Deashy

Pronounced [dee-shai].

Shamanism

The Deashy are Humans whose forefathers and foremothers used a complex form of shamanism to coalesce with an animal of their own choice. This made them take on some of the animal's features, such as ears, tails, facial features, and so on for a brief period of time. But when doing this for years and years, generation after generation, the magic they used made an imprint on them, making the animal features permanent. Nobody is really sure how these imprinted traces of magic came to linger, but scholars at the University of Rosemoor are in constant debate over them. All the generations after have since been born fully human, but then developed animal features once they hit puberty. The animal they end up merging with depends entirely on the Deashy. Some pick an animal to bond with based on personality traits they favor, or perhaps its looks and features. Others pick their animal based on physical traits such as strength or grace, maybe speed. If a child has been left largely alone in their exploration of their own self, more often than not their animal characteristics are more prominent than with a child who has been told who to be and where to go in life. Perhaps the parents bonded to the eagle really wanted their child to do the same and tried steering them down that road. In such a case, it would soon be evident that the child is unhappy and/or an ill fit for the eagle: no animal features would start to show on them and in turn, the child would get less time during puberty to truly figure themselves out and coalesce with the right animal for them. Hence why some Deashy have less prominent animal features than others sometimes. In general, most Deashy try not to influence their young ones in this manner, but nobody is perfect. The Deashy live as nomads and make up the majority of the Deashy Society.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Animal features are what marks a Deashy. Ears, teeth, eyes, eyebrows, tails, hands, feet, skin - many things are transformed during their coming of age, depending on how well they bond with their specific animal.

Growth Rate & Stages

All Deashy are born completely human and continue looking and being humanoid after their transformation during puberty. They usually have two arms and two legs, but there have been some very rare and odd occasions where a Deashy has bonded with an animal with several more limbs and therefore ended up with more legs and/or arms than usual. They are often considered adults much earlier than other Humans, as early as the age of 16, since their magically altered animal genes affect their growth rate somewhat. The genes from their animal of choice also affect their bodies in other ways. For example, Deashy bonded to any kind of feline animal reach adulthood much earlier than humans, often considered adults by the age of 15. They retain their physical prowess for most of their lives rather than falling victims to the frailties of age until they are getting quite old.

Additional Information

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

On top of the physical features, they also have quite strong animal instincts and characteristics, e.g. a Deashy who has bonded with the cat has very quick reflexes.

Genetic Ancestor(s)