Bondshifters

The tired adventurer sat down at the very tip of the cliff. She motioned for her friend to come and sit with her, but noticed something strange. Her friend was standing a long distance away from where she was a second ago, holding very still. The adventurer jumped to her feet, immediately on her guard. Twin blades flashed out as she faced an unlikely foe. Suddenly, the distance between was gone and the adventurer was knocked off her feet, into the canyon range below. Her supposed friend showed no remorse, but something was off. A tatoo never seen before was inscribed on his neck, just a millimeter above the neckline of his shirt. The tempertature in the wide-open canyone seemed to drop as the man shifted into his true form.
Bondshifters, known for their ability to clone other people and animals, are very rare and one of the endangered species of Smarkah. Despite their endangered statues, bondshifters are notoriously swift and strong, capable of striking from a long distance. Bondshifters can easily switch between forms, but their true form is somewhat of a medium-height man. Bondshifters are given their power only through free will. The person they are cloning has to allow the bondshifter to access their form, using their own free will, usually by speaking out loud. However, for animals, a simple thought followed by embracing would suffice. Using their own free will is extremely important, as then the bondshifter would have control of their form. Giving their identity without free will would result in uncontrolled violence, usually with the bondshifter dying. However, when the ritiual is over, the bondshifter gets a small tatoo depicting the subject in their current pose, starting on the chest and moving upwards, eventually covering the neck and head. Usually the bondshifter would try to limit his bonds, keeping them below sight as bondshifters are targeted for their unnatural powers. Bondshifters would like to stay in the background and are powerful, the perfect combination for an able assassin. What makes the bondshifters useful other than disguises are the powers. Bondshifters get to clone their subject's powers, allowing dolphin bonds to breathe underwater wihtout gill training and falcon bonds to fly without practice. But a restriction not well known is that the bond link only works when the subject remains alive. Once dead, the tatoo becomes muted but still visible, remaining like a scar.