Shyft

This document has been contributed by: Dr. Fritz Haber

The term “Shyft” encompasses a number of different species with various origins who all share one primary quality: the ability to change shape at will. Some shyfts are doppelgangers, creatures originating from the shadowfell with the ability to shapeshift only into people that they have seen before/recently, some shyfts were normal children who were affected by abberant magic and gained their ability to shapeshit through that, and even rarer still are creatures that were a part of the Elemental Plane of shadow, an ever-shifting being encompassing its entire plane, but were severed somehow and became their own entities.
My personal expertise is on the plane-touched shyfts in particular (that is, those originating from Shadar), but I am also well-learned on the other types of Shyfts as well. I disagree with the classification of each of these species under one umbrella, but unfortunately the most recent literature groups them together, and so I will be addressing each of them.

Universal Traits

There are some traits that are shared universally between each type of shyft. The first of these is that shyfts have a unique ability to sense the presence of other shyfts of the same type as them in their vicinity. Typically, this comes as a sort of sense of familiarity, though an untrained shyft may not be able to identify this feeling for its purpose.
Second, shyfts are also restricted to transforming into creatures with the same basic assortment of limbs that they have.

Lifespan

60-70 yrs.

Type 1: Doppelgangers

Doppelgangers are a type of shyft species with the innate ability to change shape, but who are restricted in this ability only to forms they have seen before. These creatures are often distrusted, for debatably ignorant reasons; many choose to never reveal their true nature even to those nearest them because of this.

Physical Appearance

Doppelgangers in their true forms tend to have skin in shades of grey, with long, spindly limbs and sunken eyes. They often do not take these forms unless forced to do so. Common among all doppelgangers is an assortment of four limbs: two arms, and two legs.

Reproduction

Doppelgangers are capable of reproducing within their own species, as well as with other species. The product of two doppelgangers is almost always a doppelganger, and the product of a doppelganger and another species has a 50% chance to be their other parent's species, around a 45% chance to be a doppelganger, and an approximate 5% chance to be a species that their doppelganger parent has shifted into.

Limitations

As established previously, doppelgangers are only capable of shapeshifting into creatures that they have seen before. Often, physical content with a creature is also required to adopt their appearance. In addition, a doppelganger can only transform so much in regards to height.

Type 2: Shadaran Shyfts

Shadaran shyfts are those that originate from Shadar, the Elemental Plane of shadow. These types of shyfts are slightly less common, but those that exist provide an interesting opportunity for research. Their ability to shapeshift comes from the nature of their home plane, the ever-shifting Shadar.

Physical Appearance

Shadaran shyfts tend to have plastic-like white or black skin, with similarly black or white features. Their cells are capable of morphing into whatever is neccessary for the form that the shyft wants to change into - this capability opens many possibilities for healing outside of the scope of blood magic, a possibility you can read about in my other research here.
Notes from Saibra

Dr. Haber's experiments were highly unethical, as he chose to perform such experiments on a sentient, living, being. This choice ultimately led to Dr. Haber's death in 1985 A.G.W, when he was killed by his own experimental subject.

Reproduction

Shadaran shyfts are capable of reproduction with any other species, so long as they are transformed into a species capable of reproduction with that species. These unions never result in the creation of a shyft, however, and instead form whatever species or hybrid would result from a union of the non-shyft parent's species and the species whose form the shyft has decided to take.

Type 3: Abberant Shyfts

Abberant shyfts are those that were not born as shyfts, but instead gained the ability to shapeshift later in life, usually by abberant magical energy. Abberant shyfts are the most diverse of the shyft species, as they can come from nearly any parent species.

Physical Appearance

An abberant shyft's true form is that which they were born with. They may manifest slightly uncanny features, such as slightly sunken or cloudy eyes, elongated limbs, desaturated skin, or pliable skin.

Reproduction

Abberant shyfts are capable of reproducing within their own species, as well as with other species. With two abberant shyft parents, the child of a shyft has around a 25% chance to be another abberant shyft - otherwise, it is impossible for the child to become an abberant shyft. Whether or not this child is a shyft, their physical appearance tends to resemble a mix of the true forms of their parents.

Lifespan

The lifespans of each type of shyft is fairly similar. Each type tends to have shorter lifespans than most of the other races, typically only living to around the age of 60 or 70. The ability to shapeshift in abberant shyfts is often straining on the body, severely limiting their lifespan, while doppelgangers share the shorter lifespan of those in the shadowfell, and shyfts originating from Shadar are not able to survive for very long outside of their home plane.

Naming Traditions

The naming traditions of shyfts varies depending on the specific species. Doppelgangers and Shadarans either choose their own name or take a name from another. Shyfts who choose their own name may choose that of an object or an action, like Moss or Rider. On the other hand, abberant shyfts tend to have more "normal" names typical of the species they were born into.