Werewolf

The Werewolves, a brood of Abominations ailing from the human population since ancient and even mythical times, are a constant plague to the human civilizations that even today exert a lot of fear and power above some isolated and remote regions.
==Creation==
The Werewolf Curse (or "Blessing", as many of the Werewolves would claim) came into existence roughly a thousand years before the end of the Age of Myth, if both humans and Werewolves legends are to be believed. In that time, a wide range of cataclysms plagued the world and especially the continent which would be known in the later millennium as Täjara : when Those from Below launched an invasion to the surface world they brought with them what can only be called as an Impurity, a part of the abomination existing in the deepest part of the Underworld.
While the fact that the Impurity was brought to the surface willingly or not isn't known, but nonetheless it was the core which gave birth to the Werewolf Curse when it infected a wolf, turning it into a twisted and rabid monster. This wolf was killed by a young human during his rite of passage, and as it was the tradition in his tribe, he eat its flesh and used its fur as clothes, unknowingly absorbing the Impurity into himself and becoming the first Werewolf, the legendary abomination today only known as The Primal. He was, one way or the other, the source of all the Werewolves, their creator, from a certain point of view.
==Ecology==
The Werewolves can be classified into different Generations, which is a result of the strange nature of the Curse inside them and how it is spread ; there is in fact two ways to create a Werewolf. The first one, the most commonly known in folklore, is to be bitten by a Werewolf; at that time, the Curse will be transmitted to the victim, albeit in a weaker form, which explain why the Werewolves are classified into various Generations, until the sixth "Generation", where the victim becomes a Hunter. The second, and widely unknown way to become a Werewolf is simply to be born from a Werewolf, in which case the Curse remains just as strong in the newborn than in the Werewolf parent.
Because of its weakening when transmitted by bite, the Curse won't change as much the higher generations than the lower; yet, some common change exist : all the Werewolves can change into half-beast monstrosities and are in fact unageing, save the highest "Generation", which remain human in its appearance and live only slightly longer than the usual humans. it is this lowest generation which classified the Werewolves. They also posses a terrible weakness of silver, which is stronger for the highest Generations; the Hunter can't touch silver directly without being burned grievously, for instance.
===The Primal===
The Primal is the Generation 0, the one and only Werewolf whose children were weaker than him, and the forefather of all the Werewolves still alive, spiritually speaking, if such a world can be used when describing a breed of rabid creatures.
===The First Wolves===
The First Wolves were the Generation 1; as their name imply, they were the blood children of the Primal; their human names are lost to the sand of time, and they probably never truly mattered for such powerful and blood-craving abominations. As of today, almost nothing is known for sure about them, save the fact that they all died with all their children during a great battle between the Täjaran Gods and legendary Heroes millennia ago, before the coming of Dragons on the continent.
===The Ancient Wolves===
Among the Werewolves still alive in the present day, the Ancient Wolves are the more powerful after the Primal itself, being from the Generation 2, which means that the older among them were bitten by the First Wolves themselves, thus being only tied to their terrible forefather by spiritual ties more than blood, even if their inside Curse still resonate with the one inside the Primal. In the rare packs where they are present, they are always the Alphas, even when they are among the younger members, for their power is great and their ferocity unmatched by their peers from higher Generations. Yet, they remain incredibly rare, for their bestiality is still almost uncontrollable and they are thus easily spotted in their childhood and killed by humans an Hunters, before their true powers could mature and make them almost unkillable by most of the natural weapons. But those among them who survive are among the most cunning of their kind, albeit in a primitive way of thinking.
===The Great Wolves===
The Great Wolves are those poor humans bitten by an Ancient Wolf and are thus from the Generation 3 among the Werewolves. Being a lot more numerous than the Ancient Wolves, they are the heads of most Werewolves pack, and they can be found from the Kingdom of Thama to the oldest villages of Täjara and even among humans settling in cities dominated by other species, even though they then have to be a lot more discreet than elsewhere.
They are usually able to control their primal urges, save when they become sexually aroused or under great preassure from any possible source. The Great Wolves are thus more often than not in their human form, and they use their almost immortal lifespan to hide the existence of the Werewolves to the humans, except when they took decades, or even centuries where they were creating villages in remote locations, where the werewolves are worshipped as Gods.
===The Moon Wolves===
The monsters called Moon Wolves are the most common among the Werewolves; they are from the Generation 4, and they are almost always in their human form, except when the three moons are full, which happen one night every two months, which explain their name, when the full force of their Impurity is unleashed and they undergo a killing spree. Because of this, they are the most numerous of the werewolves' family, and thus gave birth to many legends and myths surrounding the werewolves among Humans.
Almost all of them belong to packs made of only Generation 4 or even 5, for the lower generations are able to subdue and control them with ease, abusing their instinct to often use the Moon Wolves as bait for the Hunters and humans. Indeed, the Generation 3 and above loath them, since during their killing drive, they often bite a score of humans which become shameful creatures in the eyes of the greater werewolves. This explain why the Moon Wolves often try to seclude themselves both from the humans and the other werewolves, instead seeking lives in communities entirely made of Werewolves, one of those locations being Ookami no Mura (literally the Village of the Wolves).
===The Stray Wolves===
The tortured and degenerated creatures known as the Stray Wolves are the very last which can be called Werewolves, and even if their brethren from lower Generations loath to recognize them as true Werewolves, they are from the Generation 5. Indeed, the Stray Wolves are struck forever in a bestial form, tortured both by remnants of their humanity and a ravening corruption which drive them to hunt and kill and breed, even if they rarely survive more than a few weeks, for they are both weak of mind and bodies compared to other Werewolves, being only sightly stronger and resilient that an usual bear. Their behaviour make them easy preys for Hunters, humans and even the many predators which dwell in the wilderness where they usualy make their dens.
The Stray Wolves are also killed by their kin, for it is them which create the most dangerous enemies of all the Werewolves, the Hunter, when they bite a human.
===The Hunters===
The Hunters are the victims of a Stray Wolves, cursed by an extremely weak Impurity, which explain why they never transform into bestial creatures. Still, their sense are far above those of humans, especially their hearing and smell; while they aren't immortal as the Werewolves, the Hunters live a lot longer than normal humans, the few dying of old age at more than 250 years old. They have thus created old and strong Families, which often adopt newly transformed Hunters, to ensure that none of them is left at the mercy of the Werewolves, for an Hunter enslaved by his most monstrous kind is truly one of their most dangerous enemies.
Thaksfully to the Hunter Families, the Werewolves often lack the patience needed to raise and train an Hunter to do their will. Nonetheless, the Hunters face many challenges, first among them the distrusts of humans, who find their long live suspicious and thus force the Hunters to be constantly on the move, save in locations where they rule the land, places which exist only in Täjara, for the Hunters in Thama never managed to gain so much influence and power, even in isolated areas. it is them who classified the Werewolves into various Generations and managed to discover the ecology of their cursed breed of Abomination. They consider themselves the Generation 6.
==Culture==
Category:BestiaryCategory:OrganismsCategory:Abominations