Lunar Beast

A lunar beast in the Thaumaturgaea setting is essentially the traditional depiction of wereanimals, especially werewolves (i.e. a human turning into an uncontrollable wolf monster). This is contrast to actual weres in this setting, who are in control of their transformations.

How Lunar Beasts are Created

Lunar beasts are created in the wild as a result of animals being imbued with intense amounts of lunar magic. This affliction by itself is often referred to as a lunar curse, especially if it was due to a lunar pulse.

In this setting, the moon has its own core of intense magic, replenished by simply continuing rotations around the Earth. Lunar pulses are somewhat equivalent to solar flares/storms. They can be predicted to some degree, and the magical effects of them are overall on a far less destructive scale than solar storms. The main danger is the creation of Lunar Beasts, which can go on to cause harm to other animals and humans if not kept in check. Lunar beasts are most commonly created from these lunar pulses, though there supposedly exist intense rituals to create one on purpose.

All recorded cases are large mammals, such as wolves, bears, deer, bison, etc. They end up being able to live much longer than normal animals, and during the full moon, they transform into a more monstrous and dangerous version of themselves.

In this state, if they bite a human, that human will also transform into a monstrous animal form during the full moon. The human will always become an anthro form of the animal that bit them. These lunar humans tend to be even more dangerous and stronger than lunar animals. Both lunar humans and lunar beasts also have access to lunar magic as a result of this curse, though it mainly manifests in the form of magic used to terrorize and harm others, especially via terrifying illusions.

Curing the Lunar Curse

Reversing a lunar curse is possible, by a method that effectively removes the victim’s lunar magic via a sort of magic surgery. However, the process is very complicated, not to mention expensive. For lunar beasts, often the animal is simply put down, especially if they’ve already attacked humans and livestock.

For humans afflicted with the lunar curse, they are often hunted down much like a lunar beast, with others assuming they’ve already killed or will kill someone. Some lunar humans are kept in forced captivity during the full moon, protecting both themselves and others. Unfortunately, often it does not soothe other people's worries about that person eventually getting out and killing someone, regardless of the security of said captivity.

However, there are reports of lunar humans managing to get their curse under control, via magic therapy and training. This results in them at least still having control of themselves during the full moon, though still stuck in an anthro form until the full moon ends. With further training and therapy, they can shift at will, and even shift into a fully animal form, effectively making them no different from regular wereanimals.

In these cases, they also still have access to lunar magic, but will need further training to be able to use it outside of the harmful spells they may have used before getting their transformation under control.