By nature, Actaerans can all formshift. The average amount of forms one has is three (terrestrial, aerial, and aquatic forms) but it is not a rarity to have more or less. Usually when one formshifts, they become a much larger version of the animal whose form they take, but they can appear smaller if they wish as well. This does not apply to creatures which are large by default. Magical, exotic creatures, as governed by Oktre, are mostly off limits for formshifting.
Formshifting is, in essence, the compression of your kheji to a different frequency. Each living being's nientak, their magical composition, is attuned to different frequencies of kheji. When an Actaeran is born, they are naturally aligned with a specific frequency. Even with great practise, it is quite difficult to attain more forms, even for halflings. However, it has been observed that young children more easily acquire forms than their adults.
Most children experience their first shift around the age of four. It may be a partial, incomplete shift, where they gain some temporary animalistic features but do not actually change their entire form. If a child does not experience a shift by the age of six, it's usually a cause for concern. Despite being fenvaerja, their capability to formshift does not mean they always develop it properly.
Formshifting is mostly utilised for movement. One's movement speed is typically the main trait enhanced while under the effects of a formshift, a trade off for being unable to use your limbs in a fenvaerja manner. It is possible to cast spells and utilise sorcery while shifted. However, halflings do not have access to their raniom during a shift, so their offensive capability is greatly decreased. Another common enhancement under the effects of a formshift is sturdiness. In exchange for less movement, they become much more bulky and able to withstand greater blows.
The formshift you engage in will suffer its own wounds regularly. Cuts, bruises, breaks will only persist during that form. When injured too heavily in a different form, you will be shocked out of your formshift back to your natural form. The formshift you previously had sustained the physical wounds, but the exhaustion and aching from being shocked out of a formshift can be incapacitating to some. If the force used against your formshift was lethal, the shock from unshifting could very well be lethal too.
Since formshifting is only possible through the compression of one's kheji, there comes the question of where everything else besides the self goes.
Application of an abundant mineral called ashaiti is the answer. Ashaiti, light purple in nature, comes in the form of a powdery stone that can be ground down to even finer powder. This powder can be mixed into dye, varnish, polish, woven in between threads, or any number of dozens of application methods.
Eventually, it is sealed with an enchantment called ashaitileit. Once enchanted, the ashaiti will now collapse the kheji makeup of any clothing materials enchanted with it when it detects the signature compression of kheji that indicates a formshift.
Collapsed and dispersed, this loose kheji will orbit the form of the shifter until the compression is released and the enchantment draws the kheji back into the form of their respective clothing.
Raniomr are slightly different in that they naturally undergo the process of ashaitileit during creation without having to be specifically enchanted.
Draconic form, which is only found in deities themselves and the children of Elder deities or deities born before them, is incredibly dangerous. It's in this form that one's kheji is loosest; without the essence of a powerful god to hold the kheji together, most souls are unable to allow the surrounding kheji to drift that far, as that would endanger the entity themselves. When in draconic form, one's conductivity for kheji spikes, allowing the shifter to condense the power behind their sorceries beyond all natural limits.
Deities do not typically engage in draconic forms, as deities' draconic forms radiate enormous amounts of raw kheji and will annihilate most things nearby. . Rather, they purposefully stay away from it to keep the deadly potential of them far away from the world they crafted. It is also more practical to stay out of it, as shifting into draconic form, even if it is one's natural state in the case of the sarvaerja, is incredibly taxing. In fact, though a sarvaerja is strongest in its draconic form, it is also at its most vulnerable immediately after leaving draconic form.
Halflings with draconic forms are not as catastrophically dangerous. They will not annihilate onlookers and the surrounding environment instantly. Draconic form would be their strongest state, but unlike the sarvaerja, most halflings struggle to maintain this form for long. It is an exhausting process and as such, is rarely deployed beyond being a last resort for survival. Unlike with regular forms, a young halfling will rarely perform a draconic shift while growing up. Some halflings with this form do not discover their ability until well into adulthood, while others die never knowing it existed. Draconic shift can be learned at any age, as long as one is capable of performing it, and the training process to even maintain a full shift for a few seconds can take years.