever in the light of the moon, the eagle shapeshifters when the sun and Mars are in the sky, and the wereboar on midsummer’s and midwinter’s day. Werewolves, of course, are triggered by the full moon.

            Whether as a result of the general degradation of early curses, or just a result of their non-expert casting (the ‘curse-smiths’ who are thought to be responsible for vampires and several other entities had significantly better skills than many who worked with curses) all of the rare lycanthropes, and most werewolves who have ‘acclimated’ to their condition, are capable of transforming at will. Most of these can also resist the change, although it is ‘easier’ for them to change at these times, and sometimes a struggle to not.

            Werewolves, the most common (by far) of lycanthropes suffer from something no other form does. While wereboars do enter a rage state when transformed, werewolf psychology is very unusual. When an individual becomes a werewolf they suddenly feel – at all times – as if there is a raging, violent beast inside them. A brutalised, tortured, and tormented creature that only wants to tear, and hurt, and kill. As if a wolf was inside them from the moment they were born and they couldn’t hear it, and so it has spent their entire life growing angrier and angrier. Whenever they transform it is unleashed; but when they aren’t it is still there, clawing at the walls of their mind. Notably, those born werewolves (the child of at least one werewolf; notably, if the bearer of the child was not a werewolf they will be infected by the child) do not suffer from this effect – they say the beast is there (and they act like wolves at times), but that it has never been caged.

            Eventually the werewolf will make peace with this mad animal. Not a placation, but a surrender. They will become it, or part of it, in such a manner that who they are is firstly that monster, then secondly who they used to be. Once this has occurred, they also gain the ability to transform at will, control while they are transformed, and the ability to suppress the change at the full moon if they desire.

            The combination of this change in their personality with the ability to act intelligently while transformed means that deadly, hard to stop monsters become intelligent, deadly, hard to stop monsters.

Physiology: The eagles, owl and selkies all fully transform into their animal counterparts. The wereboars grow tusks and a barrel-like physique, as well as gaining roughly a foot of height. They become covered in rough bristling hairs, gain a significant amount of muscle mass, and lose the ability to full feel pain. Instinctively they will seek out fights and attempt to compete (even against guns or large groups of armed people).The two wereboars encountered have referred to it as a ‘warrior spirit thing’.

            Werewolves undergo a similar transformation; in fact, it is fairly similar to many popular depictions. They grow to about eight feet in height, gain significant mass and convert most tissue to muscle (becoming burly, musclebound terrors), grow fur covering their bodies, gain claws, and their mouths grow into toothy, elongated jaws. Strangely, although their ears do change their faces do not become truly ‘wolflike’ despite the other changes – instead, a twisted half human half stretched to contain a huge jaw terror exists. We suspect this didn’t reach popular depictions due to the height of werewolves, and because it’s hard to describe.

            Lycanthropes of all kinds, unlike vampires, are able to breed and will age over time (with certain exceptions – see Ayn’Sca’Raer). They also possess no unusual dietary requirements. All are as easy to kill in their human forms as ordinary humans, and none have special weaknesses. Additionally, the selkies do not shed their skin.

Identification and Destruction: Identification of lycanthropes of any kind is difficult; luckily, the dangerous type (werewolves) tend to transform when threatened or under pressure, and thus are often not difficult to detect. Normal identification procedure is simply investigation of any suspected lycanthropes (or, in rare cases, using the skills of an agent with very strong and particular ESP abilities – there is extensive separate training for this sort of task).

            Killing a lycanthrope is best accomplished when they are in their human form. Before detailing werewolves: those that are able to shift to animal forms are often quite adept at disappearing amongst other animals of the same species (we have, for example, completely lost track of selkies amongst groups of seals).

            Werewolves in their wolfman form are very difficult to kill. If possible, armour piercing rounds should be fired into their skulls; if such a shot is not possible armour piercing rounds should be fired at them until they topple (and for some time afterwards). No specialised low or average calibre bullets will kill them eventually, however, the damage from even a dozen pistols emptying full clips will barely slow them down. To put it simply: if you do not have specialised weapons or high calibre weapons do not engage.

            Transformed werewolves are also notoriously immune to most explosions, including some that would rip apart solid steel.

Other Details: Yes, we do understand that lycanthrope is just another word for werewolf. Remember, however, that we are not an organisation that is hung up on details like this – if it really bothers you, convince everyone else to stop using the term and use Therianthrope or Cursed Shapeshifters or similar. The author of this document did once try to get ‘shapeshifter’ put into broad use, but that failed.

            Apart from werewolves, lycanthropes have only been encountered in short, isolated incidents. Information indicating the existence of eight other types of lycanthropes has been recovered from various sources (including shared information from the Meander Corporation). Each of these are thought to be currently extinct, however.

            Werewolves were on of the entities encountered during the formation of the IPC, so no ‘first encounter’ exists. The first encounter on record was a single werewolf hunted down following a series of ‘animal attacks’ in a town surrounded by heavy woodland. All surviving victims were eliminated in the clean-up operation.