The Donestre are a legendary monster said to have existed during the times of Alexander the Great, like many historical beasts they were the result of fantastic tales spread by explorers to lands where the alien wildlife and native culture were as spectacular to them as any myth told around the campfire.
The Donestre was believed to be roughly a humanoid for having the face of a lion, they were infamous for a perplexing habit of hunting down explorers and decapitating them - devouring every last part of their victim save the head, which they would sit and mourn over.
Now, we all know about the Wendigo Psychosis that explains another man-eating monster but few have tested to see if in some remote area of the world another condition exists - one we shall call "Donestre Syndrome".
If such a condition exists, it likely causes a victim to lose touch with reality, making them prone to wandering beyond the usual confines of their society -perhaps for a great length of time. During this period they would surely begin to degenerate and become rather feral in appearance, having to hunt or gather resources to survive they'd likely develop other abnormalities such as swollen stomachs from malnutrition or hunched backs and bent limbs.
This, to the eyes of men who had never heard of such things, would probably make the victim seem rather "bestial" and through exaggeration tales of "lion-headed" men surfaced (the "mane" of hair).
The tales of the murderous Donestre probably began when victims experiencing the later stages of "Donestre Syndrome" began to attack humans out of a combination of madness and desperation - devouring them. It was likely they would of decapitated a victim in an ambush in order to kill the target quickly and minimize the chances of them escaping, gathering reinforcements or even killing their would-be-aggressor in self-defense.
After devouring their target, the still suffering victim of "Donestre Syndrome" would likely feel guilt as glimpses of their former sanity returned - thus to those who strayed too near during such moments the "monster" would appear to be sitting next to the decapitated head of their victim, mourning not only the loss of life but the very horror they had become.
So there lays the question - in an age where science is forever finding new answers to old mysteries could we uncover truth in the tales of these unusual creatures? Could there still be sufferers of the "Donestre Syndrome" out there in the world?
In the end that is a whole new story and no doubt in years to come it shall be told around metaphorical campfires of future generations.
