Werewolves

[The City]

Werewolves

Overview

• Werewolves are normal humans who were infected by being bitten by a werewolf and surviving long enough to see their first full moon.
  
• Upon transformation, werewolves turn into anthropomorphic creatures usually standing about an average of 7-8 feet on their hind legs. A werewolf’s wolf form usually reflects somewhat their human physical attributes, such as an already muscular man would become an even more muscular werewolf.
  
• They are anthropomorphic, meaning that they share both physical qualities of a human and a wolf.
  
• Werewolves are able to transform at will even during the day time and retain all their sentience.But a forced transformation still occurs during the full moon and the werewolves cannot change back until day time.
  
• Werewolf bites are both viral and magical in nature. Once the virus gets into a person’s system it will begin the change from the inside and will culminate on the next full moon where the infected will forcibly turn into a werewolf.
  
• The werewolves also possess a degree of longevity, they are able to live up to 800 years.
  
• They age slowly, and never lose their strength and stamina with age.
  
• Werewolves can also give birth, but these cases are very rare as they only ovulate at every 100 years. It requires both parents to be werewolves
  
• Born werewolves inherit the powers of their parents.
  
• Even when in their human form, werewolves retain their abilities, albeit in a lesser degree. Shifting into their wolf form, will give them full access to their powers
  
• Werewolves commonly belong to packs, and have a strict hierarchical system, which is obeyed almost instinctively. Packs always have an Alpha wolf and may be male or female. If another wolf wishes to become an Alpha he must challenge the current one and fight a battle to the death.
  
• They also share awareness with all the members of their pack, and can communicate with each other through this link.

Powers and Abilities

Basic Werewolf Powers

• Shifting - This is the most basic power of a Werewolf, the ability to shift to and back from human to anthropomorphic wolf.
  
• Enhanced Senses - Werewolves possess senses that are enhanced far beyond the levels of both human and wolves. They can smell other humans' and animals' emotions, intentions and relative state of beingy. They can also pick out the other races by their individual smells.
  
• Enhanced Sixth Sense - Werewolves can also fully interact with spirits with their five senses.
  
• Superhuman Strength - Werewolves are innately stronger than most of the other races they can easily over power already strong beings such as Vampires in terms of brute strength.
  
• Superhuman Speed – Moving on all fours, werewolves can outrun most land moving vehicles with relative ease.
  
• Superhuman Durability –They are incredibly durable, and will survive normal bomb explosions and having great weights dropped on them.
  
• Regeneration - Werewolves have the ability to regenerate from most injuries. Their regeneration is more like an extremely heightened form of mammalian cell regeneration.
  
• Stamina– Werewolves possess an almost unsurpassed stamina, and can keep up a hunt for days if not weeks.
  
• Pack Mind – All werewolves have this intrinsic awareness of their pack members. They know where their pack members are and their general condition. Concentrating on a particular pack member can open a specific telepathic channel between the two of them.

Advanced Werewolf Powers

• Communing with Wolves – Werewolves have developed this ability to be able to communicate with actual wolves.
  
• Law– The Alpha can deliver a command through the link the pack has, and place laws that the pack members will be physically unable to disobey, even if they desperately wanted to.
  
• Resistance to Silver– The older and more powerful a Werewolf is, the better their tolerance to silver can become.
  
• Sonic Howl– Werewolves are capable of releasing a powerful sonic burst created from the high density muscle tissues in the werewolf's vocal chords.

Weaknesses

• Werewolves are extremely vulnerable to silver weapons. Silver affects werewolves in the same way that dry-ice will cause freeze-burns in people.
  
• Contact with silver also effectively negates a werewolf’s ability to regenerate at that specific area.
  
• Werewolves have an extremely strong aversion to the smell of trye and mistletoe. It is very comparable to how tear gas would affect normal humans.
  
• The plant wolfsbane , will affect werewolves with an extremely allergic reaction; exposure to large quantities will often be fatal.
  
• Werewolves can also be killed via suffocation or drowning.
  
• Direct damage to internal organs such as the heart or the brain will also kill them
  
• Werewolves still retain their bestial nature
  
• Moments of extreme emotions such as anger can incite an unwanted transformation.

[Crisis]

Werewolves - Extended Lore

Overview
Werewolves were once normal humans who were infected by being bitten by a werewolf and surviving long enough to see their first full moon. Upon transformation, werewolves turn into anthropomorphic creatures usually standing about an average of 7-8 feet on their hind legs. They gain a lot of added musculature, although a werewolf’s wolf form usually reflects somewhat their human physical attributes, such as an already muscular man would become an even more muscular werewolf, and a slender and lithe woman would make for a slender and lithe wolf form as well.

Anthropomorphically, werewolves –as their namesake - have very lupine features, with long muzzles, pointed ears, and tails. They are completely covered in fur that comes in a variety of shades and colors, sometimes but not necessarily dependent on the werewolf’s original human hair color. They gain golden eyes that can see well in the dark, and claws and fangs that can cut through flesh as easily as it can make mark against stone or steel. They are anthropomorphic, meaning that they share both physical qualities of a human and a wolf. They retain their opposable thumbs, but their legs become bowed and their feet padded, like that of a wolf.

The original first breeds of werewolves could only transform under the influence of the full moon and would lose all control when in their bestial form. However, werewolves have come to a point when they’ve evolved to be able to transform at will even during the day time and retain all their sentience. It should be noted though that a forced transformation still occurs during the full moon and the werewolves cannot change back until day time.

Werewolf bites are both viral and magical in nature. Once the virus gets into a person’s system it will begin the change from the inside and will culminate on a full moon where the infected will forcibly turn into a werewolf, and remain in that form until the following morning. In their first night they are in a state of complete bestial instinct. Because of this, modern day werewolves no longer change people at random, and make sure the ones they do change are kept safe on their first full moon.

The werewolves also possess a degree of longevity, although they aren’t immortally frozen in time like vampires, they are able to live up to 800 years. They age slowly, and never lose their strength and stamina with age. A werewolf can still be able to lift a car over his head the day before he dies of old age. Werewolves can also give birth, but these cases are very rare as they only ovulate at every 100 years and to add complication, the werewolf gene is a recessive gene so it requires both parents to be in possession of it. As such, there are a fair few of these born werewolves around.

A Born werewolf are more powerful than a bitten werewolf in many ways. First, they inherit the power and strength of their parents. This means that they don't need to live very long before they gain access to advanced werewolf abilities.

Even when in their human form, werewolves retain their abilities, albeit in a lesser degree. Shifting into their wolf form, will give them full access to their powers. Werewolves also commonly belong to packs, and have a strict hierarchical system, which is obeyed almost instinctively. Packs always have an Alpha wolf and may be male or female. If another wolf wishes to become an Alpha he must challenge the current one and fight a battle to the death. They also share awareness with all the members of their pack, and can communicate with each other through this link.

Powers and Abilities
Werewolves display a number of greatly enhanced physical attributes. As with their rivals, the Vampires, they are long-lived, if not immortal, able to live for 800 of year at most. It is very likely that they can enter a state of hibernation and survive without food or water for centuries. They possess enhanced senses of smell, hearing and sight that are superior even to those of wolves, not just humans. Werewolves are also able to sense all other inhuman creatures in close proximity to themselves they are usually marked out by specific scents. They also possess physical strength and durability superior to those of Vampires, and can break through solid concrete walls without difficulty.

Werewolves who have ascended the ranks of Alphas and Betas and have been living for a long enough time will gain more abilities and are far stronger.

Basic Werewolf Powers

• Shifting - This is the most basic power of a Werewolf, the ability to shift to and back from human to anthropomorphic wolf. In human form they retain a diluted form of their abilities, but turning into a werewolf will give them full access to everything. In their wolf form, werewolves also have access to powerful jaws and razor-sharp fangs and claws, making them deadly close-quarters combatants. When they shift, werewolves actually retain all their senses and can still speak but their lupine anatomy is unfit for human speech and thus turns very guttural.
  
  
• Enhanced Senses - Werewolves possess senses that are enhanced far beyond the levels of both human and wolves. Their golden eyes possess keen sight and they can hear nearly quite as well as a vampire. Their most developed sense however is their extraordinary sense of smell. With it they are able not only to pick out and track creatures but also they are able to discern other humans' and animals' emotions, intentions and relative state of being with considerable accuracy. (eg. Fear, anger, concentration, insanity etc.) They can also pick out the other races by their individual smells, often remarking that vampires smell like death, demons smell like sulfur, angels smell fragrant, and mages smell like incense. Werewolves can usually tell when an average person is lying because they are able to smell this as well.
  
  
• Enhanced Sixth Sense - In the same way that animals often are aware of spiritual beings and occurrences (eg. when dogs bark at nothing) Werewolves have the same ability, but extremely heightened. Werewolves are able to see ghosts and other forms of spirits, but aside from merely seeing them, they can also fully interact with these spirits with the rest of their other four senses.
  
  
• Superhuman Strength - Werewolves are innately stronger than most of the other races they can easily over power already strong beings such as Vampires in terms of brute strength. Werewolves also find little obstacles that can hinder their way, as they have no problem smashing trough concrete walls or lifting cars over their heads. More powerful werewolves such as Alphas and Betas have even more strength behind them. These powerful muscles also allow werewolves to leap great distances and heights, or have their powerful jaws crush stone.
  
  
• Superhuman Speed – Although not as fast as vampires, werewolves are incredibly agile on their own. Moving on all fours, werewolves can outrun most land moving vehicles with relative ease.
  
  
• Superhuman Durability – Werewolves may be the race who can take the most abuse and still get up. They are incredibly durable, and will survive normal bomb explosions and having great weights dropped on them. Of course, there are limits to these depending upon the strength of the werewolf. Most bladed weapons (unless silver) can break the surface of their skin, but not penetrate the dense musculature underneath to cause any long lasting harm. The same goes for bullets.
  
  
• Regeneration - Werewolves, on top of their already durable bodies also have the ability to regenerate from most injuries. Their regeneration is not as sophisticated as Vampire regeneration is though, but is more like an extremely heightened form of mammalian cell regeneration. As such, bones and muscles can reform misaligned and limbs cannot re-grow.
  
  
• Stamina– Werewolves possess an almost unsurpassed stamina, and can keep up a hunt for days if not weeks. Although famed for their ravenous hunger, werewolves can actually also survive days without any food or water. This reflects the deadly persistence of wolf packs when hunting down a prey. Usually werewolves run-down their faster enemies like vampires, until they are tired. Some famous werewolf-vampire chases have been known to cross continents. Werewolves can even enter into a state of hibernation where their body feeds off its own nutritional reserves economically. Werewolves have been known to hibernate for as close to one-hundred years.
  
  
• Pack Mind – All werewolves have this intrinsic awareness of their pack members. They know where their pack members are and their general condition. Concentrating on a particular pack member can open a specific telepathic channel between the two of them. Werewolves can also send of telepathic broadcasts to their entire pack if needed. Distance between each werewolf tends to dilute this ability, except for the Alpha who can communicate with his pack members even half-way across the world. The pack is not just some biological adaptation of a werewolf, it is also a magically binding agreement making it possible for outside werewolves to be brought into the pack and the pack mind.

Advanced Werewolf Powers

• Communing with Wolves – Werewolves have developed this ability to be able to communicate with actual wolves. For younger werewolves the power only manifests as a bestial link between similar natures. However as a werewolf grows older he gains the power to compel the wolves to do their bidding. Wolves are remarkably weaker than werewolves of course, but a large pack can prove to be dangerous for anyone. This power also extends to the modern day descendent of the wolf, the dog, but it has become diluted with the dog’s domestication.
  
  
• Law– The Alpha can deliver a command through the link the pack has, and place laws that the pack members will be physically unable to disobey, even if they desperately wanted to. This is more physical, so the Alpha can’t prohibit love or anger, but he can prohibit his pack from acting on these emotions. The Beta has a similar ability but cannot affect the Alpha. This power can be modified to affect a single or a few werewolves rather than the entire pack.
  
  
• Resistance to Silver– The older and more powerful a Werewolf is, the better their tolerance to silver can become. It is still fatal, but more powerful werewolves can last much longer with silver in their bodies.
  
  
• Sonic Howl– There is a lot of speculation that the origins of the Three Little Pigs story draws its basis from this unique ability of certain werewolves. It is more of a powerful sonic burst created from the high density muscle tissues in the werewolf's vocal chords, rather than the ability to exhale gale force breaths. Although some also consider a magical aspect to this, since mages have found traces of magical residues from places ravaged by werewolf howls. Werewolves usually manifest this ability at full power, and using it tends to exhaust them and can cause damage to their throat with prolonged or repeated use. However, as a werewolf grows older they can control this ability and deliver weaker versions of the howl that don't risk as many negative effects. Werewolves have been known to liquefy brain-matter when howling directly beside a person's head.

Weaknesses
Werewolves are virtually indestructible creatures, able to survive such things as bomb explosions or having buildings crash around them. However, they are extremely vulnerable to silver weapons. Silver affects werewolves in the same way that dry-ice will cause freeze-burns in people...except amplified many times over. Werewolves describe the sensation as a feeling so cold that it burns. Contact with silver also effectively negates a werewolf’s ability to regenerate at that specific area, until the silver is relieved from them.

Certain herbs such as rye and mistletoe are also considered as effective safeguards against werewolf attacks. This is not because it will cause any long lasting harm to a werewolf physically, but they have an extremely strong aversion to the smell of this plants that they would rather not go near them. It is very comparable to how tear gas would affect normal humans. However, given a sufficient reason to werewolves can choose to ignore this.

The plant wolfsbane however, will affect werewolves with an extremely allergic reaction; exposure to large quantities will often be fatal. Despite their invulnerability, werewolves can also be killed via suffocation or drowning. Direct damage to internal organs such as the heart or the brain will also kill them, because they will die before it can be regenerated.

Werewolves still retain their bestial nature. No matter how civilized they seem, they are always prone to reverting back to their animalistic tendencies, especially in times of extreme emotions such as anger. Sometimes these emotions are so strong that they incite an unwanted transformation.