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Okie Dokie, this is for the newly bitten!(duh)
A human is bitten and survives. They will change with the full moon when the time comes. So here is the question, what effects would they feel from the bite? Not right before they change, but from the time it happened up until the night before the full moon. Sick? Pains? Feverish? Physicaly sick and/or temorary mentally ill?
Ex: Ginger Snaps 3. When Ginger is bitten, she becomes very ill and is bed ridden for a time.

Silverclaw wrote:Okie Dokie, this is for the newly bitten!(duh)

I imagine that the area of the wound will hurt like crazy, like any canine bite would. Prior to the cycle of the first full moon (after this event) approachs, the victim would notice that the wound is healing quicker than any they have ever had in their life. I would also like to think that they would be aware, in some way, their life will never be the same again, though I don't have any theories how this would manifest physically. Fever and heightened senses maybe?

hmmmm...

Maybe they would have heightnened senses and the wound would hurt really bad and they might have some more animal like instincts.

Because werewolf venom is a virius i would imagine the wound itself would become very infected. The wound would burn and the person would be extremely feverish maybe experiencing visions (a dummies guide to being a werewolf if you will) visions showing them maybe a little about being a werewolf or something.

I haven't really put much thought into this before, but what I think right now, (influenced by what has allready been suggested): ...
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I think the wound would become painfully infected. The person would become gradually more and more ill as the infection spreads outward from the wound (dark veins, bruising / dicoloration, etc.), but then begin to clear up a week/a few days before the next full moon.

The person would begin to feel better as their body finally stops fighting the Werwolf contagion and begins to establish symbiosis with it. Then the wound would begin to heal more quickly (but not impossibly so...just enough to be a bit unusual). The persons emotional state would be dramatically influenced by the battle that rages within their body durring this time.

For the first few weeks, (before their body accepts the new symbiotic state), they would feel more and more anxious...and afraid...but would not know what of. They would feel like the BEAST that bit them never took its fangs out of them, but is still latched onto their flesh...eating them alive...consuming them, (on a psycological / emotional level more than physical. ...if that makes any sense...). They would likely have dreams / nightmares about the werewolf that bit them almost every night durring this time ( or at least dreams that involve a struggle against a foreign force which is much stronger than they are...More Likely something more generic like this, actually...different depending on the individuals personal vision of struggle.)

Then, once their body stops fighting, the feeling of struggle May or May-Not end, depending upon how the individual feels about the personality changes and impulses they begin to feel at this point.

They would begin to feel like Predator, Carnivore, Pack-Hunters from the inside out. An increased favor for meat...developing stalking habits around weaker people/animals...perhaps acting out Alpha/Omega designating behavior, either acting dominant or, (if the person is a wimp AND is in the company of a dominating presencse [in their own mind, not yet knowing what they are]), cowering and acting dramatically sumbissive...feeling a little less wary about acting out primal impulses like Anger, Passion, etc.

If they enjoy these feelings, they would likely begin to feel great exitement as the comming Celectial event approaches, though they may not know why. However, if they reject these new impulses, they would likey feel increasing panic and desperation about the approach of a nameless event that they can not escape.

Either way...I don't see them having any specifically "wolfy" visions before hand, unless they have a pretty good Idea what is comming, in which case thier Imaginations would fill in the gaps with "Lupine-centric" thoughts.


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Something slightly off topic crossed my mind while writing all this. How different would this be between someone who was bitten durring a full moon and had a whole month to go through this process, and someone who was bitten only a week before the next Full Moon...or even the the day before? (Sorry to raise another question within a question. Let's try to tackle the original thought first. This is just something to think about.)

I really like your thoughts vuldari. Even though i want to be a werewolf lol i think after your description i want to be a herediary one lol.

Silverclaw wrote:Okie Dokie, this is for the newly bitten!(duh)
A human is bitten and survives. They will change with the full moon when the time comes. So here is the question, what effects would they feel from the bite? Not right before they change, but from the time it happened up until the night before the full moon. Sick? Pains? Feverish? Physicaly sick and/or temorary mentally ill?
Ex: Ginger Snaps 3. When Ginger is bitten, she becomes very ill and is bed ridden for a time.

They could feel pain, be sick, ETC. Or maybe nothing at all. It is possible to have something inside you without you knowing.

Mostly good replies here, I would avoid the hallucinations giving instructions of werewolfism though. That in my head would play out alot like a few specific scenes from American Werewolf in London.

I imagine the, "more aggresive," behavior would probably be at its peak during the first month of the infection, as any mentally healthy and stable werewolf would likely learn the cope and counter thier new found level of agressivness.

Increased senses, might work, if somewhat subtle, I think this issue may have been discussed earlier.

Because the bodies of the infected are gearing up for a drastic change and growing some of the physical components needed for the eventual change. I imagine that it'll be very common for them to feel like they've entered puberty all over again. They may even experience some puberty like changes to thier bodies during this window of a few weeks. However I doubt we'd see anything too drastic though. No matter how intense this seemingly magical second puberty could be, there's only so much that can happen in a few weeks time. So, this might dissapoint some newly bitten werewolves but chances are that any percieved inadequacies left over from thier original puberty are gonna remain.

Fighting against an unseen forign force.... Good imagry, new were's very well could have dreams like that.

Oh well, nothing more to add right now. Sorry.

Figarou wrote:They could feel pain, be sick, ETC. Or maybe nothing at all. It is possible to have something inside you without you knowing.

That's true. There is a certain charm to the idea of the person being completely oblivious to the changes happening inside them untill the fateful night when suddenly...

"...WHAT?...What's Happening ...to...me...?!"

Vuldari wrote:

Figarou wrote:They could feel pain, be sick, ETC. Or maybe nothing at all. It is possible to have something inside you without you knowing.

That's true. There is a certain charm to the idea of the person being completely oblivious to the changes happening inside them untill the fateful night when suddenly...

"...WHAT?...What's Happening ...to...me...?!"

Exactly. Its like the element of suprise. Not knowing how the "virus" entered the body. Then when that fateful night appears, thats when the pain and all that stuff happens. Instead of noticing your sence of smell, hearing, and strength getting better before the 1st shift. Or being sick, having visions, or wolf dreams before the 1st shift.

Vuldari already did an excellent job summarizing theories very similar to my own, and perhaps to what we could call the "consensus werewolf," an aggregate idea based on what most of our mental images have in common. I shall therefore expand on his work with my own theories of lycanthropology.

Probably one of the most critical things that affect the experience of what I call "Acute Lycanthropic Metamorphic Syndrome" is knowing versus not knowing what is going on--and if one does know, the second most critical issue is whether or not one wants it. If any of most of us get bitten, for example, and know with confidence that it was a werewolf, our biggest worries will be more about how to keep the secret or where to find hunting ground, assuming that lycanthropy is indeed all it's cracked up to be and not some horrible curse that turns us into a crappy-looking, brainless, drooling monster, just like in all the movies we love to hate.

But, for someone who doesn't want lycanthropy, it will be a rougher ride, because it takes positive thinking to overcome pain and suffering. And, for someone who has no idea what's going on, it would be even more terrifying, since most people generally assume that werewolves are fiction.

That said, here's my breakdown of acute lycanthropic metamorphic syndrome. Typically it takes about seven to ten days from first exposure to first shapeshift. Here's the course for someone bitten with a fairly large initial bite, followed by deliberate wound licking, with the intent of ensuring infection and seroconversion.

Day 1: The bite wound behaves fairly similarly to other animal bites. Common problems such as bacterial infection may begin if left untreated. Local pain and other problems can be expected. On close inspection after 12-24 hours, one might notice unusually dark vascular markings, though these features are easily ignored at first.

Day 2: By this point, the lycanthrope viral factor has spread well beyond the border of the bite wound itself, into regional lymph nodes. (Method of spread is extrapolated from oncology and infectious disease.) Prominant vascular markings would appear, and a fever would begin to appear. Someone unfamiliar with lycanthropology would believe that the bite wound has gotten infected. As the immune system attempts to resist the infection, local inflammation would build up, and the lymph nodes would become enlarged and tender. The wound would then start healing unusually rapidly, and any local bacterial infection would be killed off. Very late into Day 2 or early on Day 3, the bite wound sight may sprout fur.

Day 3: Intermittant fever would ensue as the viral load elevates. Locally at the bite injury, the wound would close up, but dark vessels would appear fairly prominantly at the site, and similar dark markings would appear in other places as the infection spread systemically. The person could also experience headaches as the virus-like entity spreads into areas of high blood flow, including the brain. A rapid metabolic boost creates a hunger for protein and a tremendous thirst that worsens over the next five days.

Day 4: This is when the fun begins. The virus has now modified about 5% of the total body, and its further conquest begins accellerating. It has started "taking control" over critical areas. As it enters the brain, it forces a rapid hypertrophy of the olfactory nerves, creating an enhanced sense of smell. The ears begin to undergo similar redesign. Various areas of skin would sprout fur for short moments, and muscles would twitch, as small regions "practice" shape-shifting through random firings of a developing modification of the person's neuroendocrine system. Other subtle changes like eye color would happen.

Day 5: Like Day 4, only more intense. By this day, 25% of the body's cells are infected early on, and by the end of the day more than 50% is, and most of the still unmodified cells are slow-metabolizing cells such as those inside cartilage. (The cartilage of the nose and ears, however, would be heavily infected because of the high blood flow, however, and undergoing brief shifts.) The fevers would die down, as most of the cells involved in the immune response would already be converted and actively helping to distribute the virus. The person would feel a diffuse ache, particularly in the bones and base of teeth. As lycanthropy affects the brain, the person will also take on lupine behavioral traits. The need for protein is easily interpreted as a craving for raw meat.

Day 6: By the end of the day, the last cells of the body are infected. Subtle brief shifts would give way to a more sustained generalized body shift, and the person involuntarily undergoes a very early partial shift once or several times, as well as numerous local shifts, such as having pointed teeth. (Tooth shifts are particularly painful.) Then, things settle down for a little while.

Day 7: The big shift happens. It starts off as an ache, followed by waves of involuntary partial shifts, pushing one into a "Lon Chaney" look. Then, at a certain point, the first true shift happens, driving one into full wolf form. The body remains in that form for about twelve hours before shifting back.

Afterwards: One gradually learns conscious control over shifting, but can look forward to a lifetime of dreaming about shifting in public and being known by name at the nearest sushi / sashimi bar.

Scott Gardener wrote: Afterwards: One gradually learns conscious control over shifting, but can look forward to a lifetime of dreaming about shifting in public and being known by name at the nearest sushi / sashimi bar.

*walks into sushi bar*

Human- "yo yo!! Its Figarou!! Whats up dawg. So what brings you in here?"

Figarou--"Heh, I'm out of fishies to toss. Gotta stock up on some more."

Hehe.

My previous post deals more with the physiologic stages of acute lycanthropic metamorphic syndrome. In dealing with the psychology of shapeshifting, there's a number of variables, as previously mentioned. But, for the unwilling lycanthrope, the best general predictor I can think of offhand is the "five stages of grieving," often described for people dealing with death, but applicable to any loss, including loss of mundane reality...

Stage 1: Disbelief:
There's no way I could possibly be a werewolf. They're a mythical creature! That can't be right. I know, the wolf stood upright... but that had to be my imagination! This is just some weird set of coincidences...

Stage 2: Anger:
That thing out there is a monster, and now it's turning me into one! Why did it do this? Why me of all people?!?

Stage 3: Bargaining:
There must be some way to cure this thing... Maybe if I can just convince God that I'm sorry for whatever it is I did...

Stage 4: Depression:
I'll never again be able to call myself human...

Stage 5: Acceptance:
So, when's the next full moon?

I kept those stages in mind when writing my own novel. I had my character go back and forth through the stages as new information trickled in, as is often the case in real individuals with terminal illnesses, dead relatives, lost jobs, and other catastrophic events.

Granted, for many of us, it would be more like winning the lottery. Sure, our immune systems might try to fight it off, but we'd be celebrating the occasion with raw sliced lamb and a bottle of coconut ale.

Scott Gardener wrote:
Granted, for many of us, it would be more like winning the lottery. Sure, our immune systems might try to fight it off, but we'd be celebrating the occasion with raw sliced lamb and a bottle of coconut ale.

Human 1 "Is that a new lottery scratch off there?"

Human2 "Yes, but nobody seems to be buying any."

Human 1 "Heh, I'll try my luck. Give me 5 tickets."

Human 1 *Scratch* *Scratch* "Darn, nothing. Only one left."

Human 1 *scratch* *scratch* "Whats this I see on the ticket?"


Human1 "Oh no!! What going on!! Ahhhhhhhhh!!"

The lottery in which a scratch isn't sufficient--it take a bite...

Scott Gardener wrote:The lottery in which a scratch isn't sufficient--it take a bite...

He was scratching off the tickets. When the wolves appeared on the ticket, one of them bit him.

Scratches...



"Dang! OK, I'll play again."



"OK, one more, but this is my last ticket."



"Oh, hey! Three in a row! What do I win?"

Silverclaw wrote:Okie Dokie, this is for the newly bitten!(duh)
A human is bitten and survives. They will change with the full moon when the time comes. So here is the question, what effects would they feel from the bite? Not right before they change, but from the time it happened up until the night before the full moon. Sick? Pains? Feverish? Physicaly sick and/or temorary mentally ill?
Ex: Ginger Snaps 3. When Ginger is bitten, she becomes very ill and is bed ridden for a time.

In the storyline I wrote, of a shifting race that needs that initial bite to initiate the first shift, the newbie feels fevered, itches, sweats like crazy, and when the change comes, it HURTS like a mother

Wow Scott Gardener...

That was pretty detailed and specific. Unlike me, you clearly have put ALOT of thought into that perticular event. ( As I expect one would when writing a Novel. )

I like your version of lycanthropy. It is quite facinating. I noticed that you made absolutely no mention of the moon. I take it, in your novel, the moon is actually completely insignificant to "Real" werewolves...exept on a symbolic level perhaps?

The only thing I didn't like about your description is the need for the werewolf to lick the wound alot after biting in order for the infection to take hold. No matter how I try to imagine that, it just seems too weird.

*Werewolf to Human he is trying to pass Lycanthropy to*"...wait...I'm not done...I have to slobber on your arm a little more..."


...other than that...Very Cool.

Scott Gardener wrote:Scratches...



"Dang! OK, I'll play again."



"OK, one more, but this is my last ticket."



"Oh, hey! Three in a row! What do I win?"

"Well, read what it says on the ticket."

Ohhhhh...I wanna Play!

*scratch, scratch, scratch...*


"...Nope...Nuthin..."



*...scratch, scratch scratch...*


"...Yay...I WIN!!!..." --- "...I think..."

Vuldari wrote:Ohhhhh...I wanna Play!

*scratch, scratch, scratch...*


"...Nope...Nuthin..."



*...scratch, scratch scratch...*


"...Yay...I WIN!!!..." ... "I think..."

werewolf scratch off fever has caught on!!

Okay, but first a note. I dont mind the werewolf deseise being called virus, it just seems to go that way, but it seems as though when people use it they truly are saying its a virus. It ain't.

Now. I'd imagine pain withen the bite, and posibly soon the body. With thr body fighting such an outside alein substance it could be very ainful and cause illness. Apparently as long as somehow the wolf DNA doesn't show through the tests if they are rushed to the hostbital.

Strangly when I talk about some things here I imagine Therianthropy, the person may start have 'm-shifts', where they may beleive they are wolven or start to act or take on traits of the wolf. Posibly just feeling that animal. Posibly just small gestures, maybe just sniffing the air or making soft grunting noises.

I'd imagine from the fright of being bitten, illness, and just how this change is effecting them, they person would be very mentally ill. To thinking they're crazy most likly, and posibly clouded thoughts. Might be anxous and panicy.

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*Grabs lottery ticket.* *Scratch Scratch*



Yey! Me won! *Is pelted by several hundred duckies*

I'll say it again, quantum genetics.

Scott, I like your take on the infection process as far as what happens after the bite, I will admit, there are some silmilarities in the script, but things don't follow really along those lines. I am keeping the moon involved because it IS Cinema. No magic, but the infection doesnt follow what someone would normally diagnose as the normal way an infection spreads.

But I love the intense thought put into it, none the less. The first shift in the film does leave someone in full wolf form for about 12 hours. Most of the time they're sleeping, due to trauma. And anxiety, night sweats, chills, etc also are incorporated in the few days before. But there is definitly a tie in with the moon.

I'm sorry to those that think the moon is overused, but there are some connections with werewolves that I just don't like to sever completely. While true, the moon doesn't control 'experienced' werewolves. Novice, or newly bitten, are affected STRONGLY.

But let me say again, I would LOVE to just go with a pure medical dianosis as far as werewolf infections go, But ultimately it IS a movie. I have to include some mysticism, (meaning emotional ties as well as physicall ones, not magic).. and some realm of the unexplained.

Mixing those has been a challenge.

Anthony Brownrigg