THE LYCANS

LYCANTHROPE: [ lahy-kan-throhp ] noun. A non-human, sentient being, cursed with a painful genetic disorder that allows them to shape-shift into a wolf or a therianthropic hybrid wolf-like creature.

Lycanthropes, or Lycans for short, are exceptionally dangerous malafecs. They are immune to nearly all physical disease due to the constant regeneration of their physical tissue. They do age, but at an extremely slow rate. They are extremely difficult to kill as one must inflict a wound strong enough to destroy their heart or their brain. Perhaps their only weakness is that they are deathly allergic to silver. Touching the metal will cause severe pain. Injecting it into their blood stream will result in an instant and extremely painful death. Lycans can have sex with humans but they can only breed with other lycans. They are damned souls with two very distinctly different classifications:

A.) ALPHA – A true lycan that is born into this world. They are rare, because of the strain and damage their transformations put on their body and internal organs. Maintaining a healthy pregnancy is nearly impossible. They are a bit of a miracle.
They are also exceptionally erratic; highly aggressive; unpredictable and moody. It’s best to steer clear of them and leave them be. They have extremely evolved senses and can see and hear far better than any other malafec. Their sense of smell is particularly acute. THEY ARE THE ONLY MALAFECS THAT CAN DETECT A WITCH BY THEIR SCENT. They are expert trackers and can pick up a witch’s scent from over 2 miles away. It is believed that their blood is tainted in some way, because any human bitten by them, who survives, will contract an infection that will change them into a ‘Beta Lycan’ within one cycle of the moon. Only humans can be turned into betas. The beta will be bound to the alpha for life and can never disobey or cause their ‘sire’ harm. They will become deeply connected on an empathetic level and the alphas will always feel the pain of their betas if one has been injured or killed. Alphas are not bound by the cycle of the moon and can change from their human form to their bestial form at will, day or night, full moon or not. They are the fastest of the malafecs. In any form, they can reach speeds between 50-60mph and they will be more than 3X as strong as an above-average human male. Only witches and vampires are stronger.

B.) BETA – A human that is ‘turned’ by an Alpha through a bite. If they survive the initial bite, they will slowly begin to take on the new powers and attributes gifted to them. However, the closer they are to the full moon, the faster their transformation occurs. Moonlight energy causes a metamorphosis in the infected cells, accelerating the victim’s metabolism; giving him regenerative abilities, increased speed and strength; and heightening all the senses, especially hearing and smell. The victims become more and more erratic in their thinking, and violent in nature, and they begin to develop an uncontrollable lust for the hunt. They will eat ANYTHING. It is a painful time for them as they try to abstain from their, newly-found, primal desires. The harder they resist, the more painful the transformation. All of this is brought to culmination during the full moonrise – when moonlight energy is at its peak. Their bodies will no longer have the power to fight off the primal desires as cellular transformation completes itself. The victim will completely turn into a wolf-like creature, and they will maintain this form until the full moon sets. At that point, they will transform back into their human body. The transformation, both at moonrise and moonset, is brutal and painful. The newly contracted “disease” can only be cured if someone other than the victim kills the sire lycan before the full moon rises, AND before the victim kills or tastes human blood for the first time. Once this point passes, he will, forever be cursed with this affliction and his soul will be eternally damned. In human form, a beta can reach speeds around 30-32mph and will be a little more than twice as strong as an above average human male. In their bestial form they will be just under 40mph and 3X as strong as an above-average human male.