Beasts

Beast is the common term for any creature that develops a connection to the magic that suffuses the world. What conditions lead to this happening is still unknown, but the results are well known. The connection to magic slowly begins to enhance the creature's characteristics and promote growth both physically and mentally. This often leads to strange new mutations and physiological changes that distance the Beast from its original species. Each Beast grows and develops differently, even those that began as the same base species, and if given enough time to grow can become indistinguishable from the species they started as. The oldest of them are said to be as powerful as nature itself. While the physical changes can be quite shocking, the mental changes are what really set Beasts apart from their normal animal brethren. While at the start its hardly noticeable, over time they will become obviously craftier and more intelligent. After a few years a Beast will even begin to attain sapience. The timeframe is based off the Beast's original species' intellect, with the naturally smarter animals gaining sapience much faster than others. There are even tales of Beasts hundreds of years old with wisdom and intelligence far greater than our best sages.