The Inner Beast

"So, I was walking along one day, this guy just jumps out of nowhere and tries to mug me, right? But of course I'm new at shifting so I just end up becoming a tiger and the guy pees himself. Got a free knife though."

— Unknown person

Transformative Experiences

Once thought to be the burden of shapeshifters, the harnessing of an Inner Beast can take a lifetime to master. It's the power that fuels the rage of totemic barbarians and the shapes of druids. Not all people with Inner Beasts can shapeshift, usually only the ones who bond with it enough to become druids, others go their life without ever harnessing any aspect of their Inner Beast except in their most intimate moments.
Inner Beasts take on the form of an animal, such as a wolf, a lion, an eagle, or the occasional shark, and they shape the power the user gains. The form of the Inner Beast also dictates the shapes a druid can transform into, so those with land animals would find it hard to shift into aquatic animals and would most likely only manage a single aquatic form over their life.

Shifting Attention

Despite Inner Beasts taking on a form, usually one representative of the persons nature, it is possible to alter that form with a sufficient force of will. There are drawbacks to doing so, however, as you would lose any bond you have with it previously, having to relearn how to harness your Beast and the shapes you can take. Totemic barbarians don't have this issue as their Beast allows them to harness only aspects of animals, not change form, but druids would find this quite distressing.
Some Beasts have the capacity to speak to their person, guiding them as if the person had the instincts and behaviours of that animal. This is a rare ability, and while a few have developed it through training, the prevailing opinion is that Beasts speaking is a gift given to a select number of people by the gods.

Type

Metaphysical, Supernatural