Werewolves in Lutetia
Lutetia possesses one of the largest concentrations of urban werewolves in all of Issunar. Due to this large mingling and genetic diversity, Lutetian werewolves are characterized by their highly variable nature. There are two primary methods of passing on the genetic anomaly that is lycanthropy.
The predominant one is birth. Typically the pairing of two werewolves will produce a werewolf offspring, while the pairing of a werewolf and a human will leave the offspring with a fifty percent chance of being born a werewolf.
The second method is through the bite of a werewolf.
Whether born, or bitten, each werewolf is characteristically unique with the DNA of the human bonding with the genetic mutation. As human DNA is infinitely variable, so too are werewolves. Werewolves that are born - or who were blood relatives prior to being bitten - are more likely to possess similar trait with one another, much as human siblings might share similar physical characteristics. A werewolf that contracts lycanthropy through a bite is far more subject to variable outcomes, and often there is no way to predict how the process will affect them.
Typically the turning process spans about two weeks, with an early onset of fever, aches and pains that steadily grows more debilitating around the second week. By the third week the fever spikes, and the pain is enough to drive a victim to delirium. When the fever breaks in the final hours, the first transformation isn't far off. A victim will typically describe these hours as feeling like they're being torn apart inside. The transformation itself typically spans only a few minutes, but is a brutal ordeal and many don't survive their first turning.
There is a small percentage of bitten werewolves who present with lunentia, a degenerative ailment that is characterized by insanity. Early onset of lunentia can only be detected during shapeshifting, which will produce a feral beast driven by primal instincts and raw aggression. As time progresses though, the division of man and wolf will begin to blur until all sense of humanity is lost. In one famous documented case, an individual suffering from late stages of lunentia was found to have disemboweled his neighbors before feeding on their flesh. He was later arrested while running naked through the streets coated in the blood of his victims, raving about the moon.
Characteristics of Lutetian werewolves vary from wolf to wolf, and some may possess silver allergies while others don't. Others might have wolf forms, while others have bipedal hybrid forms. Some can change at will, others can only change on the full moon. Lifespan is equally as variable, though typically it appears to be tied to regenerative capabilities. Werewolves with true regeneration and the ability to heal wounds instantly seem to have indefinite lifespans, while those with accelerated healing have lifespans of a few hundred years. Those who heal as humans heal seem to live on par to human lifespans.
Culturally, the urban packs of Lutetia have a long and bloody history of pack feuding and criminal activity within the city. It should also be noted that the urban packs are more prone to developing their human aspects than the more feral werewolves of the wilds.
Public perception of werewolves in Lutetia remains mixed, but there are many who feel that the decision to grant them citizenship was a mistake. Racism runs rampant and there is a strong push within the government to treat lycanthropy as a deadly disease to be segregated out of public schools and hospitals. This general hostility towards the werewolf packs within the city serves to sustain the culture of violence that they have become so well known for. Pushed to the fringes of society, the urban packs are more apt to embracing crime and anarchy over law and order.
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Urban Pack Life
For a Lutetian werewolf, urban pack life is often a short and bloody affair of cultural violence, blood feuds, and crime. It is a way of life that has perpetuated through the generations as the packs grew to be almost gang like. They can be characterized as unruly, poorly regulated, poorly controlled, and possessing of little regard for local laws that have never done anything to help them.
Anarchists many call themselves. Realists others would say.
Some stake a claim to various organized criminal enterprises ranging from drugs to guns, money laundering and prostitution. Others prefer a life of petty criminal endeavors and flaunting of the law when it suits them. Some sit on high in their casinos sporting suits, while others blaze through the streets sporting their leather and bikes. Each pack maintains its own identity and values, separate from others, and rarely do these packs coexist peacefully.
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Prominent Lutetian Werewolf Packs
- The Bloodstones - [Details Pending]
- The Scions of Aodhan - [Details Pending]
(more coming soon!)