Lycans

**Location** | Aðalbjörg

"*Oh, Moon drunk beasts who sing your sad sonnet to your God. How do your cries fall on deaf ears. Your gift, your burden, your curse to bear. Oh Moon drunk beasts, are your prayers answered?*"
—Part of an old song once sung about the Lycans
**Lycans** (狼男, *Ookamiotoko*) are a race of creatures resembling humans with the ability to transform themselves into humanoid, wolf-like creatures. These beings, long ago, were once believed to have been fully human. However, in their endless devotion to their wolf God, Romulus, it was said that they were given immense and unbelievable power that would only increase under the light of the twin moons.

## Description

Lycans are a race of creatures living in the Southern woods of the country of Aðalbjörg where it is believed that this race originated from. Stories from those who live around the southern woods says that long ago the Lycans were once just as human as the majority of those who walk the lands of Firdaus but worshiped a taboo God by the name of Romulus, a Wolf God said to have control over the long forgotten inner strength deep within humanity. It is said they worshipped this God with endless devotion and for their devotion, the God granted them the ability to tap into their inner strength which happened to be the beastial part of man locked away when our intellect was given to us. This saw the worshippers turned into wolf-like beings far stronger than any natural creature realative to their size.

While this is the official legend, no one truly knows where it is the Lycans gained their abilities or if they were ever human at all or simply used their shapeshifting abilities to take on that appearance. However, despite the stories that tell of their rage and bloodlust, The Lycans were once believed to be a mostly peaceful group of creatures who preferred to remain far away from human society and hide deep within the southern woods of their homeland. Before the purge, which saw a great many of their kind wiped away, the Lycans were believed to have formed separate tribes within the forest, dividing up hunting grounds and trading members for mating purposes when needed. They lived isolationist lives for hundreds of years before the fear that humans felt toward them caused villagers and even parts of the royal army to raise their weapons against the Lycans in an event that has come to be known as the Lycan purge, a dark and embarrassing part of Aðalbjörgian history. While the hunting down of Lycans is not considered an illegal act punishable by death, many hunters are willing to face the possibility of that to attain the trophy of a Lycan head mounted on their wall.

Before their near extinction, Lycans were a proud race of creatures who survived within the southren woods soley off the land itself as a hunter gatherer society. They were believed to have a diet consisting mostly of rabbit and deer with a large mix of different fruits native to Aðalbjörg as well as easily grown vegetables such as potatoes, only trading these with other Lycan tribes. While rare, some raised farm animals for the purpose of clothing, while others used the forest arround them to craft clothes from hides. Their besital form allowed them to utilize great and almost unbelieavble strength with them being at their most powerful during the night when the moons hung high in the sky. Their worship of the God Romulus is said to be practiced in every surviving tribe to this day.