Characters, places, and so on from the Dark Hunter world do not belong to us, they belong to Sherrilyn Kenyon. Characters we have created belong to us, the makers.
Our Gennisi (Beginning) Come with me, modern traveler, back to a time that has been shrouded by mystery. Back to an ancient legend that has been mostly forgotten. Or at the very least...
Distorted.
We see remnants of it in our advanced world. What present-day mortal doesn’t know to fear the light of the full moon? To fear the howl of a wolf? The cry of a hawk? To look with caution into the darkest alleys. Not in fear of human predators, but in fear of something else.
Something dark. Dangerous. Something even deadlier than our human counterparts.
But mankind didn’t always hold this fear. Indeed, there was a time once, long ago, when humans were humans and animals were animals.
Until the day of the Allagi. They say the birth of the Were-Hunters, like most great evils, started out with only the best of intentions.
King Lycaon of Arcadia had no idea that when he wed, his precious, beloved queen wasn’t human. His wife held within her a dark secret. She was born to the cursed Apollite race and was destined to die in the heart of her youth... at age twenty-seven.
It wasn’t until her last birthday when Lycaon watched his beloved die horribly of old age that he realized the two sons she had born him would follow her to an early grave.
Grief-stricken, he had sought out his priests who all told him there was nothing he could do. Fate was fate.
But Lycaon refused to heed their wisdom. He was a sorcerer and he was determined that no one would steal his sons away from him. Not even the Fates themselves.
And so he set about using his magick to elongate the lives of his wife’s people. Capturing them, he magically spliced their essence with various animals who were known for their strength: Bears, panthers, leopards, hawks, lions, tigers, jackals, wolves and even dragons.
As he blended the animal with the psychically enhanced Apollites, two creatures were created. One that held a human heart. One that held the animal’s. Each one possessed traits of the other. No longer human, no longer animal, it was a bastard hybrid of the two species.
He spent years perfecting his new race, until at last he was sure he’d found the cure for his sons. Blending them with a dragon and a wolf, the strongest of the animals he had experimented with, he imbued them with more strength and magic than any of the others. In truth, he gave of his own power to them.
In the end, he received more than even he had bargained for. Not only did his sons have longer lives than his wife, they had longer lives than any known species.
With their magical abilities and animal strength, they now lived ten to twelve times longer than any human.
The Fates looked down and saw what the proud king had done. Angry at his interference into their domain, the Fates decreed that he must kill his sons and all like them.
Lycaon refused.
It was then the Fates sought out their own form of punishment for his hubris. His children and all like them were cursed anew.
“There will never be peace among your children,” Clotho, the Fate who spins the threads of life, proclaimed. “They will spend eternity hating and fighting until the day when the last of them breathes no more.”
And so it was. Whenever Lycaon blended an animal with a human, he, in fact, made two beings. One being who held an animal’s heart and one who held a human heart.
Those who walked as men and who held human hearts were termed Arcadians after their Lycaon’s people. Those who held animal hearts were termed Katagaria.
The Katagaria were born as animals and lived as animals, yet once they reached puberty, when the magical powers were unlocked by their hormones, they would be able to become human– at least externally. Their animal hearts would always govern their actions.
Likewise, the Arcadians were born as humans and lived as humans until their puberty brought with it their magic and their ability to shift into animal form.
Two sides of a single coin, the two species should have been at peace. Instead, the goddesses sent Discordia to plant mistrust between them. The Arcadians felt themselves superior to their animal cousins. After all, they were humans with human rationale while the Katagaria were only animals who could take human form.
The Katagaria learned quickly that the Arcadians weren’t honest about their intentions and would say one thing, then do another.
All throughout time, the two groups have preyed upon each other while each side took the moral high ground. The animals believe the Arcadians are the real threat while the Arcadians believe the Katagaria must be controlled or put down.
It is an endless war.
And as with all wars, there has never been a true victor. There have only been casualties who still suffer from the prejudice and unfounded hatred.
We are born as humans and during the daylight hours, we walk in human forms. Because we hold human hearts, we are capable of higher reasoning and have a greater control over our animal half.
Still, the animal inside us is ever present and like a snarling beast, it makes demands on the human half. Sometimes it tries to seduce the human part, to make it yield to the animal impulses. When this happens, the two halves are at war inside us and take a tremendous toll on our strength and our control. The human half doesn't always win.
We are seductive, graceful, beguiling. A true predator, we stand out in the crowds of normal, average humans who aren't sure of what we are. They merely know we are different somehow. We look like them. We speak like them. But deep down, humans can feel us as a breed apart.
Out of the Arcadian patrias are born the Sentinels--the Guardians of man and were-kind. Only a select few are born to each patria. They are the strongest of us and they help to protect our people from those who would prey upon or betray us. It is they who pursue and execute the Slayers.
We are born as animals and in the daylight hours we stalk as animals. Because we hold animal hearts, we are subject to our darker sides. We live for the primal. For the wild fulfillment of our desires.
Our animal half rules the human. Squelches it. We take our pleasures when and where we find them and aren't bothered by things such as conscience and morals.
However, we are fiercely loyal to ourselves, our kind. Throughout the centuries, we have been hunted by the Arcadian Sentinels and others who have no tolerance or understanding of our laws.
Our soldiers and protectors are called the Slayers. Woe to any who cross their paths for we tolerate no spies, no betrayal. Disloyalty is punished by the strictest of means.
Eons ago, an individual approached each of the patrias and told them that they must each elect a representative to come and make laws and judgments that would govern all the Weres the world over. At first, they balked until they realized that Savitar wasn't the type of man to take no for an answer.
Only the strongest of the strong ever make it to this level. These are our undisputed leaders and they speak on behalf of every member of their patria. The only way for them to lose their seat is by death...
The council decides when an individual clan should be disbarred or destroyed. They also oversee setting up sanctuaries and havens. Most of all, they are charged with judging individuals Slayers and calling out a blood hunt to see them dead.
The Patria from each branch of animal, both Arcadian and Katagria send one member each to this council that is watched over by Savitar.
Savitar oversees the Omegrion, though nobody's exactly sure how he got the job. Based on how most of the Weres work, one can oly assume Savitar -- with all his Zan adn might power-- is the essential alpha male. He plays the role of impartial mediator between the Arcadians and the Katagria. The Omegrion meets on Neratiti-- Savitar's island home off the coast of...wherever he decides to put it. Despite having the Omegrion over for the occasional powwow, Savitar himself still remians a mystery to even the Weres. No one is allowed past the council doors of the Omegrion meeting room.
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The Omgrion is in charge of keeping the Were Hunters in line and also setting up safe houses that exist throughout the world. Limani, or Sanctuary, are places where all races can gather without fear of being hunted. Each Sancturay has its own laws, but by rights, all limani must abide by human law first and formost.
TAKEN FROM SHERRILYN KENYON'S BOOK 'DARK HUNTER COMPANION'
Slayers and Sentinels…..
Like all wars both sides have soldiers that protect their own women and children in their family group. The Were Hunters will most often segregate themselves to groups of the same animal and same kin, i.e., a Katagria bear will stay with other Katagria bears and vice versa.
Katagria follow the oh so basic law of nature: Kill or be Killed. The Katagria’s soldiers are known as Strati. These are the guys that seek out Rouge Arcadians. The Strati will not engage an enemy unprovoked, they will only kill to defend themselves, their pack, their land. A common trait with Katagria is to mount [yup, you’ve got it. On the wall], their first kill.
It is also polite to refer to Katagria by their animals selves, this is the equivilant of ‘Doctor’ or ‘General’ honorific. However, to call a Katagria ‘Were’ is a major insult. Katagria however do not mind the term Were Hunter as it implies they are hunting men, which they are.
In times of desperation a Katagria Were Hunters body will revert to its most natural and truest form. It is almost impossible for a Katagria to hold onto their human forms when injured and the reverse is true for Arcadians. The only other times a Were Hunter of either branch has to worry about holding their forms is when they get zapped by an electrical impulse. Should the electrical shock be strong enough then it is possible to blast the Were Hunters spirit right out of its own body.
There are some Katagria that are unable to rein in the natural hedonistic impulses of their animals souls and they eventually succumb to the madness of their blood. These are the true bad boys and girls, unredeemable animals better known as Slayers.
The Arcadians often refer to Strati as Slayers but that’s just a generalisation laced with more then enough latent hostility. The Arcadian version of the Strati are known as Sentinels and these normally patrol in groups of four. A Sentinels main duty is to track and kill any Slayer they come across. Only a select few Sentinels are born to each patria (family group), and they are chosen by the Fates. These select few are stronger and faster then the rest of their species, they are immune to everything but the common cold and a couple of odd diseases, like the one that takes away their ability to do magic.
Arcadian Sentinels can be recognized by the geometric designs that cover one side of their face, this birthmark appears when they reach maturity and many use their powers to hide their markings. The Katagria Strati do not share these markings.
Were Hunters can kill daimons but don’t usually as they are cousins to Apollites and therefore cousins to the Daimons. Were Hunters also tolerate the existence of Dark Hunters, but not generally well. Powerful beings don’t like to share power and when it comes to Weres, it is all about being in control.
TAKEN FROM SHERRILYN KENYON'S BOOK 'DARK HUNTER COMPANION'
Mating
Mating is a serious thing in the world of the Were Hunters, and it is not always about sex, its about discovering a soul mate. That soul mate is also chosen by the Fates. As many animals chosen by their creator Lycaon were ones that mated for life, the prospect of finding a mate for most Weres is as natural as breathing.
It may be natural but nothing is ever easy. For some species, mating involves a hunt or a chase. For some, the female must have reached maturity and be ready to receive the male. For some, its just the divining of proper pheromones. Then all of this animal instinct has to be weighed against the two Weres as humans, with all the pain and emotional baggage that goes with it.
See, easy…not.
Even the most basic animal heart cannot argue with Fate, all succumb eventually.
Once soul mates have discovered each other, Greek scroll margining burn themselves into the palms of the male and female after they have sex. The markings mirror each other exactly, showing parental lineage, and the ancient cipher can only be read by another Were. The marking looks like a delicately detailed henna tattoo…unfortunately it isn’t quite as harmless as one. While they bare the mark, the couple must be careful as each will carry the scent of their mates. This is a complication has just put a Were in mortal danger as when an enemy has scented a Were that they hate, they can be tracked by their scents and scents are the one thing a Were Hunter cannot change or hide with magic. Once the mate marks appear the happily doomed couple then have only three weeks to consummate the mating, an act in which the female partner has total control. She must decide whether to take her partner into her body and accept him as a mate.
All that is a tribute to the first law of Weres “Nothing a woman gives is worth having unless she gives it of her own free will”
Should she chose not to accept the male as her mate and the couple do not consummate their relationship in the allotted time, the Fates have declared that they live out the rest of their lives without a mate. Such a damnation has less of a biological impact on the female of the species. She will still be able to copulate with whomever she pleases, she just won’t be able to have any children with such actions.
Those are the laws of the Fates, Clan law is another thing all together.
Clans are strict about who and what they allow into their patria and in certain Arcadian groups, punishment for a female mating with a Katagria male, is that she be given to the unmated males of the clan and very few females survive such a punishment as that.
The male of the species must face an even worse fate. He is left not only sterile but unable to perform any sexual act with another woman again as long as his rejected mate still lives. To make it worse, the couple cannot take it back, unless they make the decision, they must make the right one as its forever. Never cross a Were that has turned against their soul mate, talk about bitter, their issues are to serious to believe.
Once mated there is two classifications of how strong the bond between each couple could be: claimed mates and bonded mates [I]. Each couple is given the choice whether or not to claim each other.
In order to become bonded mates, while consumatining their love , they must clasp their marked palms together and recite the words of the bonding spell
[I]“ I accept you as you are, and I will always hold you close in my heart. I will walk beside you forever.”
After speaking the bonding words the Weres succumb to the ‘Thirio’, their passionate animal instinct. Giving into their wild side their canine teeth elongate and they must sink their teeth into each other, drinking their partner’s blood to combine their life forces. In the Were world this is a sacrament and a testament to true love. Bonded to their souls it also means should one die the other mate will follow unless with child, then she will follow on and die afterwards when the children are born.
Gah! Why do I get confused with the animals running around? We have cats...and birds…but what else? Lookie here, instead of name, rank and serial number…its race, name and age!...Oh yeah, all the info is taken straight from the bios
Were Hunter Information
