Figure 1.
The Shifter
Werewolves
Werecats
The shifter walks a path between human and beast, civilization and wilderness. The primal nature coursing through your veins grants you power, but without care you may lose yourself to pure instinct.
The Werewolf is…
Someone who can assume the shape of a wolf. This is no mere glamour or illusion - the physical change into an animal is the very essence of their being, making them creatures of raw emotion, animalistic instinct and deadly prowess. A werewolf is a masterful predator and tracker, relentless in pursuit of their prey when the urge to hunt takes over. While werecats tend to be more solitary, or occasionally unite in matriarchal groups, wolves are social beings who seek out their own kind and may find comfort in close friends and family.
Lycanthropes, Shapeshifters, Loup-Garou, Werewolves… The names surrounding us are as manifold as the cultures we hail from, with our legends spanning across time and space. Some of us were once human, but have been put on this path to learn how to carry the beast within. Some of us were born this way and have never known anything other than a life of claw and fang. It matters not what lies in your past, for this unites us all in this realm: We are wolf-kin, and the call of the wild curses through our veins.
No greater feeling than fresh earth underneath, the pale moonlight above, and blood in your teeth.
What a Werewolf can do:
A shifter's nature alters their entire physique. Not only do they have the power of the animal shape at their disposal - claws, fangs, and all - but will find their senses and instincts heightened even in human form, being more hardy and enduring.
How to make a Werewolf
There are various ways of becoming a werewolf. Some were born as one, when at least one of the parents passed their shifter nature on to their child. If not born, the most notorious way to turn into a wolf shifter is by the bite of another werewolf. Stories differ on this being dealt by a feral beast who had lost control, as a last attempt to save one from the brink of death, or offered as a blessing to be taken willingly. Some legends tell of more obscure ways, of curses and rituals turning man into beast. Note: Within Loom County, only humans and occultists can be turned, and only by another shifter.
The Werecat is…
A being tied to the moon, to the beast within. People who can take the shape of a big cat, a physical change that grants them speed and power beyond that of a mere human. They are creatures of balance, of power, of agility, of silence. Werecats are stealth hunters, coming up behind their prey without a sound, before claws tear into flesh and their presence is made known. While werewolves are pack animals, werecats tend to be solitary or live in matriarchal cells.
They can live in complete isolation, or within groups, forming protective bonds should they choose to be closer to others.
The world forgets the strength of the silent huntress;
but we remember, for she is our beginning and our return.
What a Werecat can do:
A werecat draws their power from their feline form, their muscles coiled with power, their nails now claws. They have the endurance of the cat, their eyes adapted to darkness like those of the feline. They're durable, they can endure more than a human could, even when appearing as one.
How to make a Werecat:
Werecats can be born, carrying the power of their ancestors in their blood, granting them the blessing of shifting. Some are born directly from werecat parents, while others may be from a dormant line that saw their potential and awakened the power of the shadow moon within them. Others may have been turned by another werecat, their blood, their bite, their very soul being shared to share the flow of power. Note: Within Loom County, only humans and occultists can be turned, and only by another shifter.