Werecreatures

Werecreatures of varying sorts are a common form of supernatural entity on Earth Q. The most common are the Fera, entities of half-spirit who fight (Usually) on behalf of Gaea, followed by the Hengeyokai, Yang-aspected shifters who serve the Emerald Mother (Another form of Gaea), with Werebeasts, blood- and flesh-eating shifters like Lupine, and Volsung, people brought back by the Coil whose animalistic shift is based on their death, being less common, and Lyacae being some of the rarest, as those able to tap into their dreams to shift into animals. A growing number of Conduits and Sorcerers also act as Shifter-lookalikes, people who only understand the magics or have the powers to transform into an animal, or forms between them.

Werecreatures typically use their Gnosis and Rage to fuel their mystic abilities. Gnosis is a general magical energy nearly identical to raw Yang Chi, simply more structured. The nature of a shapeshifting being makes them particularly good batteries for this energy, with many acting almost like magnets to it, and some generating large amounts of it naturally. Rage is very similar but different in a few key ways; It too is incredibly close to Yang Chi, however it is even less structured, and as such is much less responsive to the Shifter's will, the opposite being more true. The concentration of Rage for most is so great that it effects their thoughts and emotions, hence it's being called Rage, opposed to "Force" or "Magic" or something like that. Rage causes most Shifters to go into Frenzy when it isn't controlled properly; This control, sometimes called Serenity, is sometimes measured instead of Rage, particularly when the Shifter is unable to harness Rage for something productive. Due to their massive concentration of Yang-like energies, Werecreatures' connection to life is incredibly potent, and they regenerate Health incredibly fast.

## Fera

Fera are werecreatures of half-spirit, made by Gaea (Mostly) with the direct help of powerful Naturae. Fera and Hengeyokai are very close, with most individual species sharing their names, such as Kitsune, Werefoxes. Fera are found worldwide, with the species simply matching the native fauna populations.

Various species of Fera really hate eachother, mostly Werewolves, called Garou. Garou and Hakken, their Hengeyokai equivalent, once brought hundreds of species of Shifter to the brink of destruction, being manipulated subtly by the Corruption Wyrm, a common enemy of most Fera and Hengeyokai. This was called the War of Rage, and only ended after multiple species of Fera and Hengeyokai were fully driven to extinction, with the final sacrifice of the Hengeyokai Gurahl, the Werebears of the Hengeyokai, the last group of whom used a ritual to channel the tainted energies of the werewolves' Rage into themselves, exploding in corrupted energies and going onto become some of the most powerful servants of Entropy ever known, most of whom are still around.

Fera are beings of half-spirit, and have the ability to step sideways into the Middle Umbra, the Spirit Wilds, using their Gnosis. They are Spiritual Immortals, and each species, each auspice, and each breed has a type of Spirit and a type of Gift with which they have a natural affinity.

## Hengeyokai

Hengeyokai are werecreatures crafted by the Emerald Mother and the Scarlet Phoenix. They are naturally and majorly Yang-imbalanced, but they are still physical beings which contain both Yin and Yang energies. Hengeyokai and Fera are very close, with most individual species sharing their names, such as Kitsune, Werefoxes. Hengeyokai are mostly found in Asia due to it's abundance of ley lines, but are found world-wide, with their species matching the local fauna.

Various species of Hengeyokai really hate eachother, mostly Werewolves, called Hakken. Hakken and Garou, their Fera equivalent, once brought hundreds of species of Shifter to the brink of destruction, their rage tainted by the energies of Yomi, a dark realm which houses many of the Hengeyokai's and Fera's enemies. This was called the War of Rage, and only ended after multiple species of Fera and Hengeyokai were fully driven to extinction, with the final sacrifice of the Hengeyokai Gurahl, the Werebears of the Hengeyokai, the last group of whom used a ritual to channel the tainted energies of the werewolves' Rage into themselves, exploding in corrupted energies and going onto become agents of destruction, some of the most powerful ever known, most of whom still exist within the Umbra.

Hengeyokai are fundamentally living beings, despite being Energetic Immortals, but their incredible, natural affinity for Yang energies allows them to open rifts to the Yang World, the Spirit Wilds, by overcoming the Gauntlet. Their Gnosis and Rage are tied to pure Yang Chi, which they may store in it's raw form. Hengeyokai thought often claims Rage as being the Yang-aspect of Yang energy itself, with Gnosis being the Yin-aspect, and as such these masters of Yang Chi often store both as raw Yang energy and transfer the energies between eachother. Each species, breed, and auspice grant a specific Qiao specialty.

## Lyacae

Within the realm known as the Dreaming, the realm of fantasy, there are Fae and there are Chimera. Fae are the "people" of this realm, and Chimera are the "animals" and "plants" of this realm. Chimera are often identical to animals or animal-ish beings, and sometimes these dreams are caught within the Near Dreaming, where this realm overlaps with the material world. In this space, under rare circumstances, Chimera can be caught within young mortals, who still have difficulty separating dream from reality, sometimes those yet to be born. The dream overcomes the feeble human mind within, combining into a single entity who may assume their Chimeric form.

Lyacae unfortunately play a backseat to Faerie politics, often joining their Kingdoms and Houses, rather than interacting with other Shifters. They are rare enough and have few of their own groups that they don't often come together, and as a whole play little part in history.

Lyacae, as Chimera, aren't subject to the scourge of Banality, instead being subject to what they know as Red and Green Glamour, Rage and Gnosis. They have a refined quality compared to other Shifters' Rage and Gnosis, but function much the same way. Lyacae are Artful Immortals, and their Shifting animal is purely chimera-determined, with no other internal organization. They do not have a favoured Art, but are affected by the Fae Realm and may use Redes appropriate to their animal forms.

## Volsung

Volsung are shifters touched by the Coil, died once before returning, their body forever marked by their spirit animal. Now, this spirit animal is metaphorical, and the Coil has little interaction with the Spirit Wilds, and overall is better described as the animal which the new Volsung feels the most kinship with. In the modern day, these are typically dogs and cats (Usually more dramatic as wolves and tigers/lions/panthers), but in the past bears were the most common. Like other acts of the Coil, Volsung creation is hidden from those not privy to the Veil, and as such, Volsung almost always awaken from death untouched and unfound by the living, with nothing more than an instinctive connection to their newfound power.

Fera and Hengeyokai typically sense the taint of the Coil on a Volsung, which often places them on opposite sides of a given conflict, regardless of the fact that Volsung might have literally the exact same goals. The Coil is a unique resonance, distinct but not wholly dissimilar to the impression left by the underworld or Yomi, and that resemblance is enough. As such, Volsung often act as a third wheel in the Shifters' greater conflicts, but just as often act as a potent ally to Vampires or Zombies in their business. Of course, Volsung have their own goals and often strike out on their own or in their own packs, if they connect with other Volsung, but such beings aren't often written of.

Volsung are Arcane Immortals, and their Gnosis and Rage are much closer to a balanced energy, due to the Coil's effect. Volsung aren't entirely alive, after all, and highly observant energy-workers have noted that Volsung are kept in a very tense balance between living and dead energies, with little neutrality within them. Where a mortal would be held in balance by dilution, that the various volatile energies would be tempered by directionless energies, Volsung are instead in a state of permanent tension, seemingly prepared to shatter at any moment. Volsung possess an instinctive connection to one Arcanos based on their animal connection, and follow normal naming conventions for those connected to the Coil.

## Werebeasts

Werebeasts are the most primal of the Shifters, beasts such as Lupine, who struggle to retain human thought in any capacity. Werebeasts are said to spread through their accursed bite, though this isn't strictly true. The curse of the Werebeast is spread by offspring, but the curse can also be spread through one of two ways. A victim can be bitten while exposed to the light of a full moon, and if they would bleed to death because of their wounds, they instead transform their first time, all such wounds miraculously healed. The other way is by consumption of the werebeast's heart. It needs to be fairly direct, within perhaps 15 minutes of the beast's death, and at least half must be eaten. This is more common for animals than people, though more than a few hunters have caught a feral werebeast and thought to eat pieces while they were fresh. In all cases, silver applied before your own First Change will save you... But eating silver to fix the heart-curse is usually dying anyway, and needless to say preventing your change by bleeding to death is equally bad.

Werebeasts are incredibly common, almost as common as Fera and Hengeyokai, but like the Volsung are often on the opposite side of the conflicts. Werebeasts are volatile and dangerous by werewolf standards, just think about that. They are in a constant struggle against their wild side, and often have little control over their form, with the vast majority falling to their murderous instincts or being killed within a year of their first change. They were almost driven to extinction in the 400's AD (Well, in Afroeurasia, records are less clear in other places) thanks to a massive trans-immortal effort to rid the world of these monstrosities, but some survived and they have re-proliferated since then. They are found nearly everywhere, Lupine being the most common, and often feature as the mindless antagonist to the stories to Shifters, Vampires, Faerie, Zombies... Mages... Mortals in general, really... They don't make good heroes. Much too dangerous and volatile.

The naming convention has little impact on personality; Werebeasts are Disciplined Immortals, with a natural affinity for Animalism, Celerity, Fortitude, Potence, and Protean (Of course connected to their animal form). These are fueled through Rage and Rage alone; Despite these animal's shifting and overall power, they lack the mind to wield the massive amounts of Gnosis stored within them for anything beyond their passive regeneration. They must also track their Humanity as most Vampires would, their oh-so fragile minds simply waiting to crack under the weight of the curse.