The Llof is home to many insects, amphibians, reptiles, birds and smaller fish, but notably no mammals and no animals with fur.

The most common larger land animals belong to the harpies, a genus of six-limbed, usually feathered reptiles. In addition to the hind legs and front limbs either used for flight or walking on all four, which they share with proper reptiles/birds, they have developed an additional pair of limbs directly below the front limbs. These are usually rather short and used for grabbing/holding things or, by some non-volant harpies, as support when climbing. Very few species have even developed opposable thumbs on their third pair of limbs. Harpies have a large brain and can be very intelligent.

The Rasvrisuam (Asiuluiam, Dakiuzuiam and Yelluam) themselves belong to the genus of shapeshifters, whose genetic relationship to the other animals is unclear. They have an additional organ, the “Yoel bladder”, which can rapidly produce and store high amounts of energy. By consuming this energy, shapeshifters are able to consciously destroy and generate their own cellular material to assume different physical forms. While true shapeshifters have full control over their outward appearance, the Rasvrisuam’s ability to shapeshift is limited to the reproduction of other animals’ forms that they closely observed before. Shapeshifters are ovoviviparous (or lecithotrophic viviparous), which means that while they give birth to live offspring (like mammals), they do not have a placenta, but instead carry eggs inside their body until the offspring “hatches”. Also, the newborn offspring is able to immediately assume a regular diet and is not nursed (lactated) by its mother. True shapeshifters only have a single biological sex, so any two shapeshifters of the same species are able to mate and produce offspring. When assuming the form of a species with multiple sexes, they are able to freely determine their sexual characteristics and change them at will. Rasvrisuam, on the other hand, generally have two biological sexes (male/female), with only the females being able to give birth, and will also assume a form associated with a specific sex when transforming into other dimorphic species. Rarely, there may be intersex individuals (with both male and female biological traits), which appear as intersex across all of their forms. Due to the constant cell regeneration when transforming, shapeshifters do not age biologically.

Civilized Rasvrisuam nowadays mostly assume the form of a human. In the Free Tribes, the more intelligent harpy species dominate. The harpy is still the second most common form in the Civilization and is predominantly used for air travel. A natural disaster in the past (the “Sunfall”) has caused the Rasvrisuam to genetically diverge into Asiuluiam and Dakiuzuiam. These two populations are still able to cross-breed, but their offspring, the Yelluam, are born with severe disabilities and an inclination for mental diseases, which is why these relationships are frowned upon. The genetic incompatibility of Asiuluiam and Dakiuzuiam damages the Yelluam’s ability to shapeshift properly, in that they always shift into hybrid forms of several species, without any control over the exact composition. Many of the resulting chimera forms are non-viable. Some Yelluams are still fertile, and the shapeshifting disability of their offspring will become less extreme when they breed with “pure” Asiuluiam or Dakiuzuiam, up to the point where it’s barely noticeable after several generations.

Several unrelated animals on the Llof have developed limited shapeshifting abilities, such as the Verena, a harpy which is able to willingly shed or grow plumage to regulate its body temperature. It is not clear how they gained this ability. These “false shapeshifters” do not have a Yoel bladder, but use the energy that their body produced through regular means. The shapeshifting is thus seen as a regional phenomenon.