1. Please post your Character Sheet in OOC. Once approved, please provide a copy in the Characters tab for future reference.
2. You can play multiple characters so long as you are up to the challenge, but please refrain from making multiple females at this point. To some degree this RP will require pairing up due to a plot point, so I would like to have a fairly balanced playing field. This does not apply to FxF sets, if such come up.
3. If you are interested in Co-GMing, please tell me.
4. If you have ideas you would like to implement into the RP, feel free to inform me or your fellow players so that we can collaborate as needed.
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Up until now...
As far as anyone can recall, werewolves have always been. They were hunted to what was thought to be extinction, fading into legend for the majority of the world. Some, however, know the truth: they know that werewolves still exist and they could be your neighbor, your boss, your friend. In an effort to survive, werewolves adopted the methods of their more 'natural' brethren, wolves. Most werewolves can be found living in packs, with loners seen as potential problems more than anything else. These packs can range from a couple members to a few dozen, depending upon the region: large cities, for instance, can be home to hundreds of werewolves.
The life of a werewolf is not an easy one. Once infected via bite or scratch from a werewolf, the first transformation will occur under the following full moon, at which point the virus will complete the takeover. If the individual is not strong enough to endure the transformation, they will die. If strong enough, they will become a werewolf for the first time; this has resulted in the majority of new werewolves being young and fit. That is not the only obstacle for a werewolf, unfortunately.
Several centuries ago, Agatha the Blackened sought to eradicate werewolves, thinking them detestable and unlovable creatures. She was one of the first werewolf hunters to spread the word about the effect of silver, but her curse was the true blow. Enraged with the continued prosperity of werewolves, Agatha cursed all wolves to experience a long and dreadful death if they could not find someone to love and know love returned... in but a year's time past their first time as a werewolf. Other, more benevolent witches have worked to circumvent the curse, but to no avail. The only change is that a werewolf who loses their mate in that first year has something of a reset button, but the witch who created the extension was never certain how much longer – not more than another year, in any case. Werewolves who fail to love and know love returned succumb to a creeping, wasting disease that eventually kills them and has no known cure.
This just in: all about werewolves!
To hunters, they're lycanthropes, but they call themselves Lukoi. They can shift at will, but must shift under the full moon.
The curse – within a year of becoming a werewolf, one must be loved and love in return. This love should be romantic in nature, but need not last forever. So long as the lover is not lost in the first year, the curse remains broken. It only applies to the first year. If the lover is lost in the first year, the surviving werewolf will not die immediately but instead has an extension. Given past events, it is assumed that the individual has another year from the day of their last lover's death to find a new lover, but nobody has ever cut it quite so close as to test the theory.
Lifespan – due to their healing abilities, werewolves live longer than humans. Initially they heal rapidly and do not age, but after a century or so their healing abilities begin to slow down and aging occurs. The average werewolf lifespan is about 250 years.
Mating bond - mating pairs in the pack are considered serious bonds. Even though a pair of werewolves might claim to have the mating bond, they must be tested. The pair must go out on a hunt to show they can work together, and the quality of their kill (both difficulty and cleanliness) will be judged by the Ulfric. If the pair fails, they can try two more times. If they fail all three times, their mating bond is not validated and they do not gain status or additional power. If the Ulfric's test is passed, a ritual is then initiated in the Odessa's place of power, where the mating pair can establish themselves to ancient spirits, the Munin. These spirits are simply past werewolves that never truly leave the pack. By welcoming the mating pair, they grant something of a power boost, so mating pairs are stronger together than as individuals and gain status in the pack. Approval can be gained via sex or blood exchange.
Monogamy is not required, but it should also not break the mating bond.
Energy – a werewolf pack acts like a channel of power: the higher up a werewolf is, the more powerful they are, but they cannot become more dominant without having initial power. This is in part identifiable by a werewolf's energy, which grows stronger alongside the individual, but is also easier to hide with strength. The energy can be described as warm, electric, prickling, boiling. Humans can feel this energy if they are considered to be sensitive, which may be bad for a werewolf if that human is also a hunter.
Shifting – shifting is neither pretty nor pleasant, leaving the werewolf vulnerable until they have changed forms. Shifting at will requires command of the beast, and accidental shifting can occur due to strong emotions, especially in young werewolves. Stronger werewolves (alphas) can control their shifting more precisely and range anywhere between human and wolf form.
Forms – three forms are available to werewolves: homid or the full human form; lycaon, which is the strong and muscular bipedal wolf, and lupus, or dire wolf. A werewolf can move between homid and lycaon with small physical changes such as eyes and teeth, but this is different depending on the strength of the werewolf: alphas can revert back to homid, but weaker werewolves end up fully shifting once they've started.
Strengths – in all three forms but more so in the lycaon form, they have superhuman strength, speed, senses, agility, endurance, and healing.
Weaknesses – allergic to silver, so strikes to the heart are fatal, all other injuries will heal slowly. Any significant injury (like the head being obliterated) are fatal, as well. Shifting from human to either of the wolf forms will help speed healing. Their bones do not magically reset, however, so doctors are still needed at times. Shifting can tire a werewolf out, so it should not be taken lightly. If a werewolf moves too quickly between forms, they will fall into a very deep and vulnerable sleep once they revert to homid form. This is not the case for the strong wolves, but it is still draining.
Communcation – In homid and lycaon forms, they can actually speak aloud. Speaking in the lycaon form will, of course, be somewhat altered by talking with a muzzle. Muffled, awkward. ALL FORMS can and should utilize body language, which can be a giveaway to a hunter when apparent humans behave in odd fashion. Even in homid form, traditions like bowing to the Ulfric, submitting, licking, touching for reassurance, so forth, will be present. The pack can utilize telepathy, which is strongest in lupus form and grows weaker the closer to homid. An individual can block others from their mind and control what can be seen, like focusing and sending their thoughts at others - not so much like reading a book. The Ulfric can, with determination, pierce minds despite barriers. Telepathy is limited by range. The closer the individuals, the easier telepathy becomes.
Dominance – The Lukoi have an innate sense of who is dominant to who. Part of this is knowing the pack, but another is simply feeling the energy of the werewolf and keeping up with dominance battles. In order to move up in the pack, a werewolf must fight every other werewolf who is above them. They can initially skip fights, but this is only if the challenge is accepted: if you know another werewolf still has to fight someone else before they challenge you, the fight can be denied. Once a werewolf reaches the Freki of the pack, they must beat Freki to fight Geri, beat Geri to challenge the Ulfric. By challenging the Ulfric, they become Fenrir. Almost all fights are simply until one werewolf cries uncle, but the fight for Ulfric is to the death. Rejecting a challenge is automatic loss.
The pack leader or Ulfric is customarily male due to it being a battle to the death, but that could change. The Ulfric's mate, Lupa, is chosen and is therefore alpha, but is not necessarily dominant, which leads to the next point: the Lupa cannot be challenged. The Bolverk and enforcers (Skoll and Hati) are all selected by the Ulfric and are also alpha but not necessary dominant. Given the positions, however, dominant werewolves are more likely to be selected.
Dominance is throughout the pack: any dominant can order a lesser pack member unless they are similarly outranked. A dominant pack member can protect lesser members, thereby taking on any challenges to the weaker person.
Pregnancy – In the event a werewolf becomes pregnant, there are some issues. The unborn child will be human and remain human when born unless infected. Surviving infection as an infant is very unlikely, so that should be avoided. Shifting can be violent, which will cause the body to miscarriage, so the pregnant werewolf would need to maintain enough control to not cause violent shifts (imagine the wolf exploding outside of the human form rather than the human form gently giving way). The Lycaon form does not support the fetus, due to the battle-ready quality of the form. A pregnant werewolf occupying this form risks losing her fetus. A pregnant werewolf will be a danger to herself, the pack, and humans, due to elevated emotions that might cause her to shift in anger more readily.
Positions –
Ulfric - Pack Leader - Taken for Odessa
Lupa - Pack Leader's mate, selected. - Taken for Odessa
Skoll – primary enforcer for the Ulfric, selected (can fight for dominance, but position isn't lost) Taken for Odessa, can be replaced.
Hati – secondary enforcer for the Ulfric, selected. (can fight for dominance, but position isn't lost) Taken for Odessa
Geri – second-in-command - Taken for Odessa
Freki – third-in-command
Bolverk – punisher of the pack for the Ulfric, Taken for Odessa
Fenrir – challenger to the Ulfric, must defeat both Geri and Freki.
Any member not involved in the higher levels of dominance do not have terms and are merely considered pack members.
These werewolves will be based off those found in the Anita Blake series (http://anitablake.wikia.com/wiki/Werewolves).
Other
Vinur - friend - humans who are friends to werewolves
Vargar - real wolves
Faen - devil, bastard - often used to refer to hunters
Welcome to Colorado.
Deep in the Colorado mountains, the Odessa pack lives. Their claim is to the town nearby, Odessa, home to about 1,500 residents, with heavy traffic from adventurers passing through. Occasionally an adventurer goes missing and sometimes they reappear as a newborn werewolf, though not due to the Odessa pack, who has a strict rule about turning humans. That is: don't. Of course, not everyone abides by the rules. The Odessa pack is currently at about 40 members, but the focus lies with the youth of the pack, who are placed in something of a required resort (safe-house) until they are deemed safe to the public. Part of this is in hopes that the young werewolves might choose each other as mates, which is far safer than seeking out humans, and in part simply to keep the world from finding out werewolves exist.
Other packs exist and occasionally clash with the Odessa pack, especially if the pack primarily recruits enforcer types. There are a few packs that like to move through towns and dominate smaller packs, claiming both the people and the territory. Since the Odessa pack is fairly ordinary, with members ranging from elderly to child, sometimes bluster is the best defense.
Let's create a character
Character Sheet
Human (desire to be turned or not)
Human hunter
I only want a few of these, since they will aid in plot development but preferably the whole RP isn't battling.
Werewolf
Rules
1. Don't squabble in OOC; bring problems to me if you must.
2. No double or psycho posting. Give other people a chance to post.
3. Try to maintain about 2 paragraphs if you can: what your character is feeling, surroundings, etc. However, please refrain from that whole Advanced 8-paragraph borefest that nobody else but you cares to read, unless you can make it a worthy post. Quality, not quantity!
4. Don't simply respond in your posts; help your fellow players out and give them something to respond to as well!
5. No god-modding or sucking at life. I think that's pretty well understood.
6. In the event of an IC fight, you can collaborate with the other player via PM to make it easier. If not, remember not to complete actions and cause a bunch of damage in your one post - that would be bad form.
7. Have fun, be bold and offer ideas!
Accepted Characters
@The Emperors Blade - Male werewolf, Odessa, Ulfric
@ViolentViolet - Female werewolf, Odessa, Lupa
@The Muse of Eru - Female Werewolf, Odessa, Geri
@The Muse of Eru - Male Werewolf, Hati
@The Muse of Eru - Female Werewolf, Skoll (as needed character)
@Urukhai – Male werewolf, Odessa, Bolverk
@AcaciaMalikov - Female werewolf, Odessa, pack member
@CLIW - Male werewolf, Odessa, pack member
@WhenBooksFly101 - Female werewolf, loner
@WordstoLive100 - Male werewolf, loner
@SevenStormStyle – Female werewolf, loner
@Ultimate Spidey – Female werewolf, loner
@Spybuster - Male human, hunter
@Guess Who – Male human, hunter
@NarcissisticPotato – Female human, hunter
@TheHangedMan - Male human