Lukoi (WereWolves)
Lukoi is the pack-name traditionally taken by werewolves. Since the wolf-strain of lycanthropy is more common than the other types, there's more recorded tradition for them and their ways.
Obviously, the historical acceptance of the Werewolves by the Norse and the Roman Empire greatly influenced their culture.
As with every other lycanthropic pack or any other support group, there is no real method for "tradition" to be passed down from old shifter to new shifter other than word of mouth and peer-pressure. As such, it is not unheard of for some packs to eschew the "traditional setup" and go with their own method of organization (EG: Perhaps where the leader(s) is/are chosen annually by the pack? Perhaps no clear leader, with the pack's actions decided by majority vote? Perhaps a triumvirate, where there are three leaders of equal political power?). As with all shifter packs, whatever is "right" and whatever is "wrong" is purely based on what the pack's leader decrees, up until the leader is deposed for their unpopular views.
Backgrounds
News Files
Lukoi Characters
Pard (WereLeopards)
The Were-Leopard pack, or Pard, is generally a tightly knit group of shifters, to touch and to be touched is often a part of their being. The female leader of the Pard is traditionally called the Nimir-Ra and the male leader, the Nimir-Raj. They can rule together and have significant power, or they can rule as a single entity, with a significantly weaker powerbase.
As with every other lycanthropic pack or any other support group, there is no real method for "tradition" to be passed down from old shifter to new shifter other than word of mouth and peer-pressure. As such, it is not unheard of for some packs to eschew the "traditional setup" and go with their own method of organization (EG: Perhaps where the leader(s) is/are chosen annually by the pack? Perhaps no clear leader, with the pack's actions decided by majority vote? Perhaps a triumvirate, where there are three leaders of equal political power?). As with all shifter packs, whatever is "right" and whatever is "wrong" is purely based on what the pack's leader decrees, up until the leader is deposed for their unpopular views.
Although Leopards are the most common of the Feline Weres, it is not unheard of for there to be WereLions, WereTigers, WereJaguars, and WereCheetahs, as well as the rare instances of Snow-Leopard Shifters, Clouded-Leopard Shifters, and other lesser known cats.
NOTE 1: Cougars? Pumas? Mountain Lions? We go by 'Cougar' for clarity, although all three are the same type of animal.
NOTE 2: Clouded Leopards and Show Leopards aren't the same species as standard Leopards. As such, it is only a common practice and not assured that shifters that turn into such animals will be adopted into a Were-Leopard pack.
NOTE 3: Generally, a were-leopard has to be of quite dark human skin coloration to turn into a 'panther'. There are rare exceptions of a pale person being cursed to turn into "a panther", and we'd generally like to keep that rare.
Backgrounds
Wereleopards handbook
News Files
Pard Characters
Rodere (WereRats)
Unlike the Lukoi or the Pard, the Rodere (or Were-Rats) tend towards a more varied social structure. The only real formal office is that of the head of the local rat pack (sometimes known as a 'plague of rats' or a 'swarm of rats'), the Rat King/Queen. Any other rank is up to the whim of the present monarch.
As with every other lycanthropic pack or any other support group, there is no real method for "tradition" to be passed down from old shifter to new shifter other than word of mouth and peer-pressure. As such, it is not unheard of for some packs to eschew the "traditional setup" and go with their own method of organization (EG: Perhaps where the leader(s) is/are chosen annually by the pack? Perhaps no clear leader, with the pack's actions decided by majority vote? Perhaps a triumvirate, where there are three leaders of equal political power?). As with all shifter packs, whatever is "right" and whatever is "wrong" is purely based on what the pack's leader decrees, up until the leader is deposed for their unpopular views.
Given that most lycanthropes gain a few instinctual traits of the animals they shift into, rats often (but not always) have a split in behaviour based on gender. Female rats tend to be highly inquisitive and full of curiosity, sometimes leading to a downfall aspect of deficient attention span. Male rats tend to be, quite frankly, lazy; your standard male rat would like nothing better to lie around with food and drink in reach. In Rodere, this would translate to a couch potato watching TV, living off of delivered pizza and beer. Fortunately, this isn't always the case. Another trait often carried over is that dominance is established by who grooms whom, with the groomer ranking over the groomed (the opposite of most primates). This often sublimates into higher-ranking Rodere deciding what the lower-ranking wear for makeup, hair-styles, perfume/cologne, clothing, etc..
Obviously, if anything carries over from the rat-form, it's generally just mental/social traits. Although a normal rat (and a were-rat in critter-form) can fit through anything their head can fit through, can't vomit, et cetera.. by default, a were-rat in human-form can't do the body-squish nor are they incapable of vomiting.
Possibly due to how well mundane rats work with humanity, Rodere show natural aptitude in being able to shift on demand (although with no particular resistance against forced shifting due to stress or the phase of the moon), to shift into the halfway 'ratman' form, and to communicate with their mundane rat brethren. When in rat form they run about 7'-8' long (note, half of that is just the tail, so the body is about 3.5'-4' long), and stand between 16" and 18" from ground to shoulder (standing on all four legs).
Wererats Handbook
Backgrounds
News Files
Rodere Characters
The other shapeshifters, werefoxes, werecrocodiles, werecheetahs, wereswans, weresnakes, cursed shifters, etc. They are generally the minority. While feline-based lycanthropy is one of the hardest to catch, other types of lycanthropy can be even harder to catch.
In theory, any mundane animal can have a lycanthropic mirror, although it is virtually nonexistent to find a were-type whose animal form has any of the following shortcomings:
- Can not survive on dry land for extended periods of time (EG: were-fish), in case of unexpected shifting
- Does not tend to attack when cornered and/or stressed (EG: were-fly), or attacks in "non mauling" ways (EG: were-boa)
- Can not attack with a measurable degree of survivability among the attacked (EG: were-scorpion), often due to vast amounts of venom
Other Shapeshifter Characters