Zoomorphism in the Sea of Stars (A to Z Challenge)

The Sundering brought changes, minor and major (and catastrophic) across the Sea of Stars.  One of the relatively minor, but initially very concerning, effects was the rise of zoomorphism among people.  There was a rash of children born with animal features (ears, eyes, fur, tail, and other parts) across the lands.  Mostly, those vanished within a few generations but in some cases, it did not . . .

There were a few groups that had totem animals or other affinity with a particular animal (or types of animal), those groups tended to stabilize with the feature that matched that affinity being inherited across family lines.  Among those who have such lines of zoomorphic people are the Wolf Nomads of the Kozimkik Steppes, who often have wold ears, sharper teeth, and, less often, fur and tails.  Those with such features are considered blessed by the wolf spirits and have a certain elevated status within their society.

Another group that has had consistent zoomorphism is the An-Nikar, they are a people scattered across many lands (including the Jade Pillar Dynasty) and culturally, they are devout Wayists.  They believe in reincarnation and that the amount of animal traits an An-Nikar is born with represents their sins from a previous life.  This does not make them treat each other any differently, they all seek to follow the Way and live their best lives.

And there are other zoomorphic people out there and are occasional born to otherwise normal parents.

Game Notes: Simply an excuse for people who want characters to have cat ears or a tail to have those without going full beastkine.  Also, I really like the An-Nikar.

Notes: Yes, today should be Y and Z tomorrow but I have a Y to tie to a magic item (for my Tuesday magic item) and I wanted to write about zoomorphism so I have flipped the last two letters.

Image FEMALE – HUMAN ANIMAL HYBRID by hamster-minions on DeviantArt and used under Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 3.0 License