Lycanthropy is a condition everyone is born with, and being without it is nearly unheard of. Mammals are most common, with predators being more common than prey. Birds and reptiles are less common and fish are very rare except in the coastal areas. Bird lycanthropes do not grow extra limbs, but rather their arms become clawed wings. Lycanthropes can be almost any vertebrate, including creatures such as sharks or rays. The setting is restricted to animals from North America/Europe. Lycanthropes can choose to shift into a human-animal mix form or a purely animal form at will, retaining their personality and intellect. However, while in a non-human form, their instincts are heightened and may take over in times of extreme danger. On the full moon however, they shift into the mixed form and become near-mindless animals. There are ways to restrain, incapacitate, or otherwise deal with this mindless form, but in many tribes, they simply find a secluded area and run wild for a night. Their hybrid form will instinctively spring forth if a lycanthrope is on the verge of death, a spirit’s last ditch effort to keep itself alive.
Each lycanthrope undergoes a specific ritual once they begin showing signs of their animal spirit, usually around the beginning of puberty. This ritual is known as The Taming and is unique to each tribe. If a lycanthrope does not undergo The Taming, or fails it, their relationship with their animal spirit is damaged, sometimes permanently. They lose control more often and cannot choose when they shift, or what they do when shifted. An adult lycanthrope can undergo The Taming again, should they need to. A lycanthrope’s animal spirit often influences how they look or act. Werewolves are loyal to the pack, werebears are solitary and grumpy, and werepanthers value strength and stealth over all else.
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