Little more than a common highwayman afflicted with the curse of lycanthropy, Ganfel first began to hear the voices of the spirits shortly after a great magic was wrought in an attempt to rid the land of his kind and their bloodthirsty hunts whenever the moon grew full. One of the few werewolves to be spared from the attempted purge, he rounded up what few of his kinfolk were left and organized them into a raiding band. Plying his knowledge of roadside banditry together with insights gleaned from the whispers of his newfound connection to the spirit realm to stage a series of coordinated ambushes on trade caravans across the region.

Regarded by the local governance as a growing threat, the ranks of the lycans swelled as they spread their curse to captives taken during their frequent raids, the ragtag pack working quickly to repopulate their numbers. Recognizing that they needed adequate space to accommodate what was fast becoming the largest single organized gathering of werewolves the region had seen in recent memory, Ganfel relocated their base of operations into the Raubenfen; 383,700 acres of marshland crags and scattered evergreen forest where the mists were common and thick. A defensible location against retaliation from the armies of uninfected humans from which the pack could stage further attacks on the supply lines of nearby villages.

Over time Ganfel learned to bind and even compel the revenants of the forest to heed his command. His expertise as a shaman developing in tandem with the growth of his notoriety. Now marching into battle alongside reanimated skeletal forms possessed by lupine spirits, the pack of former bandits believed themselves in a position to ensure another purge of their kind could never be attempted again. After driving off the inhabitants of every human village within 50 miles of the Raubenfen, leaving nothing behind but ghost towns steadily being overgrown and reclaimed by nature, Ganfel annexed the region as his pack's exclusive territory.

Though a few attempts were made to oust the upstart Alpha and his kinfolk from the moorland, the large battalions of armoured troops with their horses and heavy wagons proved somewhat unwieldy. Struggling in the swampy terrain and steep mountain climbs when pitted against smaller swifter parties of werewolves trained in guerrilla tactics. Often employing hit and run attacks, the lycanthropes would harry the soldiers towards the forests and trees where ravenous phantoms coaxed into tangible forms by the Alpha's spiritual bindings lay in ambush. Inflicting far greater casualties than they received from the human militia.

Eventually efforts to secure the region and restore the lost townships were abandoned for being too costly. Other threats, such as the activities of vampires in the north and east, required the reallocation of human resources. Leaving the Raubenfen and those lands surrounding it as a bastion for werewolf tribal culture that would continue to endure.

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A character reference and initial bit of worldbuilding concept for my werewolf Ganfel! Done by the fantastic   BritishViper , I haven't had an active werewolf character in quite some time. It feels good to have one again~ And though I have plans for him involving a few different settings, fleshing out a baseline story concept that can be adapted from is a bit of writing exercise and something I enjoy having where possible.