Written By Kona
The story of the werewolves begins in the ancient kingdom of Eldrath. The realm of Eldrath was magnificent; its armies were vast, and its culture was as old as it was rich. The king of Eldrath, Thalorion III, was widely regarded as a strong and fair ruler, beloved by the entire kingdom. The king had a wife, Lyrana, whom he had met while wandering in a forest; their love blossomed from there.
Unfortunately, Lyrana was infertile, meaning Thalorion would not receive an heir from her. Thalorion's advisors urged him to abandon Lyrana; however, the king would not do so, not even at the behest of his closest advisor and old friend, Eldinor. Eldinor and Thalorion had known each other since childhood, and Thalorion wanted Eldinor by his side at all times. But all was not well with King Thalorion; he had fallen ill, and even his most skilled healers could not cure him.
The king felt despair, knowing he would soon die without an heir. Thalorion contemplated what to do with his remaining time; he knew he had to survive this to carry on his lineage. The king of Eldrath decided to embark on a final journey to seek a cure for his illness. Thalorion set out on his voyage in the year -376EC, traveling across the lands in search of a remedy for his ailment. He sought out every renowned healer and herbalist in the realm, but no one could cure his affliction. He fought many legendary beasts, hoping that defeating them would appease the gods and make them aid Thalorion in delaying his doom, but to no avail.
In his desperation, Thalorion entered an ancient and forbidden forest to seek answers; there, his fate would be sealed. As the king wandered deeper into the forest, he began to feel a sense of being watched. One cold night, a shadow began to writhe and transformed into a figure; it was faceless but had eyes. When Thalorion looked into those eyes, he understood for a moment: he had not fallen ill but had been poisoned by his closest friend and ally, Eldinor.
With this revelation, Thalorion felt an anger and rage unmatched by anything that had come before. In his bottomless rage, Thalorion, with the magic of the forest, transformed himself into something monstrous. He was no longer a man, not quite, for there was something else within Thalorion now. As the father of the Werewolves howled, Thalorion—or what remained of him—looked to the sky and saw a full moon looking back at him. As the remainder of Thalorion's sanity was consumed by hate and this new being within him, he thought of Lyrana, and he apologized.
This new creature, fueled purely by hate, left the forest, but Thalorion would forever remain there. As the father of the Werewolves made its way to Eldinor, all it could think about was the hatred it bore for the backstabbing advisor. Eventually, the beast found its quarry, but he was not alone. In front of the Werewolf stood Lyrana, the wife of the king. Lyrana stared into the eyes of the beast, and Thalorion stared back. For a moment, Lyrana thought her husband had returned, but she knew that Thalorion was gone; before her stood but a husk, a wild beast. Stricken by grief, Lyrana ran at the beast in some desperate attempt to bring her husband back, but it was pointless. The werewolf struck Lyrana down, and by the hand of the creature that was once her husband, she died. For a moment, the crazed beast hesitated, as if it knew what it had done, but that moment would not last. The werewolf soon found Eldinor, and without hesitation, it sank its fangs into Eldinor's neck, killing the advisor.
But there was one thing the beast did not intend: anyone killed by a werewolf on a full moon would share the beast's fate. So, Lyrana arose anew, but unlike her husband, she was not fueled by rage and retained most of her sanity. Lyrana walked in on the father of the werewolves standing over Eldinor's body. As the beast turned to face her, Eldinor's body began to convulse; he had also been made anew. Eldinor, who had also retained some of his sanity, was determined to get revenge and engaged in battle with the being that was once his old friend—the friend he had poisoned.
The battle between the first werewolves was fierce. Eldinor and Thalorion fought while Lyrana watched the conflict unfold. The clash destroyed Amerthar, the ancient capital of Eldrath, and inadvertently created more of the lycanthropic beasts. These werewolves escaped the capital and wreaked havoc across the countryside. As the battle came to an end, Eldinor was defeated and lost his life; he would not rise again. The beastly king was victorious, but then Lyrana exploited his weakness, striking at her once love. As the father of the werewolves died, Lyrana stared into the eyes of her husband one last time and felt melancholy. Then she stood up and walked away, leaving the ruined city of Amerthar.
The other werewolves created that night terrorized the kingdom, and without a king, the kingdom of Eldrath fell, its opportunistic neighbors taking advantage of their weakness. Even with the old kingdom gone, the werewolves prevailed, becoming a silent terror to the entire world. The number of lycanthropic beasts fluctuated with every full moon, but they remained a rare and deadly event to come across.
Still, on every half moon, an old werewolf would journey into the ruins of the old capital to pay homage to her husband, Thalorion, king of Eldrath.