The real monsters behind werewolves, vampires, ghouls, and other man-eating myths.

The Ferals got their start in the Harappan civilization of ancient India. The Harappans believed in the reincarnation of the soul and knew how to breed domesticated animals. Together, these beliefs led to a peculiar form of planned parenthood: they began to breed themselves as a way to create superior bodies for their own future incarnations. Most of these experiments resulted in smarter or more beautiful humans, but those strains have long since merged back into the gene pool.

Others focused on increasing physical strength, improving the senses, and generally making the human form more formidable in combat. But such capabilities don’t come without a price: physical mutations. Their eyes are large and filled with reflective nightshine; their faces are slightly deformed by enlarged nasal passages that let them track by scent; they have abnormally high muscle density that grants increased strength; there are famous claws and fangs, of course; and pointed ears that are a bit more acute than those of normal humans.

However, the Harappan civilization was crushed by invaders long before these experiments were complete. The proto-ferals fled their homeland and wandered the Earth, evolving further with each generation until they had become completely inhuman. Their appearance alienated them culturally and, in time, they stopped thinking of themselves as human at all. They are the predators. We are their prey.

Where ever they went, the ferals hunted and pillaged, taking what they needed and moving on. Tales of flesh-eating, bestial creatures spread in their wake: werewolves, vampires, ghouls, ogres… all these and hundreds more are simply the names given to the ferals in various places at various times.

Another set of mutations are responsible for tales of undead and unkillable creatures. First, Ferals have a highly efficient (some would say “excessive”) adrenal response that boosts their strength and endurance to phenomenal levels when they are threatened. This allows them to sustain injuries that would kill a human and keep on fighting… for a few minutes, anyway.

Afterwards, a heavily wounded Feral will lapse into a hibernation state that allows them to heal before complications like shock and internal bleeding can do even more damage. Townsfolk who watched a Feral get run through by a sword and stumble off bleeding, then return a week later fully healed, naturally concluded that the creature had returned from the grave. Such is the stuff of legends.

One oddity is the idea that Ferals, in their guise as vampires, drink blood. While they are known to suck the marrow out of bones, and occasionally lap up spilled blood, they usually devour a kill completely, from skin to organs. They certainly don’t leave entire bodies behind with only bite marks on the neck. These beliefs may be more directly related to the hysteria of the Black Death than actual Feral behavior.

Modern Ferals tend to hunt in groups of 2-12 members, though “lone wolves” are not uncommon. They mark their territories by scent, which is why dogs and other animals often know when they are around. Some eschew human culture and technology, preferring to live in the wilderness, while others have taken to the cities and live in apartments or condos, watch cable television, and even dabble in the stock market.

All Ferals, “civilized” and otherwise, observe a strict pecking order with the strongest male at the top, followed by his chosen mate and a few lieutenants, with everyone else free to sort themselves out on the bottom. Disputes are decided either by combat or the arbitration of the alpha male. Some groups actually forbid in-fighting and reserve the power of retribution for the alpha male alone. They still practice selective breeding, though few do so any longer out of a belief in reincarnation. Some have gone so far as to investigate genetic engineering as an expedient alternative. Exactly how expedient remains to be seen.

The pariahs among the Ferals are those who feel some remorse over their killing and forswear the eating of humans. They are usually driven out of the group, or killed, if they cannot be pressured into rejoining the hunt. Recently, these penitents have been resorting to cosmetic surgery to make themselves appear human and hide from their bloodthirsty brothers. No one knows if any have succeeded.

So, how do you kill one? Obviously, the tricks made famous by books and movies won’t do much good. They best way to turn hunter into hunted is to out-gun them, out-number them, and out-maneuver them. Doing any one or two of these things will be insufficient, not to mention a good way to feed some hungry Ferals.