Werebeast

Form Statistics & Abilities

When a Werebeast transforms, they gain specific bonuses, hit types, and a unique Werepower. All transformations last approximately 72 hours unless otherwise noted.

* Note: These forms require a successful application to Immortal to obtain.

History:

During the first age of Aabahran, chaos ruled. In this time that became
known as The Bloodletting, vast hoards of demonic beasts and undead roamed
unchecked throughout all the four corners of the world. In the wake of
this terrible march, all that was once fertile and populous was left as a
blighted, scarred wasteland where no plant would grow, nor spring appear
from the earth. The ancient forests that once thrived between the peaks of
the Dragon's Teeth mountains and Miruvhor were all but destroyed, replaced
by a hostile and festering waste. The inexorable armies of death and chaos
marched tirelessly on, moving towards the Emerald Forest in the southeast,
Drkshtyre Wood in the southwest, the Woods of Banor in the north, and the
ancient Haon Dor in the west.

With every step the armies of Chaos took, Gaia cried out in anger, sadness
and pain. The Earth Mother, and essence of Nature itself, was growing ever
weaker. With each life that was extinguished, with each patch of earth
that was defiled, with every stream that was befouled - Gaia's life force
grew dimmer and dimmer. Those who resisted the armies of evil were divided
and afraid, their numbers dwindling. It looked as though none could halt
the fell tramp of doom.

In this moment, Gaia feared for her own existence.
So, after the forests west of Miruvhor were completely overrun, the Earth
Mother wrought a great and powerful magic, the likes of which had never
before been seen in Aabahran. The briefest of tremors passed through all
life in the world, as Gaia spun the web of magic that divided her own life
force into four pieces. After the spell had been cast, the remnants of
Gaia's consciousness fled into the recesses of the earth to await the day
of rebirth.

The four pieces of Gaia's soul each took the form of one of the Earth
Mother's favored beasts; the bear, the wolf, the tiger and the falcon. It
was in these forms that these forest spirits travelled to the four corners
of the world to appear before the most stalwart defenders of nature. In
the Emerald Forest, a hermit turned chieftain named Erigoth was infused
with the spirit of a great wolf. It is said an enormous, ghostly falcon
circled the rambling boughs of Drkshtyre Wood before descending upon
the humble home of Shreev, an ancient druid woman. Acorns were shaken
from their branches in Elium as a bear of impossible proportions roared
it's way through the lines of battle to grant Gaia's blessing to Korga,
a fierce and loyal berzerker. Anistja, the leader of a small band of
huntresses who lived beneath the eaves of Banor appeared ready for battle
one morning astride the back of a fearsome tiger.

Each of these warriors found themselves blessed not only with the spirit
of Gaia, but with the ability to change form into the beast that had
visited them. When transformed, they found that all the physical powers
and attributes of their particular beast were at their disposal.

The progeny of these four chieftains were also blessed, but as the blood
line was often diluted with common humans, it is no longer possible for
the descendants of these warriors to have any say in which beast's form
they are granted.

Usual Height:

Werebeasts, when not transformed, share the same proportions as humans.
When transformed, however, they can be larger or smaller depending on
which form they have taken.

Hometown:

Ralardia

Religion:

As the first werebeasts were warriors of Gaia, it is still common for
the werefolk of today to worship nature. However, the descendants of
the original werebeasts have diverged greatly over the centuries. As a
result, werefolk worship widely, not bound by any particular creed.
Due to their origin, werebeasts will never worship the religions of
death.

Physical Features:

When not transformed, werebeasts share many of the characteristics of
humans. There are some subtle differences that usually set them apart,
though. Nearly all werebeasts have vertically angled pupils, and many
also have eyelids which blink from side to side, rather than from top
to bottom. When in 'human' form, the bodies of werebeasts are covered
with body-length scars, which are a product of the severe physical
contortions their bodies go through to change forms. It is also very
common for werebeasts to bear significant resemblance to the beast
they share affinity with; bears are usually larger and hulking, and
wolves usually have many lupine qualities, for example. This is not
an absolute rule, however. When transformed, a werebeast's appearance
is bound only by what is achievable in nature. Their animal form may
be of any color or size, and their physical structure shaped by their
own activities.

Society:

Despite their ability to transform, werefolk share many of the social
traits of humans, and are often found living in human cities or other
human settlements. Some humans, however, are fearful or intolerant of
the werefolk's ability to transform, and this has lead many werefolk
and their families to live in relative solitude, or to band together
in their own settlements. There is a city to the south-east of Maelbrim
named Ralardia which was originally a forest sanctuary, that great
numbers of werefolk have flocked to and built into a haven for all
werebeast kind. Werefolk do not mate exclusively with others of their
race, often marrying and having children with humans. The children of
these couplings sometimes possess the ability to change form, and
sometimes don't.

Relationships with Other Races:

Werefolk, being similar to humans in many ways, tend to get along quite
well with them. Some of the more jaded werefolk believe that humans are
aloof, thinking of werefolk as freaks or uncivilized. While this is the
case in some places, werebeasts and humans are congenial as a general
rule. Werebeasts usually get along well with minotaurs. They consider
them as kindred in many ways, both sharing an animal-like side while
having a roughly humanoid build. Due to the circumstances of their
creation, werebeasts usually have a dislike for demons and the undead.
This is not an absolute rule, however, and it is not unheard of for
werebeasts to travel with such creatures. All werebeasts share an intense
hatred of ferals. They consider ferals to be the antithesis of werefolk,
cursed by Gaia rather than blessed. There are some particularly
antisocial werefolk who will only associate with others of their kind,
but this is a rare phenomenon.