The Lords of Life and Death

Beware the days of the year, little man,
When the moon hath a face like a silver crown;
Cleave if thou may'st to the home of thy clan,
And hide from the Werewolves of London Town.

Beward the coverts and courts, little maid,
Where walks the man with the coat of brown;
Though thou art abandoned, be not waylaid,
By the hungry Werewolves of London Town.

Beware the starlit nights, my child,
And the pretty lady in the silk white gown;
Though thou art forsaken, be not beguiled,
By the charming Werewolves of London Town.
- Traditional Rhyme

The weres are a powerful race in the world, capable of hiding among men easier than many others and filled with the fire of life and living. While most of their soceities over the ages have been based on pack systems, they seldom achieve the clarity of true animals and the human nature of weres tends to get in the way of it. A weres pack can range from five to five hundred weres, depending on politics, population density and the differing species in the area. If given a choice, most weres will form packs only with their kind if it is possible. predator/prey packs are almost unheard of and few prey end up leading packs. Most prey were tend to be very good at hiding and don't associate with packs at all if they can avoid it.

Yet being a were means more than just packs, it means having a darkness in you, the part of you that is animal and that remembers the days when you fled from others and when fighting was the only way to live. Most non-weres would be horrified at the violence that can occur within packs and the cold strength that lurks behind even the kindest prey weres. It is this strength to survive, perhaps augumented by the fire that burns inside them,. that makes lowly weres not only try to stand up to the vampires, but gives them a chance of defeating them. And only they know the price paid for retraining their own dark natures, and how long they can pay it.

The greatest myth that exists about weres is that they can make humans into one. Simple logic would suggest that there would be far too many were in the world as a result, but being ravaged by one can awaken the recessive were gene in a human, so this myth does have some rare basis in fact.

Weres