Jigano listened, eyes widening a little at hearing about the feathered cloaks. His smile turned to a crooked grin, wry and a little rueful at the mention of 'other shifters' and he might have said something if the whistling of the kettle hadn't distracted him to pouring the hot water into the tea pot to steep the waiting leaves. The scent of apples and cinnamon began to waft through the air as he turned back to Rance in time for a question of the man's own to be lobbed at him. For a moment the bard hesitated, considering his companion thoughtfully before he sighed and reached up to rub the back of his head.
"I come from a world where there are different races, too," he explained, meeting Rance's eyes and seeking some sign of recognition. "Some of those races have aspects of animals and humans but in truth aren't really either. We're our own kind. It sounds something like yours except that we didn't need cloaks to shift and the way we were born, our natural state... well..." He shrugged, but as he did so white fur rippled over his skin. Dark claws tipped his fingers and two vulpine ears unfolded from atop his head as his eyes turned partially slitted. "I can't quite recreate it here. My legs bent differently and my head was properly foxy, with a muzzle and a wet nose, but I had the ability to shift to either fully human or fully fox. Not all of my people could take a full fox-form, but it was something that ran in my family." He let the changes fade swiftly back to his more usual human appearance, looking uncomfortable. "I am - was - a kitsune. I'd have called you some sort of Tengu, perhaps, or at least a relative of them. But the ravenfolk of my world didn't shift forms at all, they were just humanoid corvids." He smiled ruefully at Rance as he leaned against the chair again.
"None of which matters on this world, I'm afraid. Here we've both become human, though at least we're Attuned to the Old Gods. Did Maea tell you about the different races here?"
"I come from a world where there are different races, too," he explained, meeting Rance's eyes and seeking some sign of recognition. "Some of those races have aspects of animals and humans but in truth aren't really either. We're our own kind. It sounds something like yours except that we didn't need cloaks to shift and the way we were born, our natural state... well..." He shrugged, but as he did so white fur rippled over his skin. Dark claws tipped his fingers and two vulpine ears unfolded from atop his head as his eyes turned partially slitted. "I can't quite recreate it here. My legs bent differently and my head was properly foxy, with a muzzle and a wet nose, but I had the ability to shift to either fully human or fully fox. Not all of my people could take a full fox-form, but it was something that ran in my family." He let the changes fade swiftly back to his more usual human appearance, looking uncomfortable. "I am - was - a kitsune. I'd have called you some sort of Tengu, perhaps, or at least a relative of them. But the ravenfolk of my world didn't shift forms at all, they were just humanoid corvids." He smiled ruefully at Rance as he leaned against the chair again.
"None of which matters on this world, I'm afraid. Here we've both become human, though at least we're Attuned to the Old Gods. Did Maea tell you about the different races here?"
