Arcānus

Arcānus, or arcane shifting, is one of the two types of shape-shifting found in Polymorphidae magions, often called 'shifters'. It is characterized by a discontinuity of physical attributes between forms and does not manifest corporeally (i.e., there is no visible rearrangement of muscle and bone). It typically appears as a visual fade from one form to another, and is sometimes accompanied by a shimmery cloud or a small ‘poof' sound. The discontinuity between forms can be a simple as mass differentiation, with one form being much larger or heavier than other forms, but can be more complex since some arcane shifters can take the forms of inanimate objects. Arcane magions retain their personality and self-awareness in all their forms and can remain in any of their forms indefinitely, including as inanimate objects.

Like Corporeus shifters, Arcane shifters tend to see all their forms as “true forms", and do not associate their self with a specific shape. Arcānus who take the forms of inanimate objects, however, usually rarely see the objects as representation of their self. They do retain their consciousness and self-awareness in object forms, but the physicality of an object is very restricting and remaining in such forms for a long period of time can disrupt their life substantially. Therefore, arcane shifters who take inanimate forms and have a single animate form, do sometimes speak of their animate form as their true form, or their subject form as opposed to the object forms.

The discussion around true forms is what led to the change in terminology for shifters. For a long time all hereditary shifters were called true shifters, to separate them from curse shifters, with no recognition of the existence of different types of shifting. The earliest suggested classification system kept the terms true shifters and curse shifters and added a third category: camouflage shifters, to denote shifters that take the inanimate object forms. The term rings true since shifting into inanimate object is often a defense mechanism. However, not all arcane shifters take inanimate forms, some have only animate forms like physical shifters. Separating the so called camouflage shifters from true shifters suggested that their transformation is less true or less natural and was flagged by many shifters as problematic.

Ultimately, the discussion was a positive one, and brought to the fore many interesting questions about shifter identity and magion classification. The currently accepted classification is based on types of shifting, because while all shape-shifting is magical, it does differ in method and appearance. The Physical similarity between the forms of Physical shifters is connected to the corporeal nature of their shift that rearranges their mass. Arcane shifters' forms are often too different and cannot be achieved with a corporeal transformation.