Design Inspiration: Telltale of the Wolf

I used to combat middle school ennui by visiting the library in search of occult lore. Instead I found several slim and cheaply printed black volumes detailing paranormal findings from the seventies or eighties. The series didn't attempt to be anything but investigative children's books, but at the time I found the black and white photos in the middle of each book remarkable. Some of the photographs took a lot of imagination to see anything unusual, but the ample light leaks and distortions in the shots kept me awake at night wondering.

I can't recall the titles nor can I recall the publisher. But I remember taking these books with me everywhere. What I gleaned in those pages was paramount, more so than the offensive and seemingly perpetual arithmetic forced my way in the classroom. Though written for children, these books leant me the foundation for what my interests would develop into over the years. Today I'm much more interested in statting the supernatural than finding it in my backyard with a flashlight. 

But thats not to say these books don't still inspire my campaign design. I remember one of the books detailed the witch's mark, a common trope for use in myth and metaphor. But I like the idea enough that I'm applying it to the Cult of Aois Lychomancer. Every Lychomancer has a bite-shaped scar somewhere on his body. The origin stories vary, but every legend acknowledges that the scar runs deep through the flesh to pierce the soul.

Apparently like a legal stamp it binds a pact between the Lychomancer and his patron -- the Devil Wolf. But only Lychomancers know the truth. Some of these scars are easily concealable, others less so. But Lychomancers hide these scars desperately. Even the rumor of possessing such a scar will certainly summon harassment from local law-abiding authorities. Every Moon Lychomancer's scar is a luminous white. Every Sanctity Lychomancer's scar is a dull black. Besides a slight variation in scent, these scars are the only discernable physical difference between Moon and Sanctity werewolves.