| Category | Lexicon |
| Type | beast lore |
Lycanthropy is a powerful curse that was first spread by Silvanus. In the God Era, he used powerful druidic magic to curse those mortals that offended him or rebelled against the Covenant. This was a strong measure to use against them, but Silvanus is to have countered that:
The demons invading Bal-Kriav are bad enough, that we don't need mortals stirring up trouble or flip-flopping sides. I will punish those that turn against us, spare them, but the curse they carry shall be remembered for those that stood against us.
- Silvanus, from the court documents of the Imperatus Tribunal - "Beast Curse of Silvanus"
The curse that Silvanus punished mortals with is lycanthropy. It has spread across Bal-Kriav from the hundreds cursed during the Demon Spawn War.
Lycanthropy is a blessing to some, and nightmare to others. There are some tribes in the Hlothruk mountains where all members of fighting age undergo a ritual to become a werebear. One of the most well-known is Zagul-Tîn. They earned regional acclaim in the Athenian Crusade (1539 - 1551) when they fielded an army that devastated the undead they went up against.
The region with the largest population of lycanthropes is Weretopia. In 1463, an enigmatic figure name Gass-du-lac started taking lycanthropes from other regions of the realm to Weretopia. Her family name Dras'ee gave her such importance and fear, that lycanthropes from jails across the Lands of Purity, Hells Womb, and into the Aerie of Dragons, were released to her custody. Gass-du-lac says that her intent was not to build a nation, but to move her kind to a frontier land where they could be free of persecution and to have more freedom in taking on bestial form. Sadly, in time the lycanthropes began preying on the natives of Weretopia. Most of these murderous hunts were perpetuated by wererats and werewolves.
Lycanthropy can be a difficult curse to remove. It cannot be removed from someone born into lycanthropy, like the offspring of two lycanthropes. When someone becomes infected with lycanthropy, it requires a caster of five levels or more greater than the creature that bestowed the curse.
In the Black Tide War (1465 - 1504), the lands left in the wake of the Black Tide advance turned lawless pretty fast. A number of master werewolves and wererats rose to power during this period. Roving packs of werewolves and organized gangs of wererats carrying out murder and banditry resulted in a very bad stigma for all lycanthropes in the Lands of Purity. The Black Tide didn't care too much about their presence in the rear or front because undead were never on the menu. After the Athenian Crusade, most of the region's lycanthropes were either driven to other regions, imprisoned, or put down. In most cases, the bodies of dead lycanthropes were put to the pyre. This practice was espoused by Sûnazat, a holy order dedicated to hunting down lycanthropes. They are a ruthless sect, often quick to pass judgment on lycanthropes in what is termed as a Lycanthrope Field Trial.
Of all the lycanthropes, werewolves are viewed as those of more darker intent, preying upon non-lycanthropes and sometimes other lycanthropes.