The druids have always guarded the secrets of their shapeshifting abilities as part of their sacred rites and the source of their power, but there was a time where they nearly lost control of it all when a rogue tribe attempted to steal the secrets to gain power for themselves. Their sacred texts were stolen and their ritual sites plundered in the dead of night and the druids gave chase to track down these thieves before they could perform the rituals to obtain a totem form and abuse the druidic power. When the thieves were finally caught the druids were too late as they found the culprits transformed by the wolf totem, though most of them lacked control over the form slowly losing their minds and turning into feral beasts. As it turned out the thieves missed a few essential parts of the ritual which corrupted the totem form in this way. Those who still had some mind left were offered a choice to join the druidic order to learn control over their form but never to return to their old tribe, some accepted the offer and were eventually cured of the corruption, those who didn't were put to death marking a black day in history for the druids who had vowed to not needlessly take any lives.

Unbeknown to the druids a few feral lycans had escaped and would survive in the wild forming a wild tribe of wolfmen though they could only maintain their form trough inbreeding which corrupted the magic even more and turned it into a curse which could be spread to any who were scratched or bitten by a Lycan. Eventually the druids learned of their existence and started hunting down these cursed beasts but once more a few managed to escape with their curse and disappear into the wilds. This group was made up of those who had managed to gain such control over their form that they could transform back to human whenever they pleased, no longer bound to the phases of the moons or a feral mind. Over time some left this tribe to live back among humans and hiding in plain sight, but what they did not know whas that their children would inherit the curse and in some cases their partner would be afflicted with the curse as well. This pushed these people back into hiding for many years untill they were eventually forgotten again, founding their villages away from other humans and trying to keep their secret hidden from any travelers passing through and they survived in secret this way to this day.

But legends and rumors still persisted and attracted monster hunters and adventurers and less scrupulous folk seeking such power for themselves, some would find this power and willingly let themselves be afflicted by the curse and those who did not lose their mind would join the villiage, those who did lose their mind were hunted down by the monster hunters and adventurers and in some cases unknowingly spread the curse to them and those people would then spread it to others causing an epidemic of the curse. The druids eventually would have to intervene and stop the curse from spreading, curing many victims and culling those who could no longer be cured, once the source was found the villagers pleaded for their lives and after a long time of debates and negotiations with the Lipane taking the side of the cursed villagers they were allowed to live as long as they would prevent another disaster such as this and no longer pass the curse onto others. Most villagers kept their word but some would secretly still pass it to any who searched for it. Nowadays adventurers and criminals alike would seek this power and learn to control it, despite it's illegality, somehow adventurers seem to be more resistant to the corruption and maintin full control over the wolf form which gives them an ace up their sleeve for dire situations. Though if discovered they may face time in prison, hefty fines or be stripped of their adventurer's licence and rank or exiled.

Made in Hero Forge
Characters/Setting belongs to me   chakat_blackwater