Shifter

When humanity finally came to a new world, one so far away from the remains of a fallen empire. A galaxy away they saw a world covered in lush jungles thick with unknown trees and animals. They settled in a place away from it the only spot that showed signs of civilization. At least that was the plan to learn about the planet before meeting the locals. This was changed when the humans followed the directions of someone who would later earn the name of the Paladin uncaring of the careful planning went in and tried to show human superiority. The results of this first contact will thankful only cover the species' view of his group and not the whole human race.
The humans unable to speak in their language simply called them the Shifters. The first encounter between the two species did not go well given how one side sought to show dominance. Unaware that the shifters were not a race to go down easily. The first problem was that any boat sent to explore the country was destroyed the seas filled with all kinds of monsters easily able to take over the boats and sink them nothing being able to recover. The planes were taken out as well, yet they kept trying only after losing an unknown number of lives they finally arrived with a force believed to be big enough to crush any resistance.
As they landed for the few months the Shifters had noticed, they watched with carefully eyes wondering why they were even trying to reach their country though dangerous areas instead of taking the safe route. They hide deeper into the woods waiting to see what they did before approaching they had seen the falling stars and know they were from them. After a time a lone shifter one of their hunters approached with a few gifts. The gift of food seem to go well at least till one of them tried the food, the humans not following proper process for unknwon food died in a matter of seconds liek a plague was unleashed upon them. The shifters tried to aid but were quickly forced out, they watched from a distance as their gifts were destoryed. They had no idea that what was natural and safe for them was unsafe for them, the word spread quickly though all of their kind knowing with a few hours as the groups to the north prepared to meet other groups who had landed close by.
The contact this time was the talks went much better allowing both side to start a proper talk and work out how to work as a co operating species but the people to the south were not giving up. Sending forces into the woods to take them out working though it all so that they can be the one species on this world. It ended when the shifters to the north informed them of what happened and the humans were able to force an end with out much more violence.

Basic Information

Anatomy

While the variety of forms a shifter takes are nearly impossible to predict there are common features between all variation of them. The key things are the Plants and other natural elements that grow off of them, or so many believe. The reality is at a certain age all shifters are given a special type of plant that will be with them till the end of their life. This plant allows them to survive in different environments while also lowering the need to eat food, though on a physical level it causes things such as vines, ice, and other such things to grow or modify their bodies. Commonly the older one becomes the less of the actual creature they are based on remains instead replaced by jungles worked of trees or snow tops of snow and ice.

Genetics and Reproduction

Shifters are born in one of two ways.

• The sacred way: Long before Shifters became a single species, all of them were born to their respective species simply being a more significant, more intelligent, or in some way more powerful version of the base animal. The pack or herd they were born to understand this one was different and used them to improve their living. The pregnant animal would be able to tell that they were going to give birth to a shifter because it was taking a long time to give birth in both gestation and the entire time it takes for them to take their first breath when the time comes. Shifters view this as the greatest of ways to be born and will hold large celebrations when it happens now, as it is rare.
• The usual way: Nowadays, most Shifters breed with their species or other shifters. When done with their species, the child is usually another shifter, but on rare occasions, it can be just a normal one of their kind. When mating with other shifters, the child can be any species on the planet, making tracking any term of pregnancy nearly impossible. The pregnant shifter will have to be extremely careful as they do not know if their body is even made to give birth to the child. With modern magic and science, most children will grow up with two parents, but many a grave is made for a lost parent.

Growth Rate & Stages

Regardless of how they were born, all shifters will go through the same life stages around the exact times, with differences only matter to their animal.

During the first cycle, the shifter starts as not much more than their primary animal; simply a giant and has a much bigger appetite. Their parents would use this time to teach them the basics of survival in case anything happened to them, training them to be able to live if both of them were to the parish. The young shifter would also take this time to start and gather their herd or pack of their kind. The other animals were naturally drawn to them as they, on an instinctual level, knew that being with them would allow them to prosper. About halfway through the cycle, a year and a half or so, possibly sooner, the young shifter will begin to show signs of more intelligence, such as talking about their parents or playing with toys more than just chewing or cuddling them. At this point, the parents would start encouraging them to be less like the animal and more civilized helping them learn how to hold them and use them to solve problems.

The second cycle focuses on getting language and testing for Law of Talnets . Once either an understanding of the shifter language or the Talent is understood by the parents. Proper training will begin focusing either on magic casting and leadership if it is language, or Talent will lead to training in it and hunting slash pack tactics. All shifters will go through both training by the end of this cycle. The order only depends on how well adapted they are to one or the other.

Cycles 3 to 5 Are very freeing. The young shifter will experience growth spurts. Their senses increase from their sense of smell becoming overwhelming to seeing and hearing things too well. The child will have help at every step, but it is one of the most demanding periods on the shifter as it comes fast and hard on them. Most children will need some constant parental need at this point, being needier now than when they were younger as their body completely transforms into a proper Shifter physically.

Cycles 6 to 9 are the period of mental growth, and the brain would stop growing during the eight cycles. Other changes will be based on biology, such as being ready to carry a child or having the drive to seek a mate. Most shifters don't do these things at this point as the physical changes are still fresh in their mind and will be for a long time. Besides that, they are now allowed to be given proper education on laws and civil duties, plus whatever is needed to be part of the leading shifter society

. At the end of their 10 cycle they are fully grown and ready to live their long life for however6 long they would live.

Additional Information

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

All shifters have their base form naturally senses magnified by noticeable degrees. Creatures that could see miles now can see in 10 or more miles at a time. Senses of smell become sharper, able to tell the difference between an item and accurately tell the time in which it was last touched. All the senses are better; this is combined with the unique senses that the shifter gains as they learn magic, allowing them to become very adept at tracking their environment.
By the age of their third cycle, all shifters would have the ability to see auras, an infrequent outcome, or gain one of the six great senses.

1. Tremorsense: the ability to track the movement of objects through the slightest movement of the earth. All things, when they move, send out small shockwaves. Those with this ability can track it and, more importantly, tell size direction and much more with enough training to do such a thing.
2. Ghost touch: your body will react to possible danger or threat by causing ghost pain or a fake trigger of the danger before it strikes, usually a second or less before the danger. This is one of the most powerful but hardest to train and use properly, as very few who have it have the combat experience or reaction speed to register and act to the incoming danger before it lands. Though those who do seem to be telling the future when it comes to danger.
3. Echolocation: An effortless ability to use sounds to get a map of the nearby area. For the shifters, though, it is much more than that, as it can work through walls of thin enough construction. They can also use it to tell the speed, which is highly accurate, ate you sing two sound sources to figure it out.
4. Hype trail: The ability to smell scents days after the person leaves and store them for future years. The amount the Shifter can hold of different scents depends on how much training they do into it. Most don't use it much as it usually leads to many jokes about the Shifter with the ability, but it is highly valued when used.
5. Mana sight: One of the rarest in most Shifter group but the only ones of the Vyrm can get. It has multiple properties, from seeing Devotion to sound waves and many things between, but the most famous ability of this sense is that the user can focus their Devotion though the eye and use it as a weapon. A Shifter with fire devotion would be able to heat everything within their sight or a stone used to petrify things. The cost of this sense upgrade is the user usually loses an eye.
6. Resolution taste buds: Shifters with this have the power to tell what each ingredient is and how to make the meal better, along with knowing if the food was over-ripened, rotten, or ripened. At first glance, this ability doesn't seem that good, but the ability to lick any fruit, knowing if it is ready to be harvested or needs more time, makes them excellent at farming and also testing for poison as they can tell how it works and how to make a cure fast.

Symbiotic and Parasitic organisms

All shifters have a symbiotic relationship with their base species. More information can be found on that species page.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

First names are not given much care, and people can change them as often as they like. They are meant to be something they can tell everyone. A starting point to earn respect from the person as they learn about each other. Usually the names are made with classical Christian themes to them, as The Founding Witch found it funny to do this.
Middle names have much more weight. To be told the name is to be told what the person wants to be or what their family wishes them to be. They are usually concepts or objects in the world that a person can never truly embody but take small parts of into themselves. This also lets them naturally have a connection to mana, or so they believe.
The last names are sorely used, as you do not simply name the person before you but their entire family. You bring forth years of possible warriors, men, and women who have moved crowds of people to their side, peasants who worked the fields without ever seeking more, and thieves stealing to support their families.

Common Taboos

A shifter that mates with an animal not of their kind. Such a thing is looked down upon, for the children born from this are never in good shape, usually not even making it to the end of one cycle. The ones who do such a thing are usually hunted down, and their partner is checked over to ensure they do not get sick from the relationship.

History

The first shifter to ever be born are in a time nearly forgotten had it not been for a single member from that time still being alive. This elder of their kind knows of a time when each shifter was an anomaly in their species, a single super specimen that would nearly destroy the ecology of the local area with how fast they adapted to the environment and lead their kind to victory.

These first few generations were unaware that the others existed, but after a few hundred years, they met each other. This led to years of war as the shifters led their kind into battle, trying to one-up the other. Each group used everything it could to gain the upper hand; at this point, magic was discovered, and the ways of wars changed forever, not because each group destroyed their enemies in droves. No magic allowed the Shifters to speak to each other and to cooperate, allowing them to help each of their species grow more robust and, more importantly, not starve to death by destroying their environment.

This led to a period of slow but consistent progress, creating a culture among just the shifter, their packs being allowed into safer places. At the same time, the majority would stay in the wild, allowing a baseline to be adept at a natural route and to provide the wisdom of the wild for the shifters whenever needed. This period ended when a new advanced species arrived; they were the children of the The Devouring Isles and had twisted the animals to their whim and sought to twist the shifters to stop them from saving the animals. A war began this day, one that has not fully recovered from even generations later.

The war was not something the shifter was ready for as while they were more animal than a collective species, their enemy was simple a tendril of the devourer, meaning they acted as one. The war was soon nearly a loss for the shifter until they discovered Devotion and, more importantly, how to use magic without casting, allowing them to get through their foes ability to stop spells. The war lasted another 12 years after this, but the shifter won and spent decades searching and killing stragglers. None of these foes existed.

The shifter, not wanting this ever to happen again, added new training and lifestyles to their kind. War and battle were a constant point of their life; to compensate for this, they created a magical spell called Deathless. Allowing for never-ending war between the clans that were now being created, the pain and suffering of war felt simultaneously without the loss of life. For times unknown, they kept to this cycle, watching and maintaining the world without leaving the small area they decided to call their own. Having feuds to keep their claws and fangs sharp, all of this changed when the Human arrived.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

Vyrm

Wolfier

Vitbuz

Wolf Shark

Agroti

Lifespan

3000 on average, unknown max lifespan

Related Myths

• The Sister who Sacrificed