Editing Weremustela (section)

==Ecology/Society==
All weremustela share a common society that glorifies brutality and sedition.

Weremustela dwell in a variety of temperate climates throughout the [[Demiplane of Dread]], generally preferring forested areas. The different phenotypes are normally (80%) found in the company of one another, with at least two of the phenotypes present in any given mixed band. Wereermines prefer the colder temperate regions of the Core, but have also been sighted in Vorostokov. They are normally found in dense forests. Wereminks are widespread throughout the Core, and have even been reported in lands as distant as Souragne. They are always found near freshwater, preferring heavily wooded rivers and lakes. Werepolecats are also ubiquitous in the Core, but prefer open woodlands or even plains to forests. Wereweasels are perhaps the most common and widespread of the weremustela, being found throughout the Core and beyond, but seem to prefer the thick, dark forests also favored by the wereermines.

Weremustela society is savage but hierarchical, with each of the four phenotypes vying mercilessly for dominance over the other three. None of the phenotypes has a particular role in weremustela society, but the wereminks are usually the victors of most power struggles, if only due to their size and ruthlessness. Only the werepolecats can stand against them, but they lack the numbers of the wereminks. Within a phenotype there is similar jockeying, with each creature attempting to claw its way up a linear rank system.

Weremustela revere lying as a fine art, the double-cross as a way of life, and an utter lack of scruples as a virtue. Their society advocates stooping to any underhanded trick or method to achieve power, at whatever cost. Despite all the backstabbing, there remains a kind of odd kinship between the four phenotypes. If more than one phenotype has the same territory, they usually share a wilderness lair, frequently a subterranean complex filled with food stores and feast halls. Young weremustela grow up around the other phenotypes, and there is free socialization (although extra-phenotypic matings are punished with death). After a night of bloodthirsty human hunting, followed by death challenges and political assassinations, it’s not unusual for a group of weremustela to gather for a drunken sing-along until the wee hours of the night.

Weremustela are carnivores, like their mundane animal kin. All four phenotypes subsist on a diet of rodents, birds, eggs, and insects. Wereminks alone prefer aquatic creatures as prey, such as fish, mollusks, and crustaceans. Of course, human flesh is the favorite food of all weremustela, and they frequently conduct brutal raids against rural villages to obtain it. They disdain living within the settlements of mankind, however, preferring their wilderness lairs. Weremustela hate other werecreatures with a passion—they will even kill and eat [[wererat]]s when possible! Occasionally they make alliances with other evil creatures, such as powerful [[undead]], in exchange for wealth or favors. Unfortunately for more ignorant allies, weremustela are infamous for their mercurial loyalty and perchance for bloody betrayal.