Information: Shapeshifters (Chai Elavie)

[Ash Leone]

Chai Elavie

It has come to our attention that there are two different kinds of shapeshifters. The normal kind, with serpiente and avians and all those cultures, is called vie elavie. The other kind, which up until now there has been little information about, is called chai elavie.

Amelia Atwater-Rhodes herself says that even she doesn't know that much about them, since they were an early experiment of hers, and she hasn't worked with them lately. We've taken what information she has given, and expanded on it as much as possible.

• Posts in this thread
  
  
  
  • History
    
  • Genetics and powers
  • Chai elavie breeds
  • How to create a "new" breed
  • Breeds - Warrigal (Dingo)
  • Breeds - Equine (Horse)
  • Breeds - Nevla (Mongoose)
  • Breeds - Phasi (Peacock)
  • Breeds - Uncia (Snow Leopard)
  • Breeds - Cygni (Swan)
  • Breeds - Selkie (Seal)
  • Breeds - Arini (Macaw)
  • Breeds - Chamita (Badger, Weasel or Ermine)
  • Breeds - Letotse (Cheetah)
  • Breeds - Tangi (Tanager)
  • Breeds - Anubi (Jackal)
  • Breeds - Lincei (Lynx)
  • Breeds - Strigi (Owl)

======================
Canon information provided by AHAR and breed information compiled by various members.

[Ash Leone]

History

In the beginning, there was Leona, the fire elemental. Through a sacrifice of blood, Zadre and Diosa bound her to their existence. Zadre, who made the greatest sacrifice, received more power than Diosa, and that's why his descendants are immortal.

After the ritual, Diosa and Zadre parted ways, and Diosa joined a human village. There she met Macht, the local wise-woman, and Cera, daughter of the chief hunter. Diosa gave Macht power in order to help the village. That power was passed on to Macht's children, including her eldest daughter, Vida. The descendants of those children are the Macht witches, and therefore not the ones to be spoken of here. Meanwhile, Cera, still a mortal girl, studied and learned how to flawlessly change her form, in order to run with the animals of the woods and fly with the creatures of the sky.

In her travels, Cera met Siete. At this point, both of them were young; neither was even completely Nyeusi. The two had an affair that lasted several years, and in the end produced Leben, the only nyeusi ever born already immortal. Leben later, many years after his mother's death, created the vie elavie.

Cera didn't only meet Siete, however. She also met many others, humans who were accepted as her students and disciples, and learned how to shift form. None of them was ever as successful as her, and most only learned one second form, which they then passed on to their children. These descendants are the chai elavie.

[Ash Leone]

Genetics and powers

Unlike the vie elavie, chai elavie have never had and will never have any form of longevity; they only have normal, human lifespans. They're generally faster and stronger than humans, but nowhere near a vie elavie. They also heal slightly faster than humans, but again not as well as a vie elavie -- an injury that would take a human a few days to heal would heal up in just one day for a chai.

However, there is never any 'dilution' of the chai elavie blood. If a chai and a human get a child together, the child is pure chai elavie. If a chai and a macht witch have a child, it will be both shifter and witch.

When two vie elavie interbreed, the exact blend or breed depends on which line has more power. With vie elavie and chai elavie, though the results are similar (shapeshifting) it's really two different traits. It's like saying, if a blue-eyed person and a short person had a child, what would be the result? Well, possibly a blue-eyed short person. You wouldn't get a cross-breed, ie, half-wolf/half-hawk form, because they're unrelated genes.

The child of a chai wolf elavie and vie raven elavie (just using a random example there) would presumably have a human form, a wolf form, and a raven form. It wouldn't have a demi-form, since chai don't have them, and vie must be royal or pureblood vie (genetically, SSSH or SSSS, see Shapeshifter genetics) to have a half-form.

[Ash Leone]

Creating a "new" breed

Yes, you can create "your own" breed of shapeshifters. They're still subject to admin approval, of course, and you have to follow the guidelines in this post.

• Remember that the species has to have existed (in one form or another) for between nine to twenty thousand years. This means that specific, human-bred breeds of for example cats, dogs or horses are out of the question. Of course, tigers and wolves as we know them didn't exist back then, but for convenience we'll pretend that the shifters evolved together with their animal counterparts. Those that couldn't most probably died out.
  
  
• Write up at least a brief history of the shifter breed, including a mention of how they've survived all these years -- most chai elavie are, after all, extinct.
  
  
• Provide at least one or two representative images for your shifter species.
  
  
• Come up with a maximum of two (2) positive aspects with the breed; anything from having an especially keen sense of smell to having poisonous saliva. Try to keep it within reason for the animal in question, though, and keep in mind that the more extreme it is, the less likely it is that it'll be approved.
  If you can't come up with any that will fit, that's fine too; they're not mandatory.
  
  
• Counter any positive aspects with negative ones; at least one for each advantage. It can be anything from incomprehension of the monetary system to a severe allergy to something -- but make sure it matches the magnitude of the advantage. And remember: These advantages and disadvantages are breed specific, not only for your character.
  
  
• Submit the information you have to an admin (Ash Leone) -- either through PM if you already have a character, or by registering the character and PMing it.

[Ash Leone]

Warrigal (Dingo)

• Advantages: Dingoes are known for being swift hunters and can take down prey with efficiency and decent strategy. They neither live in packs nor are they independent, they are given a choice and some have been known to form groups together while others prefer the freedom of roaming alone. This versatility can effect them in human form and can create either a highly sociable personality or a withdrawn isolationist. They can, however, work together should the need arise under the idea of common interest.
• 
  Disadvantages: Aggressive by nature, they look to be normal blond-colored dogs with a mean streak. They are not very large and cannot defend themselves from bigger, stronger creatures. Dingoes dislike being locked up for extended periods of time and do get into fights with other similarly sized mammals for dominance. When converted into human form, the less adapted dingo may be violent and temperamental, distinctively hard to control and predict.
• 
  Other notes: The chai dingo -- although originally they weren't known as dingos -- migrated centuries ago to Australia, where they eventually became a part of the natural wildlife. Some spend their entire lives in their animal shape, whereas others live as humans, though due to their instincts they don't often merge well with society. Because of their remote location, they're relatively unknown to most of the world.
• 
  Reference Pics:
  
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[Ash Leone]

Equine (Horse)

• Advantages: Equine elavie are unnaturally strong and fast in human form and have excellent senses of hearing and smell (much better then a human, though naturally not as good as some of the other breeds of shifters or vampires), though their eyesight is relatively normal.
• 
  Disadvantages: They are prone to being highly competitive, can be skittish almost to the extreme when startled and will sometimes react with a single mindedness that can actually lead them from a bad situation to a worse. Claustrophobia also seems to be a breed-wide trait; one of the easier ways to get them to panic is to shut them up without room to move around. Most don't even like going in someplace smallish that they know they'll be exiting almost immediately, like a phone booth.
• 
  Other notes: The true history of these elavie has been lost over the ages, all that remains is a fairytale told to children about a woman who loved horses, most especially the King Stallion of a herd, and went to live with them in the forest. After being gone for five years she came back, as a horse, to her old village and delivered her children to them; a boy and a girl, from whom all of the equine elavie are descended. One interesting thing that might be noted: though it's not enough to really cause comment, females are more common then males.
  
  They are a proud race and are, by and large, rather vain. Also, their second forms are wildly varied; there isn't one particular set breed (such as the Asian Wild Horse) that is the second form for all. The way that the second forms are passed on seems complicated and at times without rhyme or reason. Because of this, predicting what kind of horse a child will be able to turn into is an imprecise art. Often it will make some kind of sense, but not always.
  
  Still, despite this variability please keep in mind that the majority of the breeds of horses that exist today do not and can not exist in the gene pool, simply because they were developed in the last few hundred years and are thus much too modern. Because of the way even the ancient breeds have been, for the most part, fiddled with, finding a chai that will exactly match the specifications for ANY of them is next to impossible.
  
  The majority of the equine elavie find their closest matches in the breeds listed below, and while the first eight are the closest match to the oldest of the breeds, the rest aren't to be disregarded either.
  
  'Truest' breeds
  • Akhal-teke
  • 
    Asian Wild Horse/Przewalski's Horse
  • 
    Caspian
  • 
    Exmoor Pony
  • 
    Highland Pony
  • 
    Poitevin
  • 
    Tarpan
  • 
    Yakut
  Others:
  
  • Horses:
  • • Andalusian
    • 
      Arabian
    • 
      Barb
    • 
      Brabant Horse
    • 
      Breton Horse
    • 
      Camargue Horse
    • 
      Clydesdale
    • 
      Friesian
    • 
      Gypsy Vanner
    • 
      Haflinger/Avelignese
    • 
      Karabair
    • 
      Karabakh
    • 
      Mongolian Horse
    • 
      Noriker
    • 
      Sorraia/Garranos
  • Ponies:
  • • Ariègeois Pony (/Cheval de Méren)
    • 
      Bardigiano
    • 
      Dales Pony
    • 
      Fell Pony
    • 
      Gotland Pony
    • 
      Konik Pony
    • 
      Shetland Pony
    • 
      Welsh Mountain Pony
  
  The two things to keep in mind is that the majority of these breeds are guidelines, not templates. They're the oldest breeds out there, but doesn't mean that they haven't been fiddled with over the years. Your average chai elavie will probably be similar to one of the listed breeds but will not exactly match the breed standard. This is not always true - there is, for example, a family of chai who pride themselves on being a more classic example of Friesian - but even they don't match perfectly.
  
  The second thing to remember is that the first 8 breeds listed are the closest that we have to the VERY first horse breeds out there, so chai closely resembling them will be more common then any other breed and they will probably match the modern specifications more closely.

[Ash Leone]

Nevla (Mongoose)

• Advantages: Nevla elavie are extremely agile and quick in their human forms, with an almost frightening natural ability to dodge and execute impressive maneuvers (just imagine what would happen with training). Like true mongooses, their genetics lend to a high tolerance to neurotoxins (as opposed to hemotoxins), one of the components of the venom of certain snakes-- including cobras. It takes much more than the usual dose to affect a Nevla.
• 
  Disadvantages: All Nevla seem to be born with an innate “fighter” instinct, and while not all of them are equally susceptible, they are all affected to some degree. It can manifest in the form of a particularly argumentative person to someone who can’t resist a fight when things are heating up around them. Be warned: when a Nevla does fight, they go somewhat berserk. It’s easy for them to get caught up in the rush and mistakenly attack the wrong person. Along with this, Nevla harbor a strong dislike of snakes, and, as an extension, Serpiente. Nevla elavie simply can’t remain near or with a Serpiente without acting antagonistic and aggressive towards them, and it goes without saying that they could never make friends with any of them. Also, in contrast to this elavie’s notable speed, their strength is nothing impressive for a chai elavie.
• 
  Other notes: The only second form of chai Nevla, as the Hindi name might suggest, is the Indian Mongoose, and while the animal species itself lives all throughout south and southeast Asia, Nevla shifters originated specifically in India. They tended to live out their lives in their animal shape, for their mongoose instincts bled through quite noticeably in human form (this might have been because they rarely, if ever, bred with normal humans), but their numbers were dwindling down to nothing by the 1800’s. However, in 1872, a number of Indian Mongooses were brought from Calcutta to Jamaica to control the rat populations in sugar plantations, and then in 1883 some more were transferred to Hawaii for the same reason. Among them was a pair of Nevla. As the mongooses had no natural predators on any of the Hawaiian islands they were sent to, it was not difficult for the Nevla shifters to establish a small population of their own over the past century or so. As far as anyone knows, there are no Nevla in Jamaica, but it’s not an impossibility; as for India (and the rest of southeast Asia, in case any of the elavie migrated), it is believed that they are now extinct in those regions...but again, there is a chance that a few have survived.
  
  The Hawaiian brand of Nevla has integrated into human society more than their Indian ancestors ever dared, and breeding with humans has mellowed out these feisty little elavie to a certain extent, although by nature they still tend to be energetic and aggressive go-getters. Nevla are also known to be as playful and inquisitive as their natural animal counterparts. Also, it’s interesting to note that there are no snakes that originated in Hawaii (just invasive species, and only a couple), and therefore current Nevla who remain on the islands are hardly even aware that they hate snakes.
• 
  Reference Pics:
  
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[Ash Leone]

Phasi (Peacock)

• Advantages: They generally can be very tenacious and aggressive to get the things they want - although this could be perceived as a fault, it is also an important quality in mortals. Phasi shifters tend to be real go-getters, and they are usually very energetic. Many of them end up in the entertainment industry because of their general good looks. They are fairly personable people, and enjoy attention on themselves rather than on something less interesting.
• 
  Disadvantages: Both of the breeds, male and female, tend to be very vain and capricious. Most of them have usually been in an environment where they are pampered and catered to, and therefore often times they are not capable of proper defense against predators. Because of the fact that in nature the peafowl is thought to be polygamous, the same usually applies to this breed of shifter. They dislike the idea of settling down, and always seem to be looking for the next pretty thing, which can cause strife in relationships with non-peafowls who do not share similar views.
• 
  Other notes: Despite the images of coloration this breed tends to conjure up, it greatly depends on what strand of the blood you possess that determines what feathers the shifter will possess. There are two recognized breeds that a Phasi shifter might be:
  
  
  • Indian Peafowl - The male Indian Peafowl has iridescent blue-green or green colored plumage. The so-called "tail" of the peacock is not the tail quill feathers but highly elongated upper tail coverts. The train feathers have a series of eyes that are best seen when the tail is fanned. The male has a crest.
    
    The female Indian Peahen has a mixture of dull green, brown, and gray in her plumage. She lacks the long upper tail coverts of the male but has a crest. Females can also display their plumage to ward off danger to their young or other female competition. When playing an Indian Peacock or Peahen please take note of their coloring situation. Further information on specific coloration can be found here.
    
    • Sub-Variations
      • Blackshoulder
      • 
        India Blue
      • 
        India Pied Blue
      • 
        White
      • 
        White-Eyed
    • Reference Pics:
      
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  • Green Peafowl - The Green Peafowl is very different in appearance to the Indian Peafowl. The male has green and gold plumage and has an erect crest. The wings are black with a sheen of blue. Unlike the Indian Peafowl, the Green Peahen is very similar to the male, only having shorter upper tail coverts and less iridescence. It is very hard to tell a juvenile male from an adult female. These are said to have originated much where the actual birds themselves did, around Burma and Java.
  • 
    
    • Sub-Varieties
      • Burmese Green
      • 
        Indo-Chinese Green
      • 
        Java Green
    • Reference Pics:
      
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[Ash Leone]

Uncia (Snow Leopard)

• Advantages: Aside from the fact that they are also known for being able to withstand temperatures that most normal humans would require heavy jackets for, most of the snow leopard traits are similar to that of a basic feline shifter. They appear to be very graceful in human form, with fluid movements. They never seem to stumble, and usually land on their own two feet.
• 
  Disadvantages: Because only one familial line exists, a snow leopard shifter discovered and outed would bring a very high price. Anyone who is of this bloodline is almost always in constant danger of being hunted by Nyeusi or even humans who desire to have something so rare.
• 
  Other notes: This particur strand of shifter originated in Siberia, though nobody knows quite how. It is traced back to a very specific family line, now carried today by Evangela and Andrea Shane, the wife and daughter of Christian Shane. Because one would have to be related to Evangela somehow, it is a restricted breed, and you need to contact Danielle Vida about making one.
• 
  Reference Pics:
  
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[Ash Leone]

Cygni (Swan)

• Advantages: Deceptively strong in bird form, though no match for a predator. A full-grown swan (the animal, even, not just elavie) can break a man's arm if provoked enough. Also, swans are very graceful, beautiful, and generally considered non-threatening. This makes them natural diplomats (at least, when the other parties aren't trying to eat them).
• 
  Disadvantages: Swans aren't exactly contenders with hawks when it comes to fierceness or natural weaponry. They can peck at you and beat you with their wings, but unless you've cornered one and are really getting into a rough time with the bird, the worse you'll suffer are bruises. They fight defensively rather than offensively, when they fight at all, and would rather fly away than get into a confrontation in the first place. They are also considered by most other elavie to be "food", which doesn't help much in diplomatic situations. Another disadvantage is the lack of male swans. While females breed true in their daughters every time (since they're chai elavie), the trait oddly skips most male offspring.
• 
  Other notes: They are commonly known as Swanmaids (sometimes pronounced "swanmay" or "swanmane", due to mispronounciation and variation of dialects), though this only accurately applies to the females of the breed. Granted, 99% of all wereswans are female. The males, known as Swanmen (that's the modern term-- they're more archaically referred to as "princes"), are very rare and often sought after by Swanmaids in the hopes of bearing a true-bred son.
  
  It is thought that the origin of the wereswan was actually a curse, placed by a vindictive witch on a vain princess, but there is no documentation supporting this theory. The species has survived in scattered pockets throughout Europe and Russia, usually living in anonymous tranquility. Due to their non-combative nature and prey status, it is a wonder the swans survived for so long. However, they are tougher than they look, and a proud race, so they get by just as well as the predators in some ways. As it stands now, the swans are a legitimate breed of chai elavie in their own right.
• 
  Reference Pics:
  
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[Ash Leone]

Selkie (Seal)

• Advantages: Selkies are incredible swimmers in both forms, the result of a combination of usual Chai Elavie strength and speed, a seal’s impressive agility underwater, and of the ability to hold their breath for as long as forty minutes (in seal form; half as long in human form). Their basic senses also improve underwater.  Most Selkies are good-natured, inoffensive and peaceful-- there’s really not much there that a person can object to.
• Disadvantages: In contrast to their grace in the water, Selkies are clumsy as anything on land, in either form. That’s not to say they are complete klutzes, but they do tend to be prone to fumbling with, tripping over, and bumping into an inordinate number of things. Elegant they are not.
  All Selkies, likely due to centuries upon centuries of living almost exclusively as seals in the ocean, have an instinctive drive to return to the sea (and assume their seal form) if they find themselves ashore for too long. The drive essentially manifests as both emotional and physical homesickness, and worsens until the Selkie heads for the nearest harbor or beach, every few days or every couple of weeks depending on the individual (never much longer than that). If a Selkie tries to resist past their respective “limit”, it ultimately results in their staying in the ocean longer than anticipated, sometimes even days, which can be a problem for jobholders. Initially, when a Selkie enters the water after being driven to do so, their human consciousness slips for a bit and they enjoy themselves thoughtlessly and blissfully cavorting around, hunting, following boats, watching the shore, and etcetera before they’ve had their fill and come to their senses, so to speak.
• Other Notes: The chai Selkies are, unsurprisingly, the source of all of the Irish and Scottish folklore and legends describing the Selkie Folk-- the seals who could shed their skins and transform into humans. It is no wonder that such myths arose, for a great deal of it is based in truth, right down to much of the terminology. Selkies are secretive shifters who spend almost all of their time in their animal forms and have formed Colonies for centuries, much in the fashion of normal seals of the area, allowing them to hide in plain sight. A Colony is run by the “Manannán mac Lir” (shortened to Mac Lir), a patriarchal figure who is usually the strongest and largest of the male Selkies, and who has his pick of as many Selkie women as he likes. Selkies are insistent about titles, which are rooted in Gaelic: a “wife” of a Mac Lir is called an Iníon Lir, a son of a Mac Lir is a Garmhac, a daughter is a Gariníon, and any other direct relative to the Mac Lir is referred to as a Gaol; all directly related to the Mac Lir hav special privileges, and believe it or not, not everyone IS related to the Mac Lir. Back in the day when Selkies were more numerous, Colonies often absorbed one another, with the Mac Lir fighting each other for power (occasionally to the death; those who became Mac Lir also tended to be the most aggressive of the normally pleasant Selkies). Currently, there are two main Colonies of Selkies, and both dwell in the waters surrounding the British Isles and Ireland: one has the Common seal (Cuan) as their second form, the other has the Grey seal (Liath), and neither Mac Lir desires to take over the other Colony-- Cuan and Liath Selkies usually don’t mix, even though besides the species of their second form, they are culturally identical.
  
  Selkies have always kept in touch with the human world by keeping the tradition of selecting a few individuals in every generation (usually a Garmhac or Gariníon) to take human form and go ashore, either to woo a woman or to settle down as a wife. It always ends with a child being born of a Selkie and a human, a “Changeling”, who must be brought back to the Colony after a seven year grace period (why seven years? only the Selkies know!). This inevitably led to some Selkies choosing to remain with his or her new spouse on the mainland and essentially abandon the Colony; back in the old days, this was punishable by skinning-- if the Colony couldn’t have the Selkie, the Selkie could never have the ocean again. However, as their numbers have dwindled in recent decades and as more and more Selkies have become curious about life on land and the changing world around them, the remaining Mac Lir relaxed their rules. Instead, a Selkie who left the Colony was just frowned upon, disowned, and rudely termed a “landlubber”. More idealistic Selkies are of the opinion that it’s finally time that they opened up and spread across the world; what better way for the population to make a comeback? Still, Selkies are overall pretty rare: less than fifty individuals between the two Colonies, and an unknown (definitely smaller) number elsewhere in the world.
• Characteristics
  
  • logically enough, they love seafood (and prefer it over anything else)
  • all Selkies are born with brown or grey hair in varying shades
  • Selkies, so entrenched in their animal sides and so new to life outside of the Colony, come across as childlike and naive at times; but at the same time, their simple approach to life is a blessing in such a frenetic society, and honesty is a virtue that no one should lose sight of

• Liath Selkie (Gray Seal) - quite large in stature (all men over 6’2, women average 5’9) and more gregarious than their cousins
  
  • click thumbnail for larger image

• Cuan Selkie (Common Seal, or Harbor Seal in the US) - tend to be shorter in stature and more introverted; the Cuan Colony is notably smaller than the Liath Colony
  
  • click thumbnail for larger image

[Ash Leone]

Arini (Macaw)

• Advantages: Flight is almost always an advantage, and Macaws are also very intelligent, even as people.  They're problem solvers more than outright fighters, which goes along with their tendency to live in groups.  They'll work together and solve a problem rather than attempt to force the issue or simply give up.  They have excellent hearing and vision, which naturally makes them very aware of their surroundings and difficult to sneak up on, and generally gives them plenty of time to fly off before they're in trouble.  Generally.  Not always.
• Disadvantages: A big disadvantage is how flashy they tend to be, to be honest.  It's almost impossible to miss their presence, which is a big downfall if they're trying to blend in, happen to be a hunter, or are trying to escape danger.  They're also not very impressive or dangerous in their animal forms, which requires that they have some skill in fighting if they intend to fend off an attacker.  In fact, their animal forms are extremely fragile (though perhaps not as far as birds go), and a good blow by someone bigger and stronger could cause serious damage.  Likewise, they're hollow-boned, and though hollow bones can be incredibly strong (to handle the stress of flight), Macaws tend to be less-solid and injure more easily in human form.  Escape is usually the best route for them, and that brings you back to the first disadvantage.
• Other Notes: As has been mentioned already, Macaws tend to live in family groups, where they can work together and support each other, though there's another important reason for this.  Macaws tend to be very shy and almost anti-social with people they don't know, and they take some time to decide that they 'know' the person well enough to open up.  Living in family groups ensures that they're surrounded by people they know and trust, which works wonderfully for them.  They thrive on attention and interaction, and they absolutely LOVE to get compliments and praise from those people that they care about.  They're also surprisingly protective of those people, considering they're not usually all that unpleasant.  It's when they're denied that attention and interaction that they'll really show their mean streaks, getting depressed and sometimes aggressive or hostile when they get lonely, which is why they try to avoid it.
  
  Anyone who's ever been around a parrot of any kind will have noticed how loud and vibrant they are, and that's something that all Arini seem to share.  They have wonderfully vibrant personalities, but they can be incredibly loud and obvious.  They're also lactose intolerant, as well as vegetarian.  They can eat meat, but only very sparingly, which means that most just don't eat it at all.  They thrive on fruits and vegetables, with a good share of carbohydrates in there. 
  
  Strangely enough, Macaws are different from humans in that the majority of them are left-handed.  There's no obvious reason for this, but it's something that is definitely true, with very few Macaws leaning towards ambidexterity or a predominance towards their right hand.  They also all have gray-blue eyes in both their human and animal forms.

• Scarlet Macaws - Besides the basic traits that all Macaws have, the Scarlet Macaws are born with bright, crayon red hair, a factor that causes some of them to attempt dying it to avoid notice.  Naturally, not all do, but as it's a very obvious physical aspect, it's difficult to miss if they don't.  As a general rule, family groups tend to range from Mexico down to Peru and Brazil, though naturally, they've moved around in modern times.
  
  Reference Pics:
  
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• Blue and Yellow Macaws - As with Scarlet Macaws having red hair, Blue and Yellow Macaws are always born with bright blond hair.  Fortunately for them, it's not blue, and it blends in far better than the red that their Scarlet cousins have.  They share the same traits otherwise, and tend to range from Panama to more Southern areas, but they've also moved around with higher technology.
  
  Reference Pics:
  
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[/list][/list]

[Ash Leone]

Chamita: Badger, Weasel, or Ermine

History

  The mythology around the Chamita breed is strange. It is stated that they originated in Mexico, but nobody, not even the Elders, are certain as to when precisely in the timeline their breed began. There are some legends that say they derived from the Mayans, but of course this would clearly place them back far beyond when Chai Elavie began to become made; however, the race is somewhat secretive about their roots, and there are several different ideas on their beginning. The most common one, and the one that makes the most sense, if you can call it sense, is the version told here. It is said that a "princess" was wandering through the wood and was found by three men, who then found themselves hired on by her as guards. One, Zithel, was a warrior, very strong and brave, and he provided much in the way of protection for the princess. Another, Olin, was a thief, very cunning and fast, and he was able to get them food and supplies when they had no money. The last, Ioli, was a religious man, and he was very caring and quiet. They journeyed for a few months before suddenly the princess declared that she was returning home. Before she left, she gave each of them a kiss, and in that kiss bestowed them a special power - she had given them the ability to change into their "true" forms. Zithel became a badger for his aggression and bravery; Olin became a weasel for his speed and stealth, and Ioli became an ermine for his gentle, kind nature.

  It didn't take long, however, for the friendship of the three men to end. In current day society, the Badger, the Weasel, and the Ermine shifter are enemies. So went the legend that they all split ways after a large fight, each traveling to different ends of the Earth in order to be at peace and away from the nagging of the other two. Zithel stayed in what is now Mexico, while Olin went northeast, to Eurasia, and eventually settled down in the Middle East (which is funny considering what theft gets you there). Ioli followed Olin, but retreated to Scandinavia to enjoy the cold. From there the bloodlines split entirely (though they were never directly related, save that they had the same "creator".

  In present day, to suggest to a Badger or a Weasel or an Ermine that they are blood-related to one of the other Chamita family members is a high insult, and one will likely experience the consequences of such an accusation. The Ermine have taken on the role of the Elders, trying to preserve history and pass down the information and stories; they are probably considered the most friendly of the Chamita breed. Badgers are mercenaries by trade, and Weasels thieves, so most of the time the two do not mix. From here, the history branches off between each individual breed, which will be noted further.

Badgers

• Advantages: Coming Soon!
• Disadvantages: Coming Soon!
• Other Notes: Coming Soon!
• Reference Pics:

Weasels

• Advantages: Coming Soon!
• Disadvantages: Coming Soon!
• Other Notes: Coming Soon!
• Reference Pics:

Ermines

• Advantages: Coming Soon!
• Disadvantages: Coming Soon!
• Other Notes: Coming Soon!
• Reference Pics:

[Ash Leone]

Letotse (Cheetah)

• Advantages: As cheetahs have been clocked as the fastest animals on land at 70 mph for short distances, the Letotse have inherited tremendous speed in their human forms. In a sense, one could say that they are natural athletes, but only those who ARE athletes and work for it will reach their absolute top speed as a human, which is around 30 mph (and that takes quite a lot of work). Letotse are more typically in the 20 mph range when they want to run, and slower still when they aren’t taking it seriously. At any rate, they are definitely sprinters (as opposed to distance runners), and can accelerate quickly, but it naturally takes a bit of time for them to reach peak speed; and they cannot maintain it for terribly long.
• Disadvantages: Letotse are fairly arrogant creatures, obnoxiously proud of their ‘noble lineage’, to the point where, for centuries, they only bred with one another, completely ignoring humans; this, unfortunately, led to inevitable decline in numbers, and quite a bit of inbreeding, which led to an assortment of genetic-level problems. Today’s Letotse still haven’t quite recovered, despite having branched out to breed with humans, and are somewhat prone to being born with the chai elavie form of genetic disorders: poor immune systems and/or healing abilities.
• Other Notes: The precise origins of the Letotse are shrouded in mystery, and much of their history has been lost, for so few Letotse survived from their centuries of breeding exclusively with one another. They do, however, have their own legend: they agree that it all started in Ancient Egypt, and that they are without a doubt descended straight from the aristocracy, if not the pharaohs themselves (while the former is very possible, the latter is debatable; the Letotse do like to milk their lofty status). As they say, they were granted the gift to take the form of these swift and beautiful felines from the goddess Mafdet in order to protect sacred establishments of the ancient cities, from tombs to temples and so forth. This was a divine privilege, and the Letotse (their original name is lost) refused to let their blessed line become tainted by normal humans. Even when the great civilization of Ancient Egypt toppled and the Letotse fled south, they continued their elite and private existence for centuries to follow. They did not completely avoid human civilization, although some did choose to live as animals. At one time they were quite numerous, but, inexorably, this lifestyle could not continue if they wanted to last. They managed for quite a while, but inbreeding was resulting in low fertility, and populations dwindled dramatically within the past two hundred years. Finally, in the early 1900’s, there were only a few individuals left: by this time, the legend had lost quite a lot of its glamor, and these few Letotse who remained decided it was time to give in. Breeding with humans has saved them from being completely wiped out, and at no cost other than their selfish pride. A few generations have passed, so not every Letotse is related, and one can find them in varying ethnicities, especially considering their predominance in South Africa and Botswana. Of course, now that they are doing better, the legend is back in all its glory, and so are their haughty attitudes.
• Characteristics:
  
  • Letotse eye color ranges from brown to amber-- sometimes deeper and less saturated, sometimes so bright as to be called orange
  • no matter their height, they tend to have particularly long legs; but in general, Letotse are not especially tall
  • on the whole, cheetahs are less aggressive than the other big cats (i.e., normal animal cheetahs are more easily tamed and domesticated than others)
• Reference Pics:
  
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  • King Cheetah Notes:
    The King Cheetah, once thought to be a separate subspecies, is an African Cheetah with a rare fur pattern, the result of recessive genes from both parents. Consider this the equivalent of melanistic panthers-- rare and gorgeous. Kings have distinct stripes running down their backs (usually three), and elsewhere on their coats the spots run together to form larger patches of black splotches.  Even purely animal King Cheetahs are rare, so imagine just how few King Letotse there are.  Of the Letotse that survived, only one was a King, so those genes are incredibly rare at this point, and if normal Letotse are proud of their divine and stately roots, just imagine how pleased King Letotse must be.
    
    • Reference Pics:
      
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[Ash Leone]

Tangi (Tanager)

• Advantages: Synonymous with other avians that are non-predatory (for reference, see Vie Elavie Sparrow).
• Disadvantages: Synonymous with other avians that are non-predatory (for reference, see Vie Elavie Sparrow).
• Other Notes: Tanagers are small to medium-sized birds. The shortest-bodied species, the White-eared Conebill, is 9 cm (3.8 in) long and weighs 7 grams, barely smaller than the Short-billed Honeycreeper. The longest, the Magpie Tanager is 28 cm (11 in) and weighs 76 grams (2.7 oz). The heaviest is the White-capped Tanager which weighs 114 grams (4 oz) and measures about 23 cm (8.7 in). Both sexes are usually the same size and weight. Tanagers are often brightly colored, but some species are black and white. Birds in their first year are often duller or a different color altogether. Males are typically more brightly coloured than females.
  
  Most tanagers have short, rounded wings. The shape of the bill seems to be linked to the species' foraging habits.
• Characteristics:
  
  
  
  • Tanager shifters all have good voices. Though some Tanagers are thought to have dull songs, the Chai breed itself has some sort of specialty with vocals. Many of the them posses a natural talent for singing, whether they enjoy it or not, and they have a song that you cannot help but listen to. It isn't hypnotic by any means, but unless one were to absolutely detest the song they sang, one could not help but stop to listen.
  • Tanagers also have a sort of 'look' about them in human form. The eyes, generally, will become more brilliant, even sometimes the same colour of their feathers. Hair becomes more highlighted, more bright, and they seem to 'glow' a little. Males will often find splashes of colour in their own hair - a tuft or a streak of blue or violet or red, depending on their colouration in bird form.
• Sub-Variations
  • Brazillian Tanager
  • 
    Gold and Green Tanager
  • 
    Green Honeycreeper
  • 
    Purple Honeycreeper
  • 
    Saffron Finch
  • 
    Blue-Gray Tanager
• Reference Pics:
  
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  • Note:
    Reference pics shown above are only examples.  If you're thinking of taking a tanager, please do your research on the breed and look into coloring.  Males and females are colored differently.  All above images are pictured in the order they're found on the list above them.