Creatures of Verannia: Shapeshifters, Part 1

Continuation to my “encyclopedia” of Verannian beings that started with wurmtail hounds and dragons.

Besides humans and vrildrias, shapeshifters are one of the three peoples inhabiting Verannia. They are beings that are, in principle, capable of taking the form of any living being. The change goes deeper than appearances: the shapeshifter gains access to all of the form’s senses and abilities. However, spending a long in time in a certain form slowly makes the shapeshifter more and more like the form. If you run with the wolves or fly with the dragons, you become like one. If you spend your days filtering food from the water flowing through you, you slowly lose interest in everything else. Taking the form of a non-sentient being can be dangerous, because the shapeshifter may become trapped in the form.

Most shapeshifters have a certain form they prefer, and that form may or may not be human. The “true form” resembles their nature, feels right and corresponds with their aesthetics. The true form is chosen during adolescence. When a young shapeshifter has chosen and become comfortable with a form, he or she is considered an adult. Some spend most of their lives in animal form, living like the animal whose form they have chosen. These shapeshifters are sometimes pejoratively called feral shapeshifters or simply ferals, as opposed to the ‘more civilized’ domestic shapeshifters (also a pejorative term used by humans), who live among their own kind or among humans. For shapeshifters, it is not uncommon or unnatural to breed with members of another species. For example, a shapeshifter living among dragons may breed with a dragon. As a result, shapeshifters may have very curious family trees.

However, over many generations of crossbreeding, the shapeshifting ability may diminish in the lineage. Mixed-species heritage also makes finding a suitable partner very hard, because shapeshifters of different heritage may be unable to have children together. When choosing a partner, shapeshifters rely first on appearances. Though the shapeshifter form hides much, it can also reveal things to other shapeshifters. Colours and details added to their appearance tell of the shapeshifter’s values, way of life and heritage. For example, a shapeshifter with a dragon heritage may have scales adorning their face.

According to Verannian law, should a shapeshifter choose a human form, he or she must still be easily distinguishable as non-human. For that reason, they can be quite bizarre-looking. For centuries, humans have accused shapeshifters of ‘shape stealing’, the act of taking the form of a person without his or her will. Although these accusations are probably not without ground, many shapeshifters have been killed for crimes they did not commit.

Creatures of Verannia: Dragons

Having posted mostly stories lately, it was due time to write something about the creatures that inhabit Verannia, the land where my main story takes place. Previously I wrote a post about about wurmtail hounds; now is the time for dragons.

In Verannia, there are four dragon species: red, green, white and black. Red dragons are the largest and the most common type of dragon seen in Verannia, whereas the green dragons mostly live in Velara, the neighbouring kingdom to Verannia. The elusive white dragons live in the Far North, hunting seals and polar bears in the permafrost glaciers. Black dragons inhabit both Verannia and Velara.

Although all dragon species can interbreed, they rarely do so because the offspring will be weak and infertile. For this reason, interbreeding is considered a taboo amongst dragons. Dragons are solitary creatures and normally do not seek for the company of others of their kind. Encounters usually result in roaring, bursts of fire and aerial displays to intimidate the opponent.

Red, green and black male dragons live in the southern Verannia and are obsessive hoarders. They spend years gathering a hoard, fighting with other dragons, burning villages, towns and castles, and seeking for clues of lost treasures. Once satisfied with their hoard, they no longer actively seek for more treasure. Instead, they focus on guarding the hoard jealously. Male dragons love their treasures more than anything else in the world and simply guarding them indefinitely gives their lives enough meaning. Most of their time they spend half-asleep, becoming active only for the occasional clashes with other males and treasure-seekers. Old male dragons in particular have very little interest in what is happening in the outside world. Weaker male dragons that are unable to obtain a hoard of respectable size or are too weak to defend it usually fly with the females, providing them with food and trying to make an impression.

Female dragons spend most of their lives in the north and only fly south for winter to court the males. The female chooses her target based on the size of the male’s hoard; for the females, a large hoard is simply a sign of power and good health. After mating, the male stays behind to guard his hoard and the female flies back north to build a nest. Good-sized caverns are rare and often the female has to defend her claim on the cavern. Having settled down, the dragon lays her eggs (usually 3–5). The incubation takes half a year and the eggs hatch in late summer. During summer and autumn the dragonlings grow fat and gather strength for the winter.

Childhood is the most dangerous time in the life of a dragon. Dragon pups often engage in violent play that sometimes leads to injuries and even death; injured dragon pups are unlikely to survive the winter. But the other dragonlings are not the only threat the little ones face. There are also poachers and many predators to look out for. Because of the vulnerability of their young, dragons have sworn an oath with northern shapeshifters to protect each other. The shapeshifters guard the dragonlings and in return a few female dragons stay in the north for winter to protect the shapeshifters. During the Long Night, which lasts for almost two months, the sun does not rise above the horizon and the northern regions are enveloped in darkness. Having a few dragons to protect you from the nightmarish monsters that arrive with the Night greatly enhances your chances of surviving the long winter.

Creatures of Verannia: Meet Cricri - and her tails

Her thoughts were interrupted by snoring; she had found who she sought. Puppy or Cricri as she preferred, was resting under a Healing Tree when Siri finally came. Cricri yawned and stretched her furry body before rising to her legs and padding over to the fellow hunter. Her appearance was canine except for the colouring: her underside was white as snow and her back blue as a lake, with darker stripes running over her ribs. She greeted Siri with a look only puppies and small girls mastered.

Cricri is a wurmtail hound – a canine creature with two snakes for tails, originally born out of a magical mishap. The legend goes that a young wizard wanted a unique pet and tried to dye his dog blue with a simple spell. Something went wrong and instead he found himself the proud owner of something even more unique: a snake-tailed talking blue dog. The first wurmtail hound was born.

Since then the hounds have bred stubbornly in the woods of Verannia, despite the obstacles. Reproduction has never been easy for wurmtail hounds, since each individual houses three personalities in one body. On top of that the personalities of the tails are often completely opposite: atheist-true believer, social butterfly-hermit, chaste-lecherous etc. Cricri’s tails Pink and Blue are a bimbo-scholar pair:

“I didn’t hear anything,” Siri searched her memories for something she might have heard, but found nothing worth notice.

“You're human,” Blue noted. “That's near deaf.”

“I thought snakes were near deaf,” Pink interrupted.

“Just because we don't have outer ears doesn't mean we can't hear, Pinkie.” Blue rolled her eyes, and gave Pink a sidelong glance of embarrassment.

“How could I know that!” She protested. “We're a woodland creature, not a biology student.”

“Well how then can I hear you ask about most obvious things, and question, and question and question my answers until I'm insane!” Blue hissed with fury.

Pink answered by sticking her pink, forked tongue at her.

---

“Technically, I've got three persons in one body,” Cricri said and glanced over her shoulder at Pink and Blue, “though it feels like I'm mothering two morons.”

“Oi!” Blue snapped.

“Huh?” Pink lifted her head from a patch of ice. “Sorry, but what did she say? I was busy admiring me eyelashes.”

“We don't have eyelashes.” Blue hung her head in chagrin, then added: “We don't even have eyelids.”

“Stop that!” Cricri bellowed, before giving chase to her tails.

So it is not very difficult to understand why wurmtail hounds usually prefer a solitary life. Every spring they gather to the annual Wurmtail Hound Courtship Gathering, an event the Elder Hounds have created to ensure the survival of the species. After two weeks of pairing up, the hounds sigh in relief and return to their solitary lives.

Wurmtail hounds never consent to become pets, even though they may sometimes outsource hunting to a Foodmaster in return for their services. Cricri’s Foodmaster Siri provides her with leftovers and in return the hound protects Siri from possible threats and warns if either of her uncles is searching for her. Though Cricri is no one’s pet, she has become attached to her young Foodmaster.

She was distracted by a cold, wet touch on her shoulder, followed by a warm body curling against her back.

“Stop eavesdropping and go to sleep,” Cricri muttered. “You know you can’t look tired if you’ve been sleeping.”