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Hello folks,

welcome to Blackfalcon's sorry attempt to create weresheep lore.

I'm going to try introduce it like a few diary entries of a scholar who had first hand experience with one of those elusive creatures.

I hope you'll enjoy it. Feel free to comment, criticize or even edit it.

Diary entry #4-12


How could this have happened? I had been sent to look for an undocumented herb when I saw it. It was a few hours before noon. The morning sun caressed the canopy and its rays crept through the branches. On a secluded meadow I saw a most bizarre scene - a snow white sheep, regular yet I felt that something about it wasn't normal. Instinct told me I should run, but curiosity got the better of me that day - what a mistake, I would add. Entering the meadow I realized what wasn't normal, I was not just looking at a sheep in the middle of a forest, so far from its usual habitat, but that usually shy animal was staring at a single grey bear on the other side without making even a slight attempt to backtrack away from the predator. Fascinated with what I was seeing at that moment, I became careless and started to make my way towards the creatures so I could be closer to watch the situation unfold. To my surprise, once I was closer I realized what was wrong - the bear, that menacing nightmare to so many unsuspecting woodcutters and travelers was just standing there like it was confused or unable to decide on its next move. Or was it scared? But that would be too ridiculous to conceive. There was an easy prey, stupid enough to not even run. But was I naive? In my scholarly fascination with that unusual sight I stopped to pay attention to the environment, so I stepped on something. The noise I caused seemed to distract the sheep, which gave the predator a window of opportunity. I saw the gray shadow dashing down toward its prey and I remember saying a prayer for the poor creature, when I saw the bear's jaws wide open. And then all of a sudden hell broke loose.

I don't remember much of what happened, but I do remember the pain and agony. I was suffering. Out of the blue I felt my thoughts rushing in and all of them being about death and despair. I was seeing my own end here in this very place, alone, agonizing and forgotten. My very essence was fading away. I felt my blood pumping straight into my head, causing unbearable pain. Amidst of all that somewhere from the distance I felt a lingering presence in my mind, laughing at my weakness, gloating at my inevitable doom. I tried to fight, but the sensations were so overwhelming, so vivid, that I gave in. I remember tears streaming down my face and thinking that this was the end. Then I lost consciousness.

The gentle kiss of a spring breeze awoke me. The sun stood high above the canopy. I was confused. The memories of what had just happened made me shiver, but somehow I was alive. Slowly I managed to pull myself together and started to look around. I fully expected to see the bear having its lunch somewhere near me, but there was no such thing to be seen. Instead I heard a sheep's heart-touching bleating. How was that possible? The creature was lying not far from me, it was hurt but it was alive. To my surprise I noticed a trail of blood leaving the meadow. Another bleat immediately pulled my attention back to the sheep. I was not going to allow that creature to die just yet. I hastily started to chant the first restoration spell that came to my mind, but as soon as it heard my voice it started staring at me. Needles ran through my heart, weakness chained my legs to the ground and I felt fear - deep agonizing fear...but somehow, that sensation was alien, distant. Was it possible for a sheep to be able to manipulate one's mind? Was I going crazy? Like tidal waves, different emotions were trying to subdue my will but unlike the first time it was somewhat weaker this time around. Still, I had to mobilize all that was left in me to counteract that mental violation. I was about to faint when, as suddenly as it had started, the agony just vanished and with it I saw the creature collapsing. Suddenly a stroke of genius enlightened me - there were scarce reports of encounters with extraordinary farm sheep, which were causing all sorts of damage and were rumored to possess the ability to manipulate their victims' minds. Common folks call them weresheep. Once I would have dismissed that claim as a folk tale, but had I actually experienced a first-hand encounter with one of those weresheep?

If you ask me, the madness of Bellegar is behind this all.

£10 bet that our scholar will meet his end at the hands (umm...hooves?) of one of these creatures.

Well written entry BTW.

jeeeej On my watchlist read tomorrow,now sleepy time

A thrilling story Blackfalcon !

I wait for a continuation ...

Diary entry #4-18

I'm starting to slowly gain the creature’s trust. I've been following it for a few days now, observing its habits. It's a stubborn thing; ignoring the pain of the wound it received from its encounter with the bear, it is moving quite a distance each day. Healing its wound on other hand still proves to be a challenge. Each time I start chanting my spell it seems to somehow feel it, and in response tries to subdue me mentally. I don't know if it can understand that I'm trying to help, but I can feel that it is scared.

I'm certain now that this thing is clearly able to manipulate one's mind. And somehow I'm getting the strange feeling that this manipulation is not your typical attempt for domination, but is born more from the primal fear of the creature for its life. Fear twisted into agony, multiplied and then projected into its victim's mind. Could this be its usual manner of defense? Looking back at our first encounter, I'm starting to understand what happened there. I was at the wrong place at the wrong time, yet the suffering I endured seems to be worth it, as this is a most fascinating discovery. Indeed, this has got to be the most exciting study project of my entire life. Somehow I'm feeling connected to that creature. It might sound crazy, but last night I had a very strange dream. It felt like I was time-traveling. It was so long ago, millennia or perhaps even eons. It was a hot summer day. I saw a small shack and heard the sound of a few children playing. Cheerful laughter was echoing in the air. A bit further on I observed a work-worn middle-aged man, toiling hard at his garden. Due to the oppressive heat the earth was barren and it seemed he was struggling with a meager harvest.

A howl... and then another one. I saw a wolf pack chasing down a sheep. The farmer heard them too, as he turned towards the sound just in time to see one of the predators catch up with its prey and bring it to ground. The man took up his pitchfork and started running toward the wolves, screaming wildly. He managed to scatter the pack away but it seemed he was too late. The poor animal was gravely wounded and its life was fading. At the sight of the inevitable, the farmer collapsed upon his knees crying. I heard him begging and cursing at some unknown deities, and then I realized... that hard-working man was feeding his family with what little he could grow in his small garden and from the sheep's milk. Due to the heat his crop was poor and now the animal was dead as well.

Time started to speed up, hours flew by and evening came. The farmer - still kneeling there like a statue. Something made me look up at the sky. A single star was falling. All of a sudden I knew that its trajectory was heading straight into a collision course with the poor man's hovel. Time sped up again. I continued observing the falling star until it magically disappeared from the sky. Then out of nowhere I noticed a presence. From the east I glimpsed a hunch-backed figure, slowly making its way towards the farmer. Once it came closer I beheld an old woman, who was leaning on a time-worn walking stick. Then I heard her,

"What is it that you want? The Gods have heard your plea."

"I am undone. My family will starve." He answered mechanically, staring at the corpse of the dead animal.

"Hear me,” she began, “I can help you. Your family will never need suffer again.” She looked at the sheep at his feet. “You can be as enduring as this animal. I can combine your essence with that of your sheep. This will aid you on the field, and in protecting your family and your livestock. But you will never be human again. Your strength of mind will be the only thing to keep your appearance over that of the animal. But for this to happen, you will need to give up your mortal body. I will siphon your soul and mix it with this of the animal, then you will be remade. Are you willing to pay such a price?"

"I am." He hastily answered.

Days flew by. I heard children cry then I sensed the smell of death and then silence. Seasons changed. The shack started crumbling, but there was one thing that was always there... a single grey sheep.

What do do with the weresheep? Secret Weresheep Level, what else?

Maybe there are 2-5 books of this lore scattered around the game world (maybe near sheep, or they drop from certain sheep when you kill them) and if you collect them all, there's a clue to the secret weresheep dimension.

Maybe it's a bonus dungeon for testing your strength/build before the final boss (or maybe accessible from a saved-game made after beating the final boss.)

Stabbey,

I would so much love to see that. Tho I'm envisioning weresheep to be more of a victim of the circumstances. In next part I think i might get to how weresheepness is spreading and i think it is quite original than most were-.

I'm reading this with great pleasue, just to be mentioned! Waiting for next part!

I don't know why - and this i not mean to be personal - but when I think if weresheep - I wanna cringe and lung with a silver coated stake. The only thing that makes it kind of hard to visualize is a snarling sheep. I mean a wolf is easy to understand; but a sheep - they don't even have pointed teeth - what do they do - yew you to death ?

I realize your lore doesn't quite portray them in the vision that I see when I hear the name but that's why i'm so negative towards them (see my anti-were sheep note in the other thread). For some reason the name just brings up a vision of evil that I can't escape.
-
I hope we can have a cuddly little kitten or maybe a hamster; though I have to admit i prefer birds and kittens to hamsters. Well that's nto really true; i prefer kittens but birds can be really useful.

Weresheep ARE evil. That's our true nature. Sometimes we want people to think about us differently but that doesn't change what we are deep inside us, where our black blood boils and our immense hunger for butchering and bloodbath knows no limits......

Weresheep are the killer bunnies of Original Sin...

Oooo Yeah !!

Well no, they aren't. The killer bunny is a homage to a classic bit from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The weresheep, on the other hand, is a meme invented organically by Larian fans on the Kickstarter comments page.

I think that's better than just a shout-out to a bit someone else thought up, isn't it?

After reading watership down I BELIEVE in killer bunnies. And that dang bunny chased me around the map for over an hour in DKS


I'm not sure I'm able to believe in killer sheeps....

Me too, !
I've a weak spot for sheeps, weresheep or not ...
I'll offer my hero(in) the very first time to a weresheep:
doing nothing but let my character get eaten by a weresheep !

Time will change, time will change....

But your world will never be the same. Sweet dreams....

Well I don't know about killer sheep but i can guarantee you they will haunt your dreams and will make you suffer. How strong is your will ?

There's even an indie game on Steam IIRC that have Watership Down-rabbits as horrific beasts, so Weresheep can be entities of horror too.

Thanks, Blackfalcon, for all of your hard work on the lore.

#4-27

An infernal, bleating sound got me out of the tent. As soon as I was out I saw something I would never expect. Apparently the bear has finally returned, but clearly it did not learn its lesson. This time around I saw something you would never expect from a sheep. It not only had mind locked the predator in front of it, but it was also charging at him. The usually shy herbivore creature was turning from hunted into hunter. First, it hit the bear to knock it off balance, and then it trampled it vigorously until it stopped moving. The mighty hunter was dead, but what followed next was something shocking. The sheep kept on trampling already mangled corpse with determination, and, somehow, I knew it actually enjoyed the victory; almost like a human being.

And then it started changing. Slowly, it was turning into a human.

He was a man in his early thirties, and he was confused and tired. He was staring at me like I was the first human he had seen in a long time. Soon I learned that in fact I was. The scientist in me took over, and so I tried to establish a contact. It went surprisingly well. He spoke some crude dialect, but it was easy for me to understand - as if we share some deep connection. I offered him a meal, and then started to question him.

His name was Rickard, and his memories were scattered. He told me he was born in a city near by. He grew in a family of a small merchant. He lost his mother early on so he was raised by his father, who had little time to spend with his two children, but still he treasured each moment with them. He raised them to be honest and compassionate lads. They both learned from their father's example.
Rickard was fascinated with all thing good, and his goal in life was to learn to help all those in need. He had dedicated himself to the study of restorative magic, and also the more mundane ways of medicine. He never became rich with gold, but instead he was treasured and respected by even the most blood thirsty of the cutthroats from the slums where he made his living.

It was this respect that eventually led him to meet a beautiful girl. He was called upon by one of the brothels owners to check on a newly acquired prostitute, as she wasn't feeling well. When he arrived he saw a young lady, scared but still holding on. Upon first look, he knew she was extraordinary. She told him she had just come to the city a few days ago, but because she had little coin she was forced to look for a cheaper tavern.. She found such place here at 'One Eyed Minstrel', but apparently that was the wrong place at the wrong time. The owner had set his preying eyes on her. She was kidnapped and forced to work for him. Scared and tired, she had feinted so she guessed that's the reason why he had called a healer.Rickard was shocked by what he had heard, and he could not resist the beauty of the creature in front of him. He felt like their minds are connected. He couldn't stand to stay and watch from the side. He used all his pulls to buy her and set her free, but that bargain made him an enemy that eventually would trigger some astounding events. It was not long after letting her free when they met again, and somehow they fell in love. But their happiness was not meant to be.

One day he was getting back home to his beloved when he felt something wasn't right. He felt a lingering presence somewhere deep in his mind that was trying to overtake him. It was like primal fear. He brushed it off, but sped home to became witness to something terrible. The door was crushed. He entered to see his beloved was lying down, motionless, and fully naked on the kitchen table. She was raped and her throat was slit, but what was most unusual was the fact that she was starting to change before she was murdered. Her hands were turning into hooves, and her once beautiful head was replaced by one of a sheep. He felt nausea rising up, and a conflict of emotions overtook him.He cried and cursed the fates that allowed this to transpire. He cursed the one that had done the deed. And slowly, he started to lose control. The strange feeling from early on was back, and this time he was unable to fight it. Darkness swooped in and he felt fear and agony. Then, all of the sudden, he let a agonizing bleat.

I felt for him. Day passed and then night came. Somehow we had connected even more then before, and we spent the night together.

Grandmaster, I know that it sounds crazy what I'm writing to you, but that is what happened and what I was able to gather from one such weresheep creature. And I'm inclined to believe you might not hear from me again. I can feeling something lingering deep inside my mind. Please take heed of the content of these notes, and try to gather as much about these creatures as possible. They do exist, and they are to be observed with extreme caution. They are not evil, but their animal instinct is strong and apparently hard to control. So anyone that intrudes upon them will turn into a victim of the elusive weresheep...


P.S. I want to thank to Phlegmish; Robcat; Ticlimax and StromIV who helped me with editing all this wall of texts and made it possible to look at least a little bit believable . Thank you guys you are great.