Lycans

Lions, and Tigers, And Bears, Oh My!!

Lycanthropy

Lycanthropy from Greek lykoi, "wolf" anthropos, "man", a psychiatric state in which the patient believes he is a wolf or some other nonhuman animal. Undoubtedly stimulated by the once widespread superstition that lycanthropy is a supernatural condition in which men actually assume the physical form of other animals, the delusion has been most likely to occur among people who believe in reincarnation and the transmigration of souls.

Lycanthropes have the ability to shift into their respective creature whenever they wish. However, if they shift to animal form and then human form too soon, it drains their energy and they fall into a coma-like sleep for at least 12 hours. Normally, shapeshifters stay in animal form 8-10 hours and collapse back into human form. If the lycanthrope is young or it is too close to the full moon, the scent of blood or sex can cause them to shift into their animal form.

Their healing powers are extraordinary. All wounds eventually close. Limbs that were ripped off are remade the next time they shift into animal form. Though they heal much more slowly in human form. An old wive's tale about lycanthropes is true. Namely, after shifting, they must feed. Lycanthropes are controlled by the full moon. During that time, they are forced to change into their animal form and hunt. Alpha lycanthropes are the leaders of the respective packs, pards, etc. They are much stronger than the other lycanthropes, and often possess other powers that normal lycanthropes do not.

The way to tell if a human is a lycanthrope is to cut off a limb and then look on the inside of the skin. If there is fur, then they are a lycanthrope. They will grow the limb back upon their next shift. However, it's not a good idea to cut the limb if he/she is merely a human.

The cat-based lycanthropy is less contagious than the rat and wolf forms, though no one knows why. Lycanthropes cannot get infections. If they are seriously injured, the most danger they are in is shock from blood loss. Also their high metabalisms also make drugs, alchol, etc virtually ineffective on them.

When you become infected with lycanthropy it usually takes weeks, or at least until the first full moon for the first shape change. The first change is very violent and you will experience some memory loss. The first few full moons will be almost complete blackouts. This is a temporary condition.

You should have control over the shift unless it is the full moon. The more powerful you are, the more you will be able to control the shift. The closer to the full moon it is, the harder it will be to control your "beast." Usually you will stay in animal form for eight to ten hours, then collapse and change back to human form. It takes a lot of energy to shapeshift early. Lycanthropes usually spike in temperature right before they change, like a human before a seizure.

((Thank you Kansas City Sins))

When you are playing a lycan character. Please always keep in mind that there is a murderous, blood-thirsty beast sharing your skin. This is not like WW where you are just born that way and are a bit more animalistic. This is like the old fairy tales, where there is a monster residing within you. Older, more powerful lycans have made more of a tentative truce with their beasts and are more able to control it. But please keep in mind it is always lurking there. If there is bloodshed that you see, if you are having sex, if you are angry. It is a constant strugle to maintain your humanity and not let the beast out. Good thng? The beast is almost seperate from your "human" personality

Also, pet peeve of mine...In the books there is never any mention of the beast being a little ghost / spirit creature as alot of people rp it. I have seen posts as as "My Beast swats at the tail of your beast" or "My Beast pads along beside yours, pouncing it playfully". This is very improper as in the books yes you can greet with your beast, but it is more a wash of energy and essence. It is NOT a spirit animal version of whatever infected you with lycanthropy. Not a seperate entity, nothing that acts on it's own, it's simply there like an aura.

The beast is more felt as an aura of power then a spirit version of a playful animal. There is nothing cute or innocent or playful about being a lycan. At least not from the beast point of view. Human sure, you can be as cute as you want. But the beast is a purely animalistic force. Hunger, lust and blood lust dominate the beast's mentality and desires.

Human- Heh, enough said. Just your typical human form, you look the same as you always have. Differences:: Increased metabalism ((not really many fat lycans)); Unsual grace / dexterity ((lycans tend too move too smoothly "as if they have muscles where they shouldn't have any")) ; Eyes- Sometimes your beast ((if angry, hurt etc)) will "look out" through your eyes. When this happens, the eyes are beastial and often golden. But they can be grey, green, whatever color your eyes are in beast form. It usually occurs when anrgy, arroused, about to kill, in the presence of blood etc. Often symbolizes a fight with the beast internally. Healing and Senses though increased vastly from a normal human simply are not as effective in human form as they would be in beast or hybrid. Strength / Speed same as in any other form in human form, vastly improved over human. May not infect anyone with lycathropy in this form. Teeth and fingernails are not infective.

Beast- Your lycans animal type ((leopard, wolf, hyena, rat)). This is a huge form of the natural animal. Usually described as being large dog sized (rat) to pony (wolf, leopard) size. In this form Healing and senses are dramatically improved. You can track easily using scent etc. And your lycan regeneration abilites will be at their height. Claws and Teeth massive and infective in this form. Speech not possible in this form.

Hybrid- A more rare form then beast or human, but capable of being used by even weaker ((mod level and above only)) lycans. As it is more difficult. This is the typical man-animal cross, Wolfman, Leopardman. Basically a huge beast that stands upright like a human and whose face and body is a blend of human and animal features. Healing and senses still maximun in this form. Speech possible but garbled, difficult due to having a partial muzzle rather then a human mouth. Infective in this form. Teeth and Claws prominant and deadly in this form as well as beast form.

Partailly Shifted Forms- This is done by using an alpha level power and is not the same as the hybrid form. Using this ability you may shift certain parts of your anatomy while the others remain human. Hands only, jaw and teeth only, legs only and what have you. Used most frequently to attract the least amount of attention while still being able to attack with claws and or teeth

Of all the lycanthropes, the werewolves possess the most complex structure within their social hierarchy, very much like wolf packs in nature.

Lukoi is Greek and comes from King Lyckaon of Arcadia who was a werewolf and didn't hide his nature. In honor of his openness, the present day werewolves name themselves the lukoi.
Many of the terms used to identify the positions of leadership in a pack are Norse in origin, because the pack is old

Werewolves have a highly evolved system of laws and rules governing their actions. Pack law stipulates many things:
1) Pack leaders much fight all challenges to their dominance personally, or forfeit leadership.
2) To ask a pack member for their protection is to acknowledge they are of higher rank without having to fight them. The pack must then accept that person as a dominant.

During the full moon, the wolves gather in a special place of power called the lupanar. Here, they may call upon the munin and shift into their animal forms. This is also the place where formal challenges might be made, like succession fights.

When a pack member dies, his/her body is eaten by the rest of the clan in order to preserve the munin. Munin was Odin's raven, also known as memory. These are the spirits of the clan which remain behind as "spirit-guide" types, providing wisdom and sometimes power when called.

A vargamor is a pack's wise woman or wise man. Usually a witch, although sometimes a psychic, it is a position held by a normal human.
The pack organization is established as follows:

Ulfric The highest ranking pack member is the Ulfric, or wolf-king. The lycanthrope who is Ulfric is the dominant wolf in the pack, and is almost always a male. You become Ulfric by killing the existing Ulfric. Fights for the leadership are always to the death. To refuse the Ulfric’s or the Lupa’s (Ulfric’s mate) authority is to be declared outlaw from the pack.
Lupa The Lupa is an alpha female who will be mate of the Ulfric. If anyone injures the Lupa, it is the Ulfric's rights to declare them enemy of the pack. Should someone kill the Lupa, the penalty is death. There are some exceptions to this. Also, an Ulfric can have sex within and outside the pack without declaring that person his Lupa.
Sex is integral to the union
Freki/Geri Second-in-command of the Lukoi, the lieutenants of the Ulfric. Freki is the senior of the two.
Fenrir Once a lycanthrope challenges the reigning Ulfric, he is known as Fenrir. Assuming everything goes well and the Fenrir slays the past Ulfric, he will become Ulfric in his own right and pick his Lupa with the pack under his leadership.
Sköll/Hati These are the prime two enforcers of the pack, acting as bodyguards to the Ulfric. The head enforcer is called Sköll and the second is called Hati. It is not uncommon for these wolves to carry guns. They are named after two of the wolves in Ragnarok, the end of the world in Norse mythology.

Bolverk - Bolverk is the title for what amounts to someone who does the Ulfric's evil deeds. It can be anything from trickery, to lies, to murder. The Bolverk can have three helpers: Bangi, Suttung and Guunlod.
Eros/Eranthe Sexual surrogates, a man and a woman that do what needs to be done when a werewolf's sponsor is too squeamish to do it. Lycanthropes often change partially or fully during sexual intercourse, and it is the responsibility of these two to train new lycanthropes in control. A Lupa will often teach new lycanthropes if there is no Eros or Eranthe. .

((thank you Kansas City Sins and Ty for great info))

Wererats

Wererats refer to themselves as the rodere.
The King / Queen werat is sometimes called a Rom
Since rats are small you would think that they would be a prey animal. But rats are omniverous. They eat anything that crosses their path, including humans, if they can't get away. A wererat is not a small thing. They are large enough to be the predators that their namesakes cannot be.

((Thank you Kansas City Sins))

Werehyenas

Natural hyenas are sometimes classified as belonging to both the feline and canine families. As far as the werehyenas and the anitaverse goes, hyenas are considered canines since that is how they were described by the author who wrote the series from which this roleplay is based.

Helpful Hints for Playing a Hyena:

1)Among spotted hyenas the female is always dominant to males. Among striped hyenas the male is always dominant to the female.
2)A show of teeth is considered a threat to hyenas.
3)When hunting, hyenas run down their prey like wolves instead of stalking it like a feline.
4)Werehyena clans are led by an Oba, usually a spotted female or striped male.
5)In nature, the main enemy of a hyena is a lion.
6)Striped hyenas tend to be more solitary then spotted hyenas and are becoming more and more rare. Striped hyenas are also found primarily in the middle east in comparison to the spotted hyenas which are found primarily in africa.
7)Hyenas communicate to each other with a series of whooping type sounds.

((Thank you Kansas City Sins))

Other groups can establish their own pack, pard like organizations have they enough members, but little is known about the actual structure. But these other creature types are rare and should be played mostly with RC approval

((Taken from our room MB-Thank you TY))

Just a few things I've noticed that people should look over. Many of these points are either common sense/knowledge or were covered by Jayded, but posting them anyway cuz I can

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1.) The play of a beast as some sort of ghost/ethereal creation as in "my beast paces around and lays on the floor" is dumb. While I can understand "brushing you with my beast" as a stroke of metaphysical power, the prior thing is just ridiculous. Luckily I haven't really seen this fiasco in our room, but it was popular in others.

2.) A lycanthrope can always recognize another of its kind if they are close up (note: physically close!!! not across the room or if they are hidden or 200 yards away, ect.), even if they are shielding - a wolf will always recognize a wolf, a leopard always a leopard. This sense of another lycan has NOTHING to do with scent, and everything to do with recognizing the heat-like power of being a lycan. An interesting note, real animals such as dogs will be able to recognize a lycanthrope (especially dogs recognizing wolves, cats recognizing leopards, ect.).

3.) One lycanthrope can recognize another as long as they are not an alpha focusing on shielding themselves - a wolf will see a leopard and realize "that's a lycanthrope", but they will not know that they are a cat, merely that they are not a wolf. This sense of another lycan has NOTHING to do with scent, and everything to do with recognizing the heat-like power of being a lycan.

4.) An alpha lycanthrope that focuses his shields can appear to be human to others including magicked humans - remember that Anita could not tell Richard was a lycan, and she could spot other lycans no problem. Gaunt for example could pass as a human among a necromancer convention, as long as he was wearing sunglasses and kept his teeth to himself given his particular facial traits.

5.) Lycans do more than just heal quickly - they are made of hardier stuff than humans. I recall one instance where Anita punched Richard using the power of the marks and knocked him down, and he said had she hit a human she would have broken their jaw, though he only had a small bruise.

6.) It is impossible to for a human or lycan to lie to another lycanthrope and not have it detected. Certain strong Master Vampires have the rare power to lie without it being detected, but everyone else would be caught in their untruth.

7.) All lycans are affected by spilled blood and sex - even extremely powerful ones like Gaunt for example would have their inner-beast crying out for blood and sex at the sight of a wounded person. However, alphas and to a lesser extent moderates have the ability to curb this instinct.

However, the desire for blood is no less and it DOES NOT MATTER what the person's personality is. A pious nun turned lycan would be turned on if she saw blood - the most innocent girl turned lycan would get aroused at the sight of someone being ripped to shreds. This is evident in the books as Richard, a man who hated what he was, was turned on by Raina's snuff film where a woman was raped by an animal then ripped apart even though he hated himself for it.

8.) Lycans are like animals. In nature, hyenas and lions don't hang out (sorry Lion King), wolves and bears don't party. While it is not impossible for a lycan to associate with other groups (a wolf with rats for example, as Richard's best friend was a rat), it is rare. IMPORTANT: FOR THE MOST PART, LYCANS OF ONE GROUP WILL NOT ACTIVELY PURSUE SOCIALIZING WITH ANOTHER GROUP FOR NO REASON.

I realize this is RP and there must be interaction - believe me, I know. However, all the preternaturals of this city are NOT one big happy family. We are a series of several small dysfunctional families. So while a member of one group will doubtlessly socialize with a member of another group, it should be handled with at least some wariness and trepidation... imo anyway.

That wariness would be between those that didn't know each other prior. We did see several intra-species relationships in the books, be they friendships or even mating, though they were rare - but initial chance meetings between say two moderate level lycans of two different groups might go a bit different than one buying another a drink then them screwing within 15 minutes *grins*. Unless you're into that sort of thing.

9.) LYCANS IN THEIR HUMAN FORM DO NOT SMELL LIKE THE ANIMAL THEY ARE! You cannot sniff someone and determine they are. Likewise, you cannot have the scent of being "rogue" or belonging to any one group. Please do not say "you smell rogue" to someone else, be they rogue or otherwise. You can state that they smell unfamiliar and probably aren't pard/pack/rodere because of that.

10.) The last point I am going to say... preternaturals are extremely common in the world. Based upon ratios set up in the LKH series and Calgary's population, there are probably well over ONE THOUSAND wolves alone in the city. Likely there are comparable numbers of vampires, hundreds of rats, ect. ect. BUT while in a place like Dante's Inferno you will probably see a dense packing of lycans, in other locations (say a random coffee shop) you will probably not see more than 1 preternatural at a time. We are relatively numerous, but Calgary is a city of one million people. Keep in mind how spread out the preternatural community must be.

Love sucks. Sometimes it feels good. Sometimes it's just another way to bleed. -LKH