Pinkerton’s Bestiary Log 5: Shapeshifters
Specifically Shapeshifters Who Are Reliant on Magical Methods
Pinkerton’s Bestiary is a supernatural field journal from the Annals of S.O.L.M. universe, documenting monsters, curses, and occult threats encountered by hunter John Pinkerton.
New entries and stories are published weekly.
Before addressing this Gordian knot of a subject, permit me to take a moment to explain why vampires are the most common foe you’ll face. This issue is relevant to the matter of shapeshifters, I promise. The reason is quite simple. Man is a vampire’s primary food source. This alone puts them within proximity to humans by necessity. However, when it comes to most other creatures, man may serve well enough for food, but he is not required. So, most other supernatural situations are a matter of some poor soul being where they shouldn’t and therefore bumping into something they would’ve otherwise avoided. There are exceptions. Fairy-type creatures, for instance, will prey on men as a means to make supernatural deals, but these creatures are very rare in comparison to the vampire, so you’ll seldom encounter them, unless, of course, you start dabbling in their ways—which you shouldn’t, obviously; it’s an excellent way to become a slave.
This brings us to the dodgy subject of shapeshifters. Thanks to the lycanthrope, or werewolf, they will be the second most common foe you’ll encounter, but before addressing that unpleasant species, we must first discuss the less common variations of the shapeshifter and go over some basic fundamentals that will hopefully give you a broader understanding of the supernatural world.
The most common theory as to the origins of the supernatural monsters that share in our physical reality is that they are the lingering consequences of the Antediluvian—preflood—era. Legends maintain that during this particular period in history, the people of that world were experimenting with chimeras; that is, animal-human hybrids. Some people believe these creatures were created when the angels interbred with the human women; others believe that these chimeras were created by ritualistic means, and still others believe that the means were more scientific, but whatever the case may be, the vampire, the werewolf, and so on are the result of incantations or experimental instructions that were recovered after the great flood.
Shapeshifters are often cited as the prime evidence for this theory, which is the theory I hold to personally, but I can sympathize with others who might take a different point of view. Information about that time is scarce, so it’s understandable if people don’t find the current evidence sufficient.
