The Pack of the Silver Dusk

Point of contact:

Moon Howl Monastery is the home of the alpha of the Pack of the Silver Dusk and the one place where you can always find at least one member of the pack, either resting in deep hibernation, perusing the extensive library, working on one of the hundreds of statues that line the halls, or one of a dozen other actions one can do in quiet contemplation and safety.

Description:

An ancient order of therianthropes who once numbered in the hundreds but now has but a bare handful of surviving pack members. Secretive and powerful they are wisemen, wandering scholars, bards, helpers of the people, or simply reclusive survivors of a forgotten era.

How to join:

Joining is as much a matter of being chosen as choosing to join, as the ritual to be gifted with the Blessing of the Silver Dusk is not a simple undertaking and no simple choice as centuries to millennia of time stretching before you is a daunting prospect. First one must identify and approach a member without causing them to flee and then the interested party must gain the trust of that member so that they might conduct the ritual.
(On an out of character note poke The Poet/Requiem Angel on discord to ask about joining.)

The Blessings of the Silver Dusk:

Those who perform the ritual with Karga himself age extremely slowly, their lifespans extended by several millennia, while those they gift it too will have their lifespan increased by upwards of a dozen centuries, the ones they bless increasing by a handful of hundreds of years, this particular gift diminishing as it distances itself from the source.

Members can shift into various mixes between barely and fully into a wolf, and some members like himself can take on the form of a fae direwolf, larger stronger faster with silver fire flickering in their fur.

They can regenerate at an amazing rate, the oldest being able to even regenerate limbs after extended periods of time.

They can form “packs” of their own and will form intense bonds of trust with those in them, even going so far as being able to communicate telepathically while shifted, the range increasing with their age and trust.

While shifted their intelligence increases the further into the form they succumb to, though with this intelligence their instincts also increase. They become quick minded and quick footed, inventive and intuitive. Their minds race with ideas and information about their surroundings making them much harder to trick and trap.

They bond with nature on a mystical and instinctive level, gaining knowledge of the forest, its creatures, and its protectors. They can adapt to any terrain and learn its ways and quirks, becoming able to move silent and unseen, climbing and swimming with ease, and being able to form pack bonds with wolves they find. They also gain an animals instinctive knowledge of coming disasters.

Unlike other strains of therianthropy their forms are much less unnatural, and are even considered beautiful by some. Their claws retract and their “feral” form is a much smoother blend of their lupine and original races traits.

One of their greatest abilities is their gift of hibernation, which slows their metabolism and aging down to near nothing, however it does come at a cost. Their bodies do weaken and the longer their under the longer it can take them to truly awaken and remember their identity.

Downsides:

While in their were forms they must eat food that is palatable by wolves otherwise they will be negatively affected, even if they are recently in “human” form something that would disagree with them it can affect them.

Even in “human” form they do not dismiss all signs of their gift. Some grow more hair, others have strange eyes, others sharpened teeth or fingernails, or pointed ears but regardless their is an otherness about them that can lead others to suspect what they are. Some bearers of the gift even beginning to act somewhat like wolves in their normal form.

Even though they are resilient and hardy creatures in were form and not, they are especially susceptible to the bite of weapons crafted with silver or platinum, and if left imbedded it will halt their regeneration in wounds near the metal.

Wild creatures other then wolves instinctively sense their true nature as unnatural predators and will often flee them, even attacking if backed into a corner.

And worst of all are their enemies of old, hunters who wish to hunt them for sport or “duty” or glory and wish to take their pelts and teeth to sell for large amounts of gold.