Lycanthropes: Shapeshifters of Gaia (Archive)

This article is an archive of the old version of this book. Information within may no longer be canon to the Ascension Academy Roleplay. Please refer to the Ascension Academy Classes page for an updated catalog of books.
=Introduction=
Werewolves are shapeshifters who change from human to wolf form - adopting many intermediary forms if they so choose. They are physically more powerful than most living creatures and are immune to many of the ailments and diseases that plague their human and wolf cousins, but they’re still living beings that can still die.
Werewolves heal much faster than normal humans, and as half-spirit beasts designed for battle, they’re exceptionally hard to kill. Most werewolves are theoretically capable of reaching the hundred-year mark or even beyond. It is a rare occurrence, however, that a werewolf has the luxury of dying from old age.
They are pack animals with a complex tribal and social structure. Werewolves are expected to embark on quests and missions to help the sept and tribe, guard caerns from attack, and lead/look after those lower in station--as their Litany requires.
=Litany=
The laws of the People are ancient. Their traditions vary from tribe to tribe, but all Garou must remember and hold to the central code of law called the Litany. In its full form, it is as much an epic poem as a legal code. Chanting it in its entirety can take hours. Four times a year, the werewolves of the Fianna tribe gather in their tribal homelands to recite it in its entirety.
While it takes the greatest scholars to master the entirety of the Litany, most werewolves learn it in the form of 13 basic precepts. Each precept has a practical basis, but not all of them are universally upheld as unquestionably moral. Each tribe has its own views on right and wrong. In fact, many perceive a hypocritical gap between what Lycan elders preach and what werewolves actually do. Masters of Lycan law can cite dozens of examples of precedent, but as fewer cubs learn to chant the details, more argue ways to bend the rules in their favor. Some Lycan tribes refer to an Elder as the Alpha.
=Tenets=
The tenets are as follows:
*Combat the Wyrm Wherever it Dwells and Whenever it Breeds
*Respect the Territory of Another
*Accept an Honorable Surrender
*Submission to Those of Higher Station
*The First Share of the Kill for Greatest in Station
*Ye Shall Not Eat the Flesh of Humans
*The Veil Shall Not Be Lifted
*Do Not Suffer Thy People to Tend Thy Sickness
*The Leader May Be Challenged At Any Time During Peace
*The Leader May Not Be Challenged During Wartime
*Ye Shall Take No Action That Causes a Caern to be Violated
*Thou Shall Only Turn One Who Agrees to the Tenets
=Fera=
While the Lycan were created by Gaia as her fangs and claws, to keep her safe, they were not her only children. She created many other breeds of shapeshifters and gave them each a task. Some have lost their way with time, others were forced from their roles by the Lycan, and some have turned to serving only one aspect of the Triat instead of Gaia as a whole.
The Children of Gaia, Silent Striders, Red Talons, Uktena, and Wendigo generally have the most contact with the Fera, and the most cordial relations with them. The Shadow Lords have regular contact with the Fera only through their Eastern branch, the Hakken. They Bunyip are sometimes mistakenly referred to as Fera - they are actually an extinct tribe of Lycan, eradicated in the War of Tears.
Fera is the term most commonly used by the Lycan themselves, to mean shapechangers of other races: other breeds have similar terms. The Lycan used to use the Mokolé term Béte, but now only Lycan who have contact with the Mokolé use that word. The Bastet use the word Killi instead, and the Ananasi refer to other changing breeds as Ovid. Likewise, the Nagah tend to employ the term Khurah.
Most Fera have at least a strong distrust of the Lycan due to the actions of the Lycan during the War of Rage.
=Lycan Forms=
The Lycan are Shapeshifters of great ability, far more versatile than the werewolves of myth or film. They are far more than “humans who can turn into wolves” - these beasts are designed to shift easily from wolf to human, with a range of forms in between. With sufficient control over shapeshifting, a Lycan can even transform only part of her body: grow Crinos talons in human form, or turn forepaws into hands.
Here are the five different forms a werewolf can assume:
The Homid form is virtually indistinguishable from that of an ordinary human being. In this form, the werewolf can travel through cities and crowds without being discovered.
The Glabro form (like some sort of Lupine Mr. Hyde) can still pass for human -somewhat- but while drawing on a portion of the werewolf’s true power. Stronger, faster, and more resilient than a Homid, the Glabro form is still just a shadow of the werewolf’s true killing power.
The Crinos form is the true battle form of the Lycan, the form they take when no solution, save violence, will do. A hybrid of human and wolf, infused with the superhuman strength of this warrior race, the Crinos Lycan is one of the most efficient killing machines in the world. Humans suffer such terrifying ancestral memories when witnessing an angry Crinos that they often break down into hysterics, forcing themselves to forget that such a monster exists.
The Hispo is the massive wolf of nightmare, a throwback to prehistoric days when the dire wolves were the size of ponies. It is a form designed to hund and to kill.
The Lupus is the true “wolf” form of the Lycan allowing werewolves to hunt and live among wolf packs, or to call on the speed and superior senses of the wolf. Many hunters have come to a horrible end after wounding a werewolf that they mistook for an ordinary animal - or the mate of a Lycan who has chosen to live as a wolf for a time.
Werewolf shifting form Homid to Glabro to Crinos to Hispo to Lupus:
=Weaknesses=
Lycan are extremely weak against silver weaponry. Some types of Lycan are weak against Gold but not silver with few being weak versus both.
Some Lycan require the full moon to transform fully, so attacking while in a weaker form is suggested
Wolfsbane is highly poisonous to Lycan and is used in types of weaponry such a s bombs, arrows, and darts. Wolfsbane always prevents Lycan from coming near a location due to the smell/presence of it.
=Damage Immunities=
Bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks not made with silvered weapons.
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Category:Ascension Lore
Category:Lycans