The Curse of Metamor was a complex, persistent magical phenomenon that grew out of the spells used by Nasoj and his lieutenants during the Battle of Three Gates. For a description of this battle and how the Curse functioned in its early years, see the Metamor Keep description on the Worlds page at Raven's Lair.
History
In the years after the Great Fall, Kyia devoted a great deal of time and study to uncovering the inner workings of the Curse and how it might be controlled. It had already been decided by Duke Thomas and the mages' council that the Curse should never be revoked entirely, even if such a thing became possible, because a number of people who had been cured of lethal medical conditions by the Curse's effects would then be returned to their former state, including Prince Phil of Whales and Rickkter. If the effects of the Curse were ever to be reversed, it must be done on an individual basis, without unraveling its overall structure.
After studying the Curse for the better part of a year, Kyia announced in early 709 that its power could not be broken or altered as long as Nasoj lived. The dark wizard had bound the threads of the three spells into the life-energy of his own body; without breaking that bond, any change Kyia attempted in the Curse would inevitably be undone.
The discovery put new impetus behind Metamor's attempt to bring down Nasoj. While the Keepers had made extensive incursions into the Giantdowns in 707, liberating lands as far north as Caralore and seizing the fortress of Arabarb Pass, no attempt had been made to take the cluster of larger cities that surrounded Nasoj's citadel in the Death Mountains. In 709 the campaign was renewed, as the armies of Metamor and her allies drove straight for the capital of Nasojassa and the citadel beyond.
Nasoj did indeed perish at the end of that campaign, though not by the Keepers' hands. The wizard's death opened the way for the Curse to be controlled by Kyia; after that, it was a matter of working out the details.
As it happened, working out those "details" would take the better part of a century. While Kyia was able to learn relatively quickly how to allow the Keepers a greater range for their shapeshifting abilities, it was not until 801 CR that she and the Keep's mages developed a way to prevent the Curse from taking hold of someone in the first place. At first this required a large and fairly heavy amulet, which was worn around the subject's neck; later, smaller and more comfortable methods of shielding against the Curse would be developed. The invention of miniaturized spelltech in the mid- to late 20th century allowed these anti-Curse charms to be made so small that they could actually be implanted under the skin, rendering them invisible and impossible to lose by accident.
Even today, the Curse has not been "cured". Those who are Cursed remain so for the rest of their lives, and not even Kyia's power can reverse the process or change the nature of one's Curse once it has taken hold. Because of this, accepting the Curse is a serious and life-changing decision, and is usually not undertaken by adults without a great deal of prior thought. For some families, however, a particular variant of the Curse has become a tradition, and parents living in Metamor often decide on the nature of their children's Curse even before they are born.
Area of Effect
The increase in global mana levels, coupled with the influx of power into the Keep from the Great Fall, has resulted in an increase in the geographical area affected by the Curse. In its early years, the Curse affected only the inhabitants of Metamor Valley. After the Great Fall, it expanded to cover the territory from Starven in the north to Midtown in the south. It has slowly increased since that time, following the cycle in global mana levels; at the present day, with mana levels at the highest they have been in 6,000 years, the Curse reaches from Caralore in the north to Ellcaran in the south.
The Curse's power wanes at these outer limits, and the amount of time it requires to take effect is lengthened to around three weeks near the perimeter, but magical countermeasures (see below) are still required to keep it under control.
At the center of it's power, in Metamor City, a person without an amulet has up to three to seven days before the Curse takes hold of them (or overnight if it is a willing person taking on the Curse). However, with the level of government administration dedicated to managing the Curse (see below), it is rare for someone to be Cursed without their complete knowledge or consent.
Variants
The Curse of Metamor still comes in three broad categories, counterparts to the three spells cast at the Battle of Three Gates.
Androgynes
Androgynes, also called gendermorphs, teegees, or trannies, can take on the form of the opposite sex from the one they were born to. An androgyne's alter-ego has certain facial features and physical traits that resemble his/her original form, but the alter-ego is almost always highly attractive and well-endowed (in the gender-appropriate sense).
Androgynes can assume any body form from a highly exaggerated masculine or feminine physique (whichever was the opposite to their born sex) to an androgynous figure whose gender is difficult to identify. Some skillful androgynes have learned how to acheive a truly hermaphroditic form, possessing fully functional genitalia of both sexes. Kyia's modifications of the Curse have also allowed androgynes to return to their original sex, though there is a limit to how long this can be done (see Limitations).
Androgynes are the most common type of Cursed individual in Metamor City, comprising 20% of the overall population, or about 3 million people.
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 Limitations, below).
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.
Pedomorphs
Pedomorphs, also called the age-regressed, ARs, or squirts, can reduce their apparent age to that of a child. Their form mimics their past appearance at any stage of their own childhood, though a pedomorph who is substantially heavier or skinnier than he or she was during childhood will take on a form consistent with his or her current body condition. Heavy musculature, however, is practically impossible to maintain in child-form; the most ARs can typically manage in this regard is a sort of wiry athleticism.
Though ARs do not age naturally after being Cursed, this does not usually lengthen their natural lifespans; instead, during the last few years of life, the AR's body withers rapidly without growing any larger, and shapeshifting becomes difficult. Pedomorphs can assume any apparent age from infancy up to the very beginning of sexual maturity, about fourteen years of age. Kyia's modifications of the Curse have also allowed ARs to also return to older apparent ages, up to and including the age at which they were Cursed; however, this has consequences (see Limitations).
This is generally considered the most debilitating form of the Curse, and pedomorphs have become very rare since the Curse was brought under control. Those who request it are usually members of long family lineages descended from particularly heroic ARs1, or else suffer from an especially severe fear of aging. Only about 600,000 people in Metamor City today, or 4% of the overall population, have accepted this form of the Curse.
Limitations on Control of the Curse
Kyia's modifications have allowed Metamorians to turn the Curse into something that is, more often than not, an advantage, opening up new ways of experiencing life and fresh prespectives on what it means to be human. Nevertheless, there are some consequences of the Curse that even Kyia could not circumvent.
Once an individual becomes Cursed, the new body form acquired becomes the dominant form. In theriomorphs, this is the fullmorph form; in androgynes, it is the opposite of the individual's born sex; in pedomorphs, it is a childhood form of 3-4 years of age.
The dominant form is more than physical; it also has psychological effects. The behavioral tendencies associated with the dominant form — bestial instincts in theriomorphs, increased libido in androgynes, and childlike urges and impulsiveness in pedomorphs — become magnified when the body is in this shape. Most of the time these impulses can be resisted if the Cursed person chooses to do so, but when the body has recently been under shifting stress this becomes more difficult. See the article on shifting stress for further details.
High-Generation Effects
The Curse does more than simply change people's appearance and thought patterns; it actually alters them on a fundamental level, influencing them in ways that are passed down to their offspring. This was not immediately obvious after the Battle of Three Gates, but it became clearer as subsequent generations were subjected to the Curse.
Certain Curse-related phenomena only manifest themselves when individuals receive the same form of the Curse that was received by their ancestors, usually for several consecutive generations. Even if the Curse is not passed down directly at birth (due to a magical/genetic phenomenon called Form Retention), bestowing the same Curse on a child that was present in the parents has a compounding effect, as the effects of the child's own Curse interact with the genetic effects of the parents' Curse. Phenomena that result from this compounding are called high-generation effects of the Curse, and they are a cause for forethought and careful family planning in the old Keeper family lines.
See each variant of the Curse for the high generation effects specific to that variant.
Administration
Over six hundred thousand children are born every year within the region affected by the Curse of Metamor. Except for any theriomorphs that display form retention, every one of these children must be tracked and recorded to ensure that the Curse is either suspended or activated — and, if activated, what variant of the Curse is to be applied to the child.
Except in cases of form retention, the Curse does not naturally claim people who are under the age of sexual maturity — historically, sometime in the fourteenth year was the most common time for the Curse to take hold. However, Kyia's control over the Curse now allows her to administer it at any age, and to give the individual whatever variant of the Curse is requested. Keeping track of who needs what, however, is a process that involves a lot of paperwork.
When a birth certificate is filled out in Metamor City or the surrounding lands — anywhere that the Curse holds sway — the parents are required to indicate whether they want the child to be shielded from the Curse, and if not, which variant of the Curse they would like the child to be marked for. They may also choose to take no immediate action with regard to the Curse; however, this is not recommended for prospective androgynes who are likely to be bifurcated. Children whose parents have not decided on a course of action are flagged for later follow-up to be sure that the Curse does not take them by surprise.
If the parents request shielding from the Curse, they will be contacted by social workers with information about the types of anti-Curse charms available. The basic models, which cost between 50 and 100 marks and are distributed freely to lower-income families, are simple amulets that must be worn around the neck or wrist. The more high tech solution, popular with those who can afford it, is a technomagical chip that is surgically implanted just below the skin. The chip is powered by the body's own natural life energy, and laboratory stress-tests have guaranteed its performance for up to fifty years, after which point it needs replacing. The chip costs about 300 marks. Most people don't bother with the procedure until the child is at least ten, since there is no risk of the Curse claiming them before then.
Parents may request that the Curse be administered to their children any time before the age of six; after that, if no decision has been made, they must equip the child with an anti-Curse charm. Once the child reaches adulthood, at the age of eighteen, she may decide for herself if she wishes to receive the Curse (which requires filling out another form to notify Kyia of her preferences).
Applications for the theriomorph or androgyne variants of the Curse may be processed immediately, at any age. Applications for the pedomorph form are registered, but not acted upon until the child reaches adulthood; otherwise, the child would be unable to attain any form older than the age at which he or she was Cursed. If the child decides, before the Curse takes effect, that he doesn't want the variant his parents selected for him, he can cancel their application by sending in another form.
When a person moves to Metamor, it is his or her own responsibility to procure an anti-Curse charm to forestall the Curse's effects. These charms are available at the Citadel and several government offices throughout the city. Even if the individual plans to accept the Curse, a charm must be leased from the government until the paperwork can go through, to ensure that the person does not end up with the wrong variant of the Curse. Applicants are notified by phone or electronic mail when their forms have reached Kyia's desk, at which point it is safe for them to remove the charm. The Curse generally takes effect within three to seven days after this time; no return to the Citadel is necessary, as Kyia can touch anyone within the Curse's range. The total waiting time between filing a request for the Curse and actually receiving the change is typically four to six weeks, though it can be somewhat longer for infants.
If an un-Cursed human ever changes his mind and decides to accept the Curse, it is a simple matter to remove the subdermal Charm-chip — it's an outpatient procedure, performed under local anaesthetic in about ten minutes. As with newcomers to the city, the chip is not removed until the person receives notice that Kyia is ready to process his application.
While it represents a great deal of red tape for her staff, from Kyia's perspective administering the Curse is really very little trouble at all. Each request takes her less than ten minutes to process, as she seeks out the person's aura within her territory and weaves the requested form of the Curse into place. On a typical day Kyia processes between fifteen and twenty-five Curse applicants, often late at night or in the early hours of the morning when most of her staff is asleep. This means that the Curse applicants themselves are usually asleep when the change takes them, which is generally much more convenient than having it hit them in the middle of the workday. Whenever possible, Kyia tries to keep an eye on the new applicants as they awaken — these days, receiving the Curse is usually an occasion for joy and celebration, and Kyia is always glad for the chance to witness it.
Immune Entities
There are creatures that are immune to the Curse's effects, no matter how long they stay in the area of effect. These include:
- Aedra/Celestials
- Daedra/Fiends
- Dragons
- Elves and Silvaan
- Giants extinct
- Lutins (however Breed have enough mixed human genetics that they are not immune)
Some of the immunities are deliberate. Nasoj was the leader of the Giants and Lutins, and it just would not do to have his own forces turn into animals, children, or sex-slaves, so he specifically excluded his front-line warriors from the spells' effects.
Other races are immune due to the high levels of magic in their essence; Nasoj's spells, while extremely powerful, couldn't effect creatures like dragons and Elves (based on the properties of their magic), or the gods and their closer descendants (due to the strength of their magic).
Silvaan are protected from the Curse by the nature of their Elven blood; the magic shielding their bodies from the Curse and so it from affecting them (the Elven ancestry grants a resistance to transformation magic).
While lutins are are not affected by the Curse (due to the specific exclusion by Nasoj), Breed are human enough that the Curse recognizes them as a valid target.
Similarly, Plane-touched, while having magic in their blood as well, can be Cursed. The magic in their essence is not sufficiently strong (being nowhere near the strength of Aedra Lords/Celestials or Daedra Lords/Fiends) to protect them, and does not grant them any resistance to transformation (an Elven trait).
"But I'm Just Visiting"
It is possible to just visit Metamor City (or other places within the Curse's range) and not become Cursed, without purchasing an amulet. However, it means that the visit will be under 3 days in length, before the visitor has to leave the Curse's range. There are no limits on how many visits can be made, but the individual must be out of the Curse's range for at least 24 hours before they can go back into the area. It is possible for non-residents to purchase amulets, so for individuals who would need to go to Metamor on a regular basis, it's just easier to get an amulet and not have to keep to count the hours to make sure you won't wake up transformed.2
Sources: Original MK2K Bible entry - The Curse, Talia