Sadie

Basic Stats

Name: Sadie
Alias: Knife
Species: Human / Bright-eye Wererat
Gender: Female
Age: 24
Birthplace: The Bronx, NYC, Earth
Height: 5'2" (human shape)4'9" (hyrbid form)6" (non-anthro rat) 5'11" (Full Moon measured at front shoulder)

Bright-Eye vs. Traditional Therianthropes

Evolutionary arms races have been a part of all life since its beginnings whether or not it was guided by other entities including gods and spirits. A predator learns a new way to hunt, and the prey finds a new way to survive. Humans learned to use tools and tactics to outsmart and even prey upon the world's predators including wolves, tigers, and bears. As civilization grew, the primal spirits imbued the old predators with new tricks, and they created the infections that made werewolves and more. Powerful and hidden among the ranks of mundane humans, they enjoyed a time where they dominated the food chain, and there was a therianthrope for nearly every large predator from the legendary werewolves and weretigers to the less known werethylacine. Given time, humanity responded with the powers of the arcane and the divine to root out these hidden adversaries and drive them nearly to extinction. However, that only meant it was the primals time time adapt.

There are only four species of bright-eye therianthropes: wolf, tiger, bear, and rat. The rat, a surprising twist in the evolution of therianthropes, often thrived in cities with recruitment rather than hunting being their focus, and they carried on into the bright-eye lineage. Bright-eyes are named because of the pale yellow-green glow in their eyes when they are active, and they are caused by a different infectious agent than older were-creatures. They also are the only creatures of their type that actively evolve on every lunar cycle, and they have been selected to hunt and destroy sources of arcane and divine power.

Lunar Cycle and Evolution

Bright-eyes are tightly bound to the lunar cycle even when on worlds that lack moons. It is more precise to say that they start their cycle in sync with the one who infected them and proceed on a perfect 28 day cycle from then on. Four main stages can be identified as unique in the cycle.

Waxing Phase

During the waxing phase, which corresponds to the time between new and full moon, the bright-eye's body grows increasingly active and begins causing a plethora of random mutations that remain mostly silent until the full moon. As the full moon draws closer, bright-eyes get more anxious and active, and this is when they are most prone to infecting new members rather than killing targets outright.

The Full Moon

At the height of their power, the bright-eye enters a stage of greater power and assumes a shape that is unique to the cycle. They are larger, stronger, and for that one night, they are immune to silver. In fact, any silver in their body will be purged on the full moon. What is most extraordinary though is their evolution on that night. Trapped in a vault of stone, they will evolve better claws to cut their way out. Trapped underwater, and they might grow gills or some other means of becoming amphibious. Every full moon is a chance, not a guarantee, that there will be an evolutionary change. These changes persist with the individual but are not passed on to new infections. There is insufficient data to know if they may pass some of them on to live births.

Waning Phase

After the full moon, the bright-eye's body is riddled with mutations, and if not pruned, they could actually kill the bright-eye. The waning phase is a powering down from the full moon to the new moon, and it provides time for their bodies to trim out unneeded or dangerous mutations and reestablish more normal physiology.

New Moon

Unlike the older types of therianthropes, the Bright-Eye has a New Moon phase as well as a full moon. During the new moon, bright-eyes are forced to assume their native shapes, and their regenerative properties are greatly diminished. This forced them to lay low for a few days surrouning the new moon and provides the final reset and preparation for the next cycle.