The first two years of weremagic training in the Academy are entirely concerned with color. By the end of the second year, a weremage is expected to be able to change the color of any part of their body at will, and to any color demanded of them by their instructor. And while it is not a requirement, especially talented students will often delight in creating all sorts of patterns across their bodies, so that they appear to have artistic birthmarks, or intricate tattoos, or the like.
But as a weremage ventures into their third year, they study the techniques of transforming the shape and material of their body. This is much more difficult. It always begins with the simplest transformation: assuming another human’s shape. Students are usually paired up and taught to “acquire” each other. “Acquire” is a term for learning another creature, memorizing the details and peculiarities of its form, and then practicing the transformation into the new shape until the weremage can do so at will.
To do this, the student will place a hand on their partner’s body and focus all their thoughts upon the other person. Instructors command them to form a small picture of their partner in their mind, and then to “place” the picture between their temples. This technique is the foundation of acquiring a new type of creature, and it is one the weremage will use for the rest of their life. And while a skilled and experienced weremage can usually acquire a new creature in a matter of a few dozen hours, for the first acquisition, it usually takes the student months.
As an aside, the acquiring technique is why Mystic mage hunters are taught to disable weremages by striking hard at their temples. That part of the head is always a conduit for the weremage’s magic, no matter what form they have assumed. Two hard blows, one on each temple, disrupts the magic’s flow and keeps the weremage from being able to maintain concentration on a false form, and this causes them to revert to their own.
In any case, once they have acquired their target, the weremage will attempt a transformation. As one might expect, they usually have great initial success in changing colors to match the target, such as hair, eyes, and so forth. But they always struggle, at first, to change their size and shape to match their partner. Incorrectly done, changing one’s shape can be incredibly painful. Not only must the weremage have a perfect image of the target, but they must also be able to envision a bridge, a transition between their current form and the new form. If they venture to change their shape before this is solid in their mind, then just as if they stepped out onto an unstable bridge in the physical world, they will plunge into a chasm of darkness. But these depths are composed of great pain, as their limbs and flesh twist and snap in agonizing ways.
Fortunately, such a botched transformation makes the weremage lose concentration. They will thus revert to their original form—hurt, and shaken, but not permanently damaged.
At the end of the process, and after many attempts, the student will finally have learned to acquire their study partner. This comprises the first entry in the weremage’s “canon.” The “canon” is the list of all creatures the weremage has acquired, and into which they may transform at will. Contrary to what many commonfolk believe, a weremage cannot simply turn into anything they want. They are restricted to the creatures in their canon.
Thus, in the Mystics (or any other organization specializing in battle or espionage), a commander must select weremages for certain tasks based on their abilities. A weremage with no bird in their canon, for example, will never be an optimal long-distance messenger. And a weremage with no large, dangerous beast in their canon will be no great help on a battlefield. Any weremage newly arrived to a fighting force will make their entire canon known to their commander, so that they may be utilized most effectively. And over the course of their lives, most weremages work to assemble as diverse a canon as possible, letting them cover a broad range of needs with the creatures they can transform into.
But acquiring, as has been stated, is a long and difficult process. As with all the branches of magic, it gets easier and easier the more often one does it. And of course, a weremage’s innate skill and experience are also factors in the process. But this is only relative, and even a very seasoned weremage must still spend weeks studying a new species of creature to acquire it. Such study can of course be broken up, but weremages try not to do so. The more intensive the study, the more quickly the weremage can acquire the creature.
Therefore, even in the best possible case, acquiring a creature becomes very difficult if the target is dangerous, as is the case with bears, lions, or other large animals, and even for venomous beasts such as vipers. The weremage must spend a great deal of time in physical contact with the creature in order to acquire it. This usually means the target must be sedated or otherwise pacified, which can be both costly and difficult. The Academy maintains a menagerie of such beasts for their students to take advantage of, and the maintenance and upkeep of this facility is one of the school’s greatest single expenses. Meanwhile, trained weremages from wealthy or noble families will often use their family’s resources and influence to acquire more exotic animals, and each one added to their canon is a point of pride.
Once a creature has been acquired, other creatures of the same type are far easier to learn,
