Werewolf Facts and Lore

Contrary to popular portrayal of werewolves throughout history, werewolves are far from the vicious demonic supernatural beings they have long been believed to be. Due to the mystery surrounding their lifestyle and the secrecy werewolves shroud themselves in, in order to protect themselves, very little factual data has been collected on the true werewolf species until recently. They are often dismissed as pure myth driven by fear of the unknown, and thus it is not surprising that werewolves are portrayed as vicious beasts in films and novels.

Despite this, werewolves have a vibrant and rich history. The Institute of Lycanthrope Study has spent the better part of the last century hunting for more information on this elusive and often dismissed species. Through generous private funding our research facilities have expanded to encompass many fields of study and have allowed us access to a wide variety of material documenting werewolf existence dating back to early civilization.

It is our commitment to educate people on the true nature of the werewolf and dispel some of the myth and fear this beautiful species has endured for centuries. Below are short snippets of general werewolf knowledge that has been found to be more substantiated.

Werewolf Society, not unlike human society, has defined it's own set of ethical morals by which order is kept within the society. No werewolf must seek to kill another werewolf or to create any new werewolf without the consent ofthe one to be changed. However, even within werewolf society rogues do exist and have been known to attack and in some cases kill innocent humans. Some have also been known to devour human flesh in lieu of hunting for animal game. The rational for this behavior is unknown since it is widely considered as cannibalism amongst the majority of werewolf society. It is postulated that these attacks are usually carried out by young nomadic werewolves who are inexperienced hunters and find humans to be easier prey. Some werewolves will also arbitrarily create other werewolves, leaving them after the violent initiation. Due to the hard transitional period into becoming a mature werewolf, most of these accidental fledgling werewolves will not survive the adjustment period. It is not known why rogue werewolves partake in this activity, though there are many theories as to this behavior. As it is hard to study such elusive creatures, and especially the dangerous specimens, these theories are unsubstantiated.

Werewolf families typically consist of two adults and their young offspring. Often sub adult werewolves will remain within the family unit until competition for food or sibling rivalry threatens the health of the family unit. It is usually young male werewolves that are first ousted upon reaching adulthood. The life for a young nomadic werewolf can be trying and it is not unheard of for two siblings to remain together until one finds a mate or they choose to go their separate ways. Single nomads will hunt on small game to maximize their hunting efficiency and prevent injury. As a result of preying on predominantly small game, nomadic werewolves are easily identified as they tend to be thinner with sparker coats that have less sheen. Most werewolves born to werewolf parents also never enter human society, outside of their parental interaction and will often choose to never shift to human form within their natural life.

Within a family unit injured werewolves are often cared for until they heal. If the injuries are mortal, werewolf families will remain with the injured until they pass on. It is also not unheard of for werewolves to bury their deceased or perform other funeral rites. As with humans, it is an important part of social life to perform ritual ceremonies for pinnacle events such as birth, pairing ceremonies, and death. In addition to these ceremonies werewolves will often perform 'rain' and 'hunt' rituals to call down strength upon themselves in times of drought and famine. These ceremonies are often noted for their unusually haunting 'wolf' songs. However, the vocalizations of werewolves are far more complex than that of a normal wolf, often carrying a recurring identifiable melody. Wolfsong is also accompanied by ritualistic body painting, dancing and in some parts of the world decorative scarring or piercing(usually as a rite of passage for adolescent werewolves entering adult werewolf society).

Urban werewolves often find themselves intimidated by the daily difficulties they must face to simply survive in a human world. This often leads to the decision to relocate to more sparsely populated areas where wild game may be plentiful and they can safely shift forms without being discovered. Werewolves in west Asia and South America often leave the cities in favor of the dense and often unexplored jungles. Wild wolves in India have long been hunted to extinction, though alleged sightings of wolves in the jungle still persist to this day. It is believed that these sightings are not of wild wolves but more likely werewolves, though photo documentation has not yet surfaced. Werewolves residing in such regions often choose to make their home in ancient ruins of temples and shrines perhaps as a means to keep a link to their human side, or simply because such places offer good vantage points for hunting and shelter suitable for raising a family. Werewolves will abandon these homes if threatened, though in rare cases, such as if their pups are too young to safely move to a new location, they have been known to defend their dens against intruders.

Not all of humanity discounts werewolves as myth and in some parts of the world the werewolf is given sanctuary among humans. Some more secretive religious orders will allow werewolves domicile within their monasteries and will tend to injured werewolves or orphaned werewolf pups that cannot shift.

Not all werewolves start life as humans. Those born to werewolf parents will likely never interact with human society without the guidance of their parents unless they were born within human society (though this is notcommon). Werewolves are born in their feral state and can only begin to learn to shift in early adolescence as the process can be too dangerous for younger pups. Feral born werewolves will also more likely pair with other 'wild' werewolves and as a result there are werewolves that are a few generations removed from human contact. These werewolves retain the capacity to shift, though most choose not to, and they will often not regard themselves as part human. They do retain their 'human' cognitive and emotional faculties but their movement is typically described as more animalistic. These werewolves are considered to pose the most threat to humans as they view them as territorial competitors. It is thought that most rogue werewolves are feral borns.

The difference between female and male werewolves is often nominal although typically the female tends to be smaller. Female werewolves typically do not possess visible mammary glands outside of when nursing young, thus making it harder to distinguish the sexes from a distance.

Most werewolf family units are small, unlike some wolf packs which can exceed in numbers of 30 wolves. But it is not uncommon for werewolf families to gather in ceremonial rituals. This is an important event for most werewolves as it allows new pairings between young werewolves to occur within a neutral uncompetitive territory. Since most werewolves are territorial, outside of these group gatherings, werewolves will fight each other for prime territory and to establish dominance amongst males. The gatherings tend to take place on full moon nights, which despite popular belief is not the only time werewolves can shift. Rather this misconception is held because most sightings of werewolves have occurred during these full moon gatherings. It is not known how werewolves plan these gatherings or how far they will travel to make such a meeting.



All information presented is purely fictional, in an attempt to give the werewolf a more submersive world in which to exist and provide a context for the myth that the Werewolf Calendar presents. It is not meant to be the definitive guide to werewolf lore, to be the 'right' vision of the werewolf, or to mislead anyone researching werewolf myth.

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