A Preface

This is not intended to insult any native american individuals, and I welcome any discourse or discussion - and invite any people who are offended to email me at staff@memoriesofthecreed.net. I am aware that in many tribes shapeshifting or skin walking is seen as bad and evil, however I have tried to provide a strong list of checks and balances to make this a class hard to attain safely.

Shapeshifting

Shapeshifting is ONLY accessible to Native American individuals, who have passed the following tests:

1 - They have come of age
2 - They are either Warrior or Shaman as their initial class
3 - They have accessed their spirit animal.

The act of shapeshifting is highly dangerous, and comes with great risk - as it is not a traditional form of shapeshifting. Instead it is a form of spiritual enlightenment where the spirit animal is allowed to take hold and reform the body into its own. This comes with advantages the spirit animal would possess, but also can risk the individual becoming 'lost' or coming back mad, or dead. Either way a strict ritual must be followed, and a shaman must be used. Not having the tribe Shaman witness and be present for the ritual increases the chances of madness and death - and no matter the outcome the individual will be cast out from the tribe for even attempting such, even without ill occurrences.

Preparation

In preparation for the ritual the individual is sent away to seek out their spirit animal in the flesh. They are not to harm it, instead they are to follow and observe. They are to learn its behaviours, and to bring back certain tokens, such as a piece of fur that has been left on a thorn, or some of what they choose to eat. They must prove they understand and know how their animal moves, smells, what the texture of the fur or feathers are, and that they can respect their spirit animal as an entity of its own. This lessens some of the danger, in that if they already understand how they move etc there is less of a culture shock when they do transform.

The Ritual

The ritual itself includes chanting, calling to the spirits to look after the spirit, and to assist in allowing the body and spirit to become one with that of the spirit animal, letting the spirit animals power take hold and remould the body into its form. The shaman may give herbs to relax the mind and to ease off the risk of fighting the spirit animals power. This is a private ritual, often held away from the tribe with just the shaman and the individual.

Risks

Besides the risk of injuring oneself fatally when first learning to move in animal form, the biggest risk is insanity caused by the sheer difference in thought pattern between human and animal. Animals being more instinctive - including the spirit animals when they allow a human to take on their form - there is less logical rational ordered thought, instead thoughts tend to focus on survival and depend on whether the animal is prey or predator. Another key danger for those whose spirit animal is winged is flying into an object in the way, or even losing control of flight while high in the air and plummeting to ones death.

Spirit Animals