SinghSong
Minstrel
So, in the world of this new fantasy story I've tentatively begun writing the first few chapters of (as referenced before in my previous thread, World Building Challenge: Create Original Chimera Species), Qi exists, more or less in accordance with the principles of Chinese traditional medicine and Chinese martial arts- as a vital force, present in all living entities by necessity, the flow of which must be unimpeded for health. The Qi present in different states of matter also possesses different properties- with the coarsest and 'heaviest' Qi present in solids, then progressively finer and lighter forms of Qi in liquids and gases, with the most ethereal form of Qi comprising the "lifebreath" that animates living beings, and all living beings possessing their own innate Qi from conception, which is distinguished from any Qi that may be acquired or developed over the course of their lifetime.
As in Chinese medicine, a person's Qi serves Nutritive and Defensive roles, providing sustenance for the body and defending the body against invasions (i.e, harmful pathogens and cancer); as such, all those born with the capacity to create profound effects through their innate Qi- circa 0.4-1% of the general population- have increased dietary and nutritional requirements. And Qi is acquired via the internal consumption of any organic, living material- not just from food and drinks (so-called 'Grain Qi'), but from the air people breathe (aka 'Clean Air', with air pollution and stagnation reducing the ambient Qi available via inhalation, and air in a hypothetically completely sterilized, lifeless environment completely devoid of ambient Qi. Also, while externally projecting and expending one's Qi to influence one's surroundings (a la 'bending' in the Avatar universe) is technically possible, such techniques are largely undeveloped, untaught and hardly ever practiced, since the health impacts of externally projecting and expending one's Qi in this manner (resulting in severe immuno-deficiency, and massively increasing the risk of getting cancer) greatly outweigh any potential advantages.
Instead, the predominant, most utilized method of using Qi in this world is via the 'blending' of one's own internal Qi, along with those of other creatures and living things; any ‘blender’ can learn how to acquire a Qi infusion of anything (or anyone- though using this on fellow humans is widely condemned to be vile and perverse, and considered extremely taboo) which (or who) they have physical skin contact with, with little to no loss of their own internal Qi reserves. And they can then magically morph into were-hybrids of any creature which they've acquired the Qi infusions from, and with increased levels of mastery, subsequently become capable of controlling and modifying these were-forms at will, blending together multiple creatures' morphologies into their chosen Chimera-form/s (i.e, 2 at 2nd rank, 3 at 3rd rank, etc), as well as shifting in and out of them more quickly (though more complex forms, and new forms which the 'blender' hasn't adopted before, will always take a lot longer to shift into).
These Chimeric were-forms also become increasingly more challenging to change into, control, modify or maintain for any extended period of time, and thus require higher levels of skill to achieve, the more distantly genetically related the chosen creatures are from humans. However, whilst they’re by far the easiest and most stable were-forms to change into, control, modify or maintain, any other Simians carry added risk, since being rendered unconscious (or falling asleep) in any human-simian Chimeric were-form will result in the ‘blender’ being stuck in that form, with their mental capacity and level of control over their instincts permanently reduced accordingly. For any other Chimeric forms though, being rendered unconscious simply leaves the Alchimerist/'Blender' being rendered incapable to maintain their were-form, and reverting by default back to being fully human (and still unconscious for at least a few minutes).
And while 'blenders' can be killed in their Chimeric were-forms, so long as they remain conscious, any injuries inflicted against them in their Chimeric were-forms can rapidly be greatly diminished or nullified altogether (e.g, in the case of the destruction of appendages which their human body never possessed) by simply shifting out of that form (and either reverting fully back into their human form, or shifting straight from that were-form into another one, if they're sufficiently skilled and clear-minded to do so). As such, in this fantasy setting, Master Alchimerists/'Blenders' typically engage in combat (including in personal duels with one another for status and prestige, and on the battlefield in full-blown wars) in Chimeric Combat Forms.
So then, I've already identified the first few species that my MC'll be acquiring, along with the first couple of core were-creature Combat Forms he'll be creating and refining, by combining specific aspects of their morphologies with his own. But I'm looking for some good ideas for other species which could be acquired and used to create powerful Combat Forms. Firstly, on their own, as single-species Were-Creature Combat Forms (the more common and readily accessible in Eastern Asia the better, albeit still trying to avoid the cliche tropes of werewolf/dog and cat-girl), for the MC's peers; and secondly, in combinations, for multiple-species Chimera Combat Forms, with the possibility of including far rarer and less accessible species (incl. recently extinct species in our own world) from far and wide, to be used by the antagonists and Grand Masters in the setting. Any suggestions?
As in Chinese medicine, a person's Qi serves Nutritive and Defensive roles, providing sustenance for the body and defending the body against invasions (i.e, harmful pathogens and cancer); as such, all those born with the capacity to create profound effects through their innate Qi- circa 0.4-1% of the general population- have increased dietary and nutritional requirements. And Qi is acquired via the internal consumption of any organic, living material- not just from food and drinks (so-called 'Grain Qi'), but from the air people breathe (aka 'Clean Air', with air pollution and stagnation reducing the ambient Qi available via inhalation, and air in a hypothetically completely sterilized, lifeless environment completely devoid of ambient Qi. Also, while externally projecting and expending one's Qi to influence one's surroundings (a la 'bending' in the Avatar universe) is technically possible, such techniques are largely undeveloped, untaught and hardly ever practiced, since the health impacts of externally projecting and expending one's Qi in this manner (resulting in severe immuno-deficiency, and massively increasing the risk of getting cancer) greatly outweigh any potential advantages.
Instead, the predominant, most utilized method of using Qi in this world is via the 'blending' of one's own internal Qi, along with those of other creatures and living things; any ‘blender’ can learn how to acquire a Qi infusion of anything (or anyone- though using this on fellow humans is widely condemned to be vile and perverse, and considered extremely taboo) which (or who) they have physical skin contact with, with little to no loss of their own internal Qi reserves. And they can then magically morph into were-hybrids of any creature which they've acquired the Qi infusions from, and with increased levels of mastery, subsequently become capable of controlling and modifying these were-forms at will, blending together multiple creatures' morphologies into their chosen Chimera-form/s (i.e, 2 at 2nd rank, 3 at 3rd rank, etc), as well as shifting in and out of them more quickly (though more complex forms, and new forms which the 'blender' hasn't adopted before, will always take a lot longer to shift into).
These Chimeric were-forms also become increasingly more challenging to change into, control, modify or maintain for any extended period of time, and thus require higher levels of skill to achieve, the more distantly genetically related the chosen creatures are from humans. However, whilst they’re by far the easiest and most stable were-forms to change into, control, modify or maintain, any other Simians carry added risk, since being rendered unconscious (or falling asleep) in any human-simian Chimeric were-form will result in the ‘blender’ being stuck in that form, with their mental capacity and level of control over their instincts permanently reduced accordingly. For any other Chimeric forms though, being rendered unconscious simply leaves the Alchimerist/'Blender' being rendered incapable to maintain their were-form, and reverting by default back to being fully human (and still unconscious for at least a few minutes).
And while 'blenders' can be killed in their Chimeric were-forms, so long as they remain conscious, any injuries inflicted against them in their Chimeric were-forms can rapidly be greatly diminished or nullified altogether (e.g, in the case of the destruction of appendages which their human body never possessed) by simply shifting out of that form (and either reverting fully back into their human form, or shifting straight from that were-form into another one, if they're sufficiently skilled and clear-minded to do so). As such, in this fantasy setting, Master Alchimerists/'Blenders' typically engage in combat (including in personal duels with one another for status and prestige, and on the battlefield in full-blown wars) in Chimeric Combat Forms.
So then, I've already identified the first few species that my MC'll be acquiring, along with the first couple of core were-creature Combat Forms he'll be creating and refining, by combining specific aspects of their morphologies with his own. But I'm looking for some good ideas for other species which could be acquired and used to create powerful Combat Forms. Firstly, on their own, as single-species Were-Creature Combat Forms (the more common and readily accessible in Eastern Asia the better, albeit still trying to avoid the cliche tropes of werewolf/dog and cat-girl), for the MC's peers; and secondly, in combinations, for multiple-species Chimera Combat Forms, with the possibility of including far rarer and less accessible species (incl. recently extinct species in our own world) from far and wide, to be used by the antagonists and Grand Masters in the setting. Any suggestions?
Scribe
