From the desk of Thomas Cooper, representative for the Global Administration for Research and Management of the Arcane (GARMA)
A recent budget surplus has given me the opportunity to create or refresh a program for GARMA. I have chosen to revisit WILD. The Worldwide Internal Lycanthrope Division was a group of werewolves that worked directly for GARMA. Their enhanced physical abilities, reflexes, and acute senses allowed them to easily complete missions that would prove difficult or impossible for normal human agents. Unfortunately, a new Director was appointed who had a disdain and disgust for lycanthropes and the program was promptly disbanded and abandoned for decades. It is time to revisit it. While werewolves aren't out of the question (I do have one in mind), there is another variety of candidate that could also provide similar benefits. Therids. So, I will examine the matter here.
The Therid Files
Concerning the group of anthropomorphic animal people, originally proposed as theramorphic humanoids but later shortened to therids. The process, in most cases, begins with an ordinary (captured) young wild animal that is then put through intensive genetic engineering and injected with nanites. Baseline, the nanites give therids resistance to disease and enhanced healing but seem to counteract biological degradation, causing aging to effectively stop at adulthood. These nanites have also manifested specific powers in certain therids. The therids are then released, generally still as toddlers, to be raised by selected human families. The motivations for doing this are, as of yet, unknown.
While, as mentioned, most therids begin as animals, there are some that begin with humans that are then engineered to be animal-like through the process. There seems to be no physical difference between the two types of therid, though there are minor psychological differences - beast origin therids have related instincts and other such natural tendencies. A thorough psychological examination of beast therids has yet to be conducted, but firsthand statements indicate that such instincts are controllable through will, though they do affect mood and emotional state.
The creator of the therid process, and the only one who seems to fully understand it, is one Talon Faust. He appears to be an ordinary human man. White, middle-aged, average height, short red hair, and wears glasses. His scientific creations are in a gray area. While they are certainly unethical, Faust doesn't seem to represent any corporation, organization, or even nation. It is even arguable his work his had positive results, as many therids have made significant contributions to society. He also owns numerous underground laboratory complexes across the globe, many likely not on record. Finally, with the date of records of therid creations we know about alone, Faust has at the very least likely enhanced himself with his nanites - presuming he is the ordinary human he appears to be. Because of all the above reasons, the Global Administration for Research and Management of the Arcane (GARMA) has not yet made any earnest attempts to capture Talon Faust. There are too many unknown factors at play, but an active file on this strange individual continues to be compiled.
Normally, GARMA focuses on the magical, paranormal, supernatural or adjacent matters that are better kept secret from the general populace, e.g. dragons, werewolves, etc. Therids do not really qualify in this way, as they are known of by the general populace - though many therids choose the relative privacy of living here in Fort Dragon. We also know the therid process is clearly science. The science of it, however, is so exponentially beyond anything we currently have. And there lies the mystery that places therids and therid affairs under GARMA purview. Could the advanced knowledge have been obtained through magic or a magicked artefact? Is Talon Faust a time traveler of some sort? A few have even suggested extraterrestrial origins. (While aliens do fall under GARMA review, it is my opinion that the answer is seldom ever actually aliens. Not never, we know that, just seldom)
Therids have been around for decades. There are 33 confirmed, as of now. The earliest properly recorded one being at the dawn of the 20th century. But there are partial records to indicate some older, and it is always possible there are animal-like beings in mythology and history that could have a connection to therids. This is one of the reasons we know there is more to Talon Faust, since he seems to be the only one with this knowledge and, so, has been active for at least a century, likely much longer. Here, I do not plan to list all known therids but just some of the more notable ones that have popped up on GARMA's figurative radar.
Files (Separate pages)
Adam Sylvester Cameron aka Damage
Dr. Albert Friedrich Bennart aka Fritz
Richard Taggert Tavish aka Tag
Jacqueline Dalton aka Jackie Frost
Dr. Henry "Hank" Othniel Charles Mantell