Lycaon

Name	Lycaon
Race	Human
Type	Lycanthrope
Faction	The Night Stalkers, BDA
Premiere	Desideratum: Blood Bonds
Relative(s)	N/A

Lycaon

"Send me to Tartarus that I might trade this hell for another."

Biography

Pre-Desideratum: Blood Bonds

Lycaon (/laɪˈkeɪɒn/; Attic Greek: Λυκᾱ́ων, Attic Greek: [ly.kǎː.ɔːn]) was once the boisterous and belligerent king of Arcadia. He had numerous sons with numerous women, and relished every moment of his time. However, being a large warrior, a king, and a playboy all went to his head. He became egotistical, and even questioned the gods. In the Age of Myths, he called down Zeus from Olympus for a banquet, desiring to show the world that Zeus did not have total awareness of the world. His son, Nyctimus was weak and frail while all his other sons were like their father. Nyctimus was emotional and artistic, and would show affection or talk of philosophy rather than wrestle, hunt, or fight, and Lycaon felt ashamed.

He gathered his sons, and they came. In front of all he announced that he would prove the gods were not omniscient and remove his shame at once. Before the assemblage, he called Nyctimus forward and slew him with a single blow. The others laughed as Lycaon ordered that he be cooked into the meal to be served to Zeus. When the god came to the banquet the other sons ate the food, knowing that their brother was in it. Lycaon boasted that no god had ever eaten such a meal in all of time, and Zeus made to take a bite. However, as he did his eyes glowed brighter blue and thunder tore through the sky. He dropped his meat and struck dead the gathered sons. He called upon his brother, Hades, in the Outer Darkness, and resurrected the dead Nyctimus. He then turned his ire to Lycaon promising to annihilate the king’s very soul, but Nyctimus, as loving and forgiving as ever, begged the god to spare the life of his father. So, Zeus took some pity. He turned the king into a monstrous wolf, and chased Lycaon from Arcadia and Greece.

For the first few weeks, Lycaon tried to kill himself in anguish and despair. He had been too arrogant and lost all his sons and his kingdom. Yet, no matter what he tried, within moments, his body would heal and he would live on, his spirit not allowed to leave the Physical World- at least not by his own hand. He then lost himself for centuries to madness, wandering the wilderness and killing anything that came into his path. But, as centuries became millennia, his temper cooled. He slowly began to remember who he was and what he lost- and took responsibility for it. Lycaon began to change his behaviors, aiding those that crossed his path rather than butchering them. He understood that he would never redeem himself, regardless of the good that he accomplished, it would never wash away the sins he had committed. Still, he began to understand Nyctimus. There was more to being a man than Lycaon had known.

As more centuries passed, he became embroiled in the Cult of Scales, Ophion’s cult. He managed to hinder their efforts many times. During this time period, he met Theodore and Deborah Ravenhurst. They had also run afoul of Ophion’s cultists and with Lycaon’s aid, they managed to secure the Egg of Ophion and place it into their magical vault below Ravenhurst Manor. Later, he met Calis Van Gothen, aiding him, Johann Conrad Dippel, and the others in their fight against the Nightbred and Vlad Țepeș. With Lycaon’s might and sense of smell, they were able to track down Vlad in Poenari Castle. There, they defeated Vlad and secured his blood. Dippel studied Lycaon’s abilities and with his scientific theories and Deborah’s magic, they were able to help Lycaon’s condition. Unable to truly remove the curse, it did manage to give the fallen king power over his affliction, and he could now change from man to beast at will. Now, he walked again in society and embarked on a journey of self discovery. That lasted a while, until he heard news of the deaths of the Ravenhursts.

Lycaon travelled to the U.S.A. and went to Wakefield, New York. It was as he feared, the Ophidian cult wanted the Egg and had slain the Ravenhursts to obtain it. Their son, Anaximanes, had survived for he had been in the manor that night his parents were killed on the road. Unknown to Anaximanes or anyone else in the manor, an incensed Lycaon stalked the woods of Wakefield. He kept vigilance on the manor and young Anaximanes as the boy grew. Lycaon killed any Ophidian demons or cultists that arrived in the area, and did so without mercy. In truth, this is why Anaximanes reached adulthood. Eventually, the cult gave up, and for years none came to the manor. During this time, gypsies arrived and they, too, helped ward off evil from the land with their Light Magicks. Satisfied that young Ravenhurst would be safe, Lycaon embarked on a quest to find the source of Ophion’s cult and cut the head from the serpent. In time, he found that the cult had spread across the globe. His assaults destroyed swaths of the cult around the Earth, but it tenaciously remained.

In more recent years the cult used capitalism as a means to fund its research and development. Running a corporation called MedUSA, the snake cult attempts to find a way to revive their master. Long since giving up on acquiring the egg from Ravenhurst Manor, they have moved to cloning. This is how the Xenopox virus was concocted. Not long before the events in Desideratum: Blood Bonds, Lycaon had infiltrated the MedUSA lab in Portland, Oregon as security. There, he had found an actual Ophidian demon in charge of the complex. He studied what was happening and knew they were close to finding a way to revive the god into a clone thanks in part to the work of Siri Solen and Doctor Demented. The night that Lycaon made his move attacking the Ophidian, at that moment, all hell broke loose. The Night Stalkers arrived, Siri initiated her own attack, independently, releasing all the mutants of the complex, and soon, the building exploded. The demon escaped, and Lycaon could not locate it.

Desideratum: Blood Bonds

In Desideratum: Blood Bonds, Lycaon is a lycanthrope that aids Absinthe Van Gothen during the Hawthorne Asylum hunt. Lycaon had been seeking out Doctor Demented. He followed his trail and scent, and eventually found the doctor’s base of operations- the abandoned Hawthorne Asylum. He was interrupted as, just when Lycaon set out to attack, Absinthe Van Gothen arrived looking for Siri. The moment her scent hit his nose, he became enraged, for it was not the Van Gothen blood that Lycaon smelt- but the Blood Suit. Instantly, he imaged this woman was allied with Vlad Țepeș, and so he attacked. Surprising him, Absinthe held her own, and even managed to bring him down. Thinking his end had finally come, he accepted death, but Absinthe spared him. The moment she said that she was a Van Gothen, he knew it to be true and finally noticed the familiar blood. Needing nothing more to confirm that she was an ally, the pair assaulted the Asylum and managed to free the captured Siri.

Once back at Sanctuary, Lycaon began to understand that history was repeating itself in a way, and he chose to aid the Night Stalkers in their fight against Nuit. There was some turmoil as the hyperborean monster hunter, Jacques Lombar, became angered. His wife, Meline, had been turned into a werewolf and Jacques had been forced to slay her, himself. Though Lycaon is completely different than the creatures known as werewolves, Jacques did not see it that way. His own guilt and helplessness at what happened to Meline forced the lumberjack to place blame on Lycaon. In the courtyard of Sanctuary as Abby and the Ute shaman, Sani Lightfoot, spoke with Lycaon, Jacques arrived in a fury. He fought Lycaon, but Absinthe intervened and someone’s life was saved, which of the pair we shall never know. Jacques talked with her about the incident and ultimately apologized to Lycaon. He learned from the experience just how bitter he had become and took the first steps towards closure in regards to Meline. Lycaon and Jacques fought the Nightbred together, back to back, and made a formidable team as they defended Siri Solen during a raid on the Sanctuary.

Appearance

Lycaon is a lycanthrope. As a human, he is a massive, muscular man with a black beard. As a werewolf, he has black fur.

Abilities

• Superhuman Strength
• Superhuman Agility
• Tooth and Claw Attacks

Notes and Trivia

Lycaon is able to be transformed in some of the Sanctuary's Bad Ends.