Lycanthropy

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Lycanthropy is considered more a disease than a species, but is in fact a magical curse. A complex and virulent curse that is nigh-impossible to remove.

Overview

An individual afflicted with lycanthropy will transform under the full moon, typically losing control of itself and its actions. The curse is spread by biting or otherwise injuring others, who (unless actually killed) experience the same ill-effects.

Different sources throughout history have identified multiple variants of the curse, with as many as seventeen known strains. Some Auramancers who have studied the condition theorize that it even mutates like a virus, but most mages agree that the multitude of variations is due simply to the sincerest form of flattery.

Jeff Aurbright explains:

"A good curse doesn't merely kill a person. A bullet or a sharp knife, even a good rock, does that without much effort. A curse is about torture, and the best curses don't do it physically, but mentally. You can get accustomed to physical pain, but a really good curse, the very worst curses, hurt you on an emotional level. They do just enough to make you suffer, but never enough to break you. That's why Lycanthropy is the greatest curse in history: most strains on affect a person once a month. While under it's effects, they have no memory. But when it's over... the pain and guilt never go away. Worse still is the price of removing it. This is why there are so many variants: the curse works. It does its job. If you didn't know how to inflict it, you'd invent your own. We see so many versions because so many people saw fit to copy it."

In the most common forms, victims of lycanthropy transform into a large, wolf-like creature, typically a Blood Wolf. As a lycanthrope, they will possess supernatural strength and stamina, usually great speed, and powerful self-healing abilities.

Removal

As Aurbright explained, a key element to making lycanthropy so hideous is how it is removed. Most curses include some set of steps which get rid of them, and all known strains of lycanthropy are no exception.

History

Introduced during the early First Chaotic Period, there may be as many as seventeen distinct 'strains' of lycanthropy, each created by a differe mage, and each more difficult to remove than the last. The earliest version may date back to the era of High Tower.