Theriomorphs

Theriomorphs, also called morphs, animal-morphs, fleabags or furballs, have been given the ability to transform into a particular kind of animal. The variety of animals allowed by the Curse is essentially unlimited, and can even cause the subject to become a species he or she has never heard of. It is unknown where Nasoj got the templates for this spell, but some have speculated that Klepnos himself designed it to include every form of land-dwelling beast he had ever encountered.

A theriomorph can take on a body form that completely mimics the animal in question (called fullmorph form); a humanoid form that borrows some of the animal's features, such as fur, teeth, and claws (called anthro form); or anything in between. Some particularly clever morphs have also learned how to assume a bizarre-looking tauric form, with four walking legs and a humanoid torso where the animal-form's neck would be. Kyia's modifications of the Curse have allowed theriomorphs to also assume their original human form, but there are consequences associated with this (see the section on Limitations in the Curse article).

High Generation Issues for Theriomorphs

Form Retention Related

One of the results of the theriomorph variant of the Curse is that any female who becomes pregnant will have a pregnancy similar to the animal she has the form of, and the children of high generation theriomorphs tend to more resemble the offspring of the animal.

For example, a offspring of rat-morph families tend to be smaller at birth, and be part of a multiple birth.

Throwbacks

Another genetic phenomenon for families of high generation theriomorphs are Throwbacks. These are individuals who are born as normal humans/Breed/Plane-touched. As a result, it is often a difficult pregnancy for the mother, since the infant may be larger than the mother's body can handle. (e.g. A rat-morph will have a hard time with a normal sized human infant.)

These children are prized in noble theriomorph families because of feralism (see below), however being "normal" when your whole family are Cursed can lead to additional issues (psychological and emotional) for the child as they grow up, since they are the abnormal ones.

Feralism

Also known as Feralistic Psychosocial Developmental Disorder, or FPDD, this phenomenon appears in theriomorph families in which the same Curse has been passed down through multiple generations, either by form retention (see above) or by choice. Feralism is a disorder in which the brains of high-generation theriomorphs develop more like those of animals than like those of humans. Symptoms include deficient language skills, mental retardation, inability to assume human form, and increased instinctive behavior. In the most severe cases, the individual is completely unable to shift out of fullmorph form, and exhibits behavior indistinguishable from a common animal of the template species.

There is no risk of feralism in first-generation theriomorphs, or in theriomorphs that are descended from ancestors with a wide variety of template species; the problem only crops up when the same template species is reinforced through multiple generations. Feralism is very rare in the second and third generations, with mild cases occurring less than 2% of the time.

The problem becomes more noticeable beyond the third generation. Fourth generation theriomorphs usually display some mild symptoms of feralism (80% probability), and in the fifth generation the symptoms become more severe. In the sixth generation all individuals display moderate to severe feralism. Seventh-generation theriomorphs have almost never occurred, but in the few recorded cases they were completely indistinguishable from the template species.

There is no cure for feralism, but it can be easily prevented. Outcrossing to non-theriomorphs, or morphs of a different species, in every third or fourth generation virtually guarantees that feralism will not occur.

In order to facilitate this, many of the old family lines in Metamor have taken to keeping meticulous genealogical records, particularly those families that have dedicated themselves to represent some past hero by sharing his form. The Matthias clan, descended from the legendary Rat of Might, Charles Matthias, is especially well-known for this.

This need to outbreed on a regular basis makes the occasional throwback (see above) valuable since they are "normal" they can easily mate with another un-Cursed member of their base species (usually human) to stave off Feralism. As such, there is intense pressure on a throwback to not take the Curse when they reach the age of majority (even if it would make them like the rest of the family).

The children of a throwback will express the dominant theriomorph form retention of the family (as if the throwback had been Cursed), while retaining the "pure bloodline" important to the noble family.

Population

Theriomorphs are the second most common type of Cursed individuals encountered in Metamor City; when all animal-morph variants are combined, they total to 17% of the overall population, approximately 2.55 million people.

Known Theriomorphs

Known Throwbacks

Lady Julia Matthias

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Source: Original MK2K Bible entry - The Curse]], Throwback (Story)

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