Morain - Culture, Places, and Technology

Morain are shape-shifters designed and bred by the Drathraq over thousands of years. The slave-pits of Hulu are their breeding and testing grounds. Separated into castes according to basic type, the Morain exist in many forms and mixtures. Mutations are common as experimentation is frequent.

Almost all Morain have a Humanoid form. When they consume a part of any Humanoid race, they can adopt that races physical characteristics - appearing as the person they consumed. This allows them to infiltrate cultures, and to take temporary or deep cover spy missions.

Basic Caste Types

 * Feline (Feth'dn)
 * Tiger
 * Lion
 * Panther
 * Cheeta
 * Disshigg
 * Canine (Vol'gn)
 * Wolfen
 * Dire
 * Silver
 * Vulgahst (phaser)
 * Hyena
 * Ursine (Ed'gn)
 * Grizzly
 * Turgun (semi-aquatic)
 * Faenyael (armored)
 * Reptillian (Ter'dn)
 * Raptor
 * Slee
 * Draconus
 * Oculus
 * Aquatic (Oss'n Ralu)
 * Shark
 * Dolphin
 * Seridis
 * Leviathan
 * Orcanis
 * Avian (D'wydn)
 * Wyvernn
 * Hawk
 * Rok
 * Raven
 * Mustelidae (Fiz'ra Alu)
 * Weasel
 * Feret
 * Wolverine
 * Hypbrid Mutations
 * Raptor-Draconus
 * Hawk-Wyvernn
 * Seridis-Shark
 * Hawk-Feret
 * Grizzly-Wolverine
 * Faenyael-Stoat
 * Turgun-Slee

Slave Pits and Castes
The slave pits on Hulu are enormous vacuoles in stone, large enough to cover hundreds and sometimes thousands of miles. There will be many of them, tens of thousands of active pits. Some pits are for fighting - arenas. Others are for breeding, and others for raising Morain. In most pits, the castes are separated. In some they are mixed. It all depends on the Drathraq who own them. This is a business for the Drath owners of the pits. They produce the Morain for sale to the Empire. These Drath are like arms dealers, and the Morain are the weapons they produce. The caste wars - the battles between the castes - are a means of showing off the Morain to potential buyers as well as ensuring only the strongest Morain survive. Morain are treated like gladiators in that regard.

The same caste animals compete as well. Like Xot's mother. The Drathraq drop food into the maturation and habitation pits. In these pits, similar caste Morain grow up together. They still compete for food, but it's between families and groups. As the young mature they're eventually removed and placed in other pits where they have to compete with other castes - mixed caste pits. Here they form alliances outside of their caste, though they never quite learn to trust other castes as they trust their own. The most common alliances will be between same-caste Morain.

The caste-wars (more a Morain term than a Drathraq term) occur in combat pits and arenas when the mixed caste pits are ready and only the strongest have survived fighting over the minimal amounts of food the Drathraq give them. Now the Morain survivors are pitted against one another in group or single combat, usually against other castes. As this progresses there is further attrition, until the weakest are weeded out once more. Buyers watch these battles, look at the records of various Morain, and determine which ones they want. The Empire itself is the largest procurer of combat slaves, though there may be other Drathraq that also purchase them for various projects (including pit fights of their own for entertainment, and for hunts in which the Drathraq themselves pay to hunt and kill expert Morain fighters).

The "Order of Wa'latru" is one of a variety of orders that produce Morain. The Vorel are their newest creation - a species of metamorphs that can shift into multiple forms at will rather than existing as a caste. They all have aquatic, arial, and land-based forms as well as half-human and full human forms, so seven different shapes for each. But the Vorel play a very small role in the story, and only get a mention. There aren't many of them, and Ta'koti can't afford very many. Z'Kaal has given her a limited budget, and because she's lost the seed (which was very expensive), she's in danger of running out of funds. So most of the combat slaves making up the Drathraq legions on Em are standard Morain and another breed of slave warriors called Mibidian Draxain, which can't shape-shift but are bigger, stronger, and can regenerate. (There are also Drathraq Commanders in charge of the individual companies in the Legion). Some Morain will be Commanders themselves in charge of the smaller platoon-level units and squads.

Xot's group was purchased by Z'Kaal to serve Ta'koti, who then assigned them to her off-world contractors (like Achu Bon and Maelron). The contractors were not allowed to use their own forces for this mission. Ta'koti wanted her Morain involved as it gave her more control over the operation should she desire, which is why Achu Bon planned to kill them when he was plotting on betraying Ta'koti and forcing her to bargain for Roki.

Childbirth and Gestation
This is an interesting question, and one I hadn't given consideration to. My shifters are a species commonly called "Morain." They're slave soldiers bred by another race from a variety of lycan and changeling species. They generally have three states - human, half-human, and animal. In the realm where they are bred, they spend most of their time in half-human state. It's sort of their default state as it gives them the ability to speak in their own tongue, the ability to use their hands, and yet they still have some of the advanced capabilities of animals. They're divided into castes for their different base-animal forms, which vary considerably, but still have some standards (like feline, canine, avian, aquatic, etc...).

I would assume that for giving birth, they'd probably stay in their default state of half-human. And, in fact, for gestation I might make it a requirement that they do so. If the fetus shifts with the mother, then it make cause problems during development. On the other hand, this is an idea to toy with. Perhaps some limited shifting is required to get the correct genes to shift. So, it could be that at specific points in development, the mother has to change shape. You could specify, for example, that during the first trimester (or 1/3rd of the pregnancy) the mother must be in half-state. At the second trimester, in animal state, and in the third trimester, in human state. This would mean the child would be born human, so maybe these should be reversed.

The other thing to consider is the trigger for the shifting. If it's voluntary or not. It could be that the fetus shifts automatically during gestation, and the mother has to follow it. So then if it occurs at different times, the mother is forced to shift and "stuck" in the state of the developing child. This could make for interesting ramifications in a story including a pregnant shifter character, particularly if on a journey or quest. It's a fun idea to toy with.

Regardless, I'd probably tie the state of the fetus with the state of the mother and keep them in sync, so that the child is born in the same state as the mother. This is just me, though. I mean, that makes sense to me, so I'd probably run with that.