#segregation tw

Trump has the potential to kill us all.

The curse persists. Despite the best efforts of the Keeper, the curse that plagued the Brecilian Forest was never fully removed. Instead, the disease that turned men and elves into fearsome wolves retreated, laying dormant in the very genetic makeup of each individual, passed on to their children. Centuries--over a millenia--after the Fifth Blight, the genetic marker is present in nearly 70% of the population of modern Thedas. And it does not always remain dormant. When the virus is activated from its dormant state, by either genetic mutation or by the exchange of bodily fluids between an active and an inactive carrier, the effects are irreversible. After a variable period of incubation, the infected individual will find themselves undergoing a change under the light of the moon, sprouting fur, shifting their skeletal structure, until there is nothing of the human, the dwarf or the elf left in them. Gone are the days of speaking, bipedal wolf-men; these werewolves shift from person to beast, through and through, and will do so each and every night that the moon ascends into the sky, returning to their natural form with the breaking of the dawn. With guidance from those who have come before, werewolves can learn to control their shift, taking back control of their bodies and moving fluidly at will between their beastly and natural states. Some choose to live most of their lives as wolves, finding freedom in the wild ways, while others eschew their wolf form as much as possible, clinging to the last vestiges of personhood that they may; and still others balance the two, shifting back and forth as their needs dictate. But no matter how they choose to live out their days, no werewolf can escape the shift that must occur under their own lunar aspect--the aspect under which they first transformed. Every lunar cycle, without fail, when the light of their aspect moon brightens the night sky, they transform into savage, feral beasts, with no trace of wit or reason left to them; a danger to all. For a time, Thedosian society attempted to integrate the werewolves, making accomodations for them where possible in the infrastructure of everyday life. However, as more and more individuals were unwittingly turned, people began to raise the hue and cry, demanding their safety from these savage beasts. As is always the case, a few ruined it for the many; werewolves who revelled in their newly made savage natures hunted in the streets of the major cities, killing and turning anyone they chose. More and more sanctions were imposed upon their kind; mandatory testing, licensing of known lycanthropes, segregation, and, eventually, exile. The major cities of Thedas are now considered quarantine zones. Active carriers of the lycanthropy virus are not permitted within their walls. Werewolves have been pushed into the rural and wild places of the world, and have built their own society, based on the pack structure that sings so naturally in their blood. Most are content enough to live their lives in that way, no longer craving a return to a society that sees them as second-class citizens; members of these packs only occasionally raid the cities, seeking out supplies to support their families, medical and veterinary resources. Some, however, are vengeful, and will sneak into the quarantine zones with the express intent to murder and turn as many as they can--knowing that at the first sign of active lycanthropy, those individuals will be turned away from their homes and livelihoods, shunted out into the wilds to either find a pack or die. A werewolf will age separately in their dual forms; no matter the age of the adult, the wolf form will be only a pup at their first transformation, and will age from that point only in the forms they wear until one or the other must confront their mortality. The virus is completely inert until puberty; children cannot be turned, and the child of a werewolf pair will live as a non-wolf until the virus activates, cared for by members of its pack. Silver is potently harmful to them, and overcomes their natural regenerative abilities; but a silver bullet or knife is not the only way to kill a werewolf. After all, fill a thing with enough bullets, spill enough of its blood on the ground, and you will still make a corpse of it.