All were-creatures owe their existence to curses levied by various Old Gods. There are numerous progenitor gods for each of the species as many of the Old Gods cursed many offenders with the curse of shifting. That is therefore to say there are many -types- of werewolves as there are Gods who cursed a particular human during the Age Of The Nephilim.

 

The Old Gods who are the parents of the Nephilim or Demi Gods were all venerated by early man. The Norse, The Egyptians, The Greeks and The Romans etc etc. Most of the old god pantheons would have had sacred animals associated with them, and indeed many of the Old Gods would have had sacred temples. 

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The typical story of the were-creature would be that a mortal defiled either a temple or hunted a particular sacred animal. The punishment for such an offense to one of the old gods was to be cursed with the Shifter Curse.

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The Shifter history is generally lost to time as like with many other preternatural species their history is mostly oral retellings. Such stories evolve over time and often lose accuracy.

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WEREBEAST SOCIETY

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The majority of the shifters operate as packs. While some of the packs are made from mixture of shifters, it's more common for a pack to be made up from one kind of shifters only. The packs generally have an Alpha (leader of a pack), Beta (second in command), Omega (lowest in the pack). Some packs also introduce a role of Zeta (which is a war general). 

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The lone shifters are known as Sigma. These may be just loners, those that refuse to join a pack, or often scarred ones that live outside of shifter society. 

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Regardless if the shifter is part of a pack or a Sigma, majority of them congregate in the Strongholds. These Strongholds around the heart of local wilderness, usually located deep in the forests or caves. The heart of the wilderness is not a metaphor, it's a Sylvan, an avatar of nature that shifters protect from destruction, and await for the rare times when Sylvans deliver a message. 

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It is down to a speculation what the Sylvans actually are and how shifters came around to protecting them. Those that think of the curse as a blessing often believe that it's their destiny to protect the wilderness from encroaching civilizations and other threats. Others believe a tale that shifters been tasked to watch over these sacred spots as a punishment and by worshiping these spots the curse may be eventually removed. While others think that perhaps shifters stumbled on these Sylvans by chance, finding new purpose within it. No one knows for sure, but what they do know is that all Sylvans are connected and when they do speak or show signs they offer great wisdom. 

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Regardless what shifters believe, many come together under these Strongholds to be part of something greater, for safety, or other reasons. 

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The Strongholds often operate as a democracy, but there are several positions that are usually present within every Stronghold. Such as Spirit Guide, that are usually Shamans and Druids that tend the Sylvans. There also Den Keepers, those that tend the small and the wounded. The Guards, which are self explanatory. The Bards, those that perform during gatherings and retell legendary tales. 

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Alphas of local packs make decisions in the Stronghold, but backing of a Spirit Guide is preferred. Often Spirit Guides will oversee contests between Alphas and assign challenges to decide whose way should it be.

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BORN VS MADE

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Some were-creatures are capable of passing on their curse to through breeding or at other times via attacking human beings and leaving them a scar. 

 

The Born and the Scarred often find themselves at odds. The Born are usually adopted early on and taught of the ways of the shifters, joining a pack once they are of age and usually make up a bulk of the shifters in the strongholds. The scarred are usually left for dead and only find out about their curse during a full moon. The scarred often seek to end the lives of the one who cursed them, believing that it will end their curse, they may have tried suicide only to find themselves surviving the attempt.

 

The Scarred is what naturally born shifters call those who are made into werecreatures. 

The name the Scarred use is "The Cursed"

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The Scarred/ The Cursed normally resent the affliction that is passed onto them and they form in small groups dedicated to the eradication of other werebeasts. It is not unusual for the Scarred to mingle with "Hunters" in order to fulfil their vengeance, however they must be careful that they don't reveal their true nature to hunters, as no supernatural creature is ever truly safe under a hunters eye, Scarred will find they have no hunter ally should they present their beast form... even if the Scarred is aiding them in combat, the hunters will use the advantage to defeat one enemy before training their sights on the Scarred. 

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It  is possible for the scarred to be taken in by the shifters to join one of the packs within the stronghold. This usually happens if the shifter responsible for the bite or the pack seeks the scarred out and convince or force them to join. The most common way this happens is when the scarred was chosen to inherit the curse and was not made by an incident. This often happens if shifters see something of value in that person. 

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