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Our Werewolves Are Different
Oct. 5th, 2013 11:33 pmThere are two different types of werewolf packs -- a family or natal pack, and a friend or cohort pack.
The natal pack is comprised of a breeding pair and their children, and occasionally a sibling of the breeding pair who assists in caring for the children. As new births take place, the older children are driven out of the hunting territory and will end up forming a cohort pack.
The cohort pack is comprised of several young werewolves, generally of mixed sexes, who band together to hunt. Sometimes they will be strong enough to maintain a hunting territory, but often a cohort pack roams far and wide. From these cohort packs wandering and sometimes mingling with other cohort packs, werewolves will pair off and settle down to form new natal packs.
When they are roaming, these werewolves will generally stay in their wolf form -- it is one of three forms they can take, and it is indistinguishable from a normal wolf. They can hunt in this form, and sometimes do, but prefer to take their hybrid or 'were' forms whenever possible for a hunt. The were forms are bipedal, very tall and muscular, with thick fur and wolf-like features; instead of forepaws, they have clawed hands.
If necessary, these werewolves can take a human form. These forms are quite close to normal humans, but there are some tells. Teeth may be sharper than normal, or outright fang-like. Their eyes retain the tapetum lucidum of wolves and will shine white when reflecting light in the darkness. Others with preternaturally sharp senses may be able to tell a human-form werewolf by scent, as they smell more canine and often faintly of blood.
Werewolves gain maturity somewhat quicker than humans, at around age fifteen, but thereafter they age much slower. For example, while Emery appears to be in his thirties, he is roughly twice that in actual years lived.
In general, a werewolf can only shift into one human form (one sex). However, when taking wolf form or were form, they can choose to be male or female. Some do choose to stick to the same sex regardless of form, and others are more fluid about it.
When a werewolf is injured in one form, they do have the option to shift into another form. For example, if while in hybrid form, a werewolf broke their leg, they could shift into their wolf form and the damage would 'reset'. But if, following this, they got hurt again, they would not be able to shift the damage away. They would have to wait for the second injury to heal normally.
Werewolves prefer to eat animal prey and often perform a valuable service in culling invasive or too-large animal populations in rural areas. There are some werewolves who make their home in urban environments, but for safety reasons they will often take weekend trips to the wilderness to hunt.
The natal pack is comprised of a breeding pair and their children, and occasionally a sibling of the breeding pair who assists in caring for the children. As new births take place, the older children are driven out of the hunting territory and will end up forming a cohort pack.
The cohort pack is comprised of several young werewolves, generally of mixed sexes, who band together to hunt. Sometimes they will be strong enough to maintain a hunting territory, but often a cohort pack roams far and wide. From these cohort packs wandering and sometimes mingling with other cohort packs, werewolves will pair off and settle down to form new natal packs.
When they are roaming, these werewolves will generally stay in their wolf form -- it is one of three forms they can take, and it is indistinguishable from a normal wolf. They can hunt in this form, and sometimes do, but prefer to take their hybrid or 'were' forms whenever possible for a hunt. The were forms are bipedal, very tall and muscular, with thick fur and wolf-like features; instead of forepaws, they have clawed hands.
If necessary, these werewolves can take a human form. These forms are quite close to normal humans, but there are some tells. Teeth may be sharper than normal, or outright fang-like. Their eyes retain the tapetum lucidum of wolves and will shine white when reflecting light in the darkness. Others with preternaturally sharp senses may be able to tell a human-form werewolf by scent, as they smell more canine and often faintly of blood.
Werewolves gain maturity somewhat quicker than humans, at around age fifteen, but thereafter they age much slower. For example, while Emery appears to be in his thirties, he is roughly twice that in actual years lived.
In general, a werewolf can only shift into one human form (one sex). However, when taking wolf form or were form, they can choose to be male or female. Some do choose to stick to the same sex regardless of form, and others are more fluid about it.
When a werewolf is injured in one form, they do have the option to shift into another form. For example, if while in hybrid form, a werewolf broke their leg, they could shift into their wolf form and the damage would 'reset'. But if, following this, they got hurt again, they would not be able to shift the damage away. They would have to wait for the second injury to heal normally.
Werewolves prefer to eat animal prey and often perform a valuable service in culling invasive or too-large animal populations in rural areas. There are some werewolves who make their home in urban environments, but for safety reasons they will often take weekend trips to the wilderness to hunt.
