Jump to content

[✗] [Creature] The Shapeshifter


Its_Just_Leap
 Share

Recommended Posts

The Shapeshifter

 

Brief Description

The ShapeShifter is a creature that has fully mastered the art of disguise, giving them the ability to transform into almost any being they so desire. While most descendant races can make faulty and flawed disguises of their fellow races, they are bound by their own limitations. However, these chaotic creatures are bound by very few limitations. The Shapeshifters enjoy bringing harm and deceit through means of all things, ranging from harmless tricks to malicious deeds.

 

The Lore and the First Shapeshifter

    When the first Shapeshifter was created it was by an act of desperation and ended up being a complete accident. A wood elf by the name of Alyndar was a master illusionist and had successfully learned and taught many students Sensory Illusion. On a rather dark night he had been driven out of his chambers by a loud knocking at his front door. He had stepped down the stairs of his manor, and placed his glasses on his head. When he had answered the door a look of absolute fear had washed over his face as a group of four armed Orenian guards.

    Alyndar spoke in a tired and fearful tone as he gazed in shock at the guards “W-What is the meaning of this?!” He had lowered his gaze to their weapons that they had already unsheathed as if they knew things were going to turn ugly.

    The head guard looked to Alyndar confused as he did not expect such a man to be the one to answer the door. He had been told a few assumptions about the appearance of Alyndar, but what he saw was definitely not what he had expected. He spoke in a firm tone of voice “Ser, we be lookin’ for a mister Alyndar! A bounty has been put on his head by the nation of Oren and its high king! He was found a few years ago to be tampering with some dark magic and must be put to justice at once!”

Alyndar instantly knew what they were talking about. He had been tampering with dark magic to further his illusions to make them more of a weapon than a means of escape. He had been working for years to complete his research and teach his colleagues of  what he had learned, but it was much too late for that. A few Saint’s Days ago someone had caught wind of what he was up to,and they weren’t happy for him to be toying with this kind of magic. The woman responsible for witnessing his research went straight to the nearest guard and forced them to hunt and kill Alyndar. If it were not for his remote manor they would have possibly killed him already, but it seemed it was much too late for him to get away.

Alyndar slammed the door shut and successfully locked it behind him. The sound of the guards banging and beating on the front door would quickly rattle through the manor as Alyndar rushed up the stairs to collect his personal belongings and research findings. He was a smart man and knew what this research would get him if it had leaked out to the Empire and their holy ways. Alyndar knew he didn’t have much time before the guards successfully broke down the door and began their search of the manor. He took down a painting to reveal a hidden door behind it. He runs out and through some tunnels, successfully getting away from the guards.

    After a bit of running he perched himself up atop a mountain to look and see if he was being followed. He saw nothing but his manor burning to the ground. He knew there was no going back and turned to the nearest cave in the mountain. He set all of his research materials down onto the ground of the cave and thought to himself if they believe him to be truly dead. After all no one had known about the secret exits in his manor but him and a couple of his students. He took a moment to think when he had an idea that would prove to be his downfall. He took all of his notes and took one last time to read over them before making a makeshift ritual sight for the procedure. He convinced himself that his research to become the perfect illusionist was complete and there would be no repercussions, but even he knew in the back of his head that this had a very high chance of going wrong and possible killing him. Though he would only repeat to himself “I have no choice. . . I have no choice. . . I have no choice. . .” over and over again those words rang through the interior walls of the cave as he carved the symbol of the Shapeshifter into his chest. The blood pouring down over him as he cursed himself.

    There was only silence for two whole days before he awoke. When he awoke he had found that his skin had turned a dark grey. The only color on his body were his green eyes, and his clothing. His wound from the rune he carved into his chest quickly scarred over. He let out a scream of fear for what he had done to himself. Alyndar sat in that cave all alone for a few days out of fear for what the outside world would think of him. All those days inside the cave he felt hungry, but when he went outside the cave to eat fruits and berries and to gather water it wasn’t enough to satiate his hunger. His newly formed body craved something more malicious. His instincts took over, and he went out to hunt for the flesh of a descendant.

    He had traveled through the woodlands before coming across a group of two travelers. Alyndar had complete control and knew what his newly made instincts were telling him, and he loved it. He only wanted to satiate his hunger for the time being. He stalks the two for a few hours, and waits for them to stop and rest. One of the travelers decided to take a break. The two humans had made the worst mistake of their soon to be ended lives, and split up. Alyndar followed the strongest looking one and ambushed him. Before the human could scream Alyndar used his new found strength in his true form to overpower the human traveler and jammed his dagger into the man’s skull, killing him instantly. Alyndar feasted on the man’s body and devoured him. He reveled in the thought of eating another man’s flesh. He wouldn’t be able to celebrate for long as in the distance he could hear the other human traveler calling for his companion to return. Quickly Alyndar looked for a way to escape before trying to disguise himself using his illusion magic he had known for so long. Though when he had transformed into the now dead traveler he had just devoured Alyndar felt something strange about the disguise. It was something  that he had never felt before. He felt like he actually belonged in the man’s skin, and the disguise didn’t seem to falter in any way like it would for a normal illusionist. Alyndar thought of a malicious idea and called back out to the other traveler. His voice sounding just like the man that he had just murdered. He would quickly hide what little remained of the corpse before turning around to greet the traveler, and travel with him in his dead companion’s skin. The first Shapeshifter lived on and continued to do malicious acts onto the descendants, learn more about himself and his newly found powers, and even transform others into what he became.



 

Abilities

As you may have already guessed by their name, the Shapeshifters have the ability to change their form into almost anything they so desire. To start with something simple to explain: they can change into most animals they so choose as long as they wish, from a small innocent little bird to a ferocious and aggressive bear. Transforming into animals for the shifter is a rather easy feat that requires little strength. However, it will of course take time to do so!

Transforming into another descendant race takes considerably more time and can be seen through easily if they do not take proper precautions to perfect the disguise! How they are able to transform into a descendant race is simple and easy to understand. The Shapeshifter must have some sort of D.N.A from the man or woman they so choose to impersonate, examples of D.N.A that can work is hair, spit, and pieces of flesh. Using D.N.A will not give the shapeshifter a perfect disguise, and if the Shifter decides to go this route they will likely be called out as a charlatan. Deciding to do this will not produce a perfect copy for the Shapeshifter and thus it will not have all the information and power needed to become perfect. In order to make said perfect copy the Shapeshifter must kill and start to consume the the body of the poor soul they want to make a permanent disguise out of (see redlines for limitations and requirements on making a player’s character your perfect disguise). Typically, making a perfect disguise is not ideal for a Shapeshifter to do as it can wield some unwanted effects. Choosing to make a descendent race into their perfect disguise will force the Shapeshifter to give up whatever perfect disguise they’ve held before as they can only hold one at a time.

When the Shapeshifter transforms into whatever race they so choose they are not limited by the race, or even gender of said race. For example if a shifter used to be a dwarven male then he would still be able to change into for example a female Uruk with ease. This does not make the Shapeshifter gender less. They can still identify as male, female, or other.The physical strength of the creature the Shifter becomes is different and can vary from time to time depending on the size of the descendant race and that races age it transforms into, at least when disguised. They have incredible strength that's worth thrice that of the average human, however their strength will not change due to whatever they change into. For example if a Shapeshifter decided to transform itself into an Olog, it wouldn’t have the strength of said Olog, no matter if it was weaker or stronger. They retain the strength of which they had when they were a descendant until they go into “True Form”.

 

The Masters

    These are the only other types of Shapeshifters known and their sole purpose is to loosely guide and create new Shapeshifters. These beings gain little to no new abilities due to their status. The only ability is easily being able to manipulate and control their lower Shapeshifter companions to a certain extent. Of course they aren’t able to take control of their each and every action, though they can persuade them quite easily to do their bidding. This isn’t used often however as most Shapeshifters automatically follow the Masters upon creation out of debt, or “gratitude”.

 

Q2IUILYjhZzPtB_78_YJdceW29YxYuFjbN075wBaoYkxGZBrLFIivuDj3AobG5716TJdjvXKrtRr0PoSOzUF5lZDNRHrxOtg7UIcpCSs_PCsOVutp7y7htIvC7dVR52GDvST8_ID

Painting of a known Shapeshifter

 

True Form

    The Shifters may be masters of disguise, but they are simply unable to stay disguised for a number of years without showing their true selves. Some feel it necessary to shed their disguise for some time in order to relax or enhance their fighting capabilities if something goes very wrong. Their true form would look to the mortal eyes how they would before they were transformed into a Shapeshifter. Their true form can give them many benefits but will also hinder them just as greatly. The benefits they gain are simple and non-arcane. They grow much stronger and faster. Their speed is too great to be caught by a human on foot, a horse is necessary. An alternate option would be to try to outsmart the Shapeshifter and lead them into a trap. Do not fret for there is a simple solution. In a Shapeshifter’s true from they are very much weaker to whatever hinders them. Traditionally, a Shapeshifter will never reveal their true form unless around someone they deeply trust, or unless they are in a highly dangerous situation and need a quick escape. For them to willingly show their true form to a mortal whom they feel will not betray them is a sign of immense trust and that they will protect whomever they reveal themselves to. Their appearance when they are in this form is interesting to say the least. Their soul will always remember what they had originally looked like and will reflect the look they once had when they were a part of the descendant races. The way they look will change. Their skin tone will have a gray scale look to it, and will look almost void of all color. Is some cases the Shapeshifter can be confused for a Dark Elf by someone not paying attention, a sure fire way to tell if the person in front of you is a regular Dark Elf or a Shapeshifter is to look at their ears. This may not work all the time due to the fact that some elves are transformed into Shapeshifters and will retain their signature ears. The only color they will have on them at all is their unnatural eye color which will be a brighter color than what it had used to be.  

 

lb24E949eS2zJlaM_UifQcYilWqYQhDO74QuZe-GrPVEVlGuzjh-2Z-Rzm2zaP3PBnvrJUu_KFWSorxNrulpwGDeDnRBVM8Cd5ebkPeBVEHsWaOJltrvBqUT0i6N21WmSES4EFQ0

Symbol that must be carved into a Descendent for them to become a ShapeShifter

 

Appearance and How to Identify

Even though the Shapeshifters are known as the masters of disguise there are still a few ways to identify them even in when they’re disguised. To identify a disguised shifter you must somehow feel their skin. You will know that they person in front of you is not who they say or look like. Their skin will feel fake, almost like someone has covered their entire body in makeup to cover up who they truly are. Another rather easy way to identify them is through their eyes. A shapeshifter’s eyes will begin to have a subtle glow to them after a while, though the Shapeshifters can suppress the shine they cannot make it fully go away or leave it all together. After waiting long enough and looking into a Shapeshifter’s eyes it will eventually reveal this light. No one knows what this light is and the only working theory to date is that's its just them taunting anyone to figure out what they are and try to slaughter them, however this is likely false due to the fact that most Shapeshifters don’t even realize it happens. Next is their true form and it's rather hard to actually not see what they are, follow the statements above that describe their true form for how to identify them in this form. The absolute hardest to spot and find is their brand. All Shapeshifters have one somewhere on their body, and it doesn’t fade and go away with time. No matter if the Shifter is disguised or not they will still have the brand of the Shifter in the same spot they had it in their true form. Finding said brand is a sure fire way to identify the shifter, even if it is the most difficult. As for their internal organs they do not seem to be functional though they will bleed, etc. Age is not a great defining factor as they can transform into beings of any age. Not only this but their bodies in their true form stop aging as well, meaning that someone who was around the age of 35 when they became a Shapeshifter would stay that age indefinitely in their true form.

 

How They Are Created

    When a Descendant feels trapped, weak, and helpless, they may seek refuge with the Shapeshifters only to be tricked into changing into one of them. Though this may sound to some like a good thing, though the process of being made into a Shapeshifter is painful and irreversible. Most do not even feel any of the stated above and only want to further their own abilities and gain the powers the Shapeshifters hold. While they will be skeptical of whomever comes to them willingly wanting their power, they will put the Descendant through a grueling and dangerous trial that may result in the Descendant being caught and killed. The only shapeshifters able to create and accept new Descendants into their arms are the Masters. The way they are created is through a sort of necromancy magic that only masters or those taught would know, though outsiders knowing the magic to create them is very rare. This magic would be considered a feat and wouldn’t take up a slot because there is only in a sense one tier. A rune is carved into their body while the Master, or whomever knows the curse, curses them and changes them and makes them a Shapeshifter. The rune carved into them will never fully heal, and only a scare of the rune will remain for the entire lifespan of the Shapeshifter.

 

A Shapeshifter’s Diet

    Yes, like almost all other creatures the Shapeshifter must feed on something to keep going. Unlike most other creatures however they aren’t exactly so picky on what they must eat to survive. Shapeshifters are strictly carnivores and are required to hunt, kill, and eat something about twice every 2 elven weeks. A Shapeshifter not feeding themselves properly will become starved and due to such will slowly start to become very weak. This weakened state will last for another elven week, and will become worse as the week progresses. Eventually the Shapeshifter will wither away into nothing and die from starvation. There are some however that decide to hunt the descendents and take them captive for food. A shapeshifter kidnapping and dining on a descendant isn’t a rare thing and they will usually do this due to their unusual craving for flesh. Most Shapeshifters, if asked, will tell you that the taste of flesh to them will taste like nothing they have ever tasted before. They are mostly unable to describe what it's like, but will tell you that it is divine.

 

Weaknesses

  • Gold and Aurum weapons.

  • Clerical and Holy magics

  • Heavy amounts of light- A lot of light seems to keep these creatures away. (Fire evocationists may be able to do some harm without even burning the Shapeshifter) Though even with their weakness to heavy amounts of light they will still walk freely among normal everyday people during the day.

 

Red Lines

  • Unless your created disguise is a “perfect replica” and you have all the things needed for so to happen you are REQUIRED to emote a flaw ever 3-4 roleplay emotes, this can be something as small as your eye color changing all of the sudden, a voice change, etc. or something on a larger scale. Note this effect is only needed to be done with Descendant races and not creatures.

  • No Shifter can learn any type of holy or deity magic. Voidal magic, and Dark magic is acceptable however.

  • Cannot usually give birth to children. If a shapeshifter does get pregnant she may not be able to transform into any creature or descendant lest it kill the child instantly.

  • A shifter may not transform into any other creature that requires a creature application. For example frost witches, ghouls, liches, and dreadknights  just to name a few.

Edited by Leap1Games
Link to post
Share on other sites

I think this is great lore, it has quite a good back story and explanation to it, I think seeing this creature running around would be a nice addition to the magical creatures on the server.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Aye! Ya finally post it! YES!!! +1

Link to post
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Skellington said:

i mean we have frosties and izkuthii but sure why not

 

Frost witches and Izkuthii are very limited in what they can transform into, however Shapeshifters are not.

Link to post
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, Applewick said:

I like it. Lets just hope the furries dont get to it. +1

 

nobody stops the furries

Link to post
Share on other sites

not bad, but i dont think this is what we need on lotc ;-;

Link to post
Share on other sites

Okay don't get me wrong I like the idea behind the lore, the backstory was nice and to be honest some people would have issues with it because of its simplicity compared. I would disagree with them and go into a few well known and written fantasy novels that don't go into nearly as much detail about their magic but it's still 'believable'. That being said after reading through it there are a few things I had trouble wrapping my head around and I'll highlight and explain each.

1 hour ago, Leap1Games said:

they can change into most animals they so choose as long as they wish, from a small innocent little bird to a ferocious and aggressive bear.

 

1 hour ago, Leap1Games said:

The physical strength of the creature the Shifter becomes is different and can vary from time to time depending on the size of the descendant race and that races age it transforms into, at least when disguised. They have incredible strength that's worth thrice that of the average human, however their strength will not change due to whatever they change into.

 

1 hour ago, Leap1Games said:

They grow much stronger and faster. Their speed is too great to be caught by a human on foot, a horse is necessary.

 

Alrighty. Maybe you can clarify a few things and perhaps I've misunderstood the writing. However if I'm reading this correctly a shifter has three times strength of a human no matter the form. So a shifter mouse could run as fast as a horse and lift a chair? There needs to be more defined strength parameters. That being said somebody running as fast as a horse seems a little ridiculous and overpowered. Along the same lines I don't know if people going about the size of mice or being able to fly around as birds is a good idea.

 

1 hour ago, Leap1Games said:

Not only this but their bodies in their true form stop aging as well, meaning that someone who was around the age of 35 when they became a Shapeshifter would stay that age indefinitely in their true form.

 

1 hour ago, Leap1Games said:

The benefits they gain are simple and non-arcane.

 

I believe this is a little bit of a contradiction. You're literally bypassing the redlines of a race and tripling your strength and speed, there has to be something arcane there.

 

1 hour ago, Leap1Games said:

This magic would be considered a feat and wouldn’t take up a slot because there is only in a sense one tier.

 

You're gaining the power of three men and the speed of a horse and it only counts as a feat, not to mention its other abilities and powers to make it only a feat seems a bit off.

 

1 hour ago, Leap1Games said:

No Shifter can learn any type of holy or deity magic. Voidal magic, and Dark magic is acceptable however.

 

I'd personally like to see /why/ this is the case as most creatures can't learn new magic due to the very nature of their soul being altered. This would couple with its weakness to holy magic and ascended.

All in all I think there needs to be more weakness besides a sensitivity to light and the typical aurum/holy magic weakness. I believe this could be a good piece of lore if the strengths and weaknesses were more refined along with a few touch up details. That being said as the lore stands I don't approve of it and would not like to see this on the server.

 

Link to post
Share on other sites

This adds nothing new while having several problems of its own. You're gonna have to do a lot more work and change a lot of stuff if you want this to get anywhere.

Link to post
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, Wendigo said:

Okay don't get me wrong I like the idea behind the lore, the backstory was nice and to be honest some people would have issues with it because of its simplicity compared. I would disagree with them and go into a few well known and written fantasy novels that don't go into nearly as much detail about their magic but it's still 'believable'. That being said after reading through it there are a few things I had trouble wrapping my head around and I'll highlight and explain each.

 

 

 

Alrighty. Maybe you can clarify a few things and perhaps I've misunderstood the writing. However if I'm reading this correctly a shifter has three times strength of a human no matter the form. So a shifter mouse could run as fast as a horse and lift a chair? There needs to be more defined strength parameters. That being said somebody running as fast as a horse seems a little ridiculous and overpowered. Along the same lines I don't know if people going about the size of mice or being able to fly around as birds is a good idea.

 

 

 

I believe this is a little bit of a contradiction. You're literally bypassing the redlines of a race and tripling your strength and speed, there has to be something arcane there.

 

 

You're gaining the power of three men and the speed of a horse and it only counts as a feat, not to mention its other abilities and powers seems a bit off.

 

 

I'd personally like to see /why/ this is the case as most creatures can't learn new magic due to the very nature of their soul being altered. This would couple with its weakness to holy magic and ascended.

All in all I think there needs to be more weakness besides a sensitivity to light and the typical aurum/holy magic weakness. I believe this could be a good piece of lore if the strengths and weaknesses were more refined along with a few touch up details. That being said as the lore stands I don't approve of it and would not like to see this on the server.

 

 

Ok I can see where you were getting confused. Some of the issues that you've brought up are specific to one category/topic in the lore.

As for their strength. Afterwards I did say this, but I can see how one may get confused and not have seen this-

1 hour ago, Leap1Games said:

They retain the strength of which they had when they were a descendant until they go into “True Form”.

Their "True Form" is the only way they gain this supernatural speed, and strength. If they are disguised then they don't gain its benefits.

With the strength that is my fault I should have clarified that of course if you change into something smaller than yourself then you grow weaker and slower as a result to match that being.

29 minutes ago, Wendigo said:

I believe this is a little bit of a contradiction. You're literally bypassing the redlines of a race and tripling your strength and speed, there has to be something arcane there.

When I refered to them not gaining anything "non-arcane" I meant the Shapeshifter Masters gaining nothing arcane AS APPOSED TO THEIR normal counter parts, they gain nothing arcane over them.

 

32 minutes ago, Wendigo said:

You're gaining the power of three men and the speed of a horse and it only counts as a feat, not to mention its other abilities and powers seems a bit off.

Once again I refer to the Shapeshifter Masters, more specifically their ability to create new shapeshifters.

 

36 minutes ago, Wendigo said:

All in all I think there needs to be more weakness besides a sensitivity to light and the typical aurum/holy magic weakness. I believe this could be a good piece of lore if the strengths and weaknesses were more refined along with a few touch up details. That being said as the lore stands I don't approve of it and would not like to see this on the server.

I do agree and I will come up with more weaknesses!

Link to post
Share on other sites

34 minutes ago, Jaeden said:

Seems unnecessary, and a mixed stew of different shapeshifting lore currently existing on LotC.

All shapeshifting I've seen is the product of a magic and is very limited. Except for the Izkuthii but they're different than what I wrote.

 

27 minutes ago, Whimsycal said:

This adds nothing new while having several problems of its own. You're gonna have to do a lot more work and change a lot of stuff if you want this to get anywhere.

 

I would love to hear the problems you believe it has so I may fix them.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Are shapeshifters limited in appearance to what they've already encountered or will they be able to give themselves features not seen before? Are they still mortal too? Or do they live forever? 

Link to post
Share on other sites

34 minutes ago, drfate786 said:

Are shapeshifters limited in appearance to what they've already encountered or will they be able to give themselves features not seen before? Are they still mortal too? Or do they live forever? 

 

That they are, it would be really bad for that not to be the case. The process of becoming a shapeshifter places the user in a sort of "limbo" state with their aging, their aging process halts due to the creation. Meaning they could in theory live forever. However most wouldn't.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    No registered users viewing this page.



×
×
  • Create New...