Theru

The second of the two non-human breeds, Theru are shape-shifters capable of great feats of strength and majesty. The first Theru to walk the earth are said to have become gods, watching over the rest of their kind.

It is unknown precisely when and where the ten tribes of Theru first appeared. Legends seem to indicate that the first of the tribes to occur was the Wolf tribe, roughly four hundred years after the emergence of the Radiant, with the other tribes slowly appearing shortly afterwards. Most documented history focuses on the early treaties and demesne building between the Wild humans of the time and the many Theru breeds over the course of the next few centuries.

All Theru are capable of breeding with each other (even outside their own tribe), but producing issue within the species is difficult. Pregnancy is rare, viable offspring even more-so, and nearly 60% of those that survive to adulthood are revealed to be infertile. Theru of two different tribes cannot produce young together, unless both parties have a mating bond (a rare event in which the mating of two individuals is decided by the three fates) with the other. In such cases, pregnancy has a slightly higher chance, and the child is always one of the two tribes. Hybridization cannot naturally occur. (Even so, the child may show some unique aesthetic qualities indicating her other parent. A child born of a panther-tiger bond might be a panther with faint tiger-patterns on her skin and fur. She might be slightly larger, or perhaps faintly more aggressive. Mechanically, however, she would be purely of the Panther tribe.)

For this reason, most Theru instead reproduce with humans. In truth, Theru are far more fertile with humans than with their own breed. Nor is there any danger of hybridization. Any child born or sired from a Theru are usually Theru (into the 80th percentile, with the rare human throwback who features unusual bestial qualities). To this date, humans are valued almost solely for their ability to perpetuate the various Theru tribes.Theru tend to have lengthier life spans than humans. They age at the same rate as humans into their thirties, and then seem to stop aging completely. At some point around their hundredth year, they begin aging once more, although at a much more sedate pace than a human. A Theru who dies of natural causes typically won’t expire until in the middle of his first century of life.

According to legends, all Theru once had access to three distinct forms; the human, hybrid, and beast form. At some point, however, all Theru lost the ability to transform in their beast form, only able to take a shape reminiscent of it mixed with human features. While there are many theories which attempt to explain this loss – ranging from divine punishment to interbreeding with humans – the true reason is unknown. To honor this loss, the Theru have named the lost beast shape to be their totem and sigil, the representation of who they truly are.