Hengeyokai

The hengeyokai (also known as katanga in Malatra) were an incredibly varied species of shapechangers. They believed themselves descended from humans and shapeshifting animal spirits or fey versions of primal animals, though some scholars of Faerie instead believed them to be either awakened animals infused with the magic of that plane or creations of the fomorians.

Abilities
Despite their variety of appearances, each subrace had one feature in common—they had three forms: their animal form, a human form, and a bipedal form that shared features of both.

The animal form of a hengeyokai subrace was thought to never be as big as an adult human, though rumors persisted, especially in the south, that there were some subraces that had animal forms that could be larger than most men.

A hengeyokai's bipedal form gained some of the abilities and/or attributes of its animal form, such as a thicker hide or the ability to fly.

Unlike lycanthropes, which they superficially resembled in many ways, hengeyokai had no relationship with the moon, never changed forms unless they wanted to, were not especially vulnerable to silver, did not transmit their power through inflicted wounds, did not heal when they changed shape, and did not have to have a predatory animal form, though they did frequently take on a superficial likeness to their animal when in human form.

In general, most hengeyokai were more agile than the average human.

They were also quite long-lived—frequently living past the age of two hundred. However, for their 100 years of life, they lived only in animal form, especially intelligent and long-lived, but little different from any other animal of their kind. After this, they entered adolescence and could take their hybrid and human forms, but their memories of their past life were vague.

Personality
Most hengeyokai avoided contact with other sentient races with the exception of the spirit folk. They were a secretive race who preferred to live alone or in very small communities. Most would actively retreat from encounters with humans, realizing that they had more in common with spirits than they did with humanity, despite having the ability to appear just like a human.

Good hengeyokai sometimes took it upon themselves to watch over and protect a human settlement, living on the fringes of the human community until it was in danger, whereupon they quietly moved to deal with the threat, oftentimes completely unbeknownst to the settlement's residents. Evil hengeyokai instead played cruel pranks on humans, extorting offerings from those they preyed upon in order to leave them alone.

All hengeyokai were, to some extent, unpredictable and valued both their freedom and the freedom of others greatly. The greatest insult one could give to a hengeyokai was trapping them in a cage. Seeing a slave or a trapped animal was abhorrent to them.

Hengeyokai also frequently shared personality traits with their animal type.

While hengeyokai were wary of strangers, those who showed them true kindness were rewarded with close and long-lasting friendship.

Society
All subraces of hengeyokai shared their own common language, called "Hengeyokai". They could speak it in any form. In addition, they had a supernatural power to communicate with animals of their own kind, dependent on which form they were in. They could learn and speak local human languages and trade languages like Common or Trade Tongue, again dependent on their form. They might also learn the Giant and Goblin languages, as well as the language of spirits. They adopted names suiting local human cultures.

With little interest in a sedentary life as a commoner or expert, hengeyokai were often adventurers, their activities driven by simple curiosity or wanderlust. However, while there weren't many hengeyokai artisans, a few nevertheless had incredibly skill and a natural talent for art. In particular, they were known for their colored woodcuts (nishiki-e) which were valued at up to 1,000 ch'ien by collectors of art; and for the guardian figures (kongi rikishi), which were stood at the entrances to temples.

A hengeyokai could train as a bushi, kensai, shukenja, or wu jen and they cross-trained easily as wu jen. Originally, they were never ninja or samurai, as these were exclusively human professions.

Hengeyokai loved practicing horticulture and telling stories, and physical activities of all kinds, like climbing, running, and swimming.

Ecology
A hengeyokai's diet was broadly the same as that of a human, but with a preference for foods their animal forms consumed. For example, a sparrow hengeyokai favored grains and seeds, while a cat hengeyokai was a heavy meat-eater.

History
Being reclusive sorts, hengeyokai didn't have much of a cultural history. Native to Faerie, they first entered Toril in the wake of a massive war between the eladrin and the fomorians where evil hengeyokai served the fomorians as spies and assassins. After the eladrin emerged victorious, they went on an almost genocidal purge of all hengeyokai, causing the species to flee Faerie en masse. They then lived in peace on Toril for many millennia.

When the Tuigan Horde threatened Kara-Tur and later, when Tan Chin attempted to invade Shou Lung, many hengeyokai emigrated west into Faerûn with yet more traveling west after the Spellplague of 1385 DR. Many rat hengeyokai left the Tenmei province of Kozakura after a costly war with local korobokuru. During the civil war in Kozakura, most of the hengeyokai population remained staunchly neutral, though some acted in defense of innocents caught between the warring factions.

A section of Faerie moved closer to the Sheng Ti province of Shou Lung shortly after the Spellplague, which empowered the spirit folk and hengeyokai of the region, but despite this the two races remained completely loyal to the Emperor and, in gratitude, they were allowed to enter the civil service in 1396 DR, which had previously only been permitted to humans. Few actually took the opportunity but it remained nonetheless, despite groups who actively opposed the move.

Homelands
Hengeyokai typically lived on the fringes of human civilization. They had particularly large populations concentrated in the Ama Basin of Kara-Tur, though they could be found pretty much anywhere in Kara-Tur where there was any wilderness area.

In Faerûn, populations could be found living along the Golden Way in the Great Dale, Rashemen, Thesk and along the Dragon Coast

Almost every Shou town in Faerûn had some hengeyokai living in or near it (though in places like Nathlan, hengeyokai were careful to remain in their human form). A rare few struck out away from familiar surroundings to live in Cormyr, the Dalelands, the Western Heartlands and the North.

Subraces
There was great variety in the hengeyokai race, owing to the variety of animal species in the world. The most common subraces were: Other kinds of hengeyokai included:
 * Carp hengeyokai
 * Cat hengeyokai
 * Crab hengeyokai
 * Crane hengeyokai
 * Dog hengeyokai
 * Drake hengeyokai
 * Fox hengeyokai
 * Hare hengeyokai
 * Monkey hengeyokai
 * Raccoon dog hengeyokai
 * Rat hengeyokai
 * Sparrow hengeyokai
 * Badger hengeyokai
 * Caiman hengeyokai
 * Hedgehog hengeyokai
 * Impala hengeyokai
 * Ostrich hengeyokai
 * Pangolin hengeyokai
 * Snake hengeyokai
 * Spider katanga:
 * Spider katanga looked out only for other spider katanga, and viewed most other species merely as food. Thankfully, their numbers seemed restricted entirely to the Malatran Plateau, though occasionally, a Mother of a Thousand Young emerged from the populace and birthed a mass of new spider katanga to threaten the other races living on it.


 * Tiger hengeyokai
 * Weasel hengeyokai

Appearances

 * Adventures:
 * Mad Gyoji
 * The Flowers of Flame