Wildborn

The growl of my sister beside me, the whinny of my father beside her. It was in this moment that I truly felt alive. That I, who had been denied a home among my kind and my birthland, had found so much more in my family. As we descended on our quarry, I truly felt as one.

— The travels of Olix, told by firelight and documented by a travelling companion

Sometimes an animal is born unlike the others. Their behaviour different, their mannerisms strange. This is a Wildborn: a sapient creature born among animals. Through training, Wildborn can learn to transform from their natural animal form into a humanoid form, a bipedal projection of themself capable of speech with other sapient creatures.

Emerging from sub-sapient species at random, there are no unified Wildborn families or history. Across much of the world they are shunned, in some parts of the world they are tolerated, and notably in the Land of Endless Sky they are revered. Wildborn are typically trained by a mentor: another Wildborn who found them out in the world, and recognised them as a fellow Wildborn. Small ‘families’ of Wildborn can emerge in this way: nomadic groups, sometimes coming from different animal species, travelling around and training other Wildborn they encounter. Not all Wildborn are found, but members of these families search tirelessly for as many others as they can. While these families can be tight-knit, Wildborn cannot have biological children.

Wildborn were all born as animals of varying species which they resemble in their natural form. When in humanoid form, they exhibit a combination of features: two arms, two legs, and a head, combined with the scales, fur, feathers, claws, beaks, muzzles, ears, and tails of their natural form. The extent to which these features are blended varies from individual to individual: some lizard Wildborn could be mistaken for long-snouted Ssar, whereas others could be seen as Dragonblooded. While their appearances may change over time as they age, a Wildborn cannot change how they look in either form.

Amongst animals of the same species, a Wildborn exhibits distinctive behaviours. They have a greater capacity for problem-solving, creativity, and other forms of logical reasoning. Wildborn exhibit many of the physical mannerisms and instincts that might be found in their species, with a consistent personality between both humanoid and natural forms. Wildborn are capable of shifting between the two forms at will: an ability that other sapient species have not been able to replicate.

Wildborn mature and age much slower than their animal counterparts, typically living between four and eight decades. Basic survival instincts develop fast, but it usually takes around twenty years for a Wildborn to reach full maturity. Because of this altered ageing rate and minor, involuntary transformations, Wildborn can be distinguished from animals of the same species. At a glance, only someone familiar with the species might be able to identify someone as a Wildborn. However, unless the Wildborn is actively trying to conceal their dual nature, a clear inspection would identify them as more than an animal.