World Lore - Shapeshifters

I decided for my first lore post I'd give you some information about shapeshifters - information that may come in handy very soon...

The Curse

Lycanthropy - the act of changing shape between a human and animal form - was thought once to be a disease transmitted via blood or saliva, but scientific and magical studies have proven definitively that it is not a disease but a curse. It can be inherited - the children of shapeshifters are very often born shifters themselves - but it is also spread through intentional bites. There is not yet any known cure.

It’s illegal to Change someone without their consent, with harsh penalties levied at those who do so, but it still happens. Rarely, but not never. People can also choose to undergo the Change, which happens a little more frequently - about a hundred people a year worldwide, on average - but the vast majority of shapeshifters were born to it.

Born vs Changed

Born shifters inherit the animal form they take. If their parents are werewolves, they will also be a werewolf. If one parent is a wolf and the other a bear, their children will be one or the other. Their ability to shapeshift usually persists regardless of mixed parentage; any magic inherited from other supernatural parentage doesn’t overpower the shapeshifter abilities, and other “curses” like Seeing or Warlock magic can exist alongside the lycan curse.

Changed shifters’ animal form is unique to them. If someone is bitten by a werewolf, that doesn’t mean they will become a werewolf as well. Scientists haven’t figured out what determines the Changed shifter’s new form or if it’s just random as magic sometimes is, but a person’s form can’t be guessed until after the Change is complete - sometimes a few hours after they're bitten, other times upwards of a week. The shifter will carry the scars gained during the Change (most often, the single bite needed to begin the process) for the rest of their life, but no other injury will leave a permanent mark on them.

There is a small change that the Change won’t take. Some people have an immunity to it, and others may have something akin to an allergic reaction to it (in serious cases, requiring hospitalization), but it’s very rarely fatal. In cases where it is, it’s most likely caused by damage done by the bite than by the curse itself.

Abilities

All shapeshifters, regardless of the animal form they take, have a few abilities in common. They all have heightened senses, reflexes, and strength, and heal more quickly from injuries than humans do. How strong these abilities are depends on the form taken. For example: werebears are much stronger than other shifters, werecats and wereowls can see better, werebirds and bats can fly in their animal form, wereravens have the ability to speak in their animal form.

All shifters have three forms: their human one, their animal one, and an in between half-shift. Half-shifting takes a lot of concentration, so not all shapeshifters can maintain it for long, but some have enough control over it to shift only parts of their body, turning their hands into claws or changing their eyes to see better. When concentration is lost, they revert to one of their other forms.

Werewolves are by far the most common, with werebears and wererats in second and third. Birds are the rarest. Animal forms aren’t limited purely to carnivores, but they do tend to be more common.

Even in a human form, shapeshifters retain something of their animal instincts. This has been used to discriminate against them and their “violent, primal instincts” before, but the truth of it is much less dramatic. Werewolves and werelions have strong pack instincts and naturally gravitate toward building family units. Werecoyotes and werefoxes tend to be more solitary. Werebears are protective, and often go into careers that lead them to defending and helping people. Werechickens brood. Werecats are usually nocturnal.

All shapeshifters are allergic to silver (though not to fae-silver, which looks identical but does not contain any actual silver). Touching it makes their skin break out in blisters and burn if the exposure is prolonged enough, and wounds inflicted with silver weapons heal at a normal human rate.

Community

Though not all shifters need or want a “pack” as such, most major cities have a community for those who prefer to be around people like them, and for the newly Changed to learn how to control and acclimate to their new abilities.

While shifters aren’t forced to change forms with the phases of the moon, certain phases make the lines between human and animal blurry and make shifts between the two effortless to the point of happening accidentally. This moon phase isn’t the same for everyone (wolves and bears are bound to the full moon, while rats and cats change with the new moon, for example), but it can be nice to have someone around to anchor you and assist in things best done in human form if you’re in a state where you can’t maintain it. Local packs are a good place to find this.

These communities are led by a pair of elected officials (colloquially called “Alphas” but in actuality they’re more like chairmen or managers). These officials are the only ones legally allowed to Change new shapeshifters, and they take care of any inter-community disputes. The current leaders in Nivio are Karam and Wulfric Bhasin, a werewolf and werebison that also happen to be a married couple.