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Shaper shifters, or shifters for short, are werewolves and similar creatures that move between an animal form and a person's form. In older times this was called Lycanthropy and is caused by the disease by the same name (Lycanthrope Virus). It is hard for most mundanes to consider that a virus can cause someone's body to change so radically, however, truth is always stranger than fiction. There are various strains of the Lycanthrope Virus which corresponds to the various forms which can Lycanthrope (Shifter) can transform into.
Attributes
A shifter gains many of the abilities of the animal they can shift into. Usually their human senses which correspond to the positive traits of the animal are enhanced. Such as a werewolf gains superior strength, sense of smell, and hunting instincts. They also gain some of the downsides, an instinctual need for pack life, the need to obey their Alpha within a pack, and a tendency toward resolving differences through violence.
Predatory vs. Prey
While most of the animals associated with Lycanthropy are predators, this doesn't need to be the case. A shifter will gain abilities from the animal race for which they can transform, while predatory species of animal tend to increase strength, agility, and the senses this is not always the case with a species that is not generally a predator. A more docile species that is more hunted than hunter in the wild would get abilities and attributes suited for sensing danger, escaping, or camouflaging ones self.
Changing Shape
All lycanthropes can shift from their human form to an animal form with an additional form in-between the two. A man who is a werewolf can transform into a wolf but also into a half-man and half-wolf hybrid. When in animal form, the cognitive abilities of being human are suppressed and this form relies more on animal instincts than on cognition and intelligence.
The hybrid form is difficult to obtain as well and takes years of practice to get down. In some lycanthrope societies it is seen as a rite of passage (full membership in the community) to finally be able to achieve and maintain the hybrid form. While in this form, one gains the best of both world - a strong animal instinct without loss of cognitive abilities. In this form the humans body is enhanced with attributes of the animal form, be those strength, speed, or awareness.
The shifting process is smooth, the body appearing to mutate into a silvery-gold liquid before it reforms into the final form. Some say the processes is excruciating painful while others say the exact opposite and enjoy the feeling. Whether this is psychosomatic or just differences in physiology is largely unknown.
Creation
A lycanthrope is created through the infection of a human being by a strain of the lycanthropy virus. The virus is not airborne but transmitted via bodily fluids, though saliva contains the virus it cannot be passed on unless the saliva contacts with blood to pass on the virus. Similarly, the virus can be transmitted during sex, but this is extremely rare. Most often the virus is transmitted through blood-blood contact or saliva-blood contact. The virus takes about 14-28 days to fully transform a person into a lycanthrope.
Animal Strains
The particular strains of the virus which allow shifting into a given animal come from that animal. This is one of the reasons why predators are far more likely to be represented than any other kind of animal. When an animal is infected (through consuming the flesh of an infected human) the virus does not transform the animal but rather it mutates into a strain specific to that species of animal. Thus at some point, a wolf consumed the flesh of a lycanthrope and thus the lycanthropy virus was mutated and created a strain to transform a human into a wolf.
The process of mutation takes months and then a human must consume the meat of the infected animal to then become infected themselves.
Groups
Most shifters group together, though not all groups have a definite Alpha Male leader, this is usually reserved the groups that come from a very social animal. The most notable of these is the Wolf, though others exist. Shifters take their social nature from the animal they are associated with. Thus, a Shifter of the Wolf strain (Werewolf) is going to group with other Werewolves the way wolves do. This means an Alpha Male, Beta Female, and the like. Not every group is like this, however. Bears are solitary creatures and thus there is no Alpha Male dynamic at play with Werebears. Similarly a Werelion has an Alpha Female and Beta Male, because in the wild they have a matriarchal society. Many predators are predominantly alone, such as bears, and members of a group have no special traits which allow them command over the group.
Groups of shifters share a psionic link with others within that group, the strength of the link is species dependent. For a solitary species of shifter, the link will be very weak but likewise those with a very strong social bonding between group members, the link will be vastly stronger.
Alphas
Whether a male or female, an Alpha is truly in charge of their group. A shifter from a group with an Alpha must listen to that Alpha when given a direct order, unless they wish to pit their strength against the will of the Alpha. The willpower of the Alpha dominates that of those under them through a use of psionic energy that is instinctual (and specific, being an Alpha does not give psionic abilities but specific uses of ones willpower as psionic energy). Those under the Alpha can resist and if they can muster enough command over themselves, they can contest the Alpha for control.
There cannot be 2 Alpha's, thus when one Alpha is dominated by an underling, they cease to be the Alpha of that group. The only exception is if a member of a group decides to separate from the group, even if they have contested the will of the Alpha and won, they can choose to separate themselves and loose the psionic link with the others. A failed contest of wills can often end in the upstart being attacked or even killed - though an Alpha can choose to have mercy and let such a challenge pass, though this is uncommon in most social groups.
Betas
The mate of the Alpha has a strong role to play themselves. The Beta is able to act as an Alpha unless the Alpha overrides them, most races of shifter have defined social roles but it is possible to go outside those roles. Beta's (like Alpha's) must be obeyed, but the force of their will isn't as strong as the Alpha and unlike the Alpha contesting their will does not usurp their position in the group. That being said, an Alpha feels some amount of compulsion to be with the strongest Beta that they can and thus when a Beta is defeated it becomes more likely that the Alpha will choose another mate and thus change Beta's.
Group Members
As perviously said, all group members share a psionic link, for strongly social species it allows them to know when each other is in trouble and needs help, it also aids in finding group members who may have become lost or run away. The link depends on the social binding, thus an outcast of the group is going to have a weaker psionic link than others. At times, an outcast or someone less favored socially may be only traceable by those they hold most dear and are most open to (other than the Alpha and Beta). The leaders of a group make the group a family, if that family is toxic, the group members may have little choice but to bear it, it is all up to the group leaders. This is why many times werebears and similar species of shifter, willfully do not group together for long, since they do not need to and why werewolves has a generally poor reputation among many - since predatory packs can often have very toxic dynamics based on fear and control.
Whatever the group dynamic is, it will be reflected in the members of the group. A good group, with a good leader, will have healthy members who tend to be well adjusted socially and responsible. This comes from the strong psionic link in social groups where those with the natural instinct to be dysfunctional gain strength from those who have a more even temperament. The other side is also true, however, even the most responsible person going into a strongly dysfunctional group will find themselves making choices which are less than productive where they would never do such things before - this often becomes a race to the bottom for dysfunctional groups.
Mating
The virus has a 75% chance to be passed from a parent to an offspring. If both parents have the virus the child would almost certainly also have the virus as well. Children born into lycanthropy will likely achieve their first shifting during puberty, though a strong enough and prolonged enough fear response can trigger earlier shifting. Cross-species mating does not produce mixed offspring, ever, a lycanthrope wolf mating with a lycanthrope tiger will produce a lycanthrope either wolf or tiger but not a mix of both.
Within the lycanthrope community, mating with other lycanthropes is highly valued, and in that it is socially frowned upon to mate outside of your own animal. Though it will not get a person ostracized exactly, it would be generally frowned upon and considered to be a lack of judgement.