Shapeshifters

One of the most populated races in the Realms are the Shapeshifters, those who are born with a tie to a specific animal, able to change their body into that animal and blessed with certain traits of the creature. Humans have countless names for these animal tied fae, including but not limited to:
Kitsune, werewolf, tanku, yokai, pouka, and far more.
As one of the more common races Shapeshifters are scattered through all the Courts, choosing their own alignments though often they are sharply tied to their family groups if born into a community. A kitsune might be more likely to choose Autumn, and a werewolf might favor Summer but there's no firm rule on where their loyalties lay.
One note is that if the animal is aquatic they would be a Merrow, not a Shapeshifter.

Inherent Abilities

• Heightened Senses - (Racial) - Each race of fae have certain inherent abilities beyond the standard set of powers for fae. All fae for example have heightened senses compared to a human yet among those shapeshifters likely have the sharpest senses specific to their animalkind.

(Bat shifters will have some of the best hearing and likely the worst sight, where Werewolves will have incredibly sense of smell and endurance.)

• Shapeshift - (Racial) - All shapeshifter fae have the ability to transform from their animal form to human innately.

(It costs them nothing to do so, though the ability level (ease, quickness, midshaped forms, etc) are left up to the individual players.)

Community Style

Shapeshifters are an incredibly diverse group as far as communities go, driven by the animalkind. Wolves favor packs, where elephants favor herds, some are more settled, others are nomadic in nature. And even then there is variation as some fae due to circumstance or choice are more solitary.
Shapeshifting communities can at times be very territorial, particularly if they are predator based animalkind, considering a certain area to be theirs. Inter-clan conflict is not unheard of, and often each community has people dedicated to peaceful connections with those around them.
As a race Shapeshifters tend to be perhaps the easiest to bait into certain reactions if manipulated into an instinctual response and this has caused issues for various communities over fae history.

Naming Traditions

Family names

Shapeshifters do not often have last names so much as clan/pack/pride/etc names that are shared by those within their community.

• Races of the Fae
  • Common Fae
    • Nature Fae
    • Goblins
    • Valkyrie
    • Demifae
    • Daimons
    • Merrow
    • Shapeshifters
    • Sirens
  • Rare Fae
    • Phoenix
    • Daoine Sidhe
    • Dragons
    • Unicorns