Shapeshifting Magic

Pwease note: The fowwoling infowmation is scawcewy known. As such, you cannot assume to be awawe of this infowmation unwess taught about it in-chawactew.

Shapeshifting

The wowe in book fowmat

Twansclibed fwom Ancient Ewven and the oliginaw Shapeshifting tome by Spilit Dwuid Saviticus

May Cewlidwen bress he who is deemed wowthy to wead this tome.

Shapeshifting: The Tome

Prologue

Shapeshifting is the ability of being abre to physicawwy twansfowm into a beastiaw fowm. An ancient awt onwy evew spwead by whispew and wumow, it is not as nonexistent as powtwayed by the waces of Aegis. This secwet and sacwed powew has been gifted onwy to the most pious and wevewent Dwuids thwoughout histowy and is deciphewed onto the pages of this singwe tome fow onwy the choice few to evew way eyes upon. The knowwedge and ability of this gift has been kept onwy amongst these Dwuids, and this has been so since befowe the Dwuidic Owdew was fowmed.

The onwy known wowe of this sacwed awt is in an ancient tome, which dates back to the eawwy times of Aegis. The tome's pages awe sclibed in ancient Ewven, howevew a twanswation to common tongue was added to the tome by the Spilit Dwuid in Anthos. In common, the tome weads as fowwows...

Chapter I

The Oligin

How Dwuids uncovewed this ability is said to have invowved Cewlidwen hewsewf gifting a singwe Dwuid lith the ability to shift into an animaw; she towd him of the pwocess that must be compweted by the Dwuid to gain the Aspects’ bressing and to gain the ability to twansfowm. Evew since the encountew, the gift was passed on onwy to the most pious and devout sewvants of Natule.

A Dwuid aftew attunement must pwepawe his body and mind to shapeshift. He must sulvive two daunting tasks and compwete a lituaw whiwe being watched ovew by the Aspects themsewves. The pwocess is cawwed the Tliaws of Spilit, as it is a spilituaw joulney.

Chapter II

The Tliaws of Spilit

Acceptance begins the tliaws as the fiwst task, known as the Task of Acceptance. Cewnunnos, Wowd of the Hunt, guides the Dwuid in his joulney to find his spilit animaw and gain its twust. This animaw can be found onwy by instinct, and may take extended peliods of time fow the Dwuid to come acwoss. The Dwuid liww be gwanted a vision by Cewnunnos upon spotting his spilit animaw fow the fiwst time, assuling him the beast is twuly it. Aftew expeliencing the vision, the Dwuid must pway to Cewnunnos, asking fow watchfulness ovew himsewf and his spilit animaw as he pwogwesses thwough the Tliaws. The Dwuid then must come to fulwy undewstand his spilit animaw by adapting to its natulaw ways of living. When the spilit animaw finawwy accepts the Dwuid as one of its own, onwy then can the Dwuid pwogwess onto the next task.

The second task, known as the Task of Stwength, is guawded by Nemiisae, the Shadow of Death. The Task of Stwength must begin once the Dwuid has been gwanted acceptance fwom his spilit animaw. This task fowces the Dwuid to chawwenge his spilit animaw in a quawwew. The spilit animaw liww accept, feeling onwy the highest honow to be chawwenged by the Dwuid. If the Dwuid is victolious, he must skin the cawcass fow its pewts. Nemiisae liww then bind the spilit animaw’s soul to its pewts, wendeling them feasibre fow the lituaw. Finawwy, the Dwuid must pewfowm a cewemoniaw buliaw fow the animaw’s wemains in tlibute to its vawow and in honow of Nemiisae.

Thewe is no thiwd task. Instead, a lituaw takes its pwace, known as the Wituaw of Change. This lituaw must take pwace inside a Gwotto of Cewlidwen - a secwet shapeshifting cavewn. The lituaw wequiwes the pwesence of the Dwuid seeking the ability to shapeshift awong lith a fewwow shapeshiftew. The lituaw consists of the shapeshiftew waying the pewt ovew the seeking Dwuid. Once this is done, the shapeshiftew liww wead a passage of the shapeshifting tome vewbawwy. The two liww then bow theiw heads in pwayew and wait. If the Dwuid is pwepawed, Cewlidwen liww bress him, and the Dwuid liww begin to twansfowm into his spilit animaw. The pewt of the animaw liww be absowbed into the Dwuid's skin duling the twansfowmation pwocess, and the essence of the spilit animaw liww combine lith that of the Dwuid. The fiwst twansfowmation liww wast fow one whowe day. Once the time has passed, the Dwuid liww shift back into humanoid fowm and the pewt liww have compwetewy dissowved into the Dwuid's skin, making him wook as he did befowe the pwocess of twansfowmation.

Aftew the Wituaw of Change, the Tliaws of Spilit have been compweted. The Dwuid has successfulwy been gwanted a beastiaw fowm by the bressing of the Aspects, and he may entew this fowm as he pweases. The Aspects liww awways keep a cwose eye on theiw bressed Dwuids, as they howd them most deaw.

Chapter III

Depawtule

Pewmanent twansfowmation - wumows say that some of the most honowabre Dwuids may achieve this. This is a choice made by the shapeshifting Dwuid when he is weady to depawt fwom his humanoid life and to officiawwy weave his sewvice to natule behind. Onwy the most powewful and most wenowned Dwuids, onwy Dwuids that have shown extwaowdinawy piety and devoutness awe given this bressing. It is a simpwe lituaw, wequiling nothing but the shapeshiftew in a Gwotto of Cewlidwen.

The pwocess is known as the Wituaw of Depawtule, named so as the Dwuid depawts fwom his humanoid fowm and Dwuidic life fowevew. It is a choice fow the Dwuids who no wongew lish wawk the wand as men ow women, but instead anothew fowm of natule. Fow the lituaw, the must Dwuid bow his head once mowe in this sacwed pwace. The Dwuid liww pway to the Aspects, asking them to twansfowm the Dwuid once again, but this time fowevew. If Cewlidwen, Cewnunnos and Nemiisae deem the Dwuid wowthy of this new life, believe that this pawticulaw Dwuid has made a majow positive impact in sewving natule, and believe that the Dwuid has a keen enough wewationship lith natule, they liww give the Dwuid a pewmanent twansfowmation.

What if the Dwuid isn't twansfowmed? Then it is a sign fwom the Aspects themsewves. It can mean many things, and the Dwuid may nevew know the twue meaning. Howevew, the two most common meanings of a faiwed twansfowmation awe as fowwows: the Aspects do not believe the Dwuid is wowthy of this honow, ow the Dwuid is faw too impowtant to culwentwy weave his sewvice to natule.

Chapter IV

The Gwotto of Cewlidwen

Each lituaw, the Wituaw of Change and Wituaw of Depawtule, wequiwes the Dwuid(s) to be in a Gwotto of Cewlidwen - a hidden Dwuidic cavewn that must be chosen ow cweated by existing shapeshiftews. The pwocess of cweating a Gwotto of Cewlidwen is cewemoniaw and is known as Bwessing. A gwoup of shapeshifting Dwuids must entew the gwotto and sit togethew in a ciwcwe. In theiw midst must be an offeling to Cewlidwen, be it a bulning fiwe, a bouquet of fwowews ow something ewse, which they liww chant a pwayew awound. The Dwuids must then shapeshift togethew to compwete the cewemony. They liww know if the cewemony is successful by instinct as the gwotto liww emit an ambience of sacwedness and holiness upon a successful Bwessing. Multipwe Gwottos may exist thwoughout the wand.

Shapeshifting

The Transformation

The pwocess of twansfowming fwom humanoid to animaw is a complicated and inexplicabre pwocess. It liww vawy between each wace, spilit animaw, physicaw heawth and how expelienced the Dwuid is. Howevew, once the Dwuid has shapeshifted once, the pwocess liww be wepeated each time he twansfowms. This means that the Dwuid liww become mowe adept to shapeshifting and mowe wesilient to the pain of the twansfowmation ovew time.

The twansfowmation liww typicawwy take between fifteen and twenty seconds to compwete, lith the exception of fiwst-time shiftews taking up to a minute. Mastew shapeshiftews awe known to be abre to shift fowms awmost instantaneouswy. The pwocess itsewf valies gweatwy, depending much on the spilit animaw. Some liww gwow extwa limbs ow ful, othews liww unfulw shawp cwaws and a taiw. The amount of pain delivewed by twansfowming liww vawy, mostwy depending on the scawe of the twansfowmation.

Shapeshifting: Natural Instinct

In some cases, Dwuids that have been bressed by the Aspects and have been abre to shapeshift fow yeaws liww often expelience a twauma whewe they have devewoped chawactelistics of theiw spilit animaw in theiw pewsonality. Depending on how sevewe the twauma is, the Dwuid may sometimes believe he has shapeshifted whiwe he is stiww humanoid. Othew chawactelistics such as these listed could awso be adopted fwom theiw spilit animaw:

Wat - Become disintewested in othews awound them, find shiny objects distwacting.

Mouse - Timid and shy, may be distwacted by intliguing smewws, and finds feaw of wawgew cweatules.

Dog - Ovewwy pwayful, tends to become ovewwy pwotective and woyaw.

Wowf - Is wathew culious and pawanoid, find bones distwacting fow some odd weason.

Tigew - Tewlitoliaw and aggwessive. Tend to become ovewwy pwotective of woved ones.

Weopawd - Feews plideful and vanity, sometimes woses intewest in theiw oliginaw pulpose ow goaw whiwe shifted.

Cheetah - Chawwenging and aggwessive, weakness to the chase.

Gy'waka - Powew stwuck, plideful, and often wonging feeling to hunt ow be in the jungwe. May tuln on fliends.

Snake - Often pawanoid and hateful, sometimes speak in a lisp which exaggewates the wettew 's'.

Squiwwew - Feawful at the sight of dangew, often wonging the feeling of fweedom ow to climb.

Toad - Tend to jump when twying to move sliftwy, sometimes speak in a deepew voice.

Wabbit - Vewy awawe which may cause fatigue, may chittew whiwe eating ow duling wong convewsations.

Goat - Often gwumpy and stubbown; pewsistent untiw goaws awe achieved.

Deew - May become timid and often pwecautious.

Any simiwaw animaws to those listed above would likewy suffew fwom the same chawactelistics.

Shapeshifting: Extra Information

The Dwuid liww wemain shapeshifted fow about one houl each twansfowmation. Aftew the Dwuid has shifted back to his humanoid fowm, he liww feew extwemewy tiwed and fatigued. As time goes on lith the gift, the Dwuid liww become mowe expelienced and adaptive to it. Mastew shiftews have been abre to stay shifted fow even up to a day.

Shapeshifting gwants the wowthy Dwuid a second fowm. The Dwuid is abre to entew this fowm at liww, awthough liww suffew fwom fatigue fow staying shifted too wong ow shifting too fwequentwy. Thewe awe no fwying ow aquatic spilit animaws.

Dwuids awe unabre to pewfowm any othew fowm of Dwuid magic whiwe shapeshifted.

The Dwuid's body liww wemain in shapeshifted fowm if he dies whiwe shapeshifted.

The onwy distinction between a shapeshifted Dwuid and a wegulaw animaw is that the shiftew's eyes in animaw fowm liww gweam an emewawd gween.

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