The Secrets of Shape-Shifting
May 6, 2009 14:48:58 GMT -8
Post by flippedside on May 6, 2009 14:48:58 GMT -8
"Though the exact origins of shape-shifting are lost to antiquity, we do know that a massive outpouring of elemental power was the instigator. Some legends suggest that a human race once existed without a corresponding animal partner, but this is likely no more than a myth. It is more likely that the powers that were unleashed created the initial shape-shifters, who then became the forefathers of our race...Doubtless, subtle shifts over time have created the wide variety of shifters that now exist."
How shape-shifters are able to shift remains a mystery, but several facts are known. First, someone who shifts back and forth from human to animal will keep nearly all the items they have attached to their body with them. Some items don't shift well--stone and paper being among them--for unknown reasons. Though paper can travel back and forth through the process of shifting, it tends to disintegrate. Some types of stone, as well as silk and delicate plant matter, may also disintegrate. Thus, most shifters prefer not to carry food with them through the shifting process, as it tends to dry up, wilt, turn to mush, or otherwise become inedible (ie: really, really nasty). Most shifters will forage and/or hunt in their animal form and then use whatever coins they have on hand when they reach a village/town/city. (For obvious reasons, paper money is not used in Rhyallia. All money is metal-based.)
It should be noted that while living plant matter decays in successive shiftings, hard or dead materials have less problems (ie: seeds, hard wood). Some theorize that the tough outer "shell" of seeds protects them from deterioration. At any rate, a wooden bow can withstand the process of shape-shifting quite comfortably, as can a packet of walnuts or poppy seeds.
Shape-shifters are one person with one personality, but they can take several forms. The easiest to maintain are the human and animal forms. All shifters have only one human and one animal form. In other words, a blue-eyed, blonde-haired female cannot become a green-eyed, red-haired female (well, she could dye her hair red, but she couldn't adjust her appearance by shifting). In the same way, each shifter has only one animal form, not several. So if the blue-eyed girl was a fox shifter, then the only animal form she could assume would be a fox (her particular fox, to be exact). However, any shifter can take on any half-form between human and animal. This includes tails, wings, ears, fur, etc. So a hawk shifter could choose to have a human form with bird wings or a fox shifter could go around with a bushy red tail and fluffy ears. Most shifters don't assume half-forms, preferring their whole forms, but they can use them. Half-forms tend to be much harder to maintain, though, and those who take them can usually only maintain them for limited time periods.
Some extra notes about animal forms...
Shape-shifters are not fully animal, so they have a variety of things that they can do that animals can't. One is speaking. Most shifters can understand the silent language of other animals fairly well, and in animal form can "speak" to other creatures the same way. However, they can also physically speak in animal form just as well as in their human form. Of course, normal animals can't, so if you run into a talking animal, then you can be sure that it's actually a shifter.
Hopefully, that just addressed all your questions on the mysteries of shape-shifting. However, if you have any other questions, feel free to PM a staff member or ask in the CBox.
~An excerpt from A. Tabbit's Myths of Rhyallia in his chapter on shape-shifting
How shape-shifters are able to shift remains a mystery, but several facts are known. First, someone who shifts back and forth from human to animal will keep nearly all the items they have attached to their body with them. Some items don't shift well--stone and paper being among them--for unknown reasons. Though paper can travel back and forth through the process of shifting, it tends to disintegrate. Some types of stone, as well as silk and delicate plant matter, may also disintegrate. Thus, most shifters prefer not to carry food with them through the shifting process, as it tends to dry up, wilt, turn to mush, or otherwise become inedible (ie: really, really nasty). Most shifters will forage and/or hunt in their animal form and then use whatever coins they have on hand when they reach a village/town/city. (For obvious reasons, paper money is not used in Rhyallia. All money is metal-based.)
It should be noted that while living plant matter decays in successive shiftings, hard or dead materials have less problems (ie: seeds, hard wood). Some theorize that the tough outer "shell" of seeds protects them from deterioration. At any rate, a wooden bow can withstand the process of shape-shifting quite comfortably, as can a packet of walnuts or poppy seeds.
Shape-shifters are one person with one personality, but they can take several forms. The easiest to maintain are the human and animal forms. All shifters have only one human and one animal form. In other words, a blue-eyed, blonde-haired female cannot become a green-eyed, red-haired female (well, she could dye her hair red, but she couldn't adjust her appearance by shifting). In the same way, each shifter has only one animal form, not several. So if the blue-eyed girl was a fox shifter, then the only animal form she could assume would be a fox (her particular fox, to be exact). However, any shifter can take on any half-form between human and animal. This includes tails, wings, ears, fur, etc. So a hawk shifter could choose to have a human form with bird wings or a fox shifter could go around with a bushy red tail and fluffy ears. Most shifters don't assume half-forms, preferring their whole forms, but they can use them. Half-forms tend to be much harder to maintain, though, and those who take them can usually only maintain them for limited time periods.
Some extra notes about animal forms...
Shape-shifters are not fully animal, so they have a variety of things that they can do that animals can't. One is speaking. Most shifters can understand the silent language of other animals fairly well, and in animal form can "speak" to other creatures the same way. However, they can also physically speak in animal form just as well as in their human form. Of course, normal animals can't, so if you run into a talking animal, then you can be sure that it's actually a shifter.
Hopefully, that just addressed all your questions on the mysteries of shape-shifting. However, if you have any other questions, feel free to PM a staff member or ask in the CBox.
