Malroth Manuscripts – I: Why I Indulge The Werewolf
"Good evening, my sweet lambs. Tonight I shall give you a preview from my personal archives. These tombs are only for those I trust most deeply. They contain many of my personal and important findings, thoughts, recipes, and cautions.
I do hope you find this divulgence insightful, dear inquirer. It does one well to prepare as best they can. You never know what you may need until the moment is thrust upon you."
Introducing the beginning of a new sub-series in the Malroth Saga, this time written personally by him! I realized there were a lot of things about him and the world that I wanted to say but couldn’t naturally fit into the stories I’m trying to tell. Not without huge exposition dumps.
The intent is for these to be largely self-contained pieces that occasionally call to a bigger sense of continuity and setting. So to that end I, or rather Malroth, will use these excerpts to further expand on certain topics and occurrences in this world.
Malroth's Manuscripts I
Why I Indulge The Werewolf
Welcome dear reader. However and whenever this writing has found you, I am quite glad it did so. This is, as you could probably wager, my personal collection of folios meant to shed dark upon the world in which I have lived, and how I live it. Today's entry will be about a topic I feel you will be excited to learn, so I shall not waste your time in getting into it.
Werewolves, also known as Canis Lupus Transformatio, are a creature very few outside of their circles claim to know about. They are an insular type, typically preferring to stay within and near the pack as much as possible. Traveling in such packs, lead by a usually singular chief, they're able to sustain themselves entirely on their own.
Once lycanthropy has taken effect, it takes mere hours for the curse to fully and irreparably alter the body. Regardless of what species they once were they will forever take the form of a typical bipedal wolf. To many who have not even seen a werewolf before, it is still quite obvious what they are.
Even when not transformed, there are many tells. Yellowed Sclera, patchy rough fur growing on the skin around their axilla & Inguinal canals, a distinct lack of body fat in lieu of muscle as a result of their altered metabolism, and a “wild" scent that permeates their bodies at nearly all times.
It is clear when you have met one, mark my words. They will never have to tell you.
They travel light, I mean that in many ways. Minimal lodging, minimal provision, minimal clothing. Preferring not to store food but procure it from the lands in which they roam, however temporary. What pleasures they do indulge in they do so entirely with their own, with one exception that I will elaborate on soon enough. What I am trying to get across is they rarely if at all ever so much as seek outside assistance and keep as far away from civilization as their lifestyle and creed allows.
This combined with the, shall we say, unique challenges lycanthropy brings to one's place in society makes truly encountering them quite rare, and rarer still on good terms. Nevertheless I, in my many years, have done so on several occasions. You may then be wondering why I chose to brand this particular quire with the word “indulge", well, I shall explain.
As a result of; or perhaps originating from; their unique place out of society, they tend to focus almost entirely upon building each other up rather than considering the outsider. While understandable, this is frustration to the friend or foe alike, as it can easily be seen as an inherently selfish lifestyle. One wholly uninterested in the workings and needs of groups that are not them.
However, I have not found this to be entirely the case. You see, they do find the occasional benefit in outsiders, and in my relatively younger days I was indeed one of them. A lengthly moment of carnal weakness allowed me to be I shall say, “exploited", by one such pack of Werewolves. Though I shall forever deny things were completely beyond my control.
I brought my desire to the chief of said tribe, and without fully indulging his plans he formed a temporary alliance with me. I would be allowed to partake in their rituals of intimacy if, and only if, I was able to bring them the game they so dearly needed. We struck a deal and stuck to it, nearly every word.
I respect that to a degree, if I am to be candid. The point is, the considerations and needs of outsiders, however septenary, are indeed considered– even if what they can gain from it remains a priority. I wouldn't, for example, rely on a werewolf for anything that required subtlety shall we say. But if one needs, shall we say, a touch of the wild for what they are trying to accomplish? I can attest as living proof that they are able to be bargained with and even called upon in times of need.
And that, if anything, is the lesson I am attempting to pass on with this entry. Simply because one exists outside of the world you know does not mean they cannot be of use to you. Other examples of my dealings with them, recent and distant, will unfortunately have to wait for another time. My ink is running low and the hours have, much like my own body, grown so old they have become new again.
So take care for now dear reader, take care to learn well what I have said, and remember above all–
“Those who live in the light may lead,
but those in the shadows will always supplant"