Alchemy - Shifters

Capitol Hill - Norse Apartments

Not only do the dead walk among the living, not only do twisters and Channelers of the energies of life and magic live amongst the mundane, but so as well do the creatures of legend, the skin changers, exist in this time. From the ancient times men have dreamt of living as the beasts, warm and secure and powerful. And some of them do - just as humans have survived and evolved into the present, so have the shape shifters and skin changers in all their variety.

While their varieties are not as infinite as the species themselves, there are many paths to the same end in this case. On Alchemy, four types of skin changers are available for play.

Natural Channels - Shape shifters that had some spark naturally born into them, they can harness the magical energies of the world to take the form of their beast.

The Infected - Skin changers of Hollywood in many ways, these are shape shifters infected by the bite of others, and so become what they are.

The Mechanicals - Skin changers in the most literal sense, the are humans that have struck deals with powers from the Otherworld for the ability to change into their beast, always with the aid of some material device.

The Cursed - Shape changers without choice or say, these are humans that have either been cursed, or inherited a curse, inflicted by a major power to change into their beast at certain times and in certain ways.

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Natural Channels

Whether through an innate spark of magic talent, the tutelage of another channel, or the instruction of a denizen of the Otherworld, natural channels walk that boundary line between magicians and shifters. Natural channels are people that have the ability to use magical energies to change their physical shape into that of a single, specific animal. While an exhausting practice at first, often requiring foci and ritual, the longer and more often the channel practices the transformation, the easier it becomes.

The upsides to this talent are many, though not quite of the life and death importance that they were in previous centuries. The channel can take the shape of an ordinary member of their animal. The strength, speed, and innate abilities of the animal are the channel's to use, though there is a steep learning curve at the start. Learning to run on four legs takes training for a mind that's always relied on two. In either of the channel's forms, there is nothing to mark them as unnatural or unusual, the magical energies they access only growing to noticeable strength in the moments of transformation.

Learning to become, or tap into, a natural channel has several side effects. The transformation lasts until it is intentionally made, so many channels learn early on the value of focus and concentration in less than ideal circumstances. There is no accidental shifting. Unlike other shifter types who's human forms run the full gamut of shapes and sizes, natural channels do not reply on magical forces to make up for mass and bulk, nor to bolster their strength and speed. Any channel that has spent more than a year or two practicing tends to become hard and powerful as the everyday activities of the animal kingdom require levels of fitness rarely seen in the human population.

There are a couple of minor prices to be paid for transforming. The first is caloric need. While shifted into their animal form, the channel's body burns calories at a vastly accelerated rate, not counting any strenuous activities they might take place in. A channel that's been running around as a wolf or cat for a few hours will be amazingly hungry upon return to human form, easily clearing out a salad bar or a Brazilian steakhouse. The second price is that the shifting /is/ a kind of spell, if a very unusual and specific one. A powerful wizard that is expecting a channel to shift has a chance of cutting them off as they gather that power, just as he might other practitioners. Lastly, a natural channel lacks the raw power of other shifter types. They are neither superhumanly strong nor superhumanly fast. They do not heal at unnatural rates. They are not affected by silver or wolfs bane any more than a mundane human would be. They are not affected by the phases of the moon.

VERY experienced natural channels on occasion learn to draw upon aspects and energies of their animal when they are not fully shifted. Rare in the extreme, these experienced channels can temporarily boost their strength, speed, and stamina, force their bodies to ignore wounds and pain, and send themselves into furious rages.

The Infected

Whether its a curse, a virus, a chemical reactions, an ancient magical effect gone awry, no one can really say for sure. All that is known is that the infected become shape shifters not through choice or desire or penance, but through the double bad luck of being attacked by an Infected, and surviving that attack.

When a Mundane somehow survives the attack of an Infected in beast form, there is a chance they, themselves, have contracted the disease. What kind of chance depends on which strain of the infection they might contract. For some reason the wolf and rat strains are quite virulent, while those creating big cat varieties are significantly less infectious, and the rare strains which pass along the bear, raptor, and other types are statistically not worth mentioning. The infection has an incubation period of three to five days during which is spreads through the body, engendering a high fever, lassitude, and a semi-comatose state. Something on the order of twenty to forty percent of those infected never awake from this state, wasting away within months till their bodies give out. Those who do survive have other problems to deal with. Upon the next full moon after the incubation period has passed, the victim transforms into their beast, a new Infected fully born.

Most often the newly Infected are found within a few months of their transformation (if they are not watched with some trepidation by pack members of the one who infected them), and brought within the social groups (packs, prides, plagues, etc) which have formed, budded off, grown, collapsed, and reformed over the centuries as the Infected have attempted to both contain, protect, and govern themselves. Yes, the pack watches for them, the punishment for Infecting a mundane being death among the circles of the Infected. Most of those Infected which are not brought into a social group slowly go mad, losing a grip on what once was human and degenerating into their base needs until destroyed.

Infection does come with several benefits. The infected become somewhat physical more potent than mundane humans; stronger, quicker, and better able to shake off injury. Their senses become sharp, even in human form, and their rate of healing physical injury increases dramatically. Massive physical trauma can still kill one of the Infected (removal of the head, removal of the spinal column, removal of the lungs, removal of the heart, drowning, burning, etc), but most commonly afflicted wounds will not. The Infected have the ability to take their animal form at will, though this action requires a great deal of energy. For most Infected changing forms more than two or so times a day will utterly exhaust them, sending them into an hours long sleep from which they cannot be roused.

There are downsides to playing one of the Infected, though. Silver is the bane of the Infected, inflicting wounds that will heal no quicker than an ordinary humans. Thus silver is most often used to kill the Infected, weapons made with that metal affecting them as mundanes. The Infected are prone to mood swings and irrational behavior, especially in the days around the full moon. The Infected, during such mood swings, may experience involuntary form shifts that match their passion, but are just as exhausting as voluntary shifts. The Infected have extreme caloric needs, consuming in a single, relaxed day three to five times as much food as a mundane human. The Infected which take the beasts of predatory animals have a heavy craving for meat and blood, both as fresh as possible.

The Mechanicals

A rather misleading term for a whole category of shape shifters, but it seems to fit. These are individuals who gain the ability to change into an animal through some outside, non-sentient means. In legend we find the belts of the northern European werewolves, the rat king charms of the Iberian region, the feathered cloaks of the south.

There are some benefits to being a mechanical shifter. First of all, its simple, very, very simple. Put on the article (or clutch the talisman), will it, and become your beast. Very often your beast is faster than normal, stronger, with highly keen senses. Quite often your are extremely tough when in beast form, able to deal with far more punishment than a normal animal. You don't suffer from the need to eat more, the whims of the moon, or any of the like.

There are... downsides, however. The vast majority of shifting implements are provided by beings from the darker reaches of the Otherworld, often called demons and devils by those of this world. The predatory and violent natures of the spirits bound into the implements of change have a tendency to leak into the human over time, wearing away more and more of their soul. The beast forms that the items grant tend to be larger than normal, but also malformed or unnatural looking in some way. The items in question, and the power they grant, tend to be both highly addictive and tainted towards the dark needs and motives of those that created them.

Mechanical shifters are restricted and will require close work with the staff all through the application process.

The Cursed

The rarest of the shifters, and the most unpredictable. There are very few commonalities. The cursed all are forced to take bestial under specific circumstances. The Cursed all come into their condition through an extremely powerful curse (the death curse of a true wizard, the displeasure of a major Otherworld power, etc.) or through inheriting that curse. The Cursed have very specific banes which can fell them quickly, though those banes tend to very from one case to another.

If you wish to play one of the Cursed, please @mail staff with your general idea and we will help you craft the curse and its effects upon your character.