how does shapeshifting work for bäckahästar?
ok i have had Vague idea in my mind of how it works and ill present something that most definitely doesnt make that much sense but its fantasy and silly lalala and how i approximate it to work....
bäckahästar have a type of system comprised of a bunch of node-like organs in their body which contain a type of liquid that resembles a less extreme version of the basilisk shapeshifting liquid... it does not completely "take apart" tissue, but instead, makes whatever its pumped into more "malleable". this nodular system is connected to other tissue vascularly (is that the word...) including the bones and organs etc. normally no exchange is made between this system and the tissues but during a transformation, the liquid is pumped into most tissues in varying amounts; more = more malleable and reserved for tissues that undergo the largest changes.
the bones ofc undergo very heavy changes but it is partially alleviated by being slightly "segmented" (it's very subtle in its regular state, not like actual CRACK cracks but just slight lines in the bone) so that there is some control over how much the skeleton is "melted" and reshaped... i imagine there are smaller muscles that aren't pumped with as much liquid that are normally not in use but during the transformation are used to help shape the body into the target form.
ofc, because the faun form is a bit smaller in mass than the base form, that extra mass, still liquid, is returned into the "shifting system", and transported to the dark gray organ in the first diagram. there, it is converted into energy (fat) stored in a fatty lump near said organ. usually going from faun > bäckahäst requires more energy and as such that process burns fat from that organ (and often a little more, but not as much as the basilisk shapeshifting process does).
now you could imagine this process is Very Painful and it would be, but like basilisks, bäckahästar has evolved a way to deal with that as well. during a shift, a hormone is produced that triggers heightened anda production by the brain, which temporarily obscures most sensation from the shifter. but it's still a bit uncomfortable even if not painful...
they are also fully conscious during the shift and it takes about a minute, so it is much faster as well... but can be a bit disorienting!
(edited to add: seagoats have a similar system, älgfrodar have vestigial nodes left, but they don't produce liquid)
