Arash: Info dump and character thread.

Faction - Free Hunters

Free Hunters are bipedal, but more monstrous in appearance
Free Hunters have their own cultures, traditions and villages
Free Hunters struggle more than the others at keeping their human guise and have no control during a forced change, but have developed methods to stop a forced change if they have time to prepare and are generally more physically powerful than other packs.

Pack leader succession is based on strength. Any member of a pack can challenge the current leader, but it has to be done in a certain way. To issue the challenge, a member must hunt in wolf-form, and bring a portion of their kill back, after treating it with an extract of Wolfsbane. This is done to ensure that the challenger is not doing this through emotion, as no out of control wolf could spare meat from a kill.
The loser of this challenge has their tongue ripped out, to prevent them from being able to take over, as they clearly overestimate their abilities to the point where it would risk lives.
Rather than pain, they feel an immense rush of pleasure during a voluntary transformation.

Important Packs-

Black Claws - The Death Pack of the Free Hunters. Members of the two other packs that have been lost to their own bloodlust and turned feral. They are dressed in chains, slaves to their own freedom and released against other packs by Beastmasters. A feral Blackclaw can be given general orders, such as stay, attack, and stop, but are incapable of proper cognitive decisions.

Silver Wind - The fastest of Free-Hunters, with sharp minds and keen senses. During Wartime, they scout and raid enemy villages. They generally have a fair amount of muscle.

Red Fury - The most warlike of all Free-Hunter packs. They are often in command of individual packs during war with other Werewolf species. They are physically the largest, standing at an average of 7”6, and often have much more muscle than other packs.


Faction - Rats

Rats live in or near human towns, usually somewhere that humans don’t go, for example, a sewer.
They are bipedal, but with more human features than the Free Hunters
Their collective name is originally a derogatory term used by the Free Hunters, as a reference to their habits and non-wolf appearance. They are also known as “Half-Breeds”, as they, and their sire turning any human who asked into packmates., because of this, they have the highest numbers, but are much weaker and are mutually disliked by the other factions.

Rats commonly pose as beggars, though they are actually quite wealthy and often maintain large settlements hidden away in the dark places of human society.
Succession of pack leadership is determined through a battle of manipulation. The objective is to kill the other, without doing it physically. The loser, dies.

The main difference between the Rats and the other factions, is that the Rats are known to humans, not as a faction of Werewolves, but a powerful criminal cartel. If human gossip is to be believed, every crime, ranging from a string of burglaries to a political assassination, is tied to the Rats in some way. The Rats are in control of the black market, and any competition seems to turn up in an alley missing limbs


Important Packs
Dark Crawlers - Dark Crawlers are mostly known for their unusual homes. Rather than have their own towns, they live in a massive network of tunnels, known as the burrow. They have entrances and exits all across their territory, and are incredibly capable diggers and master ambushers. Several times, other packs have attempted to exterminate them, though none have ever been able to navigate the burrow to root them out.
The Unseen - The Unseen are masters of disguise and stealth, capable of trekking miles into enemy territory without being discovered. Most of The Unseen pose as pilgrims, beggars and other unimportant people. The Unseen can discover any secret, given enough time.
The Strangers - The Strangers are responsible for most of the physical conflict the Rats face. Though lacking in brute strength, The Strangers are incredibly cunning and patient, often planning years ahead. They can easily infiltrate, and know exactly when and where to strike against enemies of the Rats. Occasionally, members of other packs will reveal themselves to be a Stranger. As such, many of The Free Hunter packs are split into tribes, of which only those born into the Tribe are allowed.






Faction - Brotherhood of the Wolf
Can assume two forms; a regular human-wolf hybrid form, with much more wolfish looks than the other two, and a form that is essentially a massive wolf (5 Foot shoulder height). The Werewolf retains much more of its mind in latter form.
Each pack is more like coven of witches than a typical wolf pack, where they can live miles apart in separate human towns, but on important events, such as a Blood Moon, will congregate on their sacred land.
During a full moon, the Brotherhood have the most control over their actions, though this is still limited and requires a great force of will.
Brotherhood sages, while in full-wolf form can use a power similar to magic, known as Lunar Magic, and can influence events to turn out in their favour. Lunar magic is also used for many of their rituals, including their unique method of recruiting outsiders. Rather than biting or sharing blood, a long, complicated ritual is carried out underneath the Bloodmoon. These wolves are created, and are generally much less aggressive on their first change than other groups.
Important Packs
The Pilgrim -
The Spirits -
Stormwalkers -
Very little is known about the Brotherhood packs, despite numerous scouting parties into their territory. They do not attack other packs unless threatened, and are impossible to find. Even the best hunters of the Silver Wind have failed to find them.


The Three Hunters came from the far Northern Wastes, the only survivors of a nomadic tribe. They were ‘blessed’ by a passing spirit in order to survive the winter that wiped their tribe out. Upon discovering what they had become, the Hunters fought over what they should do. Two of them accepted what they had become, though quickly disagreed on hunting methods and territory. The third believed that they needed to understand themselves and their curse, and set out on a pilgrimage spanning the length and breadth of the known world ending in the Southern Reaches. It’s not known what he did during his pilgrimage, but his children began to appear soon after. All of them born knowing his voice.

The original Free Hunter quickly set out on his own journey, taking several wives across several villages throughout his enhanced lifespan. These children were born pure-blooded Werewolves, as were any of their children and so on. After three generations, the original Free Hunter took all of his descendents and formed the first pack. Eventually, this pack fragmented as it grew and spread out across the world, each new pack developing its own customs and traditions, though all of them are similar in some ways.

The last brother found himself in the human capital, at the bottom of society. From here, he learned to observe and wait before his hunt.

The Free Hunters primarily live in the Northern Wastes, though they have smaller packs in the other regions of the world.

The Rats follow civilization and as such bear their strength in the Midlands

The Brotherhood hail from the Southern Marches, in the land of the sun.

The majority of the conflicts between the three factions as such lands around the Midlands, in human towns and settlements.

All of them mistrust spirits; a feeling passed down from their progenitors after the trickery that turned them into Werewolves in the first place.


The Great Hunt
The Great Hunt is an event followed by all three factions, dating back to the days of the three hunters. It occurs every 50 years, on the last Bloodmoon of that year and lasts until either the chosen prey is caught and killed by one pack, or all of the hunters are killed or return home in failure.


Some hunts have taken years to end, with the hunters travelling to other continents in pursuit of particularly tenacious prey.


The Hunt is declared when Brotherhood seers have visions of several possible prey, and a target is selected by a majority vote of the pack leaders.

Maps:
https://imgur.com/gallery/ZmfuZ/new



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