“My children,” said the Lord gently.
You see, Sun, you have already realized that this was not the end of Mag’s tale. It was merely the end of the beginning. What we did not know at the time was that another tale had begun as well.
OF WEREMAGES, THEIR TECHNIQUES AND TRAINING
During the tumultuous days of the War of the Necromancer, several prominent weremages were of great importance.
(There are many who would insist we call them “therianthropes,” in the manner of the proper speech of the Academy and of the nobility. But we shall here use the commoner’s tongue for them, as well as for wizards of the other branches, for it renders greater understanding, and that is a nobler goal than lofty words.)
On the battlefield, a weremage’s impact could be great. As powerful animals or terrible hellskin beasts, they could lay waste to entire squadrons of troops, or in the case of a powerful few, entire armies.
But more often, and far more potently, they were instrumental in many clandestine matters. Across the nine kingdoms, and on all sides of the conflict, they collected information, scouted out enemy movements, and even assassinated powerful foes. After all, who could be better for such espionage than a wizard capable of assuming any form?
Or at least, so most of the commonfolk believed. But as we shall see, they were rather misinformed.
To understand the many aspects of a weremage’s power, it is best to start at the beginning of their training. One of the first things a weremage learns, whether from the Academy or from a private tutor, is the “creative” transformation of their own body. “Creative” transformation is differentiated from “acquired” transformation, which shall be discussed in detail later.
In creative transformation, imagination is paramount. But because imagination is the center of a weremage’s ability, that ability is incredibly versatile in some respects, and heavily restricted in others.
The subject of color is a good example. In the mirror branch of alchemy, an alchemist must have powerful focus and mental strength to change an object’s color. That is because an alchemist transforms the actual minute particles that give an object its color. But for a weremage, it is much easier to change the colors of their own body simply by thinking about it.
This is, in fact, how young weremages are tested for. The person administering the test only has to say to a child, rather sharply, “I did not know you had green eyes,” or some other color the child’s eyes do not in fact possess. If the child is a weremage, this will confuse them, and in their confusion, they will imagine their own eyes being the stated color. This causes them to change for a few moments, and so the tester knows they have a weremage on their hands.
The first two years of weremagic training in the Academy are entirely concerned with color. By the end of the second year, a weremage is expected to be able to change the color of any part of their body at will, and to any color demanded of them by their instructor. And while it is not a requirement, especially talented students will often delight in creating all sorts of patterns across their bodies, so that they appear to have artistic birthmarks, or intricate tattoos, or the like.
But as a weremage ventures into their third year, they study the techniques of transforming the shape and material of their body. This is much more difficult. It always begins with the simplest transformation: assuming another human’s shape. Students are usually paired up and taught to “acquire” each other. “Acquire” is a term for learning another creature, memorizing the details and peculiarities of its form, and then practicing the transformation into the new shape until the weremage can do so at will.
To do this, the student will place a hand on their partner’s body and focus all their thoughts upon the other person. Instructors command them to form a small picture of their partner in their mind, and then to “place” the picture between their temples. This technique is the foundation of acquiring a new type of creature, and it is one the weremage will use for the rest of their life. And while a skilled and experienced weremage can usually acquire a new creature in a matter of a few dozen hours, for the first acquisition, it usually takes the student months.
As an aside, the acquiring technique is why Mystic mage hunters are taught to disable weremages by striking hard at their temples. That part of the head is always a conduit for the weremage’s magic, no matter what form they have assumed. Two hard blows, one on each temple, disrupts the magic’s flow and keeps the weremage from being able to maintain concentration on a false form, and this causes them to revert to their own.
In any case, once they have acquired their target, the weremage will attempt a transformation. As one might expect, they usually have great initial success in changing colors to match the target, such as hair, eyes, and so forth. But they always struggle, at first, to change their size and shape to match their partner. Incorrectly done, changing one’s shape can be incredibly painful. Not only must the weremage have a perfect image of the target, but they must also be able to envision a bridge, a transition between their current form and the new form. If they venture to change their shape before this is solid in their mind, then just as if they stepped out onto an unstable bridge in the physical world, they will plunge into a chasm of darkness. But these depths are composed of great pain, as their limbs and flesh twist and snap in agonizing ways.
Fortunately, such a botched transformation makes the weremage lose concentration. They will thus revert to their original form—hurt, and shaken, but not permanently damaged.
At the end of the process, and after many attempts, the student will finally have learned to acquire their study partner. This comprises the first entry in the weremage’s “canon.” The “canon” is the list of all creatures the weremage has acquired, and into which they may transform at will. Contrary to what many commonfolk believe, a weremage cannot simply turn into anything they want. They are restricted to the creatures in their canon.
Thus, in the Mystics (or any other organization specializing in battle or espionage), a commander must select weremages for certain tasks based on their abilities. A weremage with no bird in their canon, for example, will never be an optimal long-distance messenger. And a weremage with no large, dangerous beast in their canon will be no great help on a battlefield. Any weremage newly arrived to a fighting force will make their entire canon known to their commander, so that they may be utilized most effectively. And over the course of their lives, most weremages work to assemble as diverse a canon as possible, letting them cover a broad range of needs with the creatures they can transform into.
But acquiring, as has been stated, is a long and difficult process. As with all the branches of magic, it gets easier and easier the more often one does it. And of course, a weremage’s innate skill and experience are also factors in the process. But this is only relative, and even a very seasoned weremage must still spend weeks studying a new species of creature to acquire it. Such study can of course be broken up, but weremages try not to do so. The more intensive the study, the more quickly the weremage can acquire the creature.
Therefore, even in the best possible case, acquiring a creature becomes very difficult if the target is dangerous, as is the case with bears, lions, or other large animals, and even for venomous beasts such as vipers. The weremage must spend a great deal of time in physical contact with the creature in order to acquire it. This usually means the target must be sedated or otherwise pacified, which can be both costly and difficult. The Academy maintains a menagerie of such beasts for their students to take advantage of, and the maintenance and upkeep of this facility is one of the school’s greatest single expenses. Meanwhile, trained weremages from wealthy or noble families will often use their family’s resources and influence to acquire more exotic animals, and each one added to their canon is a point of pride.
Once a creature has been acquired, other creatures of the same type are far easier to learn, and do not even require physical contact. If the weremage has acquired one bear, for example, and t
hey can study another bear sufficiently and meditate on it long enough, they will eventually be able to effect a transformation that passes all but the most detailed inspection. This is, to some degree, a merging of creative transformation and acquired transformation.
Speaking of creative transformation, weremages are also able to apply this to any creature in their canon. This allows them to alter the coloring, shape, and sometimes even the substance of any acquired creature. There are many useful applications of such a technique. For example, weremages who specialize in combat will often increase the size, stature, and resilience of their favored battlefield forms. For example, Instructor Jia from the Academy favored the shape of a bear, but she increased its size until it stood twice as tall as an adult human, and she could turn its claws as hard as steel, so that they could turn enemy blades in battle. But by far the most common use of creative transformation is the assumption of a false identity. This is a talent shared almost universally by weremages across Underrealm, though some specialize in it almost exclusively—such as many spies among the Mystics, or the weremage Auntie in the city of Cabrus.
As has been said, a weremage must study and acquire another person to add humans to their canon. But once the first human has been acquired, creative transformation may be applied to the form in order to assume virtually any shape. It is best if a weremage can study a target and learn their habits and mannerisms, and thus form a more complete mental picture of the person. But if the weremage is very skilled, even an hour’s study can be enough for a transformation that would fool all but close friends or family.
In Lan Shui, for example, Kaita was able to acquire the form of the boy Pantu after only a few brief meetings. And of course, much has been written elsewhere of the weremage Auntie, who acquired the shapes of not only Loren of the family Nelda, but also many Mystics who accompanied her, and who then used these forms to terrible effect.
When creative transformation is applied to acquired forms, it is sometimes referred to as “modified” transformation. This is a discrete subject of study, with most scholars being particularly interested in the limitations of modification. A common example for beginning students in this field is the problem of the blue jay and the cardinal.
Imagine that a weremage has acquired a blue jay. Then the weremage sets about modifying the transformation. First, they turn all their feathers red. That is a simple modification, and a casual observer might then mistake the modified blue jay for a cardinal. But anyone very familiar with birds would recognize the incorrect shape and size of the beak, the claws, and the overall build. The weremage might then try to modify the transformation further, compensating for these defects, but this would require an almost impossible level of concentration and focus.
This extreme height of power can become dangerous in some cases. Like all magic, a weremage’s transformation requires concentration to maintain. The more the transformation is modified, the more concentration is required. If the weremage were distracted even slightly while flying in the modified form, they might suddenly revert back to their natural human form, and find themselves plummeting towards the ground from a dozen paces or more in the air.
The study of this property of weremagic has given the academia of Underrealm a great preoccupation with taxonomy, which as a result is a far more codified field than many other scientific pursuits. The concept of species differentiation, for example, is quite exactingly understood and constantly studied. It is well known that an animal may be easily modified within its own species, but it requires great effort to modify it to mimic another species entirely. This lends us further understanding of weremages’ ability to assume other human forms so quickly, since all humans are, of course, the same species.
This particular detail is a greater problem to the wealthy and powerful of Underrealm than it is to the commonfolk. Impersonation of some wealthy merchant could be used to disastrous effect, at least as far as the merchant’s coffers are concerned. A mimicked king, or even a lesser noble, could start a war. Though of course, only a particularly foolish (or desperate) weremage would impersonate a king. If such a scheme were ever discovered, they would suffer a long, slow death at Mystic hands—the same penalty leveled at any wizard attempting to sit a throne.
This is one reason that lords, monarchs, and other powerful figures of the nine kingdoms—particularly the High King herself—do their best to stay removed from all but their closest family and advisors. If a weremage cannot spend enough time with them to study their appearance, it becomes quite difficult to mimic them effectively.
As an extra precaution, most among the nobility, particularly kings, scarify or tattoo themselves with a distinguishing mark in a hidden place. Only a very small circle of trusted allies, always kept close by, are allowed to know of the mark’s location and shape. A weremage would not, of course, know to create the mark. Therefore, even if they were otherwise able to assume the noble’s form, the noble’s inner circle would quickly be able to uncover the ploy.
The last subject of high import that should be discussed here is a weremage’s transition from one form to another, without first reverting to their natural human form. This is a very powerful and difficult technique, and not every weremage is able to learn it.
When acquiring a creature, the weremage must envision a bridge between their body and the desired form. The same thing must be done to turn from one form to another: they must envision, and then craft in their mind, a bridge from the first form to the second. This requires immense concentration, focus, and also an exacting knowledge of both animal forms. For Kaita to turn from a raven to a lion, she had to know both creatures’ bodies in as much detail as she knew her own. Then she had to craft the bridge between the bird and the cat, undergoing many, many failed and painful transformations as she learned. And the same bridge that took her, for example, from the raven to the lion, would not let her turn from the raven to a serpent. Another bridge would have to be constructed.
In truth, Kaita was a highly accomplished weremage, and one of the greatest of her age. It is a shame that she was never allowed to feel that way—neither by Thada of the family Telfer, the Rangatira who scorned her, nor by Mag, who defeated her again and again no matter the strength of her animal forms.
Had Kaita ever been allowed to see just how powerful and valuable she was, one must wonder if she might not have turned to evil.
OF KAITA AND THE LAND OF TOKANA
There are two other important details concerning Kaita and her time in the mountainous region of Tokana, and they are worth discussing here.
When Kaita returned to her mountain homeland, hotly pursued by the Wanderer and Albern of the family Telfer, she became busily engaged in the activities of her fellow Shades. For the most part, this consisted of covert actions to further stoke ire between the Rangatira and the trolls, and this required a great deal of speedy travel through the peaks.
If it was possible, Kaita would of course take her raven form. But sometimes she had to remain grounded, and then she would use her mountain lion. When she did, she usually modified her transformation to hide the white tail of the lion she held in her canon. She did this because she had no wish for Ditra, the Rangatira, to hear of a lion with a white tail. Ditra would, of course, recognize the form at once, and she would know that Kaita had returned. Kaita feared that Ditra would be wrathful, and she would expend great effort to track Kaita down.
Albern and Mag, however, had already seen Kaita’s lion in its natural form, including the white tail. They passed this information to Ditra, who received it much differently than Kaita thought she would. Not only did she keep the information from Mag and Albern, but she withheld it from even her most trusted advisors. She also assigned Maia, her lead ranger, to hunt for the weremage in secret. This greatly hampered the efforts of not only Maia, but Albern and Mag, and was a tremendous boon to Kaita’s aims in the region—even if she was thwarted in the end.
The second interesting detail is the answer to a myster
y that long plagued Albern: how did Kaita acquire her troll form, in which she named herself Gatak?
It is exceptionally rare for any weremage to acquire the shape of any of Underrealm’s other sentient races, whether troll, satyr, imp, wurt, or what have you. There are old, old laws of the High King, nearly as old as Underrealm itself, that forbid the capture or enslavement of any of these creatures, which are sometimes referred to collectively as the “Awakened Folk” to differentiate them from beasts. Those who break this law may be put to death, along with any accomplices, and even any who knew of the violation but said nothing. It is not quite so strict as the King’s harshest law, but it is not far off, either. And without the creature being so restrained, it is impossible to spend the necessary time in contact with them to acquire them.
Mysteriously, this law is one that the Shades also obeyed, just as they obeyed the ancient edicts protecting the Guild of Lovers, which saved Dryleaf’s life in the hills north of the Greenfrost. And so indeed, it was not by unscrupulous means that Kaita acquired her troll form.
When she fled Tokana in her youth, driven out by Albern’s mother, the Rangatira, Kaita spent a while in the wilderness. She was a ranger, after all. Living off the land was as easy as dwelling in a city or town, and more so when her magic made it a simple matter to hunt for food.
For some weeks she was alone. Now, this was deep in troll territory, but the trolls there were not numerous, and it was easy to avoid them. But after some time, she did encounter a troll—a elderly female named Sookar.
At first, Sookar behaved aggressively towards Kaita. But it happened that they met when Kaita was at her lowest point. She had given up any hope of recovering the life she had fled. She had been abandoned by her lover, Ditra, and disgraced in the eyes of her lord. Life seemed to have little purpose, and for days she had toyed with the idea of ending it.
The Tales of the Wanderer Volume One: A Book of Underrealm (The Underrealm Volumes 4) Page 91