Lycanthropy

Lycanthropy is a classified as a blood disease that seems to originate in Wolvians, primarily with lineage tracing back to Dusk. Research into the disease has proved fruitless in classifying it as a viral, bacterial, fungal or parasitic infection, with the general consensus being that it more closely resembles the curse (or blessing) of Vaermina, the Goddess of War, Hunger and Desire in the methods by which it functions.

## Overview

Formerly a plague on the Old World, the concept of Lycanthropy was not immediately reintroduced upon the creation of the Wolvians of Mekkan. Dusk spent much time experimenting with potential solutions to the problematic Lycanthropy used by Lupa in her darkest time. At a small number of points in history, Wolvians have been gifted Lycanthropy in order to trial if it would be safe to unleash upon Mekkan, resulting in legends of the disease spreading in different cultures. It was not until 1491 when Lycanthropy was finally permitted to become a permanent aspect of life for some on Mekkan when Dusk gave birth to her child, Frost. Frost was the progenitor of the first form of Lycanthropy deemed acceptable and has consensually spread it to many others, Wolvians and other races included.

Lycanthropy has been spread to other individuals after the initial trial period with Frost. Midnight has experienced surges of Werewolf activity in a small number of locations, although the spread of Lycanbane plants has helped to prevent the spread of Lycanthropy at an overly fast rate. Werewolves have cropped up outside of Midnight, although many countries have implemented laws to protect the populace from Werewolf attacks. While it is not unheard of for Werewolves to try to infect others illegally, the disease is easy enough to both notice and cure. For unknown reasons, while Frost's form of Lycanthropy is observably different to the other forms of the disease, it will mutate into Type-2 Lycanthropy in those Frost infects.

## Strains

### Type-1 Lycanthropy (Lupacythemia frost)

This form of Lycanthropy is impossible to contract, with the only known case being in Frost Cryptic. Unlike other forms of Lycanthropy, this allows the carrier to transform into a Werewolf and Sunwolf form, being able to tap into Lunar and Solar magic respectively. Unlike Lupacythemia alpha, the carrier of this form of the disease is only minimally affected by a reduction in brain function during a transformation, resulting in the loss of speech and minor issues with focus while retaining the ability to clearly understand others and follow instructions. If a carrier of this disease infects another individual, they will not become directly infected with this strain, instead the disease mutates into Lupacythemia alpha, research has not been able to find the exact reason for this.

### Type-2 Lycanthropy (Lupacythemia alpha)

Type-2 Lycanthropy is the most common form of the disease on Mekkan, carriers of the disease can infect others primarily through biting. The carrier may often transform at will, but will be transformed against their will under the full moon, leading many carriers to request others to lock them up under every lunar cycle. Those infected with this form of Lycanthropy tend to be less aware during transformations and often become more aggressive. It is not uncommon for an encounter with Lycanthropic Wolvians to result in capture, infection and worse for explorers of Midnight.

### Type-3 Lycanthropy (Lupacythemia lycan)

The third and final known form of Lycanthropy does not appear to be native to Mekkan at all, instead being a strange version of the disease that is inherently present in all Lycanids on the planet Lycus. The effects of this disease appear to be more obvious in both the regular form and Werewolf form of the carrier. Carriers of the disease tend to experience faster hair growth across much of their body, their hands tend to be more wolfish, with sharp, fast growing claws, and their bone structure is often slightly different from other humanoid species which results in many biological advantages in physically intense tasks. Werewolves with this version of the disease tend to be larger and stronger than their Type-2 counterparts, while not suffering from the reduction in general brain activity, making them lethally efficient hunters. They are capable of absorbing natural Solar and Lunar mana to provide physiological advantages depending on the time of day, with Solar mana making them physically stronger, while Lunar mana helps them to rapidly recover from injuries. The last key difference in Type-3 Lycanthropes is that they can ONLY transform at will, and as such do not need to be restrained under the full moon.