The Lunar Mark

Origins

Four years ago, during the last blood moon, known as The Marking, a terrible curse was cast upon the lands of Moonspire. Among terrible effects to the land itself, that still continue to this day, many people fell into lunar madness, attacking their friends, their family and anyone else that they could get their hands on. It was a blood bath, but as fast as it started, it was over again. But this would not be the end of the curse, as some of the ones affected by the curse woke up with a strange mark on their bodies.

Tue Curse

Anyone marked this way is still affected by the curse of the blood moon. Every month during the full moon they lose their humanity and go berserk, just like on that day, laying carnage in their wake, only to wake up the next morning, not remembering any of the things they have done.

The mark also comes with other bodily changes, such as increased hair growth and muscle strength, but the most striking one are their hands and feet. Fingers turn into claws almost twice the original size, capable of ripping open a person's chest with a single strike, while the feet elongate and get a striking resemblance to those of wild dogs or wolves. During the full moon, while the curse is in full effect, these changes become even more pronounced, turning the affected into true monsters capable of laying waste to entire towns in a single night. In addition, some psychological changes also take place, though these vary from person to person. Most get more aggressive and violent, for some it increases their sex drive, others develop strange obsessions with the night, the moon or any of many related things.

Dealing with the curse

Due to the danger posed by the affected, many ways of mitigating them have been proposed. In some places, special holding cells have been constructed, reinforced by magic and capable of withstanding enormous amounts of damage. 1-2 days before a full moon, all werewolves are then placed in the cells which are locked for at least 2 more days after the full moon is over. Only after it has been confirmed that none of them are still affected by the curse are they let out again. Usually, one cell is constructed for each wolf, but as these are quite expensive to build and maintain, combined with the fact that werewolves are not the most beloved creatures, even in more werewolf-friendly places there are more wolves than cells to hold them. In this case, often multiple are thrown into the same one and they are left to themselves until the full moon is over. Usually this means only one survives or that the ones that do survive are mangled beyond recognition and don't make it for much longer.

Other places do not treat the cursed as well, often hunting them down and brutally murdering them, no matter man or woman, child or adult. Wolves in these places often run out of town and live in the wilderness, which makes them even more wolf-like and dangerous over time. During the full moon, these places are often hit the worst by attacks and people rarely dare leaving their homes in that time.

Spread

Not much is known about how the curse spreads. Some believe anyone hit by the curse during the first night will eventually be affected as well, while others think anyone bitten by a cursed will slowly also become cursed. Yet other theories include a direct divine intervention punishing sinners, spells cast by some sort of "original wolf" and even secret experiments by any one of many different nebulous groups.

Lunara and the next blood moon

4 years after the original blood moon, a mysterious woman called Lunara has appeared claiming to not only know the origins and reasons for the curse but also a way to cure it. While the details of her plans are not very clear, there have been many reports of wolves being cured by her power and as she collects more and more followers it seems more and more likely her final plan will be revealed soon. And as the next blood moon is less than a year away, it is clear that some answers are desperately needed by the people of moonspire