Definition

The Therianthropes are a group of seven shapeshifting races that share a common origin, as well as a specific curse. In the world of Hycalria, they are divided between three different types: Shifter, Lycanthrope, and Celestial Therian.

What sets the types apart?

The three Therianthrope types are set apart by two major factors: The type of soul they have and how they were created.

Shifters. True Shifters are known primarily as Shifters or Purebloods, and are born as Therianthropes. Usually, they are born to human, elf, half-elf, or Shifter parents. Purebloods have complete control over their transformations, and are capable of shifting between a animal form and a humanoid form. They do carry the Curse of the Dread Wolf, which can be transmitted through their animal form's bite. They are affected by the Shifterbanes and the Grand Shifterbane. Their soul type is Grey.

Lycanthrope. Lycanthropes are known primarily as Accursed Therians or as Feral Ones. They are created specifically through the Curse of the Dread Wolf. A Lycanthrope is born when a Pureblood or a Lycanthrope savages a Human, Elf, or Half-Elf. Their near-death shuts down their innate resistance to curses, and the Curse takes hold. For the most part, Lycanthropes works identically to standard 5e, with the condition that the Lycanthrope curse only works on Humans, Elves, and Half-Elves. Lycanthropes have a Cursed Soul. They are affected by the Shifterbanes and the Grand Shifterbane.

Celestial Therians. Celestial Therians are also known as Wildborn. They are created specifically through the power of the deity Olyvirn, the Huntsman. They serve as his servants, his hands on the material plane. They are biologically immortal, meaning they do not age or get sick. They are also immune to the Shifterbane Metals. Uniquely, Celestial Therians are the only type of Therianthrope that can be turned into a fiend, through being possessed by other Fiends. They do not carry the Curse of the Dread Wolf, and have a White Soul.

Religion

The Therianthropes worshiped three deities during the Age of Ancients and the Age of High Magic, which are as follows:

Curse of the Dread Wolf

In the dying days of the Therian Empire, Five Wolf Mages beseeched Kithnoron the White Wolf to gift them the ability to Change humanoids to fill out the Empire's armies, so that they could take over the continent of Rilavera. And for a time, it worked, as the Emerald Throne's might swept across the continent and conquered it. However, thing then when horribly wrong. Kithnoron was corrupted by the Abyss, through the schemes of the Demon Lord Hasython. He was transformed into Fenrir, the Dread Wolf, and turned on his fellow Shifter deities. They were forced to lock him away in the planar prison of Asithyn. The Gift of Change was corrupted into a Curse. All those that were Changed went feral. Worse still, half of all of the other six races were affected by the Curse, and also went feral. The Therian Empire fell within a span of a few hours, and the ripples of sundered magic plunged Hycalria into an age of darkness. And the world has yet to recover.

Introduction

The Age of Ancients was the first age of Hycalria, and it is not known how long it lasted or even what existed at that time. The best that scholars have are legends and myths of ancient heroes. This chapter will cover the following:

The First Therianthropes. The creation myth of the Therianthropes, covering their species.

The Gifts of the Shifter Gods. The Shifters' Great and Racial Gifts.

The Seven Shifterbanes and the Great Shifterbane. The legendary Shifterbanes, materials that the Therianthropes fear, as they were created by their gods to counter their abilities.

The Shifterbane Metals. The Seven Shifterbane Metals, specifically where they come form, and how they are used.

The First Therianthropes

Long ago, in the days when humanity had yet to rise, Dragons and Giants clashed, and the Gods meddled still, three deities came to Hycalria with a purpose. Their names were Wolfar, the Moonchained, God of the Moon; Kithnoron, the White Wolf, Wolf of the Warrior's Halls, Primordial God of the Wilds; and Jasvilor, the Great Hunter, God of the hunt, Lord of the Wild Hunt. These three worked together, for the first and only time in Hycalria's millenia long history.

They took seven animal species, and Named them: Wolf, of the forests; Fox, of the undergrowth; Gryphon, of the skies above; Raven, the avian seers; Cat, of the grasslands; Serpent, of the deserts; and Phoenix, of fireborn flight. They gave them gifts, and balanced them with their seven Banes and one Great Bane. Then, they Named them the Name to unite them all: Shifter.

The Gifts of the Shifter Gods

The Shifter Gods gave seven Racial Gifts to the seven Shifter races, and then gave them all three Great Gifts. Kithnoron gave them the Great Gift of Transformation, to Shift their forms and hide their true natures. Wolfar gave the the Great Gift of Magic, to fuel them for all time. Jasvilor gave them the Great Gift of Speech, to communicate amongst themselves and others. After the Great Gifts, came the Racial Gifts.

To the Wolves, they gave the Racial Gift of magical prowess, to rule over the rest of the Seven

To the Foxes, they gave the Racial gift of illusion, to hide from their greatest foes.

To the Gryphons, they gave the Racial gift of empathy, to keep the peace among the many.

To the Ravens, they gave the Racial gift of Foresight, to see when danger approaches.

To the Cats, they gave the Racial gift of silence, to move wherever they wished in quiet.

To the Serpents, they gave the Racial gift of tongues, to speak any language they saw fit.

And to the Phoenixes, they gave the Racial gift of Rebirth, to remember the mistakes of the past and help prevent their repetition.

The Seven Shifterbanes and the Great Shifterbane

But to balance the Racial and Grand Gifts, there needed to be something that opposed them. The Shifter Gods took seven metals from the earth, the heavens above, and the hells below. Then, they named them:

Mortal Silver, the Wolvesbane, born of Hycalria itself;

Faerie Gold, the Foxesbane, born of Archfey's spite;

Abyssal Iron, the Gryphonsbane, born of Demon's labor;

Starcopper, the Ravensbane, born of Starhaven and Divine Might;

Warrior’s Bronze, the Catsbane, the war-god's blessing;

Frostwind Steel, the Serpent’s Bane, the hungry dead go hunting;

Cagesilver, the Phoenixesbane, Primordial's ruin, when the cages are shattered.

And then, they took a plant born of mortal soil that grew in all realms, and named it Wolfsbane, after the ruling Race. They named these the Shifterbane Metals and Wolfsbane, the Great Shifterbane.

The Shifterbane Metals

The Shifterbane Metals are a group of seven metals from across the multiverse. These only affect Lycanthropes and Shifters, as Celestial Therians are immune.

Mechanics. These seven metals all act like Silver does in RAW, as they can bypass a Lycanthrope or Shifter's resistance to non-magical weapons. However, unlike RAW, they additionally can suppress a Lycanthrope or Shifter's magic. For Lycanthropes, this is their Shapechange trait. For Shifters, this is their Kithnoron's Blessing racial ability.

Introduction

The Age of High Magic was the high point for therianthropes. The Therian Empire was founded around three thousand years into this era, and conquered the world. It ruled Hycalria for well over five thousand years, until the Curse of the Dread Wolf caused it to finally fall. This chapter will cover the following:

Rise of the Therian Empire. This section covers the Empire's rise, and the establishment of an empire that spanned the entire world.

Imperial Wars of Succession. This section covers the first great set of civil wars that tore the empire in half at the midpoint of its history, and lead to the height of its power.

Fall of the Therian Empire. This section covers the folly of the Wolf Purebloods, the Gift of Change, and the Empire's fall to the Curse of the Dread Wolf.

Rise of the Therian Empire

The Therian Empire was birthed in war. As the Circle of the Dead advanced across the continent of Kopihara, a budding Therian Empire fought them back in the War of the Deathless. In the end, the Shifter Gods took down Linxoran and imprisoned him once more in the prison halls of Asithyn. The Kingdom of Theria took over the lands controlled by the Circle of the Dead, and the Therian Empire was born

Imperial Wars of Succession

Five Thousand years into the life of the Therian Empire, the Emerald Throne stood empty. Emporer Lupus III was dead, assassinated in his own bed. His six sons tore the empire apart in a brutal set of wars known as the Imperial Wars of Succession. In the end, Prince Stoneleap k'Luron took the throne as Emporer Lupus IV of the Therian Empire.

Fall of the Therian Empire

In the dying days of the Therian Empire, the Alpha Wolfmages of the Arcane Tower beseeched Kithnoron the White Wolf to gift them the ability to Change humanoids to fill out the Empire's armies, so that they could take over the continent of Rilavera. Kithnoron granted their wish, and the Emerald Throne's might swept across the continent and conquered it. Three years later, everything went horrible wrong.

Kithnoron was corrupted by the Abyss, through the schemes of the Demon Lord Hasython. Every last one of the Changed went feral, tearing apart friend and foe alike. Worse, half of all Therianthropes went mad and feral. In the chaos to follow, the important figures of the Empire were slain: Emporer Greyfur III; his three sons; the High Alpha Wolfmage Firegem d'Yulor; and the High Priest of the Imperial Church, Moonpelt d'Ulino.

The Therian Empire fell within a span of a few hours, and the ripples of sundered magic plunged Hycalria into an age of darkness. It had spanned the three continents of Rilavera, Kopihara, and Gilovina, and when it fell, it brought everyone else down with it.

Introduction

The Age of Darkness is essentially the Dark Ages for the world of Hycalria. The Therian Empire fell to the Curse of the Dread Wolf, and the sundering of a million spells sent waves of pure magic across the planet. This chapter will cover the following:

Aftermath of the Fall. This section covers the aftermath of the Fall of Theria, and the destruction that swept the three continents of Rilavera, Kopihara, and Gilovina.

The Last Wolf Mage. This section will speak of the last Wolf Mage to live past childhood, Firestar d’Nyren.

Aftermath of the Fall

The Fall of Theria. This event shook Hycalria to its very core. With the violent death of High Alpha Wolfmage Firegem d'Yulor, the Arcane Tower crumbled to dust. With it, more than a million spells were sundered across all three continents, and the effects were catastrophic. Mountains shifted, chasms formed, the very land torn apart.

The crown jewel of the Empire, Lupa City, lay in ruins. Lycanthropes wander the ruined streets, and living spells prowl its once-lofty spires. Some say the ghost of Greyfur III still sits upon a broken Emerald Throne, awaiting the day that his empire is restored. But few dare to tresspass in that ruined city.

All contact with the continents of Rilavera and Gilovina was lost in the destruction of Theria's Fall. No aid came from those lands, the lands ruled by Aarakocra and Lizardfolk. To this day, some wonder if the Gods warned them, and they survived the destruction of that day. Now, in the Age of Darkness, that day is known by one name: The Day The Wolves Fell. With the long lives that many races lead, and the stories the shorter-lived ones tell their children, when asking about someones history, some people ask "Where were you when the Wolves Fell?"

The Last Wolfmage

Firestar d'Nyren. The last Wolf Mage to live past childhood. The Wolf Mages of the Age of Darkness are a handful of Canicor bloodlines that carry the blood and magic of the Wolfmages of the Therian Empire. Among Canicor, to be born a Wolfmage is to be born an outcast, for it was the five Alpha Wolfmages that brought the Curse off the Dread Wolf upon the Shifter Races. Firestar may have been the last one to live past childhood, but he died around three hundred years into the Age of Darkness, when those bloodlines still ran strong.

Version 1.0 - Document Release

Version 1.1 - Changelog Update

• Changelog added

Version 1.2 - Polish Update #1

• Clarified the gameplay aspects of the shifterbane metals

• Reworded some stuff

Version 1.3

• fixed some grammer errors