Shapeshifters

Shapeshifters, "shifters", look like humans; the only different between the two is that shifters, as the name implies, can change their shape at will. They can morph their appearance into that of an animal's. The only restriction of what animals they can turn into is that the shifter must have touched the animal.

A common shifter perspective is that they are "advanced humans", blessed by the gods with their power. Some are more boastful about it than others.

Non-shifters would claim that that because humans and shapeshifters look identical, it is impossible to tell which race one could be. Humans only know a shifter when they've seen them transform, or if they've been branded from slavery. But shifters can identify other shifters by what they call "Shifter Scent". It's not specifically a smell, but it's more of an instinct that tells a shifter if they're talking to one of their own or not.

The shifter language is Vertonian.

Culture
Shapeshifters are culturally mixed; newer generations tend to become more culturally diverse while older generations tend to keep to traditional views.

The traditional shifter culture emphasizes humility, selflessness and hospitality. The legend goes that these aspects were what gave the shifters their ability to transform, and those who keep the tradition view those who abandon their culture for others as "heretics" or "blasphemers".

Before the creation of countries and borders, shapeshifters mostly lived in small familial communities across western Rutrora. Their system was very egalitarian, with no one owning anything specifically. Everything belonged to everyone. Craftsmen did not make their tools to boast about their skill, but to keep their people alive.

Shifters tend to be quiet and soft-speaking people, with wide personal space but strong eye contact. A stranger's greeting is a firm handshake, while friends may simply ave to each other.

Werebeasts
Once thought to be different species, Werebeasts are in fact Shapshifters who have lost control of their shifting abilities to a blood rage. It almost exclusively affects Shapeshifters who favour carnivorous animals. Followers of Sezikism believe Werebeasts to be cursed by the Nameless One.