Wildwalker

Written by ajamie

Often mistaken for shifters due to their bestial aspects, wildwalkers (and their descendants) are humanoids are blessed by Qirena, Fey Goddess of the Wild and Primal. These passionate and intense people are native to the Feywilds.
Wildwalkers often have animalistic features from their Wild Spirit form mixed with their humanoid ones: fangs set in a humanoid face, claws or sharp nails on their hands, furry ears, tail, scales or even wings. The mix of characteristics varies between individuals.

While shifters can temporarily enhance their animalistic features—a state they call shifting— wildwalkers instead transform in sleep. While unconscious, their soul can leave their body and travel great distances away from them. During this time, their souls take the form of an animal, called a Wild Spirit. In this form, they are a great deal stronger and faster than in their humanoid bodies.
They do not struggle with whether to live as a civilized creature or primal force as shifters do. Each wildwalker knows exactly where their heart belongs, and that is the path that allows them to walk freely as who they truly are.

Basic Information

Genetics and Reproduction

Wildwalkers are a sexually and magically reproducing race. Magic can be used to aid in reproduction for non-compatible sexes, and reproduction with other races where biology is a challenge.

Growth Rate & Stages

Wildwalkers grow at a slow pace comparable to humans. Their life cycle includes:

• Infancy - Birth to 3 years
• Childhood - 3 to 10 years
• Adolescence - 10 to 19
• Adulthood - 19 years and onward.
  
  

Ecology and Habitats

Wildwalkers can be found all over both Batun and Rizex, some living and working closely within the Unseelie and Seelie Courts, others choosing to settle away from the political stresses and living in villages and towns in the surrounding area. Some move out to Caheath Commonwealth to be near more people, while others choose to live as wild and free as possible in the Weodun Lands of Anarchy or the Wastes.
You will never find a wildwalker living in a city far removed from nature. It goes against the very core of their soul, for how can they run wild and free within restrictive walls and on hard cobblestone? The only exception to this are the Claws and Fangs of the Dark Brotherhood. These wildwalkers, often along with shifters, were stolen away and enslaved as children, raised to become deadly assassins of a mysterious faction. What their goals are, no one knows. But if you get in their way, you will die.

Additional Information

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

In addition to basic darkvision, wildwalkers are blessed with keen senses from their Wild Spirit forms.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

Wildwalker names generally follow a pattern. They are constructed from two words. They can be any of the following in any combination, inspired by their Wild Spirit form, or things seen around them that hold a personal significance. Examples: Darkstorm, Hollyclaw, Palesky, Gentle Mist, Cinderdusk, etc.
Colors and Patterns: White, Golden, Dark, Spotted, Dapple(d), Mottle(d)
Flavor: Sweet, Spicy, Mild, Bitter
Attributes: Brave, Sharp, Sweet, Wild
Plants and Animals: Birch, Holly, Hawk, Tiger, Flower
Nature: Cloud, Sand, Stream, Stone, Moon, Sun, Star
Phenomena: Fire, Mist, Storm, Thunder, Lightning
Times: Dawn, Dusk, Morning, Night, Twilight
Action: Pounce, Running, Leap, Step, Jump
Physical Attribute: Claw, Face, Tail, Nose, Pelt

Major Language Groups and Dialects

Wildwalkers typically learn the languages of other races they may live with. Sylvan, however, is passed down through the generations, regardless of whether they have been to the Feywilds. Children learn it from their parents, who learned it from their parents, and so on and so forth.

Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals

A Walk on the Wild Side

Wildwalkers in their early childhood know what it is to have a foot in both worlds. At the tender age of 5, they dream vividly of their wild form, whatever it maybe, running freely in the Feywilds with their goddess. A year later, they are fully capable of leaving their bodies and traveling in Wild Spirit form. Though they cannot go far at this age, the distance increases exponentially in adulthood, allowing them to travel thousands of miles, and even to other planes. Through this ability wildwalkers learn the ways of all things wild and primal, often running with their parents and older siblings. As they grow, wildwalkers learn the value of freedom and have a deep appreciation for nature and all within it.

History

While wildwalkers can be found in various parts of the world that has abundant forests, hills, grasslands, and other such aspects of nature. They most commonly reside in Batun, as this country is closest to their ancestral home: The Feywilds.
All wildwalkers can trace back their ancestry to this place of unrestrained emotions and awe inspiring beauty. The original wildwalkers were said to be a group of refugees from the Material Plane who escaped to the Feywilds to avoid discrimination and xenophobia. Lost in this wondrous plane of magic, they were taken pity upon by a being called Qirena. During this time, when Valloth was still young, she was a powerful elven Archfey. Qirena had a deep love and respect for for nature in all its forms, and resolved herself to live as one with it. Her realm was one of freedom and nature in its most primal of forms, roamed by beasts of many kinds. She invited these refugees into her home, where they ate of the land and learned her ways.
In time, she came to love them all, and they in turn came to worship her. It was this loyalty and love that granted Qirena a spark of divinity, allowing her to ascend as a deity. In return, she blessed these refugees and their descendants with the Gift of The Wild: the ability to walk freely as an animal spirit while they slept.
The exact races of these refugees is a subject of debate among scholars and historians. But whatever they were, wildwalkers now are often human in appearance. But not always, as dwarven, elven, and even tiefling appearing wildwalkers can be found.

Details

Lifespan

Wildwalkers reach adulthood in their late teens and live less than a century.

Average Height

Wildwalkers vary widely in height and build, from barely 5 feet to well over 6 feet tall.

Geographic Distribution

• Batun
• Caheath Commonwealth
• Rizex
• Wastes
• Weodun

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"He was a man that used to go wolfing. He used to go, and his offspring used to go after him and they used to kill the herds after the fashion of wolves, so that it is for that that he used to be called Laignech Fáelad, for he was the first of them who went into a wolf-shape."

— Unknown, Cóir Anmann.

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Character Creation Details

You must be a part of my campaign to access character creation for my homebrew race. Please use DnDBeyond for stats, but WorldAnvil for lore & worldbuilding: D&DBeyond Wildwalker