#beastborne

[shinobi-illuminator]

FINALLY! The Villains!!!!!

Lavender, Mandrake, Paprika, and Ranunculus wearing Marjoram.

Lavender was once considered Scarborough's best Guardian of the kingdom. Brave, graceful, yet also impulsive and arrogant. She was devoted to her teammates, and swore to have their backs. She settled with Fennel over their shared love of battle and food. Yet.... During their first years of marriage, she felt a longing for Caraway. Her teammate had used transformation magic to become a man. A handsome one at that. She knew she shouldn't have these feelings as a married woman.... Yet the sense of wanting it both ways clouded her judgement. One day after a successful battle she got very drunk off the best mead in town. She found who she thought was Caraway and took him to a hidden room and made love till the sun came up. But after both were satisfied she was looking back not at Caraway.... But at a demon. A Demon wearing a corpse that was shapeshifted into Caraway's form. It was the demon Ranunculus the bringer of Rot. Lavender was horrified and tried to slay it.... But it vanished. Not long after she became very pregnant. She tried everything to abort it. But her attempts made her deathly sick. Instead she hid the demonic pregnancy using old magic to hide her bulging belly from her husband and friends. To share such a shameful secret who spell disgrace to her reputation. Once day she gave birth in secret to Mandrake, a changeling devoid of love and full of new magic. Ranunculus came to take it's child, but warned Lavender.... She will have 10 years to to be with her family, but once they were up she must return to it's domain and mother Mandrake. Lavender tried to forget it all happened.

She had her children Chicory and Rosemary and loved them. But those closest to her could tell something was off about her. She was secretive and withdrawn... Didn't want to be in the public spotlight anymore. Fennel thought it was a mother thing. Caraway thought otherwise. She had been avoiding him especially without explanation. 10 years indeed passed, Rosemary had just turned 6 when Ranunculus appeared on a mission. Lavender dreaded this moment. It demanded her to come and her comrades would be spared. She gave up her sword to Caraway telling him to give it to Rosemary for her birthday... she wouldn't be coming back. Before he or his teammates could protest, the soul without a body took her away and vanished. Fennel was furious and rounded up his team on a mad search to find his wife.... But something attacked his platoon leaving them for dead. Only Fennel survived and was permanently disabled with long term seizures ending his career as a guardian. Lavender had to become one of Ranunculus's followers or else it would have her become one of it's many bodies to wear, like Marjoram the former potion's master who was fired for poisoning her students and blabbered such tantalizing secrets to it about the academy and it's prized guardians. Ranunculus would claim their body and wear it like an ill fitting suit collecting their secrets and magic, making it stronger.

Mandrake in the meantime was proving himself to be a worthy heir to Ranunculus. He was sent to pose as Cinnamon to murder the Sea King and steal the blessed tears. He purposely showed his shifted form to the queen before escaping. This ruined relations between the guardians and the merpeople, cutting them off from their only source of a cure for their rot. It was his "father" Ranunculus who brought new magic to the world. A convenient and addictive form of magic that fed off the world instead of the user. All with the aid of terraspheres that would be mass produced to the weapon forges. Ranunculus made this possible after giving the Triad immortality by splitting their form into 3, the virgin, the mother, and the crone. This was their prince for eternity, to spread the rot and help it finally grow a permanent body.

It's son Mandrake was a rare form of demon and could change forms at will, almost acting like a living terrasphere. He cared little about his mother and would constantly threaten her children's lives if she didn't follow his master's commands. Despite being so young he loved controlling others to obey him.

Paprika (Olive) comes from a race called the Beastborne. Ancient druids who take on aspects of animals. They act feral and untrustworthy to many. This lack of loyalty resulted in a permanent ban from them becoming guardians. They're self serving and have no problems stealing, often dwelling outside towns to rob locals. But now with the rot around, their home was immediately the first to go. Ranunculus offered them a deal, pledge their loyalty to it and it would make them immune to the rot. Finally Paprika and her people were treated like champions and dined on so many spoils left behind from their enemies. They'd never go hungry again under Ranunculus. Paprika was cunning and acted as a spy in town. She knew security was high, but being a new magic shapeshifter gave her benefits to flawed system with no precautions against new magic. Lavender would demand news of her daughter, which Paprika was indifferent to give. But with a blade pointed to her throat she had no choice but to provide. She herself had no family, abandoned to fend for herself since day one. She didn't understand what was so important this "family" was.

[puppetmaster13uwu]

Beastborne Species: [1] Beastborne are shapeshifters borne either to other beastborne or to human parents. Once discovered and the proper authorities informed, a beastborne is taken to a study preserve. Each discovered one has a tracker implanted into the back of their neck to keep track of them even in human form. Most are treated like intelligent animals, and the public isn't really aware of their existence at large. Most proof such as videos are usually discarded as fake, like other 'cryptids'. They don't have many rights legally, as to most they don't exist. However, while being studied they're usually not treated badly either. [2] Even in human form there are several signs of one being a beastborne. Their ears are pointed, though this is usually hidden by their hair, and their nails grow more into claw-like shapes. Other aspects such as fangs, slight tusks, or reflective pupils may also be present, depending on the breed. [3] Beastborne are commonly mammalian, though there are rarer breeds even amongst them. It's been noted that 'domestic' species are more common breeds than wild, though wolves are an outlier, being one of the most common. This is probably what created the myths of creatures such as werewolves. They're hermaphroditic in nature, but will usually take after one sex in human form. However they may identify with a different gender, not unlike humans. When born from a human, a beastborne will be in their human form. However, when born from another of their kind, they may be in either their beast or human form.

[v-l-d-s]

Beastborne

Whether by infected bite or insidious curse, your blood was marked by the indelible stain of beasthood, a curse of lycanthropy. A new form, a primal, bestial self, lies just beneath your skin, awaiting the allure of blood and the thrill of a hunt to emerge in a terrible spectacle. Perhaps, if you can avoid the violence of combat or the siren call of moonlight, you can resist the lycanthropic urge. Or perhaps you see the infection as a blessing, a fearsome weapon, with claws that rend and teeth that bite.

SHAPECHANGER Beginning when you choose this archetype at 3rd level, your body is stained by a lycanthropic curse which struggles to escape from you at all times. You gain the shapechanger subtype; your true form is a ghastly hybrid of beast and man. Additionally, you gain the following abilities: Darkvision. You gain darkvision out to a range of 60 feet. If you already have darkvision from your race, its range increases by 30 feet. Keen Smell. You have advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell.

BESTIAL ASPECT At 3rd level, as blood is shed, you gradually lose control and slip into a beastlike form, ravenous and hungry for carnage. Whenever you take damage or deal damage to a hostile creature with an attack, add the total number together; this is your damage pool. You gain a bonus to your damage rolls, as well as additional beastlike abilities, according to your total damage pool, as shown on the Bestial Aspect table at the beginning of the subclass description. After 1 minute of taking and dealing no damage, reset your damage pool to 0.

WOLFBANE FURY Starting at 7th level, you can whip yourself into a lycanthropic fury. As a bonus action, you can roll 4d6 and add the total to your damage pool. Once you use this ability, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

HOWLING CARNAGE Beginning at 11th level, whenever your damage pool exceeds 50, you attack three times with your claws, instead of twice, whenever you take the Attack  action on your turn.

RELENTLESS BLOODLUST By 15th level, not even death can hold back your transformation. When you are reduced to 0 hit points and aren’t killed outright, you can choose to drop to 1 hit point instead. Add the total damage you would have taken to your damage pool. Once you use this ability, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.

[puppetmaster13uwu]

I wonder what this could be to... Farrow isn’t too happy it looks like, and is ready to make sure everyone else knows he’s displeased.

[1] “I tried telling them to wait, but they aren’t listening to me. You’ve... been added to the program. You’re not getting younger according to them, and they’ve gotten impatient.” [2] “Just... it won’t take long hopefully. You’re already usually behaved- Just don’t turn it into a fight please? I’d rather you not get hurt...”

[puppetmaster13uwu]

Farrow, goes by he/them.  A boar beastborne who would rather not be near humans nor have the darn tracker in the back of his neck, but he's making the best of his situation. Even if he can get pretty snappy with people. His exact age isn’t known, but he’s believed to be in his mid to late twenties.