Wolf-Shifters
Basic Information
Anatomy
In human from they are not distinguishable from a normal human except for their enhanced senses, physical characteristics, special eye colors, wolf-like noises and the smell of forest and wet fur.
Biological Traits
In human form their biological traits are nearly exactly like that of humans with the only differences are the special eye colors like orange, purple, gold, silver, red, jet black, pink, scarled, yellow, bronze, dark blue and white.
In there wolf form the fur and eye color and the size of the wolf form is diffrent from every Wolf-Shifter.
Genetics and Reproduction
Wolf-Shifters reproduce sexually and are viviparous, they typically have a gestation period of 9 months.
Growth Rate & Stages
The growth is basically the same as in humans until the age of onset of puberty is reached, which happens between the ages of ten and fourteen.
The first transformation can then be triggered at any time by anger, the smell of vampires, the survival instinct or protective instinct. Transformation or "phasing" is a sudden and violent process. To become human again, the wolf-shifter needs to calm down and concentrate on phasing back into human form.
Ecology and Habitats
Because the Wolf Shifters are very similar to humans, they also live in communities similar to humans, either among themselves or among humans or other species, where they usually keep their Wolf Shifter status secret and pretend to be humans because their species is similar to Dragonbloods or Orcs are very despised.
However, there are also some who live in their wolf form in forests, mountains, caves or other parts of nature among animals and generally avoid civilization. Actually, wolf shifters can live anywhere, but they prefer to live in forests or wooded landscapes.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Wolf shifters are omnivores but prefer meat over other foods. Wolf shifters who live civilian lives obtain their food by hunting, fishing, gathering, trading, domesticating animals and farming crops.
Wolf shifters, however, who live among the animals, get their food mainly by hunting, but they also collect to get food. Although rare, it also happens that they attack traders or hikers in general and steal the food of those who have attacked them for themselves.
Wolf-Shifters do not appear mostly to feed of humans in any special way. Their special feeding seems to mostly just be hunting wild game.
Biological Cycle
Shortly before the onset of winter, natural transformations into wolf form occur more frequently, because in this form a thick, dense winter fur that insulates well against the cold is built up.
This transformation takes place again in the spring so that the winter fur can fall out and they can wear a short, much thinner summer fur for the summer.
Behaviour
Due to their close relationship with Humans and other sentient species, their behavior depends primarily on upbringing, personality, environment and genetic factors. Wolf-Shifters who live in civilizations behave civilly and humanely, even if their wolfish instincts sometimes become noticeable.
However, Wolf-Shifters who live according to their wolf side tend to either behave aggressively towards Humans, civil conspecifics and other species, to avoid them completely or both because they behave more like animals and have either partially or completely left their human side behind them.
But overall Wolf-Shifters are a cooperative species and will form communities to help each other, they are wary of other races but can form good relations with them given time. Disputes between Wolf-Shifters are generally resolved without the use of violence.
Additional Information
Social Structure
Since the Wolf-Shifters are the most suspicious and persecuted race in Nomardia, many others fear and even hate them. However, Werewolves and most Hybrids get along well with Wolf-Shifters.
The Wolf-Shifters who live near or within human societies make their living as trappers, healers, hunters, guides, and military scouts.
Facial characteristics
Wolf-Shifters, in their human form, have a pair of eyes that come in different colors such as blue, green, and brown, and ears with a nose and mouth. Male Wolf-Shifters can grow facial hair.
In their wolf form, they practically look like an average wolf, but are much larger and have a shine of intelligence in their eyes which shows their true self as a Wolf-Shifter.
Average Intelligence
Human or higher
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Wolf-shifters have extremely acute senses, even in human form. They can also smell things such as fear. They can hear a person's heart beat or the blood moving in the body, even in human form.
Wolf-Shifters can quickly tell a vampire from a human, a human from a shape-shifter, a human from a werewolf, or human from another Wolf-Shifter by scent.The senses of Wolf-shifters rival those of vampires. Like vampires, they can see, hear and smell things from miles away.
Their sense of smell is so adjusted to help them identify their one enemy, vampires. It is not clear whether it is heightened in other circumstances, but they certainly know vampires at a distance, finding their smell sickly sweet and repellent.
However, some Wolf-shifters can get used to the smell of the vampires. Their sense of sight is known to be ten times better than the average human, twice as good as the average bird of prey's. They all have excellent hearing even in their human forms.
Civilization and Culture
Naming Traditions
Wolf-Shifter naming traditions varies depending on the culture; however, they generally follow the same conventions of having a first name, a middle name, which is optional, and a surname or family name.
Beauty Ideals
The general factors that make up the beauty ideals of Wolf-Shifters are the physical features an individual has and personality of the individual.
Gender Ideals
Both sexes are treated equally.
Courtship Ideals
It doesn't matter which sex courts the opposite sex.
Relationship Ideals
Both sexes help with the housework and raising of the offspring while also providing for the family.
Average Technological Level
Wolf-Shifters prefer practical tools that best suit their nomadic and individualistic lifestyles. Their technology emphasizes this through simplicity and portability, which has prevented the Wolf-Shifters from reaching the architectural or magical advancements that other races have achieved.
However, the Wolf-Shifters have never perceived this as a failing, instead what they regard as an accomplishment differs from the other races. Wolf-Shifters believe that the greatest accomplishment is the perfection of one's own skills needed to survive. This is why Wolf-Shifter craftsmen focus on perfecting a single tool for their own use rather than a collection of lesser wares to be sold. Even shifter merchants adhere to these ideals, carrying a select few versatile and high-value items rather than a diverse variety in order to remain prepared for the journey yet to come.
The majority of Wolf-Shifter spellcasters are druids; these self-reliant priests of nature focus on creating spells and magic items that would best serve their ability to survive alone in the wilds. Wolf-Shifters spend little time creating spells or magic items and prefer to create a single simple item that can serve in a variety of ways and then perfecting their skill with that item.
But they are still a few Wolf-Shifter who use magic much more and become combat sorccers or battle mages.
Major Language Groups and Dialects
Language of animals, Human language, Bestial
Common Etiquette Rules
Generally those of a higher standing are treated with respect, those of an equal standing are treated equally and those of a lower standing are usually treated poorly.
Common Dress Code
Those of higher standing dress with clothes made out of high quality resources, such as silk and fine fabric, and adorn themselves with jewellery, the quality of the clothes decreases as you go down the caste systems with those at lowest standing wear clothes that are poor and ragged.
Common Taboos
There are some common taboos such as murder, theft, assault, sexual assault, cannibalism and others.
Genetic Ancestor(s)
Genetic Descendants
Scientific Name
Children of the Moon
Lifespan
150 years
Average Height
1.7/8 - 2.1 meters
Average Weight
54 - 92kg
Average Physique
Wolf-Shifter resembled Humans, their close brethren, but with distinctively bestial features such as sharp teeth and fingernails that look and are formed like claws. Compared to Humans, Wolf-Shifters are either somewhat bigger. Though Wolf-Shifters are lithe and strong. In many other ways, however, Wolf-Shifters look like humans. However, to a human's eye, the resemblance was less obvious than the differences. Unlike humans, Wolf-Shifters have larger than usual eyes that allows them to see better in low light, heavy eyebrows, skin that was often of a brownish shade, and much more hair, also commonly brown, than was typical for the common human. Because of this, Wolf-Shifters, to a human, more closely resembled their lycans relatives, which is sometimes confusing and shifters were sometimes mistaken for Werewolves, but a Wolf-Shifter can avoid this by shifting the parts of their body that don´t look like a normal human to look like a normal human. They adapted to whatever environment they were in.
Body Tint, Colouring and Marking
Wolf-Shifters skin colour ranges from pale to dark brown. Wolf-Shifters hair colour ranges from red, grey, white, blond, brown and black. Wolf-Shifters fur color depends on the personality.
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