| Category | Lexicon |
| Type | beast lore |
Lycanthropy is a formidable curse initially disseminated by Silvanus. During the God Era, he leveraged potent druidic sorcery to afflict those mortals who offended him or defied the Covenant. While a severe tactic, Silvanus is said to have mitigated this:
The demons assailing Bal-Kriav are troublesome enough, without mortals instigating conflict or wavering in their loyalties. I shall penalize those who betray us, pardoning them, yet the affliction they bear shall be immortalized for those who opposed us.
Silvanus, from the court documents of the Imperatus Tribunal - "The Beast's Curse of Silvanus"
The curse with which Silvanus punished mortals is lycanthropy. It has disseminated across Bal-Kriav from the multitude afflicted during the Demon Spawn War.
Lycanthropy is a blessing to some, and a nightmare to others. Certain tribes nestled within the Hlothruk mountains compel all their fighting-age members to undergo a ritual, transforming them into Werebears. One of the most renowned is the Zagul-Tîn tribe. They gained regional acclaim during the Athenian Crusade (1539 - 1551), when they deployed a formidable army that decimated the undead forces they confronted.
The region with the largest population of lycanthropes is Weretopia. In 1463, an enigmatic figure named Gazdu began relocating lycanthropes from other realms to Weretopia. Her family lineage, the Dras'ee, granted her such esteem and fear that lycanthropes were released from jails across the Lands of Purity, Hells Womb, and the Aerie of Dragons to be placed under her custody. Gazdu asserted that her intent was not to establish a nation, but to migrate her kind to a frontier where they could be free from persecution and have greater liberty in assuming bestial forms. Regrettably, in time the lycanthropes began preying upon the native inhabitants of Weretopia, with the majority of these murderous hunts perpetrated by wererats and werewolves.
Lycanthropy can be an arduous affliction to remove. It cannot be eliminated from an individual born into lycanthropy, such as the progeny of two lycanthropes. When an individual becomes infected with lycanthropy, it demands a caster of five or more levels greater than the entity that conferred the curse.
In the Black Tide War (1465 - 1486), lands abandoned by the Black Tide soon descended into lawlessness. In these areas, numerous master werewolves and wererats rose to power. Roving packs of werewolves and organized gangs of wererats carried out murder and banditry, creating a very negative stigma for all lycanthropes in the Lands of Purity. The Black Tide paid little attention to their presence in the rear or front; the undead were never their concern. After the Athenian Crusade, many of the region's lycanthropes were exiled to Weretopia, imprisoned, or eliminated.
Of all the lycanthropes, werewolves are regarded as those harboring more sinister intentions, preying upon non-lycanthropes and at times, other lycanthropic beings.