Claws of Arcanum

The continent of Arcanum, once said to be created by a goddess, is home to many different races; however, it's most peculiar and mysterious inhabitants are people who share their blood with beasts, earning them the name 'beast folk'. Due to the mystery surrounding their origins though however, it has lead to the beast folk suffering injustice and discrimination from the humans who share the continent with them. 

The most commonly known groups of beast folk that inhabit Arcanum include the Wolven, Felynx and Harpy. The Wolven are wolf-like beasts who live in the large northern forest, appropriately named Wolfenden, and are spread out into different packs who often fight for territory over the forest. The Felynx are cat-like beasts who occupy the treacherous Shabriri Desert; known for it's harsh conditions that these beast folk have managed to adapt to. The Felynx live as one under the rule of 'the Sphynx', their mysterious and all-powerful leader. Lastly are the Harpy, arguably the most mysterious of all beast folk who are half-human, half-avian. Their exact habitat is unknown, but many stories claim that the Harpy used to be the goddess' familiars and are unfathomably beautiful yet highly dangerous creatures. One of the beast folk's most unique and common abiltites shared between them is that they can transform into their respective beasts. Wolven and Felynx can do this at will and with little side effects, however most Harpies now-a-days use a stone that contains their beast powers and can only be unleashed when necesary; lest the Harpies lose control.

Below are some profiles and character design sheets with some examples of the most perculiar members of each beast folk tribe. Each profile contains appropriate information about each charcater and also includes some information on what skills and abilties they would be able to use in a strategy JRPG-type game  (you might have to open the images in a new tab if they are hard to see ). 

Malikah- 'Fiery Felynx'

Below is a character design sheet of one such beast folk; Malikah, of the Felynx tribe. Malikah lost her parents as young Felynx cub, and young cubs can very rarely survive without their parents due to the harsh conditions of their habitat. But by a random stroke of luck, Malikah was rescued by none other than the leader of the tribe, the 'Sphynx', who personally raised her. After spending years living and learning under the Sphynx, Malikah grew up to be a fierce warrior with a passion for protecting the leader of the Felynx tribe, the 'Sphynx' and is always determined to prove her worth to her leader and her tribe, as many tribe members continue to doubt her abilities and refuse to see her as anything more than the Felynx whom the Sphynx took pity on. 

Mikaela- 'Avian Solitude'

Next we have Mikaela; one of very few male Harpies that make up the mysterious clan. Harpies have long been a predominantly female race, that was until the first Harpy Queen fell in love with and bore a child with a human man which in itself was a dangerous thing to do. Young Harpy children with human blood would have abnormal behaviour and viciously lash out due to them not being able to control their powers, but later on the Harpies where able to counter this by giving those affected a special stone that can be used to contain and control their powers; allowing them to switch between a humanoid form and their harpy forms. Human blood has since run quite thin within the Harpy clan, but the stones are still actively used as the tribe has adapted to using them to disguise themselves in a more human form, despite their appearances being far more ethereal compared to regular humans. But since that day, male Harpies have began to crop up more and Mikaela is one them. Male and Female Harpies have quite a lot in common apart from common things that would set apart human men and women, however the unwanted attention that being a male harpy brings becomes quite a nuisance to Mikaela who prefers solitude and is struggling to find a sense of belonging in his own clan because of this.

Raoulf- 'Carefree Canine'

Finally, representing the Wolven tribe is Raoulf; who's father leads one of the largest Wolven packs known to settle in the continent. Unlike the other beast tribes, the Wolven have split into separate packs over the years due to it being in the nature of wolves to form their own groups and each pack is lead by the Alpha; the strongest member of the pack. Both of Raoulf's parents bore the title of Alpha, so he had quite a lot of responsibility on his shoulders to keep up the reputation of the pack as well as to work on leading them in future. He got off to a promising start, due to his love of battle and adventure, however Raoulf tends to act rashly and on his own. Wolven packs are very tight knit communities so it's quite unusual for members of the pack to be unsociable or act on their own; but things were different for Raoulf who found enjoyment in travelling on his own adventures than crumbling under the pressure that his father in particular had drilled into him in order to turn him into a leader; something that Raoulf had long lost confidence in doing after a traumatic event caused a rift in the pack that almost tore them all apart.

Do you think that the character's beast traits are obvious through both their visual and narrative designs?