***Author's Note: This episode is a bit of "world building", intended to familiarize the reader with the race of Shapeshifters and their society. If you are the type who despises world-building and would rather find out about the shifters the same way Daecon, the main character, does, feel free to skip right on ahead to Episode 5 and jump right into the story. If you'd prefer to know some of the lore and customs before diving in, please continue reading.***

There are at least four known classes of Shapeshifter, each one possessing certain magical capabilities. Shifter classes are determined purely by magical capabilities and has nothing to do with social standing, except that Royalty are the leaders and the Dunamis is the ultimate Royalty. The types are Common (or Basic), Elder, Royalty, and Dunamis.

Common, or Basic Shifters, possess limited magic. All Shifters can assume the form of one bird and most can assume the shape of one other animal, typically a mammal. When they shift form their clothing and any accessories (jewelry, eyeglasses, mobile phones, et cetera) disappear, and when they shift back into human form the items reappear. While in animal form the Shifter will have access to his mobile phone via a magically enhanced type of handsfree technology developed by the Council. 

Fun fact: Handsfree mobile phone technology was originally conceived by the Shifters due to the need to be able to use their devices while in animal form. This technology was purposely "leaked" to the humans so that it could be integrated into mobile phones at the time of manufacture. All mobile phones have the built-in capability of magically enhanced handsfree, but humans cannot see or access it. 

Common Shifters can communicate with some animals, including Canidae (animals in the family of dogs) and Felidae (animals in the family of cats). The communications are limited to simple commands and questions because of the intelligence of the animals themselves (they really are just ‘dumb animals’, as Owen puts it).  

Common Shifters also possess the ability to cloak themselves from humans and other animals, though they cannot cloak themselves from each other.

Some Common Shifters have limited healing powers, and are as such referred to as “Healers”. Both Owen and Leander are healers. With Common Shifters healing abilities are about 25% magic and 75% medical skill.

The typical life expectancy of a Common Shifter is 350-400 years. Shifters do not mature at the same rate as humans do and can be better compared to house cats. A typical human that lives between 80-90 years spends the first eighteen years (20-25% of his life) maturing into an adult, then the next 50% or so (up to around 60 years old) as a healthy, sexually mature adult, and the remaining 25% in declining health. A house cat, on the other hand, may live to 20 years. It will spend the first year of its life, or 5%, maturing, the next 90% as a mature adult, and the last 5% declining. Shifter aging works like the cat's: the first 5% (20 years) is spent maturing, the next 90% (350 years or so) is spent as a mature adult, and the final 5% is spent in decline. Because of this a 20 year old human and a 20 year old Shifter will look similar and be at similar sexual maturity, but after this point the human will continue to age at a much faster rate than the Shifter.

Exceptionally skilled and intelligent Common Shifters who have been chosen by royalty make up the Councils of Elders. Elders are tasked with basic day-to-day running of the colonies, including maintaining the magical shield that protects the colonies from human detection and any advanced healing that is beyond the skill of traditional Healers. Research and development of modern technology has also become the domain of the Elders in more modern times.

Certain Elders are responsible for birth and reproductive magic. These duties were traditionally handled by Royalty, but as the royal lineages died off over the years there simply were not enough left to do so, so the responsibility was passed down to the Elders. They were originally imbued with the magic required to do so by Royalty and will possess this magic for as long as they are members of the Council. Necessity has made it so that Elders can pass this knowlege on to other Elders.

Although they are called "Elders" they are not necessarily old. Any Common shifter who shows exceptional skill in a useful field can be chosen as an Elder. In old times this usually went along with age, but in more modern times younger Shifters who have skills in technology and science have been welcomed in.

It should first be noted that the term “Royalty” means a much different thing to Shifters than it does to humans. In human society Royalty is merely a title given to certain people by other people, and that title can be revoked on the whims of those other people. Kings and Queens can be unmade as easily as they are made, often by nothing more than the stroke of a pen.

With Shifters, Royalty is made by physical attributes and magical properties. An easy comparison would be an ant colony. A queen ant is not the queen because the other ants look up to her and chose her as their leader, rather she is the queen because she possesses certain physical attributes that make her a queen. Shifter royalty works in a similar way. Unlike humans, a Shifter prince is born into his title because he possesses those royal properties, and upon the death of his father the king he will assume the kingship. If the offspring of a king does not show royal magic capabilities that child will not become king, and if there are no children with royal magic the royal dynasty will die off. As long as he has his royal magic the only way for a Royal Shifter to be dethroned is for him to die, either by natural causes or by murder (which is nearly, but not quite, impossible).

Royalty is a rare and powerful form of Shifter. Royal magic is more advanced than basic Shifter magic, and includes such things as the ability to cloak from other Shifters (except other Royalty) and the ability to use their animal abilities such as acute vision and hearing while still in human form. Royal Shifters are almost always created through heredity (a royal Shifter’s son will usually also be a Royal Shifter, as will his son, and so-on). 

A Royal shifter will show incredible strength, endurance, and durability, and they are very difficult to kill or injure. The magic that makes it so hard to injure or harm royalty also prevents the person of Royalty from being soiled. They simply cannot get wet or dirty. They also cannot colour their hair, as Daecon finds out early in his journey, when his magic is first starting to mature.

The animal alternates of a Royal are usually much larger and stronger than those of basic Shifters, and they will always show the same physical attributes the Royal shows in human form (for example all Royalty in Daecon's line will have white fur or feathers regardless of what their animal or bird form is). It has also been shown that most Royals can take the shape of at least two mammal alternates in addition to their bird form.

Royalty can also use magic to compel others to follow their orders, though this magic is rarely used or required and its effectiveness will be diminished each time it is used. The only way to replenish this magic is to refrain from using it until it "recharges".

Members of the Royal line are all accomplished healers. Most use these skills for the good of the people, but some choose not to use them at all.

Royals have the unique ability to transfer some of their magical abilities into others. We see this as the Council now having the magic required to produce births and having more advanced healing magic. Royals also have a limited ability to “Learn” magic in the form of minor spells and charms from other Royals or even Hecates. Typically this magic will be something that was once possessed by Royals but was lost through the ages.

Owing to their exceptional strength and magic Royalty typically lives 400-550 years. This can also perhaps be attributed to the fact that Royalty reproduction rates are very low. So low, in fact that the line is nearly extinct worldwide.

Over generations Royals have lost some of their abilities and strength through natural atrophy, and thus with each new generation the royals are a little weaker. When that weakness becomes too great Nature answers with a Dunamis to restore order and power. It has been a very long time, though, and Royalty has nearly become extinct with only three Royals known to exist worldwide. 

The Dunamis is the most powerful of all Shifters. These are a special type of Royal, so rare that only a handful have ever existed and it has been millennia since the last one lived.  Not much is known about Dunami, except that their healing skills are almost unlimited, unmatched even by the Hecates. They are extremely strong both physically and mentally, and they can perform magic that would be considered unheard of, even for a Royal. According to the Erotes (an ancient Royal clan originating in what is now northern Greece) the Dunamis can transfer some of his magic into other Shifters and is thus created to restore strength to the Royal Lineage.

Because they are so rare the true scope of their abilities is not known, nor is their life span, though that is believed by some to approach one thousand years.

Some say that a new Dunamis is long overdue.

Hecate. Witch. Magi. Whatever you call them, Hecates are trouble. While they are not related to Shifters they are magical beings that feature in this story so they warrant a mention. They rarely make themselves known to mortals, and when they do you can be assured that bad things are about to happen. Small in stature and exclusively female, these people have magic whose strength is only matched by their will. 

Hecates are nothing like traditional human lore describes them; They do not wear black pointy hats, ride brooms, or go around casting hexes on people with magic wands. However, they are very powerful and wise. They are also rare and secretive, and although known to the Shifters, few modern Shifters have ever seen a Hecate, which is just fine with the Hecates.

Hecates cannot assume animal forms but they can cast illusions about themselves that make them appear to humans and Basic Shifters as other forms including animals, rocks, trees, and the like. This is merely an illusion though, and Royal Shifters can see right through it. 

Hecates also possess strong healing magic and can do just about anything except bring a person back from the dead. They rarely use such magic, though, as their interactions with mortals are so rare.

Hecates are accomplished soothsayers, and although they are secretive about their prophecies, those prophecies are usually very accurate.

Most ShapeShifters look upon the Hecates with scorn, and some refuse to believe that they even exist. Both of these views can be perilous. For their part, Hecates look upon ShapeShifters with resentment and mistrust, although who can blame them? The ShapeShifters have not exactly treated Hecates well through the years.

Next week: The story starts!