Corpus Tamrielicum - The Imperial Library

[46] ON LYCANTHROPY
"Not too tough," he said as he emerged, carrying the carcass with him. "Winter must have
been tough on him too." Despite his bold words, the blood on his face and chest did not only
come from his foe.
Werewolves do not revert to their human forms upon death, despite what legends will tell
you. I had the opportunity to look at the monster's steaming body out in the snow before it
was carried away to be burned. The teeth, clotted with the flesh of the beggars, were
horrifying, but the claws shocked me even more. I have since seen live lycanthropes battle
golems, atronachs, and other beings not harmed by mundane weapons, and concluded that
they act as naturally enchanted weapons.
Because the werewolf is the most ubiquitous of lycanthropes, the term lycanthropy has been
used since ancient days to describe the disease that transforms men into half-beast, although
lycanthrope only strictly should refer to men who change into werewolves. But that is
semantics. There are certainly differences between the seven documented forms of
lycanthropy in Tamriel, but more similarities.
In Black Marsh and southern Morrowind, werecrocodiles stalk the swamps. Black Marsh also
shares with the Imperial Province and the wetter parts of Elsweyr the vile presence of
werelions. Valenwood's werevultures are not found in any other province. The wereboar has
found both the climates of High Rock and Hammerfell amenable. As I mentioned before, the
werebear is the most common lycanthrope in Skyrim, and is also found in the northern parts
of High Rock, the Imperial Province, and Morrowind. The werewolf can be found in every
province. The seventh lycanthrope, which I have never seen but my trusted peers have assured
me exists, is a wereshark that roams the oceans around Tamriel.
I have spent my life categorizing and observing lycanthropes, but I sometimes feel that I am
still a child trapped in a cellar in my attempts to understand them. I know, for example, that
lycanthropy can be cured shortly after infection, but after that time, the victim is doomed. No
one of my acquaintance has cured themselves after undergoing the first transformation. On
the other hand, I have a colleague investigating a coven of witches in the Glenpoint foothills
of High Rock who are rumored to have a cure. I remain dubious.
Perhaps it is because they are doomed that makes lycanthropes so aggressive. I have removed
the contents of a werewolf's stomach and found more remnants of roots and berries than
animal flesh. My conclusion is that they do not need to attack and devour humans to survive.
Yet, for some reason they do. Does lycanthropy drive them mad, or do lycanthropes feel the
need to spread the disease as a form of procreation? I do not know. I am not certain that any
of us who are not lycanthropes ourselves will ever know. And then, of course, it's too late.
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