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Things that howl

Werewolves are, in the simplest put way, wolfmen. Previous human beings turned canine beasts who can spread their monstrosity around by exchanging fluids with other humans, mostly by bites or consumption of other bodily liquids. Contrary to popular mythology, one cannot be turned into these creatures by eating human flesh. Curses are a possible option, but the victims of these aren't considered true werewolves, as all spells can be reversed and the transformation is limited to nightfall only.

As the description implies, werewolves appear to be a hybrid between a human and a wolf. They're not fuzzy men nor giant wolves. That would just be silly and make them something entirely else (either a diseased human or a forest spirit/fat dog). Though all werewolves appear distinctly different, some with more human like faces and animal bodies, and vice versa, they all share some common traits: dark skin pigment (dark browns and blacks), coarse fur (amount varies), canine teeth and snout, wolf tail and giant clawed paws. Whether the werewolf walks on two legs or four appears to be dependent on their environment. The closer the monsters wander to human civilization, the more likely they are to stand up straight. Some city packs walk exclusively on their hind legs. This behavior is still being investigated. Some speculate they're imitating humans in order to stand out less, while others suggest it's simply more hygienic for them considering what the streets are covered in.

The male werewolf is more muscular and generally broader than the female, but notably shorter, usually by a head and a half. The average height of a werewolf is between 6 to 8 feet when bipedal, females again on the higher scale. Like wolves, werewolves have very little body fat, making them all muscle and heavy on the weight. This makes them quite athletic creatures when it comes to both jumping and running. It's not unusual for werewolves to reach 40 to 50mph when allowed some running space. Notably they're poor climbers and slow swimmers.

Another myth to be busted is that werewolves are completely savage beasts. While capable of extreme destruction and rabid territorial attacks when confronted with other werewolves not belonging to their pack, they're a decently peaceful creature and manageable to live with. They mostly avoid humans and rarely attack unless provoked. Much like sharks and other predatory animals, they don't seem too fond of human flesh and prefer wild meats such as deer and hogs when given the option. The only time they stir up trouble is when they get too close to big cities or take up residence there. Like dogs, werewolves can be easily spooked and stressed out when put into an unfamiliar environment, which might cause them to lash out. It's worrisome if a werewolf or a pack starts killing without a cause or reason such as fear, self defense or starvation. This is when most paranormal hunters are called in.

There's still a lot of debate regarding the intelligence of werewolves. There's no denying these monsters are smart. They're clever tacticians in groups, resourceful loners and opportunistic in all situations. They're more than capable of conjuring up plans for both hunting and escaping when needed, and have the capacity to change it up should something unforeseen happen. What has sparked the interest of experts, however, is how some werewolves are clearly trying to imitate human speech. This is so far exclusive to city packs and werewolves held in captivity or quarantine, but still a notable area of study. Several werewolves have been observed trying to mimic words and sentences, "hello" and "how do you do" being the most common phrases to hear. It's unknown if they actually understand the meaning behind it or what they plan on doing with it. There hasn't been enough documentation on this yet, but it's thought they're simply doing this out of boredom or entertainment, like songbirds or common household pets. If they really desired to communicate with us, it would be mindblowing at the very least.

Werewolves do appear to have their own complicated communication system however. Recent studies show that 70% of their communication is done through low growls, barks and howling, making werewolves quite noisy neighbors. They have distinctive names within their pack, and respond when called depending on how well you're able to mimic them. The rest of the percentage is equally distributed through body language and writing, the latter being the most extraordinary. It's unknown how they did it, but several packs and groups appear to be marking their territory or even leaving warnings by scraping symbols, or runes as the hunters like to call them, into stone walls, trees and anything else with a flat surface. A whole tablet full of runes was once discovered in Whitechapel, but it's unknown if it was created by a human or a werewolf, due to the delicate craftsmanship. Werewolves have been seen using tools, such as knifes and bats as weapons, but there's so far been no observations of them making 'art'. Experts are currently in the middle of deciphering the tablet. More updates on this later.

Werewolves appear at least clever enough to be humorous. They've been seen several times wearing clothing to entertain their packs, and seemingly experts have been able to record a 'joke' done in pure growls. Werewolves exposed to the sequence either by recording or told by humans/other of their packs appear to be amused by it, making content yips. It's not uncommon for hunters to use this 'joke' to show friendly intentions, making interaction with the beasts slightly easier.

The beast behavior is again, dependent on nature and exposure. Werewolves in secluded areas, such as forests and mountains, are more cautious and tend to flee when confronted with humans. City or town werewolves appear less shy and are more than happy to 'scare' bystanders, as they've learned that not all humans have guns (they have their own rune for that amazingly enough) and are quite more afraid of the wolves than the other way around. Oddly enough, city werewolves are less aggressive and handle stress better on a whole, but lack the athleticism of the forest dwellers. Their ability to adapt can be likened to that of a fox or raccoon.

So far there have been no observations of werewolves attempting to interact with other species. With a few individual exceptions where a lone werewolf has been seen playing fetch with a blind man who mistook him for his own pet, and a few sightings of reaching playfully after stray cats and dogs, they prefer to keep to themselves. An expert located in Russia from the 16th century once claimed he was approached by a lone werewolf desperate for company after the loss of his pack, and that their friendship lasted as long as five years before the creature fell to illness. Unfortunately the document's authenticity is current under investigation due to other outrageous claims such as the existence of halflings and ramblings of Latin speaking werewolf hermits.

While the process of turning into a werewolf is well documented (it's a long and painful process that takes up to 3 or 4 months, no turning into human again after this and once bit you're screwed), it's unknown why people are turning into these beasts in the first place. Hunters and experts have concluded it to be some sort of illness, but have so far no cure.

The majority of the world's population has no clue werewolves exist.

Monkeys with boomsticks

With the majority of the werewolf info done, it's time to talk about the hunters and experts!

Experts, or scientist as they usually are, prefer to study or have mild interactions with werewolves. They document their overall behavior, traits, changes over the years (seemingly each bitten generation becomes less animalistic, and if the drawings/sculptures are right, werewolves have never looked this human), track numbers and spread throughout the world. While there's been documentation of werebeasts since the dawn of mankind, a collective body of researchers devoted to the creatures wasn't seen until the Middle Ages. With the rest of the world now more available due to the industrial revolution, fact collecting and information exchanging within the community has never been easier and faster, which has lead to many breakthroughs. Some experts keep beasts locked up and quarantined in order to attempt taming, communication and worst case scenario perform an autopsy, but the majority doesn't get themselves involved in that. Werewolves aren't easy to keep and they don't respond well to being poked with needles, sticks and drugs. Quite frankly nobody does.

Hunters have been around since, well, the werewolves. Their overall job is to make sure that the creatures don't cause too much trouble. Unlike the secret researchers of werewolves, most hunters work freelance, often with vengeance in mind or as a continuation of the family business. A lot of times a combination of both. As experts are proving that werewolves aren't as 'bad' as they're made out to be, more and more people are starting work on relocating them to safer areas to continue study, but have so far been unsuccessful. While they've managed to move them, the werewolves 90% of the time return to their old territory and live as before.

Curse vs. Bite

Now, the big question; what the hell is up with the cursed werewolves? Why aren't they considered 'true' beasts, and why do the laws of the universe bend to them, but not the 'proper' werewolves???

HELL IF THE EXPERTS KNOWS. As implied the 'cursed' are magical in nature. Werewolves, as far as the experts know, aren't. It's like comparing zombies of movies to the real life equivalent. They're the same, but not really.

Cursed werewolves only turn at night, as mentioned, and change their appearance during their transformation. There are however some big differences between the cursed and the bitten. First and foremost the cursed's transformation is nowhere near as drastic (some muscle growth and hair accumulation, dark spotting and deformation of teeth and nails) and they gain werewolf-like abilities. They do not become completely other creatures. They're still the exact same person as before, and don't lose their ability to speak or communicate. Usually this is due to having been in recent contact with a cursed object or pissing off a witch, not because you got attacked by a giant mutant with a crazy disease. There are clear rules going on, and most notably the cursed ones can be turned back to normal.

Do not attempt to ask werewolf experts how the hell magic works. They have no clue. They're scientists, not magicians.

Hunters have been known to take down both werewolves, though it's become increasingly popular to hire these cursed ones instead to see if they're able to make sense of the beasts.