Weredragons

"But of course they would ask us to sympathize, as if these things are simple snakes needing a charmer. They cannot understand the fear I have, of making my customer angry, and watching them turn to a beast shortly before burning my home down."
-André Pérez, Savash merchant of Kaala Pattee

The least powerful weredragons grow scales and claws, their rage decimating everything and everyone within sight. The most deadly spew fire and sprout wings, their fury channeled and more calculated. Hiding deep within jungles or in plain sight on the street, whether a weredragon loses control or gains too much, they are the last thing a civilian wants to face alone.

Appearance and Behaviors

Weredragons get their name for being arguably still human, but taking the traits of a dragon in their "fully shifted" form. Occasionally referred to as dragons, they are also known as Chaos Demons, derogatorily as Lizards or "Lizzies," or more sympathetically as Afflicted Ones. Weredragons grow scales over their skin in a matter of seconds, a process that is physically painful, covering either some parts or their entire body. Their emotions and abilities are amplified in this state, which can last anywhere from several hours to a few days. Some weredragons shift to this form due to unkempt rage, despair, or fear, while those more experienced with their new form shift in and out at will.
Weredragons are most well known for having short tempers and an antisocial personality, but can also have anxiety and depression that overwhelms their personality the same way. Whatever the source, their emotions often lead to rampages that can ravage entire villages and even small towns. Jungles and forests are dangerous territory, for most rogue and savage weredragons that reside there hold such resentment and hatred towards society, that the sight of any human could send them into a rampage. The Red Ichneumon consider a rogue weredragon a willful criminal, and savage weredragons to be too lost in shifts to have retained their humanity.

Shift Potential and The First Shift

Not every human can become a weredragon. According to the Ichneumon, weredragons turn in result of negative chi overwhelming or blocking a chakra point, to the extent that this negative energy overflows and takes physical form (scales, claws and wings). This negative chi also disrupts the mind, making the weredragon overwhelmed with emotion and extremely impulsive. In order for negative chi to take physical form like this, it is believed the human in question needs a body--or possibly chakra points--that will allow for it. This is called shift potential, and its exact origin or cause is unknown. Very few humans have shift potential, and not all with shift potential will become weredragons.
After negative chi first overflows into scales--even just one scale--the ability to shift becomes a permanent fixture for the weredragon, with no known cure. Uncontrolled shifts driven by emotion are typically common after the first shift, with a possible cycle of frequent shifts making it harder and harder for the weredragon to control themselves. Much like this vicious cycle, negative chi and shift potential can be spread by weredragons, causing an increase of weredragons.
A weredragon's first shift often dictates what type of weredragon results. For example, if the first shift is caused by negative chi from an extreme wave of rage, then this impacts their scale color and their continued shift instances. Red scales are associated with rage dragons that are quick to anger, blue to sorrow dragons consumed by despair, yellow with panic dragons often shaken by fear--emotions at their most extreme. Other colors are believed to be caused by a mix within the first shift, I.E. the weredragon experiencing extreme sorrow as well as rage resulting in purple scales.
Wounds caused by a weredragon are said to cause or increase shift potential, and many that survive a weredragon attack are at risk of a first shift. Shift potential can be hereditary as well, and human children of weredragons are assumed to have shift potential. Shift potential appears to be more common among Oadan and Hisui.

Abilities

Shifting is not always consistent. Not all weredragons have the same abilities when they shift, and not every time a weredragon shifts is considered a full shift. A weredragon can wind up with just a few scales running down their arm for a few hours, only to fully shift head to toe the next day. Because of the nature of chi as an energy source that is always flowing, scales typically break down over time and disperse back into the air, just as ice melts and flows as water. Occasionally, one or two scales will remain, typically the first to form, and will fall off the weredragon but stay a physical object indefinitely.
A fully shifted weredragon is typically more powerful than a partially shifted weredragon. All weredragons can gain many superhuman abilities when fully shifted; their scales function as armor, they can breathe fire and are fire resistant, their normal physical strength is amplified, and their body becomes so coated by their scales/negative chi that they bear claws, wings, and on occasion, horns. A weredragon usually has one or two of these advantages within their first few full shifts, and develops more with further shifts, gradually mastering their abilities, if not just unleashing them upon anyone in range.
Typically, rage spectrum dragons have more fire power and fire resistance, panic spectrum dragons have tougher scales and grow wings sooner/that are stronger, and sorrow dragons have sharper claws and greater strength.

Dragon Clans

If a weredragon is to thrive within society, their best chance comes with joining a clan of fellow dragons. Some clans are monitored by The Red Ichneumon, but have high standards put upon their clanmates, and might not accept weredragons of a certain type, or weredragons they consider a liability. Dragon clans take different approaches to curbing rampages, some of which include turning in their own or killing them and taking their bounty.
Other dragons will try to hide from weredragons and Ichneumon alike, the more dangerous and feral finding their way into jungles, caves and unexplored terrain, while others cling to their humanity while hiding their scales and outbursts. It's hard to say if a pack of weredragons in an illegal clan, or a loner hiding in the city, is a more dangerous time bomb.

Attitudes and Politics

As it stands now, The Samos Nation considers all weredragons not affiliated with a legal dragon clan to be illegal, and as such, fair game for dragon hunters. There is a bounty on illegal dragons, the bounty higher in price for any dragon with a notoriety of any kind. The Ichneumon are trained to subdue and kill weredragons, though their survival rate is only so much higher than that of a normal bounty hunter.
The Samos Nation is multicultural, and as such, accustomed to differing opinions. Some citizens see weredragons as the real victims, others see the destroyed villages as inexcusable, some a grey area that's handled with context. Either way, weredragons cause thousands of deaths every year, each just as gruesome as the last.

"Who are the real monsters, here? Us weredragons? The Ichneumon? Or the people who kill us in greater droves than we do them--and with full intent? If they can't suffer us to live, why should we suffer them?"
--Van Thai, leader of the Dragon Clan 'Razor Claws'

This is an article that I've been meaning to create for some time, and the Frightening Fauna contest motivated me to create sooner over later. A lot of weredragon lore is still being developed, and since it's a very integral part of the story and world, huge parts of this article may change as I develop this universe further. Comments and feedback on what I have at present would be greatly appreciated, and while some links are still unpublished, this is due to change soon.