Turnskin

A turnskin is a living being that magically changes between two (or more) different species, either at will or subject to some external trigger. Most turnskins have one primary form, in which they are born and in which they generally spend most of their time, and a secondary form they take on under particular circumstances. Often a turnskin even in its primary form will exhibit some qualities or features suggestive of its secondary form. Conversely, some strains of turnskin don't quite fully take on their secondary forms, and retain even then some vestige of their primary forms, or lack some feature or appendage common to their secondary species but lacking in their primary. Any damage taken by a turnskin in one form will remain present in the other, which more than once has been a hint to give away an unknown turnskin's identity. Depending on the strain, a turnskin's transformation may or may not leave it weakened or disturbed for some time afterward.

Turnskins generally possess additional powers beyond that of transfigurement; most commonly, they have an usual resistance to physical damage, though almost always accompanied by a particular weakness that can overcome it. Furthermore, all turnskins have the power to turn other individuals of their primary species into turnskins like themselves, though the exact means of this turning varies: in some cases any physical damage the turnskin deals the victim will suffice, while in other cases it requires specifically a bite, or has some other cause entirely.

Turnskins are perhaps the most widespread type of aneka, and exist in many worlds and cosmoi, operating according to many different arcana. Turnskins subject to different arcana may have very different ground rules for their triggers and powers, and are not actually related; the category of turnskin is an ataxonomic one. Sometimes, for that matter, there may be two or more entirely separate strains of turnskin within a given arcanum, that have completely divergent characteristics.

Not every life form with the ability to change shape is a turnskin. While turnskins do vary widely in the details of their powers, they must, by definition, have a finite number of forms (usually two), each of which corresponds to an otherwise known species, and they must be able to turn others into turnskins like themselves. Similar entities may exist that do not fully share these characteristics (for instance, life forms that changes between two forms that do not also exist as separate species), but they are not considered to technically be turnskins. Nor are beings that change their form not innately, but with the aid of magic salves and other talismans, although some magobiologists do consider them to be true turnskins provided that it is some innate ability that allows them to so use the talismans and that these aids cannot be similarly used by just any individual of their primary species. One common talisman of such facultative turnskins is a wenderhide, a wearable skin of an entity of the secondary species.

Terminology

In addition to the general term "turnskin", more specific words exist for turnskins with particular primary or secondary forms. A turnskin with a primary human form is often known as a "therianthrope", a "werebeast", a "werecreature", or simply a "were" (or occasionally, even more simply, a "wer"). Different kinds of therianthrope are in turn distinguished by a compound of the word "were" with the secondary form; a therianthrope with a lupine secondary form, for instance, is called a werewolf. Many magobiologists mandate certain (somewhat archaic) versions of the words for some secondary forms, insisting that a therianthrope with an anuran secondary form, for instance, is not a "weretoad" but a "werepaddock". In practice, however, this rule isn't followed consistently even by most scholars, and anyone speaking of a "weretoad" will have no difficulty being understood.

A turnskin with secondary human form may be known as a henge, though this term is only really common in some areas, and is often associated with particular beliefs about the creatures' origins. The terms "anthropothere" and "beastwere" are also sometimes used, but neither is particularly common. The proposed form "theriothere" (or "therothere") to refer to turnskins in general has never caught on, though it can be seen in occasional use by some eccentric writers (along with the corresponding adjective "theriotheric"/"therotheric"). For the record, the proposed word is pronounced /ˈθɪəriɵˌθɪər/ (or /ˈθɪərɵθɪər/ for the latter form), though it's heard in speech even more infrequently than it's seen in writing.

Other names may exist for turnskins with particular combinations of primary and secondary forms. A werewolf, for instance, is also sometimes called a "lycanthrope". (The word "lycanthrope" is sometimes incorrectly used synonymously with "therianthrope"—or occasionally even with "turnskin"—but strictly speaking, it refers only to werewolves, and not to any other kind of turnskin or shapechanger.)

The usual adjective magobiologists use to signify things relating to turnskins is "versipellar" (from the Latin versipellis, of which the English word "turnskin" is a calque).

Variations

Although most turnskins have only two forms, turnskins of three or more forms do exist, known to magobiologists as pluripellar turnskins (or sometimes simply as pluripels). A life form with a very large number of forms is not conventionally considered a turnskin, but no specific cutoff exists; calling an entity with three or four forms a pluripellar turnskin is likely to excite little controversy, but above that the matter becomes dubious.

Generally, a turnskin remains the same individual when it changes form. Although it may have different urges and capacities, and its personality may change wildly, it still retains some fundamental aspects, and, if applicable, still has the same soul. There are some types of turnskin, however, that actually change not only form but identity, with an entirely different mind in control of the altered form. Such turnskins are sometimes known as "allocradiac turnskins", or sometimes just as "allocrades". (In contrast, turnskins which are not allothymic are called isocradiac turnskins, or isocrades.)

Rarely, some turnskins may have two forms which are of the same species but differ in gender, color, or other salient characteristics. Such turnskins are known as "tautotheres", or sometimes as "homotheres", though the latter term is not often used in part because many people confuse it with 'Homo sapiens' and erroneously assume it refers specifically to humans. In fact, however, there is a term to refer to tautotheres of human form; such turnskins are called tautanthropes, or more often evenweres. Allocradiac tautotheres are disproportionately common, relative to the frequency of allocrades among turnskins in general; in fact, some magobiologists consider only allocradiac tautotheres to be true turnskins at all (and still other magobiologists don't consider any tautotheres to be true turnskins). Allocradiac tautotheres, especially allocradiac evenweres, are sometimes called turnsouls.

Abilities

The abilities of turnskins vary widely by the arcanum to which they pertain (and in some instances by the strain of turnskin within the arcanum). Sometimes the primary and/or secondary forms of the turnskin affect their powers as well. Aside from their ability to turn others into turnskins like themselves, the one power that is almost universal among turnskins is a supernatural hardiness. Most turnskins are able to take much more damage than normal beings of their primary or secondary species; indeed, for some strains, virtually no amount of physical damage can suffice to destroy them, the turnskins being capable of regeneration no matter how finely they are diced. However, there is generally at least one particular substance or type of weapon that is capable of cutting through a turnskin's usual near-invulnerability and harm it normally, or in some cases even do it additional harm, up to and including (in rare cases) killing it outright by contact. The particular form this weakness takes may be common to all turnskins of a given strain, or may depend on their primary or secondary form... or, indeed, may depend on the individual turnskin.

Some strains of turnskins have other powers that are less widespread. Among the most frequent, though still far less so than their exceptional resistance, are enhanced longevity, telepathy, and various forms of thelxis or mind control, usually (though not always) operating only on species corresponding to their secondary forms. Some turnskins have venomous claws or bite, even if the species corresponding to neither their primary nor their secondary forms normally possess such a feature; others are able to project themselves to distant locations.

Triggers

Like many of the details of turnskins, the exact trigger that activates a turnskin's transformation varies... either by strain, by the particular species of the turnskin, or perhaps even by individual. Many turnskins have no external triggers, able to change form whenever they want... or change form at the performance of some voluntary action, as is the case with most facultative turnskins. It is common, however, for turnskins to have triggers beyond their own control; this may be in addition to their voluntary transformations, or it may be that they can only change through such triggers. (It may also be the case that they can change one way at will—that is, from primary species to secondary, or vice-versa—, but require an external trigger to change the other way.)

Many turnskins are triggered by astronomical phenomena—a full moon being a classic example, though planetary conjunctions, solar flares, shooting stars, or other phenomena can also act as triggers. This is only one category out of myriad possibilities, however; a turnskin's trigger can be almost anything. Specific aromas are fairly common triggers, as is proximity to entities of the turnskin's secondary species.

Culture

Many turnskins adopt the lifestyle of either their primary or secondary species, living among like beings. Integration with the primary species is more common, since this is generally the form that is more natural to the turnskin, but some turnskins prefer to live as their secondary species instead. Usually, the turnskin keeps its nature hidden from others of its community, often because of prejudice against turnskins. (Of course, there can be good reason for such prejudice... many turnskins do prey on beings of their primary or secondary species, either in the literal sense of eating them or in the more abstract sense of criminal activity.) On some worlds or in some communities, however, turnskins are readily accepted, and free to live openly. This is perhaps more common among alogous beings than ellogous, though sometimes just the reverse is the case and alogous beings are instinctively fearful of or aggressive toward turnskins of matching species.

There are also many turnskins, however, who eschew the company of beings of their primary or secondary species entirely, and live either on their own or, more likely, in communities of like turnskins. Some of these communities develop their own cultures and traditions as complex and deeply rooted as those of any ananekanic race.

Reproduction

Turning other beings of their primary species composes one means by which turnskins can reproduction, but not necessarily the only one. Most (though not all) strains of turnskin can also reproduce by the methods available to their primary and secondary forms—which, in the case of normal organisms, generally means sexual procreation. Some strains of turnskin are fertile only with other turnskins of the same type, but in the case of most strains a turnskin can procreate either with its primary species or with its secondary species, or often with both. Again, the results of such a union depend on the strain; in most cases the progeny are turnskins like their turnskin parent, but it could be that they match their other parent and are normal beings of the turnskin's primary or secondary species (though perhaps with some characteristics of the other). In some cases, either result is possible, based on some external condition or on pure chance, in which case among different children of the same parents some may be turnskins and some not. It is also possible for the children of a mating between a turnskin and an ordinary member of the turnskin's primary or secondary form to match neither parent, but to be something completely different from both (in which case such matings may be understandably anathemized), but for few strains is this the case.

For turnskins whose primary or secondary forms reproduce through means other than sexual procreation, those other means may be available to the turnskin as well. A turnskin with a secondary species capable of parthenogenesis, for instance, may itself be capable of parthenogenesis when in that form, producing another turnskin like itself.

In fiction

The vast majority of turnskins in Terran fiction have been therianthropes—and the vast majority of those have been werewolves. Of the few fictional turnskins that aren't therianthropes, the majority have been henges. Fictional turnskins with neither human primary nor human secondary forms are quite rare. In role-playing games, the third edition of Dungeons & Dragons (and its spiritual successor Pathfinder) does have a "lycanthrope" template which, despite its name, does apply to turnskins other than werewolves. The template still is sharply limited in the species it can be applied to, however; while the primary form does not have to be human, it does have to be generally humanoid, and the secondary form must be a nonmagical animal. The Advanced Bestiary from Green Ronin did include a "monstrous lycanthrope" template that lifted most of the restrictions on the secondary species, but still required the primary form to be humanoid in shape.