Shapeshifting

Shapeshifting is a common practice among Unbound and certain Soulbound who have the ability to manipulate their physical bodies. Rifted persons of any sort also have a higher propensity towards shapeshifting, as their energies are more unstable and fluctuating to begin with; even if they are Soulbound, their bodies have a naturally volatile structure, and therefore can change as though they had Unbound abilities.

For some, Shapeshifting is merely a practice used to deceive, for others it is a means of expressing their true identity. For some it is easily controlled, others, not nearly so much. Regardless of what it means, it takes a great deal of focus to initiate, and depending on the circumstance, can take a great deal to keep up for long durations of time.

Shape-shifting is a very difficult art to master; for most, it seems to be a very difficult change to keep up for very long. For those who have a specific identity in mind for themselves, it seems easier to keep the form of what they envision; but that aside, changing from one form to another is difficult enough, let alone maintaining a form that isn't focused in the mind of an individual.

Shapeshifting, Identity, and the Spirit
While Shape-shifting under normal circumstance is quite difficult, it seems that for some individuals that high states of emotion accesses a higher focus toward manipulating their physical self. In a way, this has given some Unbound feral, animal-like behavior, and some fear this monster-like state in some Unbound.

As spirits, demons, and other strange old-world concepts of energy were explored, so, too, were concepts of totems, zodiacs, and other animal-inclined concepts that identified the human spirit with creatures and the like. As with elements, Unbound found themselves naturally inclined toward certain creatures, and as practice was refined through generations, many almost found it therapeutic to return to a feral form from time to time.

As this type of shapeshifting was more of an ability that was linked to basic spiritual connections, even some Soulbound had the ability to shift into a form that they felt personally attuned with, though this was usually limited to one easily recognizable form (which was similar in general appearance to the original form), and not easily controlled by will.

While it was difficult to access forms outside of their human self, becoming a feral beast that they identified was found to be quite easy, and gave them not only the ability to exercise their control over shape-shifting, but gave them a means of changing their flow of energy within their bodies and keeping themselves from stagnating. Likewise, it gave them easy access to different methods of combat to keep any opposition on their toes.

Mutations and Accidents
For some, an emotionally volatile state meant that a shift of form was a dangerous gamble; There were indeed cases of individuals who, without proper control over themselves, pushed their limitations until their bodies formed something greater than the sum of it's original composition. If this form was something foreign to the individual – that is, it wasn't something commonly conceptualized in their minds as something to shift into, the shift was messy, visceral, and often ended up marring the Unbound.

Because of this, even if the body remained unharmed after the moment of stress, quite often it was impossible for an individual to recompose or decompose themselves without great suffering and causing damage to pre-existing organs, tissue, etc.; thus, due to these sudden, violent changes, genuine mutations would occur, and the individuals would no longer be able to obtain their original form without help of accomplished Unbound. Even then, recovery was questionable, and for some, the risk was not worth taking.

Guided Mutations
With most of these sudden mutations, massive forms were not obtainable. While most who meddled in shape-shifting were able to integrate larger mass within themselves or dislocate mass to “shrink” and become less complex creatures, doing this to a greater extent was highly dangerous since the individual could very well lose their true identity, destroy organs, or simply exhaust themselves to the point of irreversible change.

Some individuals, however, found a rather radical option that gave them the ability to avoid this sort of issue. Since a highly emotional state of mind meant very little control over the self, many had a hard time focusing themselves enough to keep from doing damage, or from going too far. Cases of individuals that shifted out of stress to protect themselves or another were unfortunately heard of, but what was interesting was the cooperation of another Unbound during this state of panic.

If an Unbound is close enough to another, and if the psyche of said close companion is degraded enough that they force themselves to change physically, some Unbound actually found themselves capable of “guiding” the mutation that the otherwise volatile shape-shifting created in times of stress, and thus, quite radical changes into great beasts were possible while their “partner” worked with their energy to prevent any messy mutations within their body.

This created a rather interesting dynamic between some Unbound, and even some Soulbound who possessed shifting capabilities; While Soulbound were much harder to work with due to their natural defensive state against Unbound, if two were close enough, working with energy seemed to become a very doable task, and a sort of guardian-beast was the result. This became something similar to the tradition that Dracsi had for incorporating a pilot to guide them in times of stress or combat.

While the shapeshifters that underwent the change tended to become quite exhausted after this change, the results were astounding; the partner that assisted the change made sure that the other did not overload their senses, and did not push too far. An individual could become a very powerful creature or being without destroying their bodies permanently, though of course, it was not as simple a task of returning to normal right after. Some may slip back into their original selves, though likely would be unable to remain awake for quite some time; others may be stuck in such a form until their energy returned to them, and their partner would work with them once again to undo the change.