Chapter

Werewolf

Officer Kock of the county police met us on the other side of Lake Virijaure. Before we had even climbed out of the boat, he came up to us through the thick fog, asking if we had seen a man dressed in wolf pelts with blood all over his body. Some stranger had run amok, slaughtering a maid and ripping out her heart. We knew nothing, and told him so. He asked that we keep our eyes open. That night we heard the howls of wolves, echoing through the woods and across the lake.

— Carl Linnaeus, July 17th, 1732

The werewolf is a shapeshifter – a human that can transform into a wolf or a bear. There are three ways to create a werewolf: a human can turn into one through a curse from a vaesen or a wizard, a baby might become a shapeshifter if the mother's pain during childbirth is relieved through magic, and the third way is for someone learned in magic to willingly transform herself into a werewolf. Werewolves are strong, and they are bloodthirsty. Some only transform when the moon is full, others when they feel emotional – sad, angry, happy. A few can choose when to transform, but most cannot control their transformation nor their actions in animal form. Like other vaesen, werewolves can choose whether to be invisible to humans. But many werewolves are driven by an urge to stalk and frighten their prey, and prefer to be seen during the hunt.

Ritual

There are three ways to kill or neutralize a werewolf. If an attack with silver weapons renders the werewolf Broken, the creature dies. When addressed by its true name in the light of a full moon, the werewolf is released from her spell and becomes human. The werewolf can also break its own curse by finding a pregnant woman, tearing out her unborn child, and eating it in solitude.

Hide ritual

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