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PrinceOfFire [2018-02-09 05:26:54 +0000 UTC]

Now that is badass! Absolutely fantastic design.

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RedStarryNight [2018-02-07 22:56:59 +0000 UTC]

Vampires and werewolves have been linked for years; if there's a vampire story, there's a good chance that werewolves will show up at some point.
I enjoy werewolves as part of the overall mythos, though I've been reluctant to develop them as great writers in the genre such as Carrie Vaughn and Patricia Briggs have. The werewolf just seems to lose something in the portrayal of social animals, capable of forming hierarchies. For me, the quintessential werewolf is the lone ones, the ones that burst out of locked rooms and dark forests, snarling and hunting for human flesh and blood, existing largely to be a lethal nuisance. The werewolf as a force of nature, as uncaring as a tornado ripping through a trailer park (side note: that would make an awesome horror movie scene, werewolf ripping through camping or trailer parks), feels more genuine to me than the packs seen in modern works.
That being said, it does seem unfair that, in a world where vampires have an organized society, complete with civil courts and an army, while werewolves cannot. My original view was that vampires--as part of their long-standing concealment program, the Grand Illusion--tend to suppress werewolf activity and isolate them around the full moon. Vampires would pity werewolves, sometimes condescend to them, but also give them jobs in vampire controlled businesses or keep them as property guards for vampire homes/hotels/installations.
Recently I've begun to revisit that view. The idea of alphas began to appeal to me more as a more feasible means of controlling the beasts, keeping them from hunting humans and utilizing them for useful work like military and security service.

The depicted beastie is a member of the Vudkolak Bloodline. This type of vampire starts out in life as a werewolf; when they die, they then rise from their graves as vampires.
As Breathing werewolves, the Vudkolak is inherently an alpha critter. It retains most of it's human intelligence (the only drawback being some temperament problems) and is as comfortable on two legs as it is on four.
Other werewolves immediately recognize the Vudkolak as a more powerful creature and will tend to submit. Attachment to an alpha tends to expand the werewolf's intelligence, and will enable the werecritter to shapeshift at will, as the Vudkolak does. The Vudkolak is unique, in that it can be created via a bite either from the vampire form or the werewolf one.
Breathing Vudkolak's are treasured by the Vampire Imperium and the Army of the Night for their usefulness in managing werewolves, but they present some practical problems: not every Vudkolak is willing to serve in the vampire military or to work where they are needed the most. The policy is to accept only volunteer recruits, and most refusals are due to Vudkolaks being comfortable with their circumstances and not wishing to change their lives dramatically (which the vampire lords have to accept; being bloodsucking immortals doesn't mean you have to be a jerk). Other Vudkolaks, going underground, let the power go to their head and try to organize little empires of their own. These particular wolves are often subject to the wrath of the Vampire Imperium.
Vudkolaks in the Army of the Night serve in a number of ways. They can control wolf packs, support vampire assault companies, infiltrate and destroy, etc. Vudkolaks that have not been matched to wolf packs are often deployed in squad or platoon-sized units. In combat situations in which the Vudkolak may encounter an enemy wielding werewolf-harming weaponry, they are equipped with combat armor similar to that issued to vampire troops. The key difference is that the werewolf armor is designed to be worn in both the human and werewolf forms, shifting and stretching to accommodate both shapes. 

Thanks to for applying his talent and precious time to this wonderful piece!

Part of a continuum that also includes:
Commission: Army of the Night by VincentiusMatthew Commission: Airborne Annihilator by VincentiusMatthew Commission: Deathseeker by VincentiusMatthew

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DuskSpiral [2018-02-07 18:28:52 +0000 UTC]

Cyborg werewolf? Now I've seen everything.

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