Post by UninvokedAuthor on Apr 15, 2009 12:04:25 GMT -5
((Fair warning to you all. This is a rough draft, as I'm more occupied with getting the idea down rather than making it look nice. Further updates will be made for niceness, after I get all appropriate information uploaded.))
INDEL
An enormous bull moose leans against a leather harness, pulling a thick maple log to the edge of a river. No human directs its course, nor helps it in any way. The reason for this becomes clear when it reaches the water's edge. It slides into its human form so that it can free itself of the harness, and drags the leather free. When the log rests naked by the waters edge, he once again turns into a moose and uses his mighty antlers to push the log into the water.
He slips into human form long enough to wiggle back into the harness, and returns to where a bear is using his strength to rip trees from the ground. What might seem like an impossible task even for a bear soon proves to be quite simple when rabbits scamper from holes beneath the tree, spitting chunks of root out as they search for another tree to begin on.
These are the indel, shape-shifters with the power to change into a single animal form while retaining human intelligence. Unlike most shape-shifters, indel are not born with this ability. Instead they are born with latent magic, magic that remains passive until an Invoker activates it. An indel can go its whole life without ever seeing an Invoker, although most indel are discovered by the time they are 12 years old.
When an indel's magic is invoked, the Invoker will place a tattoo on the indel in a visible location, identifying him both as an indel, and what kind he is. This is as much to help avoid potentially disastrous bar fights as it is to help future employers identify the kind of indel they need.