Shape Shifters (Archive)

This article is an archive of the old version of this book. Information within may no longer be canon to the Ascension Academy Roleplay. Please refer to the Ascension Academy Classes page for an updated catalog of books.
=Shape Shifters - By Heather Tracin=
==Volume One==
===Werewolves/Lycans===
A Werewolf of Lycan’s appearance, abilities, and even status often depend on how they became a Werewolf and who they were turned by.
Lycans are born from one or two Werewolf/Lycan parents. They tend to have better control of their abilities and have more canine features in their humanoid form. Most Lycans can shift forms at will and retain their personality whilst doing so.
Werewolves are turned into Werewolves. They are humanoids that have managed to survive being infected by another Werewolf/Lycan. Control of their change must be learned lest they fall victim to their own instinctual desires to hunt and feed. There is a wide spectrum of Werewolves/Lycan, but generally speaking, the closer they are turned or birthed from the Purebred Packs (such as the ancient Imperial Pack), the more control they have and the higher status they hold.
Most Wolves are content to remain with their own smaller packs and family groups rather than deal with the politics of the Purebred Packs. Packs only come together seriously during times of great need or due to a change in social structure and then break off once the danger has passed.
Whether turned or bred, Werewolves and Lycans are an extremely powerful force of nature. Their speed and strength make them a valuable combatant and their heightened senses make them excellent trackers with very few that can rival them. They can be defeated by normal means of which you would kill a living being, but they are highly resistant to most kinds of damage. However, they do a few known weaknesses; silver and wolfsbane.
===Changelings===
Changelings are a race of humanoid that can shift their face and form with a thought. Many changelings use this gift as a form of artistic and emotional expression, but it’s an invaluable tool for grifters, spies, and others who wish to deceive. This leads many people to treat known changelings with fear and suspicion.
Wherever humans can be found, there are changelings; the question is whether their presence is known. A few are raised in stable communities where changelings are true to their nature and deal openly with the people around them. Others are part of nomadic changeling clans who keep their true nature hidden from the single-skins. Some clans maintain safe havens in major cities and communities, but most prefer to wander the unpredictable path of the Traveler.
In their natural form, changelings are slender and pale, with colorless eyes an silver-white hair. A changeling shifts shapes the way others might change clothes. Changelings have a fluid relationship with gender, seeing it as one characteristic to change among many others.
A changeling might have personas and names for many situations. Personas can be shared by multiple changelings; there might be three healers in a community, but whoever is on duty will adopt the persona of Tek, the kindly old medic. Personas can even be passed down through a family, allowing a younger changeling to take advantage of contacts established by previous users of the persona.
The true name of a changeling tends to be simple and monosyllabic.
===Doppelgangers===
Doppelgangers are monstrous humanoids, infamous for their shapeshifting abilities that allowed them to mimic almost any humanoid creature. They are cunning, magically inclined creatures who tend to be used as assassins and spies.
Many doppelgangers live a stolen life. When they encounter a person whose appearance or station they desire for themselves, the doppelganger uses their mental powers to learn everything they could about the chosen target. Once they have all the knowledge they need, they quietly eliminate their garget and assume his or her form, taking their place in life.
In their true form, doppelgangers appear as tall, elven, and gray-skinned humanoids, whose thin bodies make them appear, to human eyes, sexless. They had no hair in their normal form. Even this form is deceptive, suggesting they are physically weak when, in fact, they are quite strong and agile.
Doppelgangers call their species the Shallar. Doppelganger families tend not to be close. Usually a male and female meet, engage in casual sex, and then leave one another, with the female being forced to single-handedly rear any resulting newborns-who leave their mother upon reaching maturity. Some however, form tightly knit family clusters while other mate with humanoids, taking malicious delight in using their spouse as a cover for their inhumanity. Children born of such unions had a chance of being a half-doppelganger.
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