A well-worn book, authored by the infamous monster hunter and scholar, Rudolph van Richten.

Found in the bedroom of Kolyan Indirovich, the late Burgomeister of Little Barovia.

Noticeably more worn than its partner on the shelf, this second book is larger yet contains substantially fewer pages that are still readable in similarly overblown prose.

The first legible section details general information about lycanthropy overall:

A prime example of the apex hunter within Faerun and other localities, the werebeasts - properly referred to as lycathropes, are as diverse as they elusive. Lycanthropy itself takes two forms, both as a legacy for some and a curse for others, although the two are not entirely mutually exclusive. These forms are largely the same in effect, but the primary differences come in the methods of acquiring such a form, how it may be lifted, and what level of control over it can be maintained.

The common image of a lycanthrope is that of a man, cursed to transform under light of the full moon into a ravenous canine form, mindlessly rampaging across the countryside in search of prey , revelling in their slaughter, until the sun’s light breaks through the darkness of night and causes them to revert, wholly unaware of what havok they have wreaked, naked and bloodsoaked in confusion - and truly this is an accurate one. A large number of those carrying the curse of lycanthropy, although disease may be more apt name in truth, do not do so willingly but suffer, oftentimes quite unknowingly beyond a suspicion of something being viscerally wrong, the effects on a monthly basis. True also is the commonly understood form of what is best described as a monstrous man-wolf hybrid being the one seen most often.

Despite the truths held in these stories however, they are but an aspect of the entire spectrum of werebeasts. While those cursed unknowingly are those most commonly known, this is largely due to the understood phenomena of of survivorship bias - the same concept that, upon seeing the surviving soldiers of his army returning home from a battle lost, the King - upon seeing the damage done to the breastplates of the survivors - mandates further armor to be added to the chest yet sees further losses, whereas had they instead pondered the condition of the armor upon those that did perish, may have more wisely chosen to have the necks and joints reinforced. The cursed tragic werewolf, unaware of his condition, is witnessed most often by those who live to tell the tale and therefore believed to in fact be the most common form.

This proves to not be true as one realizes that the more dangerous types are those that evade detection at all, leaving no survivors to tell of them - first, the cursed individual who has surmised the extent of their condition and chosen to embrace it, hiding it, and even learning to exert a level of control as they weaponize their condition when it strikes with intent. Fewer witnesses left alive due to the wicked intelligence of a malicious man, coupled with the feral form of a powerful beast, proves an effective method for deception. After all, the most dangerous enemy is the one falsely considered a friend.

However, to assume malice even of one knowingly afflicted is an affront to the victim itself in some cases, and it is more correct to still anticipate danger but provide sympathy, for some who have gleaned insight into their moonlight escapades do not do so willingly and in fact take pains to maintain secrecy for not the purposes of continuing them but the protection of their neighbours and loved ones as they take what steps they can to prevent the transformation, or at least cause themselves to be incapacitated upon the awakening of the beast inside.

Yet another category does exist, however. Not only can one be cursed by a chance encounter to bear this dark gift, but a more benevolent source exists as well - an ancient lineage of those gifted with the ability to change shape, passed from one to another open birth, traces far back into the annals of history. I cannot say for certain the purposes of these original fearsome warriors, be it an alchemical or magical ability granted by those that came and went long ago, or the gifts of a god upon their warrior tribes, but for these clans the gifts of lycanthropy are exactly that. By and large these groups have a tendency to treat it with the awesome respect it deserves, taking care to train themselves in the control of their abilities from an early age and leveraging the experience of those who have done so already themselves. For such individuals the abilities are passed on genetically, from parent to child, and they raise their offspring in a society that treats it with the required responsibility. These natural-born lycanthropes will exhibit a much stronger control over not just their consciousness within their bestial forms but also the ability to transform at will, and not only can they transform into the monstrous human-animal hybrid popularly known but into what resembles closely an actual member of the species it is modelled after.

An astute reader will notice I said “species” and not specified “wolf” - lycanthropy is not limited to the appearance of the common canis lupus but actually can manifest in the form of numerous varying species of animal. Lycanthropes can be any predator species - as animalistic of a condition it is, the survival of a member is very much intrinsically linked to the capacity for strength and while a weredeer or wererabbit is theoretically possible, its chances of having the longevity required to be passed on are quite low - and while wolven forms are the most well-known, werebears, -boars, -rats, and -tigers are also not unheard of.

Within the margins on this page, near the end of the legible text, is a sketch in black ink of a feather next to a question mark.

The next section touches on how the curse is passed on:

While natural-born lycanthropes pass on their gift to their offspring without ill will, those cursed with it do so in a less kind manner. Upon wounding an individual with the natural weapons umbued upon the one cursed, be it teeth, claws, horns, or other appendages, a chance exists for the curse to spread in similar fashion to a contagious disease, the new bearer of it unaware of its presence in their body until the light of the next full moon falls upon them, and even then only retaining fragmented memories of the transformation upon waking the next morning. The tendency of a freshly cursed werebeast to revert back to their previous shape at sunrise without warning does provide a clue, as the individual may often find themselves awakening surrounded by the slaughtered remnants of whatever herd of prey animals they had encountered in the night and proceeded to devour. Of course the mind prefers to rationalize such a scenario as best it can in self-defense and as obvious as it may be to an outsider the clue may be ignored, further assisted by a new subconscious understanding that the beast must return to its home before too late where they will find themselves as expected waking in their own bed with only the taste of iron in their mouths.

Those that do understand this vital clue however are given a choice - to either reject this form, either living in ignorance as a danger to all around them or in fear as they take steps to prevent this danger, or to embrace it for good or for ill - some seeking out tribes of lycanthropes to learn control, others giving into their base desires as a plague.

The last section is related to ending the curse of lycanthropy, either by curing the affected individual or slaying them:

Two approaches may be taken when handling a werebeast at large, and have a range of effectiveness depending on the specific situations.

By and large the more pressing issue is to deal with a currently rampaging lycanthrope by subduing them until they change at daybreak or more definitively by ending their life. While inherently a dangerous task it is far more preferable to counter violence with violence than to try to cure them on the battlefield as the motivations of the lycanthrope in their right mind will not be clear and a cure will only prove to be a temporary solution, assuming one has - as I will always recommend approaching any sort of monster - prepared themselves for the encounter. Of course, if one is caught unawares, a cure may not have been considered to be situationally appropriate for whatever was expected and combat is the only option.