Denizens of the Howling Wastes (Shifters in Scorori)

[Wensleydale]

Physical Description: Shifters generally have sharp, swept-back, animalistic features, with sharp teeth, flexible limbs, and slitted eyes. They feel more comfortable crouching than sitting on a seat, and although tall and fast, naturally keep up a broken, changing gait. Their hearing, sense of smell, and sight are all above-human, but it is when they shift that their true natures come into play...

 Personality: Shifters are slow to befriend and quick to scorn, and indeed, in their minds only their Pack-Mates are truely their allies. They generally use as few words as possible, and can never fully concentrate on speaking as even when relaxed, they instinctively look around for danger. However, those who a Shifter truely bonds with become his pack, and he will defend them to the death. Of course, he will expect the same in return...

 Society and Lands: All Shifters have a pack mentality, and the pack that they are born to almost always has deep ties to other packs, making the entire race interconnected. Shamans in their packs also have telepathic contact with all other shamans through the Dakra Ue (see Religion, below.)
Whilst Shifters are interconnected, their society is anything but united. Packs meet frequently in ritual battles to prove their territorial domination, and although shamans will never kill other Shifters, Keke'Maram-io, or the Blood Taking, is perfectly legal between others.
Of course, enemies have underestimated the Shifters before, thinking them easily taken because of their divided society. However, ALL packs will band together against a common enemy, ESPECIALLY lycanthropes who the Shifters hate with a venom.

 Religion: The Shifters have a complex belief system based around Dakra Ue, which roughly translates as 'the Many Souls'. Basically, the world around is filled with spirits, souls, the souls of every creature, alive, dead, or yet-to-be. Shamans tap into this primal source to gain their shapechanging abilities, allowing them to pull in emotions to create rages, or even take on the aspects of beings and creatures. These Shamans are not spellcasters, but natural-gifted individuals who can pull on a magical pool and gain power. Their ferocity in battle and immense toughness has granted them the common title of 'Feral'.
The point of the Shifter belief is that if they die with great honour, they will be reincarnated as a new creature, or possibly even accepted into the Dakra Ue to give advice to younger shifters. Shamans are known to gain access to the Dakra Ue automatically.

 Other Races: Shifters recognise that other races have things which could be useful to them, and skills that they do not, but beyond that, other races are at the status of animals until they have proved themselves in some way. The only exception to this is Lycanthropes, who are attacked on sight, and Daemons, who the Shifters will attack without quarter or thought of personal safety.

 History: Few know the history of the Shifters, or why they hate Lycanthropes so much. It is thought that they are descended from lycanthropes and humans, but this is only partially true. The Shifters are nothing more than a devolved breed of lycanthropes, and this is their history...

Long ago, the Lycanthropes roamed the plains, hunting anywhere and everywhere, killing whoever they pleased and slaying any who attempted to cull them. Their rapid breeding spread more and more of them throughout the world, and in the end even the strongest kingdoms were besieged by savage lycanthropic warriors. Eventually, Lord Kaartha, a hitherto-unknown noble in history, led a final, desperate charge. He failed. What was worst, he himself, along with his men, rose as Lycanthropes, and were forced to re-enter the city, acting under a domination effect. He infected his wife and children, his cousins, his brother, hundreds of people. Soon the city was infested and became a new Lycanthrope nation. However, the foolish caster who was dominating Kaartha let it slip for an hour, and during this time Kaartha climbed the walls of the caster's tower, broke in and ripped his body to shreds. He preceded to destroy the city and all the lycanthropes who wouldn't follow him, leading the rest out into the wilderness. He and his army slaughtered their kind wherever they found them, driving them, with the assistance of the rallying armies, back into the Howling Wastes. However, towards the end the other races turned on HIM, and he too fled to the Wastes, knowing he couldn't fight everyone. The army slowly broke up, creating hundreds of small villages, and bred and interbred... and somehow, over time, the Shifters were born. Lycanthropic traits were getting weaker and weaker in the bloodline, until eventually, near-humans were born. Theories suggest that because of Kaartha's mental strength, his bloodline devolved, but this is still unknown.





 

[Tybalt]

At a glance I would say that the difference between shifters and lycanthropes would appear slight to those who don't know much about either. They might in fact appear as strange savage people who are inherently hostile. How do you picture them as a society dealing with other cultures?

[Wensleydale]

*nods* There isn't much of a difference between shifters and Lycanthropes, but they hate one another with a venom and shifters have different abilities... heh.

Generally they don't HAVE to deal with other cultures, but when they do, they are effectively no more important than equipment. They have to first prove themselves as real creatures, and even then they are little more than aquaintances. As a race, they are neutral-bordering-on-unfriendly towards those whose borders converge on theirs, and neutral towards others. Anyone who enters the Howling is fair game, however.