Worgen Curse
A Gilnean Worgen by Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.
The worgen curse was an affliction that transformed people into ferocious creatures known as worgen, and was a form of therianthropy that stemmed from the influence of the wild god Goldrinn. It was most prominent among night elves and humans, though it could pass freely to most native peoples on Azeroth. Whether the curse is truly a curse or a blessing was a hotly debated topic amongst those that were afflicted by or knew of the curse, and there was no known true cure for it, though the feral nature of the affliction could be tamed through alchemy or a rite known as the Ritual of Balance.
History
The worgen curse originated after the War of the Ancients and the fall of Goldrinn. After the great ancient wolf fell in the conflict with the demons, one of his fangs was reclaimed by Malfurion Stormrage and Tol'vas Moonshadow as a relic of the great protector. As druidism spread through the kaldorei, they began to experiment with the power of the ancients, and a ferocious wildshape that would be known as the Form of the Pack was discovered. Malfurion took it and lost control of his senses, thus he banned the form from use.
When the War of the Satyr erupted, a circle of druids that honored the memory of Goldrinn had been established. The circle, known as the Druids of the Pack, were led by Ralaar Fangfire and Arvell, and they fell back on the forbidden Form of the Pack in order to gain an upper hand against the satyrs. Malfurion commanded they stop despite the power it offered, and Arvell ultimately relented to the elder druid's command. However, he was killed during the war as a result. Due to Arvell's death, Ralaar doubled-down on the usage of the forbidden form, as the forsaking of it had resulted in the death of a dear friend. As a result, the Druids of the Pack went rogue.
| -1,408 | Goldrinn was felled during the War of the Ancients and his fang was retrieved. |
| -1,238 | The War of the Satyr erupted and several druids under Ralaar Fangfire took the Form of the Pack. The Scythe of Elune was created and the worgen curse began. |
| -1,229 | The Druids of the Pack were sealed beneath Daral'nir. |
| 592 | Velinde Starsong took the Scythe of Elune and voyaged to the Eastern Kingdoms to monitor the slumbering worgen. |
| 612 | Arugal and Genn Greymane awoke Alpha Prime. |
| 615 | Velinde was killed by the Wolf Cult and Alpha Prime claimed the scythe. |
| 632 | Tol'vas Moonshadow broke free and stole the Scythe of Elune. |
| 633 | Alpha Prime was killed and the Ritual of Balance established. |
In order to preserve the druids that went rogue, Malfurion made the decision to seal the Form of the Pack permanently using the fang that had been recovered from Goldrinn. The repercussions of this were unknown, but it was not impossible that such an act could have caused the great wolf to be removed from the cycle of reincarnation entirely, and as a result, Tol'vas chose to steal the fang instead and retreated back to Ralaar. Arvell's widowed wife, Belysra Starbreeze, chose to help the Druids of the Pack in the midst of her grief, and she created an artifact that would be known as the Scythe of Elune using Goldrinn's recovered fang. They sought to use the scythe in order to control the Form of the Pack, but instead, it inflicted a therianthropic affliction that would become known as the worgen curse. The worgen helped to turn the tide of the battles of the War of the Satyr, but the druids afflicted by the curse began to lose themselves to their fury with Ralaar Fangfire, Alpha Prime, at their head.
Belysra returned to Malfurion after regretting what she had done, and she turned the scythe over to the archdruid. They decided to round up the worgen and they placed them in a deep sleep beneath their grove at Daral'nir, in the hopes it would stop the spread of the awakened curse.
This solution held for a time. However, many years after the War of the Satyr, Velinde Starsong took the Scythe of Elune and voyaged to the Eastern Kingdoms as a growing magical disturbance had made it impossible to monitor the sleeping worgen from a distance. Several decades after, a human mage named Arugal found the worgen slumbering within a "mysterious realm of dreams and spirits." The mage believed that he could tame the beasts and they would be a powerful asset against the enemies of Gilneas, namely the trolls, and he appealed to the leader of the kingdom, Genn Greymane. Genn agreed to put them to use, and several of their number, including Alpha Prime, were awakened. When the Gilnean wall was built and the Northgate Rebellion sparked, the worgen were also used as a weapon against the rebels.
Arugal seemingly had control over the worgen, but it was a ruse by Alpha Prime, and the worgen leader eventually convinced Arugal that Genn was a weak king because he couldn't keep his own people under control. He suggested that the worgen be allowed to infect the Northgate rebels, as that would then put them under "Arugal's" control and he could use them to bring down Genn Greymane as retribution for the lack of respect he had been given, and Arugal complied. However, Alpha Prime turned on him, and Arugal was killed for his hubris, leaving the worgen loose upon the Eastern Kingdoms, and turning Genn into a worgen in the process.
Velinde became aware of worgen being awakened, but she was ultimately killed by members of Alpha Prime's Wolf Cult, and the scythe fell into Alpha Prime's claws, which enabled him to awaken many more of his brethren, who he continued to seed across the Eastern Kingdoms. Eventually, he awoke Tol'vas Moonshadow, who managed to retain enough of his mind to break free of Alpha Prime's influence and steal the scythe, and he then fled back to Kalimdor.
Later, when Tol'vas and a group of his companions returned to Gilneas to stop what had been started, half of the kingdom had been overrun by worgen. A group of them led by Darius Crowley had found their way to the grove of Tal'doren, where the influence of the moonwell there had a calming effect on the rage of the humans infected. It was this influence that was eventually synthesized into the Ritual of Balance with the aid of the Scythe of Elune, and the worgen were finally able to master control over their lycanthropic forms.
Alpha Prime was killed by Tol'vas at the conclusion of an assault on the capital city of Gilneas, and his legacy was put to rest, though notably, he had been so lost to the curse that he did not shift back to his night elven form when he perished. The worgen curse, however, still persisted, tamed but not cured.
Effects
Transmission
The curse could be transmitted through the exchange of bodily fluids, thus bites of feral worgen were the most common means to do so. Bites were not guaranteed to inflict the curse, as transmission heavily depended on the resilience of the receiver, but the odds were high that surviving a worgen attack would have lasting repercussions. Drinking worgen blood was a guaranteed means to contract the curse, and it was the means used most by those that wanted to willingly be afflicted. Sexual contact also had a high likelihood of transmitting the curse, and the curse could be transmitted from a mother to their offspring during birth, though these means were not guaranteed.
Symptoms
It normally took about 24 hours for an infection to take hold, and during this period the curse could be removed with restorative magic. However, once the period passed, the affliction was permanent and could not be removed. An infected bite resembled a normal wound at first transmission, but as time progressed it showed signs of infection and abnormal growth, including the presence of dark hair. It could not be healed until the curse fully transmitted or was removed, at which point it then healed naturally.
Biology
In their shapeshifted form, worgen were faster and stronger than in their normal form and possessed an animal instinct that heightened their senses and awareness. They also grew larger, and on average, worgen grew about 1 foot and four inches taller when they transformed. Worgen were incredibly resilient, and powerful ones were immune to the strikes of weapons that were not magically enhanced. The process of shapeshifting was gradual and initial transformations could be painful as muscle and bone grew and stretched, but individuals grew used to the process with time.
As an extreme form of life corruption, worgen were also highly resistant to other forms of cosmic influences, and as a result, worgen could not be raised into undeath. However, other sources, such as voidal, could still influence them in different ways.
Treatments
While the worgen curse could not be truly cured, there were a number of treatments that could be used to control the affliction or otherwise render the worgen docile.
Alchemy
Certain alchemical concoctions could be used as temporary sedatives in order to calm a transformed worgen and put them into a docile state, though they normally did not have a lucid mind. These concoctions were primarily pioneered by Krennan Aranas before his death, and were used extensively by Lorelei Crowley to keep herself under control when she was outside the Gilnean wall. It was not uncommon for such tonics to be paired with chains or other forms of restraint as an added safeguard should the formulae be purged from the system prematurely.
Ritual of Balance
The Ritual of Balance was the most effective means to treat the worgen curse, as it was capable of bringing harmony to worgen that consumed the blessed waters the ritual was imbued within. While there were risks to the ritual as it involved a worgen facing their darkest selves, it could bring about a sense of tranquility that brought balance to the feral fury. Those that could not reckon with such a trial normally went feral and had to be put down.
Scythe of Elune
The Scythe of Elune could be used by its wielder to calm and control worgen in the vicinity of it, though the effect only lasted for as long as the worgen was under the influence of the scythe.
Mechanics
Those afflicted with the worgen curse received the Therianthropy Supernatural Gift (Werewolf) and became eligible to take the associated feat chain to unlock additional abilities associated with the curse.
