Unlike wolves, lykos possess an unusual knack and affinity for various, curiously magical skills. These powers, so to speak, include uncannily strong senses, swift healing, and their most famed skill -- the ability to disguise themselves as humans.

Shifting
The ability of a lykos to "shift" is a concept difficult to explain. These illusions are so believable and real that even physical contact with a human may not reveal the true form of a lykos. While these illusions are completely tangible and functional, it is not a physical morph or shift. The illusion acts as a "suit" in a sense. Most lykos learn how to project this facade at a very young age, and some can retain the form for very long periods of time.

Since lykos age, for the most part, in human years, most are taught how to shift at around three or four years old. At this stage it might take a lot of concentration to maintain their illusion, but after a certain amount of practice the action becomes second nature.

When a lykos learns to shift for the first time, they had better have a plan for finding some clothes. Every shift thereafter, however, a lykos is able to make everything on their person (e.g. clothes, packs, a pocket watch) transform right along with them. Experience comes to play in the same way here. Lykos that are exceptionally bad at shifting, for instance, might have a hard time getting their clothes to reappear along with their human form. It is not uncommon for lykos to travel light, in order to make shifting as simple as possible.

Aging
Lykos age at the same rate as humans, regardless of the form they assume. While ordinary wolves are full grown within a year or two, lykos are puppies for a much longer period of time. The stages of their lives parallel those of humans.

Newborn lykos are a somewhat special case with regards to the care it takes to raise them. They are vulnurable to the world for years rather than weeks, depending on the speed at which they learn to transform into a human, and in some areas the lykos infant mortality rate is rather high.

Behavior & Diet
Lykos are and have been a very isolated species, maintaining lifestyles that rarely extend past immediant family ties. Many may form packs, but none are very large or consist of more than a few families. Lykos are a very secretive, quiet species, and never venture far from their realm of close relatives and friends. As a consequence, however, lykos have a tendency to be more attached and affectionate with whatever family members they grow up with, and thus display far more humanlike qualities than a normal canine would.

They can express a much wider range of emotions than a normal wild animal would, as well. Lykos can harbor strong feelings of guilt, love, trust, insecurity, and envy -- emotions more unique to humans. They express a more human affection for the ones they love, and a stronger sense of hatred towards those they do not like. This all in turn makes their illusions more realistic, and is part of the reason why they blend so well into a human society.

On a similar note, the diet of lykos also extends to a range beyond that of a normal canine's. Human food in excess may be harmful, but for the most part a lykos will eat or drink anything that you might feed your dog.

Communication
Communication between lykos is akin to what normal wild animals would use. They communicate with whimpers, growls, yelps, barks, and body language. When interacting with (or as) humans, they speak in the vernacular. As with shifting, the process of learning human language is an acquired skill, and over time becomes secondhand nature to a lykos if practiced on a regular basis.

Hybrids
While lykos in themselves are a rare species, even more rare is the occurrence of hybrids: humans with a fraction of lykos blood. Half-lykos face struggles unlike fullblooded counterparts; though they are born as humans, they will possess most of the heightened senses and swift healing abilities of a lykos trapped in mortal skin. As one's ratio of human to lykos blood lessens, so does the strength of these abilities.

Lykos Subcultures

When so many lykos left their frozen homeland in the north, some of their magic and abilities disappeared. The little magic they had left was used to adapt to wherever they migrated to, thus enabling them to survive in the lands of the humans; this led to the creation of various subcultures among the lykos race.

Northern Lykos
The wolves of the North -- those that remained the lykos' land of origin -- are the most noble and powerful of their kind. With coats of either stark silver-white or a mixture of deep brown and black, they are thought to be as cold as the wind in the mountains that surround and protect them, and are deeply rooted in tradition. They believe bloodline to be exceedingly important and care very little for the world further south, and their isolation has led some to believe they no longer exist.

Mountain Lykos
To the west lie the Axis Mountains, and within the ranges of this harshly cold and rocky environment, the Mountain Lykos preside. They are the strongest of the subspecies, with thick fur and large, intimidating frames adapted for withstanding the cold and barren lands they live in. This culture is very pack-oriented and its members tend to live a more natural lifestyle suited to their elders, hunting and appearing as wolves more often than they appear as humans. They are a proud culture and are not to be trifled with.

Lykos from the mountains generally have coats in ranges of grays, blacks, and whites to better blend with their environment. Seeing as this is a very isolated and generally smaller culture, not many know of these wolves and tend to stay away for their protective nature over their packs.

River Lykos
Along the route drawn by the Sylva River lives the largest lykos subculture. The River Lykos are the most commonly known and are comprised of the widest variety of lykos. Their ability to shift is the strongest and most honed due to their proximity to humans, and they mix very well in human societies.

Their most notable physical traits include thick waterproof fur, medium frames, and coat colors of browns, tans, and grays. They commonly are better fishers and swimmers than other lykos, if born into the region.

Woodland Lykos
The residents of the Eastern Wood are known to be the fastest and most cunning of their species. Despite being furthest from the Great North, these lykos seem to do very well for their kind, and bother seldomly to use human facades due to the distance between humans and their lands. They live similiarly to their mountain brothers, acting as real wolves and hunting with their natural forms. Aside from their speed and very pack-oriented environments, there is nothing perceivably special about this culture. They are mysterious individuals.

Woodland Lykos tend to have varied burnt red and brown fur, similiar to the color of the trees around them. Some have distinct mixtures of markings, while others are a solid auburn. Their fur ranges from long to short, depending on the season, but the most distinct feature of the Woodland Lykos are their deep green and blue eyes.