Lore:Lycanthropy

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Lycanthropy is the disease that causes a person to turn into a were-creature. There are several different strains of the disease, most are localized to certain areas of Tamriel, but the most common strain, which turns men and mer into werewolves is reputed to exist in all areas of Tamriel. The disease itself is not very picky about its subject and most races are equally susceptible to catching the disease, except for the Altmer, Argonians, Bosmer, and Redguards, who are all naturally disease resistant, though not immune. The disease itself was created by Hircine, a Daedric Prince, who still serves as the 'guardian' of the afflicted people. This divine connect is most obvious in stories saying that Lycanthropy is strong enough to overcome the powerful Corprus Disease.

Contents 1 Types Of Werecreatures 2 Curing the Disease 2.1 Hircine's Ring 3 Game Sightings 3.1 Daggerfall 3.2 Bloodmoon (Morrowind) 4 Also See

[edit] Types Of Werecreatures

Name	Area	Notes
Werecrocodile	Black Marsh and southern Morrowind
Werelions	Black Marsh, Cyrodiil, and wet parts of Elsweyr
Werevulture	Valenwood
Wereboar	High Rock and Hammerfell
Werebear	Skyrim, northern Morrowind, northern High Rock, and northern Cyrodiil	Supposedly warded off by canis root
Werewolf	All areas of Tamriel	This particular strain varies in aggressiveness, ranging from monthly conversions to nightly conversions.
Wereshark	Seas?	No primary source sightings that are reputable

[edit] Curing the Disease

The only well known cure for Lycanthropy is to ingest a substance that will cure any disease shortly after being infected and before the first transformation. Other than this, many places are rumored to have a cure for the disease. The Glenmoril Witches' Coven in the Glenpoint foothills of High Rock are rumored to have a cure. Some of these witches have traveled around Tamriel a bit, and at least one group has taken up residence on Solstheim. There seems to be two different ways to obtain a cure for the disease from the Glenmoril Witches. The first requires a ritual, including the slaughter of an innocent person. Oddly, the witches seem to have created a scroll which is also capable of curing Lycanthropy without the loss of life, but they don't choose to use it.

[edit] Hircine's Ring

While Hircine's Ring does not truly cure Lycanthropy, it does give those afflicted with the disease more control over their powers. In some incarnations, it has the ability to prevent a monthly Werewolf transformation, and allows the Werewolf to transform into a wolf as often as they'd like. It has also been used to transform people who aren't infected with Lycanthropy into wolves.

[edit] Game Sightings

[edit] Daggerfall

Lycanthropy existed in Daggerfall in a few forms. Wereboars and Werewolves were both present. A standard Lycanthrope would be forced to transform once a month, but could transform as often as once a day. Hircine's Ring was used to prevent tranformations and to transform more than once per day. (Lycanthropy in Daggerfall)

[edit] Bloodmoon (Morrowind)

Lycanthropy did not exist on Vvardenfell, but it did on Solstheim. Still, the disease was quite limited, since only the common Werewolf strain of the disease was present. The disease caused a nightly transformation, and Hircine's ring could only be used to cause a non-infected person to become a werewolf. (Werewolves in Bloodmoon)

[edit] Also See

On Lycanthropy (Book)