Post by Elyon on Apr 2, 2014 20:29:53 GMT -8
Werewolves: Lupus Sapiens - "Clever Doggies"
Werewolves are not undead creatures, but because of their general tendency to be unwanted like most special interests groups, they are unceremoniously lumped into the same category as other undead.
A true werewolf on Discworld, is a sentient being that can change, at will, between a human form and a rather huge and ferocious but otherwise normal looking wolf. The only thing that can force them to change into wolf form is the full moon.
Werewolves can switch between human and wolf shapes at will, and each shape offers certain advantages. The human shape gives opposable thumbs, better eyesight, and a brain more suitable for rationalized thinking. The wolf shape gives claws, extremely good sense of smell that maps onto the mind the way that humans perceive different colored lights, and unthinking animal reaction times that might be critical for combat survival. Werewolves are cunning and can do a good deal of rational thinking even in wolf form; however, a werewolf that spends too much time in wolf shape may become more simple-minded and less able to live in the world of human intrigues.
Werewolves have supernatural strength and resilience and heal quite easily. Their weaknesses are fire and silver. Which affect them in normal and unusual ways. Fire affect werewolves in much the same way that it affects any living thing that is soft and squishy…It burns. Silver on the otherhand is unusual. Essentially werewolves act unto silver the way that acne ridden and hopeless smarty smart wizards act unto springtime pollen, lactose and shellfish or beestings. The especially unlucky ones will have the same effect that salt has to snails.
There is a certain genetic disability that appears on occasion among those born as werewolves. Those that are found afflicted with this disorder are called Yennorks. Yennorks are werewolves that are born stuck in one form or other, ie. Wolf or Human, and cannot change even by the full moon. Usually when an infant is found to be a yennork, they are killed. But not all parents are purists and will allow them to live, sometimes never knowing their true heritage. This has lead the yennorks moving on into adulthood, as unwitting carriers, getting married and passing on the genetics on to their children. It may not appear in the first generation, but eventually a decendant will have the gene and become what you would consider a more traditional werewolf.
The most obvious are the people who turn into wolf-men, rather than wolves, at full moon, but the spectrum ranges from people who have hairy palms and eyebrows that meet in the middle to creatures that look like feral wolf-human hybrids... except at full moon when they turn into wolves. It is also said that some crossbreeds appear human, but with strong feral tendencies, or appear wolf-like but with that extra streak of savagery that is so very human. Meanwhile yennork/wolf mating has led to some extremely intelligent wolves, and is possibly also the cause of the occasional "were-man", a wolf that turns into a wolf-man at full moon
Werewolves are not undead creatures, but because of their general tendency to be unwanted like most special interests groups, they are unceremoniously lumped into the same category as other undead.
A true werewolf on Discworld, is a sentient being that can change, at will, between a human form and a rather huge and ferocious but otherwise normal looking wolf. The only thing that can force them to change into wolf form is the full moon.
Werewolves can switch between human and wolf shapes at will, and each shape offers certain advantages. The human shape gives opposable thumbs, better eyesight, and a brain more suitable for rationalized thinking. The wolf shape gives claws, extremely good sense of smell that maps onto the mind the way that humans perceive different colored lights, and unthinking animal reaction times that might be critical for combat survival. Werewolves are cunning and can do a good deal of rational thinking even in wolf form; however, a werewolf that spends too much time in wolf shape may become more simple-minded and less able to live in the world of human intrigues.
Werewolves have supernatural strength and resilience and heal quite easily. Their weaknesses are fire and silver. Which affect them in normal and unusual ways. Fire affect werewolves in much the same way that it affects any living thing that is soft and squishy…It burns. Silver on the otherhand is unusual. Essentially werewolves act unto silver the way that acne ridden and hopeless smarty smart wizards act unto springtime pollen, lactose and shellfish or beestings. The especially unlucky ones will have the same effect that salt has to snails.
There is a certain genetic disability that appears on occasion among those born as werewolves. Those that are found afflicted with this disorder are called Yennorks. Yennorks are werewolves that are born stuck in one form or other, ie. Wolf or Human, and cannot change even by the full moon. Usually when an infant is found to be a yennork, they are killed. But not all parents are purists and will allow them to live, sometimes never knowing their true heritage. This has lead the yennorks moving on into adulthood, as unwitting carriers, getting married and passing on the genetics on to their children. It may not appear in the first generation, but eventually a decendant will have the gene and become what you would consider a more traditional werewolf.
The most obvious are the people who turn into wolf-men, rather than wolves, at full moon, but the spectrum ranges from people who have hairy palms and eyebrows that meet in the middle to creatures that look like feral wolf-human hybrids... except at full moon when they turn into wolves. It is also said that some crossbreeds appear human, but with strong feral tendencies, or appear wolf-like but with that extra streak of savagery that is so very human. Meanwhile yennork/wolf mating has led to some extremely intelligent wolves, and is possibly also the cause of the occasional "were-man", a wolf that turns into a wolf-man at full moon
