CURING LYCANTHROPY IN

RAVENLOFT

A.K.A.

RING AROUND THE WEREWOLF

While doing a spot of research a few years back, I came across an interesting cure for lycanthropy in an old book written around the turn of the century and published by some unpronouncable French Company. It was in English and had a printing date of 1900 and something. Not past 1910, I know that. The book was obviously some sort of textbook, and intrigued me so much, I threw down $250 at the German bookstore for it.
Well, since then, I've PCS'd twice, ETS'd, had my storage unit destroyed by a tornado, and had a house fire, so needless to say, that book is long gone. But I still remember enough of the procedure to modify it to Ravenloft and let the characters try it..... Good luck, suckers...

First of all, capture the beast by beating it down with ash clubs, and bind it with leather taken from virgin ewes, butchered under the noonday sun. Make three slashes in it's forehead to render it powerless and bind it to it's beastial shape, and confine the beast in a shed whose walls are made of ash.
Wait until the day before the new moon, feeding the beast the flesh of cattle butchered past thier prime. Although expensive and tedious, this must be done to save the soul of the man who is trapped within the shell of the beast.
Gather together at least 25 virgins of marriagable age, over half of whom must be having thier monthlies, and take them to the top of a hill where a stout ash stake has been hammered into the ground. They must fast the first night, and at dawn, urinate into a bucket. They must then eat a meal of fish and cheese, drinking only cold spring water. The urine must be mixed with wolvesbane and hemlock.
The beast must be shaved and brought to the top of the hill and chained to the ash post with chains and manacles made of cold forged iron. Once chained, the maids must strip naked and don garlands of wolvesbane and hemlock, and must dance beneath the dark sky in circle as 10 men build eight bonfires of ash and oak. Each woman must hold a switch made of willow vines, looped over into a U, with the bent end tied with a sprig of flowering wolvesbane. As they dance, the women must strike the beast with their wands, making sure they do not draw blood, only one women per circling, and never any woman before all have taken their turn. If the blood of the beast is drawn, the night is wasted.
Every fifth circling, the wands must be dipped into the mixture in the bucket, and the women must chant while they circle:

Man refuse the beast
Beast leave this man
Rejoin your family
Return to your pack
Return your home
Return to the wild
Break this bond
Refuse this joining
Spirit of Evil depart
Eyes of darkness turn away
One becomes two
And go your seperate ways

When dawn breaks, the women must rest, being shaded by deerskin and branches of oak, and new willow strips must be gathered by children dressed in gay colors wearing hats festooned with wildflowers. The women must drink spring water and eat fish and bread. As the sun sets, they must urinate again into the bucket, and the wolvesbane and hemlock remixed.
This procedure must be repeated through the new moon. On the night after the new moon, when the first sliver of the moon crests, the wolf may tear away from the man, and attempt to flee. He must be allowed to, for if he is caged, he will die, and if he dies or is killed, his spirit will mix with all of the maidens, causing their children to be born werebeasts. The man may live, and if he does, he will forever be shunned by wolves and dogs, and hated by cats.

Game Mechanics.
Base chance is:
     35% for a true lycanthrope
     65% for an infencted being
     +3% for every woman above 13 who is mensturating
     -5% for every night it is cloudy
     +10% for a ring around the old or slivered moon
     -4% for every woman of evil alignment
     -2% for every woman of chaotic alignment
     -1% for every woman of nuetral alignment
     -25% for every non-virgin woman
     -30% if the lycanthrope is tortured before the ceremony
     -10% if the chant is misdone
     -20% if any or all of the woman are clothed
     +15% if the men building fires and caring for the women are virgins
     +5% if the men are of good alignment
     50% chance of the being dying when the beast seperates
If anything is left out, the ritual will fail. All who participate in the ritual have a 22% chance of failing a Ravenloft Powers check. If the victim dies, all automatically fail that check.

Yes, it's tough and complicated, but curing something as powerfull as lycanthropy should not be easy. If the players manage to pull it off, they deserve something specail. Of course, if the victim was a true lycanthrope who did not volunteer, they've earned themselves an eternal enemy.
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