Tuesday 10 February 2004

Pic of the day: Well, this catgirl is certainly decent enough. (Screenshot from the RPG Morrowind.)

MoM2000 theriomorphs

(Continued from August 2003.)

In the strategy game Master of Magic there is a race called "Beastmen". They are native to Myrror, the parallel world with extra magic. Indeed, the beastmen themselves are magical in a way: They generate a modest amount of mana per inhabitant, even without temples or alchemy towers. Not as much as Dark Elves, but then again beastmen breed much faster, about the same speed as humans. They can also build almost all city improvements. So in combination they're a pretty good race, except they don't have an outstanding super racial unit like humans' Paladin. Also they don't build as fast or produce as much gold as dwarves, so they are easily overlooked by the casual player.

The graphics of the game are not very detailed, but the beastmen are portrayed as roughly human size, shaggy and bent.

***

In my novel MoM2000 (working title, obviously) we see the same world again centuries later. Master of Magic is set in the Middle Ages, MoM2000 in modern times. The dominant civilization is an amalgamate of human and high elf, with some interbreeding. Mostly human, actually, since they breed much faster. These Elmani (and at least one competitor) have re-established contact with Myrror and are building new outposts (colonies) in less populated areas with resources. While they strive to avoid open conflict with the native races, there is rarely any doubt as to who is "upstairs" and who is "downstairs". While the dark elves have mostly responded with cold hostility and isolation, the beastmen have quickly integrated in modern society while still retaining some of their own flavor.

Of course it is not politically correct to call them "beastmen" anymore. The correct name is either theriomorph (meaning "beast form", but sounding much cooler and kinda scientific) or anthropomorph ("human form"). This doesn't stop young people from calling them "furries", and some of the theriomorphs are adopting the name themselves, setting out to make it a word of pride.

Since so little is known about the beastmen, I have taken some artistic liberty in fleshing them out. My main inspirations have been Piers Anthony's Blue Adept series plus various online comic and their forums, and general online "furry" (anthro) communities. No insult is intended to any of these, as I have just picked the traits that best fit my story.

The game portrays all beastmen as looking the same, but I have chosen to regard this as merely a technical limitation, as can be expected in a game from the early 1990es. Thus I posit the existence of several races of theriomorphs. At the very least there are cat people and dog people. The cat people in particular have integrated quite well in the expanding Elmani settlements. I believe the dog people live mostly in a different area where they interact more with another colony. Traditionally the different races of theriomorphs lived separately, and there were occasional wars. While they have stopped making war, love is still not common.

Different races of theriomorphs can interbreed, but the child will not be an equal mixture. The basic body plan (like our homeobox genes) is inherited as a set. Presumably the race shape-shifting magic is inherited along with it.

***

Each theriomorph can exist in one of three forms. The pure beast form looks like the racial totem animal, but its size is a compromise between it and human. The human form looks like an ordinary human, except for the colors. And the natural form is roughly humanoid, but with some animal traits like animal ears, tail, feet and a face that is a compromise between a snout and a human face.

The vaguely humanoid form is the primary form, and they are born this way. As toddlers they develop the secondary form, and it is used a lot through childhood. Only at puberty do they get access to the human form. Theriomorphs can mate while both are in the same form: primary, secondary or tertiary. I don't know yet whether they can mate between forms. In all cases, the offspring is still born in the primary form, no matter what form the mother is when giving birth.

Theriomorphs have a reputation for indecency, because in their own settlements they don't use clothes on a regular basis. This is not really fair, since clothes will be often itchy and uncomfortable when worn over natural fur. Whether they actually have a more relaxed attitude toward monogamy is still not sure.

The transformation between different forms is magical in nature, but does not require any spell, item, reagent or external mana source. It is a direct effect of the race's magical nature, and there seems to be no limit to how often they can transform. The transformation sequence takes a few seconds though, and the theriomorph can not do anything else during this time. During the transformation, the individual is normally surrounded by a light effect such as a glowing cocoon, although it is possible to suppress or enhance this with enough training. It is not uncommon to develop signature light effects, such as glowing symbols or shapes, and this is taken as a sign of skill. Young morphs in some subcultures may compete in this skill and take it pretty far, even having different signature effects for their secondary and tertiary form.