I've been telling myself I need to post in here for a while, but I never got around to it... until now, of course. I'll start with Shapeshifters:

Shapeshifters are the central race in my story. Each shifter has two forms: their human form, and an animal form. However, there are not endless amounts of animal forms - only 14. They are:

Horse
Wolf
Serpent
Deer
Dolphin
Eagle
Leopard
Pegasus
Dragon
Basilisk
Centaur
Mermaid/Merman
Phoenix
Griffin

In appearance, shifters are much like humans. The only differences are their violet eyes and pointed ears.

Often, a shifter's personality matches that of their animal form in some way. My character Alyse, a mermaid, loved water and swimming before she discovered she was a shapeshifter, and Cecily, a wolf, can be very wolf-like sometimes.

Shapeshifters also have an ability that coincides with their animal form. With some shifters, it is called magic, but not always. For example, mermaids and dolphins can manipulate water; this isn't easily explained, so it is called magic. On the flip side, serpents and basilisks have extremely strong venom; this isn't as abnormal, so it isn't known as magic. (Note: I haven't figured out all the different abilities, so any suggestions would be helpful. )

Shifters are generally accepted in Arenia. They have lived with the humans for so long that no one thinks twice about it. Even in the government, there is a shifter representative who advises the king.

However, some shifters do not choose to live with the humans. They live off the coast, on the island of Bekohan. The same representative rules over these people.

When the Vandels conquered Arenia, they chased down most of the shifters - the only people strong enough to defeat them. Because the shifters were caught off-guard, Bekohan was laid waste, and only a handful were left on the mainland.

That's all I have so far. Sorry it's kind all over the place... I made up half of it as I went.

So... what do y'all think? Let me know if anything is confusing or if you have any suggestions!

I like your idea of the shapeshifters. And it made sense to me. I also think it is very appropriate that they can sometimes act like the animal the shift into.

All in all, I liked it and it made sense.

Thanks, Azlyn!

I agree with Az's comments. I have a few questions of my own, though.

1. Why only 14 shapes? What's special/distinctive about those forms?

2. Can shifters marry humans? Can, say, a wolf shifter marry a dolphin shifter?

3. How do shifters "discover" their powers?

Suggestions for powers:

I think water manipulation is a great idea . Not too cliche. Same with the venom aspect, although I do have a question about that--do they have to bite (in human form) to inject venom? How potent is the venom?

Horse, centaur, and leopard could have the power of speed-running while in human form.

Deer could be excellent at camouflage/staying still in wooded areas.

Wolves could be superb hunters and trackers.

Eagles, griffin, and pegasi could (possibly) fly while in human form? Not sure how this would work... Maybe they're especially light (hollow bones?) and could be blown away in wind but can't technically fly?

Dragons and phoenixes could have fire-breath and/or being able to manipulate fire.

Hope that helps!

Wow, thanks for all the suggestions, Dawn!



It's funny that you asked, because when I first joined HW I posted a different thread on shapeshifters, and got asked the exact opposite thing! Someone thought I should have a limited number of forms, so I came up with 7 normal animals, and 7 fantasy animals. So, really, that's why.

I do like the cultural implications of having a limited number of forms, though. What each person can shift into is based largely on genetics, so there could be 14 different clans. And I could use that in a lot of different ways: What would happen if griffin shifters had a baby who could shift into a deer? Would the different clans intermarry? Did each clan live in a different area? And so on... It could present some interesting dilemmas for the shifters that weren't killed; they don't really have much choice who they marry, if they refuse to marry humans.

I'm not really sure why they're only 14 forms, though. I just thought 7 normal and 7 fantasy animals made a nice round number. And I chose animals that were interesting, and not too similar to any of the other forms. Do you think I need to know why they are the forms?



They can, but they don't usually. A lot of shifters are proud of their heritage, to a fault. They don't think it's a good idea to marry humans. Also, after the Vandels invaded, the humans didn't want to put themselves in danger put marrying shifters.

I actually have character who had a human mother and a shifter father (dragon). She couldn't shift, but she married a shifter, and one of their children could. That just has to do with genetics.

Different types of shifters can marry, too. I haven't worked out if they do very often, though.



Normally, they just grow up knowing. They can shift very early - as soon as a year, but they generally don't develop their abilities till 5 or so. But since all mermaids, for example, can manipulate water, or all dragons can manipulate fire, there isn't any question about what their abilities will be. And, since the different groups marry mostly those like them, it's not too difficult to guess what the child will shift into. Sometimes it's not obvious, though - I have a set of siblings in my story that can shift into two different things.



Thanks! At first, I had it so shifters could just use magic. But that can get cliche, so I changed it.

The venom thing was something that popped into my head while I was typing that up... I didn't actually think about how that would work in human form. *thinks* I suppose they could have to bite, even in human form. Would that be too creepy for YA, though?

And the venom would be very potent... which means I have to be careful about making it too easy for it to get in someone.



I like the idea of speed-running, especially for leopards. Horses and centaurs... maybe. I'll have to think about them a little more. Prophecy crossed my mind for centaurs... but then I have to deal with writing prophecies.

I love the deer and wolf ideas, too. They both make perfect sense.

Pegasi can manipulate air; I knew that already. Griffin and eagles might be able to fly; I'll keep that one as a possibility.

And dragons can manipulate fire; that was another one I had already decided. For phoenixes, I'm liking the idea of healing and regeneration.

So... this is what I've got:

Horse - Endurance
Wolf - Tracking, hunting
Serpent - Potent venom
Deer - Camouflage, staying still for long periods of time
Dolphin - Echolocation
Eagle - Flying?
Leopard - Speed
Pegasus - Can manipulate air
Dragon - Can manipulate fire
Basilisk - Hypnotic gaze
Centaur - Can manipulate earth
Mermaid - Can manipulate water
Phoenix - Healing, regeneration
Griffin - Strength

Goodness.... that was a long post!

I like it, Abby!

Thank you, Ells!

Everything you've finished seems fine, so I'll just try to help with the abilities. I had a few thoughts:

Horse shifters could be exceptional runners, while leopard shifters could move fast in all sorts of ways (such as while fighting) but not be able to keep up with horse shifters while running except for a short distance.

Centaurs could be very strong.

Snake shifters could have a very firm grip on what they grab onto and be able to crush many things with their grip, and perhaps be able to squeeze through tight places.

Dolphins could jump high.

Eagle shifters could fly fast, while griffin shifters could be slower and stronger in flight and able to carry something heavy while they fly.

Basilisk shifters could also have a sort of hypnotic ability.

Dragon shifters could have tough skin.

Thanks for the suggestions, Jonathan!



I like that! It definitely makes sense... horses are known for endurance, and leopards for shorter bursts of speed. Good idea!



That one works, too... and it fits with my story, since Kane is pretty strong. Not like Superman or anything, but still really powerful.




I think I'll use these instead of venom, at least while the shifters are human. It gets rid of the creepiness of them having to bite people. They can still poisonous in serpent form, but while their human they won't have that ability.



These are good ideas, too! *is very glad she made this thread*



I think I'll stick with my original ideas (fire and water manipulation) on these. But thank you anyway!

You're welcome.

I have something I wanted to ask you guys about.

I have one shifter girl who can shift into any of the 14 forms, but she doesn't have any of the abilities that go along with them. And I have no idea how to explain that. Should I just write it off as a rare genetic thing?

*loves this story idea*

Before you write off the idea of a snake having toxic venom, think about this: Not all poisonous snakes bite.
There are some snakes that spit there venom (a type of acid I believe) towards an animal's (or person's) eyes in order to blind them.

Also, the snake doesn't have to have just one trait. Maybe some of the snake shifters are strong, some use venom, and some can use both.



I think a rare genetic thing makes sense.

Thanks! If you want to read the story, it's the one linked to in my signature.



True... I think I have officially written off venom for Basilisks (I liked Jon's idea of a hypnotic gaze ), but not for serpents. Spitting would work, though... I can't really see someone running around a battlefield spitting at people. But it would be really cool for one-on-one situations...

Something else Griffin mentioned was a poisonous touch; if the shifter scratched someone, they could somehow inject venom into the cut.



Okay, awesome!

That would work too.

But then... how would they not poison everyone they touched?

Maybe they secrete the poison through sweat gland type things? They could regulate how much--or little--they secrete.

How are these ideas:

Horse - Path finding, and untameability
Wolf - Hypnotic song
Serpent - Intelligence
Deer - Foresight, prophecy
Dolphin - Telepathy
Eagle - Long sight
Leopard - Swiftness (not quite the same thing as speed)
Pegasus - Telekinesis
Dragon - Power over fire
Basilisk - Hypnotic gaze
Centaur - Blessing and cursing
Merman - Power over weather
Phoenix - Healing, regeneration
Griffin - Strength

Or:

Pegasus - Blessing and cursing
Dragon - Power over weather
Centaur - Telekinesis
Merman - Power over water, or healing
Phoenix - Power over fire

(I suppose you meant Merman since both men and women can shift into that hybrid)


I do not think the ability to shift into any of the forms would be genetic. Not unless the persons ancestors intermarried with all the other tribes, and then the strain of inheriting so many shifting abilities made it impossible to exert any of the powers. But then probably most of their relatives would be able to shift into different combinations of the forms, and also have great weakness in any of the powers.

It seems that you could make a story of the ability being a gift given to her: she does some deed of merit, and is enabled in return, or a Deer shifter foresees that she would have need of great power, and they find a way of enabling her to shift into any of the forms (perhaps at great cost); but either way the act of enabling her to shift freely destroys her powers.

You could have it that she performs the deed of merit to the Deer shifter, which causes him to foresee her need, and he gives his life trying to empower her. You could have it that she once was a Phoenix or Merman shifter, and she has to trust that she needs to give up her power of healing to take the power to shift into any of the forms.

Does anybody know that she can shift into all the forms? You could have it that she keeps it a secret from all but a few, but she finds it hard to keep it a secret that the reason she will not heal anyone is because she has lost the power. Or everyone knows or finds out that she has lost her power, and it is a mystery to them.

Basically I think it could be very interesting if you had a story telling how that ability was given to her, or how she got it. (sorry if I was too long winded)

You guys have way too many good ideas! I like a lot of those, Tsahraf; now I just have to figure out which ones I want to use... Thanks!

And good point about swiftness and speed; I think swiftness was what I was going for. Speed makes me think of the Flash from superhero cartoons...



That would work; thanks!

Have you posted descriptions of the Phoenixes, Basilisks, Flying horses, Mermen, Centaurs, Griffins, or Dragons anywhere on Holy Worlds?
Peoples ideas of them vary widely, and that was one reason I had alternative powers for some of the shifter kinds, for instance, a worm like dragon is sometimes given the power of controlling the weather in Chinese stories, but a fire breathing dragon would probably control fire.

Nope, I haven't...

I actually didn't have those creatures in Arenia; they only exist as shapeshifter forms. I made it that way so the shifters would be truly unique in their abilities, but would that really make sense?

Anyway, I do need to define what each form is like... I'll definitely think about it while I do my school today.

For some reason I missed this last time:



I guess that's a possibility, since all her relatives are dead, except for two brothers, but I do want her to be different from almost all other shifters. The other thing I thought of is that she could be directly descended from the first shifter, who had the genetic material for all the different forms. But it has been a long time since the creation of that world, so that seems rather implausible.



That would be interesting... *watches as her rewrite gets more and more complicated*
The only problem is that I can't see how she would gain all the forms. I have a deer shifter, and it wouldn't be difficult at all for me to give her the gift of foresight; and she's the type of person who wouldn't need a deed of merit if she foresaw the need anyway. It's just... how could she gain all the forms? Maybe there's a prophecy that says if all the kinds of shifters gather together in one place (maybe a specific place), they can give all their forms to one person. But then it would follow that they would lose their abilities, which totally change my plot, and probably wouldn't be worth it in the long run for the war. 14 shifters with all the abilities would be better than one with all the forms, but no abilities. *is thinking out loud*

But, if I could figure something else out, it would make an extremely interesting sub-plot.



No; only her brother and 4 other shifters know. That would be fun to write... I really need to find a way to make it work.

Patrick should come world build for me.

I know... isn't he amazing? Now I'm just stuck trying to figure out which abilities I like best!

Thank you! Thank you very much! You make me very happy.


I have a question: is there a way to tell what kind of shifter they are, when they are not in their other forms, or exerting their powers?

Nope, though you can sometimes make guesses based on their personality or interests; for example, a mermaid or dolphin would probably have an affinity for swimming. But, as far as appearance, I don't think so. Sometimes it's even hard to tell that they are shifters, since their only distinguishing features are their purple eyes and pointed ears.

I like your thinking, PrincessoftheKing! I especially like the traits/magic you gave each race/type of shapeshifter. I have a very similar set-up in my world of Quartorlen, except that the entire world is populated by my alterers, so there are no humans. And I don't have a list of my creature forms, it's mainly based on size, (no mice, for instance) realism (I mean, who would want to alter into a giraffe? ), location (animals whose habitat fits those parts of the world they come from) and ease of speaking (i.e. no Red-crested bustards ).
But I've been having trouble deciding how much (if any) magic to place into my world. One of my characters is a Phoenix, so he can manipulate fire a little, and I have a Hawk whose scream is sonic, but I haven't figured out if everyone should have an ability of some sort.

And I hope I'm not hijacking your thread here, , but you mentioned marrying among shapeshifters. I thought a good deal about it, and the way I solved it was by deciding that anyone could marry, but the child would have the creature form of one parent, and perhaps the coloring (or variation of coloring) of the other. So a fox who married a wolf who have either a red wolf, or a gray fox. (now that's pretty simple, I haven't decided what happens when a tiger marries a horse ) This also means that each alterer's creature form is unique, so there are not tons of wolves in one part of the country and tons of lions in another.

And if you're still undecided as to how your shapeshifter girl with the 14 forms got that way, I think the genetic thing makes more sense. But that's just me.

Thanks, Inkblade! Your alterers sound fascinating; you should start a thread on them sometime. As you can see, people around here give awesome advice.



Haha...no, you're not hijacking my thread.

My shifters can intermarry between different kinds; they just don't. It's a pride thing for most of them, and the rest just go along with everyone else (usually, anyway). But when they do end up marrying each other, whichever gene happens to be dominant wins out.

But having them mix like that is really cool. You could do all sorts of things with that.



I've gotten a lot of varying opinions about that; I think it'll just come down to which works best for the plot.