The Bestiary (On Hold)

Lycanthropes & Wolfmen (Werewolves)

These creatures have been around for a long time and like the vampire it will never disappear from the tales folklore and mythology. But like the vampires they have also been dramatized but just not as much. Al though I personally think that the lycans in Twilight aren't actually lycans. They remind me of the Navajo tribes stories of skin walkers. The tale goes that if you wear the coat of an animal you can transform into the animal and harness it's abilities. Al though it doesn't mean that the wearer could lose control. There are many Native American tales about werewolves, one of the well known tales being The Wolf-Man, a tale from the Blackfoot tribe. The legend goes that a man was left in a pit to die from his two wives that had tried to kill him. Some time later the man was pulled out of the pit by wolves and was taken to their cave. There he would meet a blind and elderly wolf who would feed him powerful medicine along with a kidney. When this process was over the man that was half dead would now have the hands and head of a wolf while the rest of his body stayed the same. If I'm right then he would look something you would see on movies like Underworld. Which would bring us to the type of werewolves we all know in love, the European werewolf. This werewolf is described as a human being with wolf like features while it's bodies is covered in hair and its nails are long and sharp like claws. These beast have even been mentioned in Greek mythology, but when it comes to sightings the most famous story is Le Bete du Gevaudan or The Beast of Gevaudan. The story takes place in Gevaudan, France which is known today as Lozere. I can only describe the beast to be as tall as a calf due to the first sighting in the summer of 1764. That summer night the Mercoire Forest, a pregnant farm girl who had been tending to her livestock had stabbed it in the chest with a pitchfork. it seemed that beast had clutched at it chest in pain before it ran off. This could mean that it was either a serial killer dressed in a wolf like costume or something else. As time went on there was a record of 210 attacks, 113 being deaths with 49 injuries; although, a count of 98 were reported be to half way eaten. Most of the victim were women and children and due to the fast body count it was said that there could have been more than one and there was. The lieutenant of the hunt and the French king's harquebus (pistol bearer), Francois Antoine had shot the first beast in September 20, 1765 near  Abbaye des Chazes. When the wolf was killed it had overlooked and had scars and wounds left by the victims that had tried to defend themselves. It was stuffed and then sent to Versaille, there Francois would be glorified as a hero. 
The hunter who ended the final beast's reign of terror was a local hunter named Jean Chastel with the Marqi d'Apcher on June 19th, 1767. He killed the beast with a home made silver bullet that was then blessed. When the beast was killed its stomach had been open to reveal human remains inside. Two years after this incident in the month of December a beast had attacked two more men with another dozen to follow by la Besseyre Saint Mary.
It was said that beast might have been a wolf dog or a wolf hyena. But know one really knows for sure. There have even be wolf witch trials in the colonial era of Switzerland where a man by the name of Hans was said to have been given a pelt of a wolf that would make transform him into a wolf after a signing a book and sealing a deal with a man dressed in black (the devil) After his confession he was executed. 

To kill a werewolf you must pierce his heart with a wooden stake that has a silver handle, shoot him in the heart with a silver bullet,  or poison it with wolvesbane, although I would carry something plated in silver just in case. They are dangerous creatures and transform during the full moon. They will even attack the ones that are closest to them for they have lost all humanity that remains. If you have been bitten by a werewolf you will surely turn into one during the next full moon. If you want to become human again, you and only, must kill the one that bit you. The same rule goes for vampirism as well.

I hope this sections helps, in my opinion I do believe that some sort of beast like this exist in France due events in history. But who knows, only more time will tell.