Revisiting Verbrek

[Tobias Blackburn]

I was a big fan of werewolves as a kid, and was always disappointed that Verbrek got the short end of the stick in terms of actual detail in 2e. Then we finally got a good version in 3e.

I get why they let it fall by the wayside in 5e though, splitting the hunt to Valachan and werewolves to Kartakass. But I've been going through things and, after seeing the Lupin (people who are trapped in a hybrid wolf form but keep their sense of self when the curse of lycanthropy did not proceed properly), thought of something that could work to make it unique.

For Alfred Timothy, he's no longer a natural born werewolf. Born the runt, he suffered even more bullying from his brothers and sisters when his father's lycanthropy didn't pass on to him. Worse, he seemed to be immune to the dread disease.

Always trying to prove himself, Alfred became crafty to find ways to make himself useful. He would help his family in hunting by acting as bait, or helping them find better ways of catching people off guard. But this intelligence never garnered him any praise, just more derision for his weaknesses. All he wanted to do was give into his anger and be able to tear his prey to shreds, but he was constantly reminded that he was no better than the other humanoids his family slaughtered.

Alfred began to pray to the moon, thinking it a representation of some divine spirit that guided werewolves. This obsession finally became all consuming and he came up with a new plan. On the night of a full moon, he arranged a game in which his family would chase a humanoid he had captured to the border of the forest. However, he had arranged traps and ambushes so that he could separate and murder his family members one by one.

By the time the game reached it's climax, the only ones left were Alfred, his father, and the human prey. Allowing the other two to severely injure one another, Alfred then stepped in and killed the human before challenging his badly wounded father for dominance, even though there was no pack left to rule.

Under the light of the full moon, Alfred finished off his father with a silver blade, letting the blood drip on him while begging for the strength he craved. It was at this point when the mists arose.

Alfred Timothy is now the darklord of Verbrek, but rather than be a true werewolf he has found he is just a Lupin. While the Wolf God provides him with magic, he lacks the strength necessary to rule a pack, and finds himself trapped in an advisory role to whichever alpha is in charge. The other werewolves allow him to stay because of his magic, but it is clear they only tolerate him because of his usefulness.

The woods of Verbrek are dotted with settler encampments, where they stay behind the high palisade walls unless going out to hunt or collect food or the various rare, almost magical, herbs that grow in the forest.

On the night of the full moon, the werewolf pack will play the Game again, chasing down a captive and tearing them to pieces. Alfred uses these times to arrange accidents to befall any pack members he wants removed.

But on the nights of the New Moon, during what he has come to call the Test, Alfred involuntarily transforms back into his weak, human form, and loses the magic of the Wolf God.

During this time, his scent changes as well and all of the werewolves in the domain are driven into a frenzy with the desire for his blood. Alfred usually makes his way into a settlement during these periods to use the inhabitants as shields when the savage attacks inevitably come.

Even as he needs the settlers, he despises them, as even when he is a stranger among them they see him as too weak and frail to be involved with the werewolves, and instead will often turn on each other.

If he had his way he would give into the primal fury he believes to be his birthright and wipe them from the domain. However, he knows that doing so would leave him alone and at the mercy of the wilds, forcing him I to a careful balance of providing prey to his pack while ensuring the settlements are strong enough to survive.

[TheArcaneWeirdo]

This sounds like an excelent idea.

I have to admit that while I love werewolves too, I prefer the non-villanous interpretations of them. My first exposure to lycanthropy was through Harry Potter (where the curse is decipted as a chronic magical illness heavily stigmatized against, there's no real cure for it but there's a potion that helps the lycanthrop to maintain their sense of self during transformations. While many werewolves turn to criminal life due to being outcast from the normative Wizarding World, an important secondary character,

VIEW CONTENT:

Remus Lupin

, is a wise and benelovent man revealed to be a werewolf, who struggles with severe self-esteem issues and self-destructive tendencies due to his fear of harming people and his trauma from every-day bigotry. Bro really just needs a hug. Can you tell he's my favourite character?), and as with a ton of fantasy stuff it kinda coloured my view of the monster. I generally prefer it where there is a problem of some sort with being a werewolf, but it doesn't necessarily turn you into a bad person if you don't break the curse.
Also, did you know that wolf fur can be over 3 inches long? Like, can you imagine how fluffy that is? If we have human wolves, why give up the oppurtunity to safely pet them?

But that's just, like, my personal cup of tea, that doesn't seem to have a place in any established Ravenloft thing. Your idea is very interesting, and I like how it's parallel to Alfred's canon backstory, similar enough but also different enough. Also, the dynamic of 'Why don't these idiots ever suspect me? How dare they insult me by labeling me as trustworthy? Why, I don't look tough enough for them? What did I ever do to deserve this humiliation?' is hillarious. I'd add that sometimes he goes as far as making sarcastic confessions, but these are never seen as anything more than jokes.

[Tobias Blackburn]

Thanks! That's pretty much how I see this version of Alfred. Lots of self-loathing about what he was "supposed" to be and isn't able to. Keeping himself among people who he envies even as they abuse and use him, and constantly afraid because he knows they will turn on him the moment he doesn't fully meet their standards. It's all in the 2e/3e version, but I figured a little renovation and fresh coat of paint would make him stand out better on his own.

And yeah, I've been a big fan of good werewolves struggling against the curse too. In fact, I wrote one that ended up in the Kargatane Book of Secret netbook way back in 2e. The character, named Carnagan Wolfe, was written when I was 17 and fairly new to writing things for fun instead of for school. So he's REALLY rough to look back on now, but I still have a soft spot for him. He was inspired by my Daggerfall character (the Elder Scrolls game before Morrowind, just to date my decrepit self), and John Mangrum's Celia Whitmoor character and his Beast at Heart lycanthrope character rules in the Book of Souls.

It was cool to then see Celia show up in the 3e Verbrek section of the gazetteer, as one of the people in charge of the Duskpeace Lodge/Duskpeace Outcasts. It introduced a society of people with lycanthropy trying to control the curse. So I would definitely include them in the new Verbrek, with some members being true lycanthropes and some being lupin, all of which are hated by both the villagers and werewolves.