The Curse of Lycanthropy in Vargr Society

Within the Eradûn exists plenty of diseases unique to the Vargr, though this particular one is unique among diseases. It does not kill its host, but does warp the body and mind and may very likely have a touch of magic imbedded within it.

Biological Effects of Lycanthropy

This disease is known as The Wolf’s Soul to most Vargr, though it has many names and for the purposes of this informative post it shall be known by its most popular name, Lycanthropy. It is a polymorphic neural virus that uses DNA as it’s genome carrier. Once infected, the virus finds its way into neurons, the cells of the nervous system, implants it’s genetic material into the cell nucleus, which then become inserted in mainly redundant sections of the host’s genome but still trigger replication to reproduce their constituent genome, proteins, and so forth.

However, unlike most viruses, the Lycus Virus, does not fill its host cell with daughter cells and destroy the host, it allows the cell functioning normally so that the host is not harmed and immune cells have a harder time detecting it, but it still hijacks the host’s machinery. When new daughter cells are made they do not build up in the neuron, but instead travel down the axon, are mistaken for neurotransmitters - thanks to neurotransmitter pieces from the host cell’s genes they add on to themselves in the reproduction phase - get trapped in vesicles (carrier bubbles), and are sent out into the synaptic cleft life real neurotransmitters would. In this space the new neurons can quickly and easily move into all the host cells that the first was connected to continue their cycle of life, and move on through the whole body without destroying host cells. Once the first cell to infect the host reproduces, it goes into a sort of dormant phase, where it modifies genes within the host and prepares for the next stage in its conquest of the host body.

The ultimate goal of the Lycus Virus is to reach the brain and infect every cell within it and use it as a hub to spread its influence through the rest of the body. Because of its method of transport, many of the viruses easily pass through the blood-brain barrier and escape the eyes of the host’s immune system. It cannot be treated with conventional medicines and in almost every case, unless the infection site was amputated immediately, there is almost no chance to rid oneself of the disease. Unfortunately, one of the main abilities of this virus is it’s polymorphic nature; it can easily alter itself to fit any neuron type once it has entered that type, from autonomic neurons to white and grey matter. It can spread in and out of the brain, and also across the placenta to infect the developing brains of the fetuses of Lycanthrope children. But thankfully the most common method of infection spread is through host saliva seeded with viral vesicles coming into contact with open wounds.

The first signs of infection are in the mind, long before it finishes modifying the neurons of the body. The mind of an infected vargr becomes more Instinctual; their hearing becomes sharper, their sense of smell keener, and they become somewhat more impulsive and stubborn. The host’s personality mostly stays the same otherwise, but may become more exaggerated: a kind and empathetic Vargr may become an even bigger mom-friend, or a Vargr that was standoffish and shy would become more reclusive. There is however one unifying change that infected Vargr share: their pack instinct grows stronger. Somehow the infected host can unconsciously know who else has been infected with the same strain or is related to them both in blood and in disease - most likely because of their modified olfactory sensitivity picking up on such things as modified breath or pheromones. The pack then becomes instinctually closer, more protective of each other, more communal, and most importantly of all, even more loyal to their alpha.

It takes roughly two weeks for the Lycus Virus to create these changes in a person, and about a full month for the rest of its changes to take place. Once the virus has modified its host cells to react to a certain signal to transmit a new neurotransmitter cocktail of its own making and have receptors to pick up such signals, the classic morphological changes can take place. Under the light of the full moon, when the land is at its darkest but the brightest light still shines above, signals go out from the brain and through the body to shift and morph into a large lupine form. Muscles grow rapidly, thick fur grows across the skin, bones stretch and grow, and within ten to thirty minutes (during which time pain receptors are temporarily deactivated) the host shifts into a beast. For Vargr, The Beast looks like a classic werewolf with fur the color of their hair and fur and longer fur on females than in males and Vargr generally grow an extra foot tall.

It is unknown why the virus does this, but for the duration of the full moon night Vargr have this larger form they behave even more primally (though they still retain their memories and consciousness and over time can learn to better control themselves in this form) and have a very strong desire to hunt, fight, kill, and fuck, in no particular order. The Shift seems to increase hormone levels in the body, especially testosterone and in many cases uses that pathway and some of that hormone and related hormones to trigger the shift. Because of this, hosts cannot shift until they have hit puberty. Young shifted Lycans (Lycanthrope is a long word few Vargr would ever bother to use) generally have very little control of themselves and spend years of their full moon nights hunting game with packmates and causing trouble. Older Lycans may still have such urges, but become much more tempered with age and may spend their full moons running through the woods enjoying the nature around them, or spend the whole night making love to their mates.

It is unknown why the conditions for the shift are so specific, but they are not necessarily specific to the moon. If a Lycan is put in a dark room with one bright light at one end (brighter than natural fire, it would need to be magic), this will trigger the shift. If alternatively, a shifted Lycan is put in a magically fully lit room, they will unshift back into their Vargr form. The shift can be very taxing on the body and so an unshifted Lycan usually cannot shift into their beast form more than twice in one night, and would take at least an hour after unshifting to shift again.

##Societal Effects of Lycanthropy

The Vargr are not a monolith, as many packs and clans have their own subcultures and “Vargr” is more a species term than an ethnic one, it can be surmised that the Vargr people have many different views of “The Wolf’s Soul” condition. Some clans and even entire clan councils are fully infected with Lycanthropy and believe it to be a gift from the gods, known as “the blessing of The Hunter”.^1 Some packs even consider it their duty to spread this gift to other Vargr and then other people as well. Some clans and councils have no Lycans and see this as a disease or curse. Reasons can range from “infected Vargr are weak for taking this power instead of relying on their own god-given strength” to “it's a fairy curse that strips away one’s free will in exchange for power.” And so forth. Some other packs have infected families living among them, or shunned Lycans form their own packs and have a discreet place in their clan. Some packs and clans see the infection as a choice and respect for choosing to get it or not goes both ways, no big deal.

The Beast only passes on to children if the mother is infected so there is no infection risk from sex, but uninfected Vargr don’t often marry infected Vargr anyway. Some mixed packs have infected alphas, some don’t. Infected are still generally very loyal to their non-infected alphas, but in most cases if an infected seeks to become an alpha, they will get the infected Vargrs support. In general, some Vargr see it as a curse, some see it as a blessing, some packs have even gone to war over a Lycan Vargr infecting non-Lycans and non-Lycans have preemptively attacking Lycans they thought would be encroaching on their territory.

To Lycans themselves, there is a sort of reverent duty associated with infecting another. It is unknown if it is part of their culture or the curse itself, but Lycans, especially those in all-Lycan packs and clans, treat those they have infected as sort of adopted pups that the infector must take responsibility for and train to control their inner wolf-soul. If an infected person comes to a clan and accuses another of infecting them, and they are proven right, then the infector is firstly punished for infecting the other without their consent and must help and protect their “newly sired packmate”. Generally speaking though, the relationship between infectors and infected is usually thicker than blood relations and to infect without consent is a severely punishable offense, especially if they abandoned their “new pack member”.

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1.The Hunter is one of many names for the Vargr god, Hrodgær.