Like the Soletaken, they are individuals capable of transforming into some kind of animal. Unlike the Soletaken, they veer into multiple copies of that animal, forming swarms or packs. The name may derive from the archaic English form of "diverse," which was simply "divers."
For a list of known D'ivers, see Soletaken and D'ivers - known forms.
The entire group of animals comprising a d'ivers remains under the control of a single intelligence. Each "copy" seems to be equally important - there is no "lead" animal. D'ivers can add to the numbers of its veered form and survive the loss of any number of those copies, only dying when none remain. However, losing copies does mean a loss of power or strength, just as an increase in number represents a gain. This suggests that D'ivers are more powerful than Soletaken, agreeing with their description as a "higher order" than the Soletaken.
As with Soletaken, D'ivers release a spicy scent when veering or sembling. Also like Soletaken, they are said to sicken those they wound, resulting in muderous insanity or death. This may be related to the insanity of the Beast Ritual, and so only a side-affect of those D'ivers from the Human First Empire.
Many of the d'ivers encountered so far originated in the Human First Empire, which was destroyed in the runaway Beast Ritual that turned much of the population into Soletaken and D'ivers. Many of these Soletaken and D'ivers were killed by the T'lan Imass who arrived shortly thereafter to slaughter them, but most d'ivers seen within the novels are survivors of that time. Most survivors of that Ritual have since turned insane and generally remain in their bestial forms, but a few have maintained their sanity, such as Gryllen, Treach (until a few centuries before the novels) and Messremb.
A large number of soletaken and d'ivers from across the world were killed or entombed within the Azath House Tremorlor during the Path of Hands.
Ryllandaras is one of the surviving First Heroes affected by the Beast Ritual during the Human First Empire. Unlike most shapeshifters, Ryllandaras not only maintained sane, but mastered the gifts of soletaken and d'ivers. Ryllandaras has changed forms over time, transitioning between different wolf-like forms, including jackals, ay'tog and desert wolves. The number of forms he veers into have been shown to increase as he has gained in power. Additionally, a single half-man, half-jackal monstrous form of Ryllandaras exists on the Seti plains. Since the d'ivers desert wolves Ryllandaras co-exist with the man-jackal, it has been speculated that Ryllandaras detached a single one of his forms containing the inherent insanity of the d'ivers, which became the man-jackal, while the rest of him is the d'ivers desert wolves.
After ascending and becoming a God of war, Treach bestowed upon his own followers some of the abilities of Soletaken and d'ivers. Trake's Legion, the military group lead by Gruntle, have a reverse-d'ivers ability to veer from many humans into a single enormous tiger. As the tiger, they are able to travel swiftly and they also used the form to fight hordes of undead K'Chain Che'malle in the Battle of Coral. When the tiger sustained wounds, members of Trake's Legion would die and fall out of the tiger in their human form.
Ho is a mage who became d'ivers-human after studying Ryllandaras. The individual forms of Ho have demonstrated unprecedented independence from one another, with three turning on a fourth, their ability to coexist far away from each other and an apparent ability to think and act seperately from each other.
D'ivers: A higher order of shape-shifting.
DG Glossary
DG, UK MMPB, p.146
DG, UK MMPB, p.146
"The historian saw a swarming cloud approach Bult from behind and shouted a warning. The Wickan whirled, long-knives in his hands. He screamed as the first of the wasps stung.
....
Rats scampered over the soft ground, shrilly screaming as they attacked a writhing bundle of snakes.
...
The historian felt heat on his legs, looked down. Fire ants swarmed up his thighs."
DG, UK mmpb, p.181
"Not poison. More like an infecting warren. I can deal with this Duiker. As with your legs."
DG, UK mmpb, p.183
'Is there a blending between shapeshifting and Elder Tellann? Unknown. Perhaps the D'ivers and Soletaken are simply passing through the warren - imagining it unoccupied by T'lan Imass and therefore safer. Indeed, no T'lan Imass to take umbrage with the trespass, leaving them with only each other to battle.'
DG, UK MMPB, p.183
'There were some D'ivers that he (Fiddler) feared more than others. Beasts are one thing, but insects...'
DG, UK MMPB, p.776
'a sudden sleet of ice-cold water from above, the savage opening of a warren. Emerging from within that hovering, strangely suspended spray...the enormous head and maw of a dhenrabi lunged into view, wreathed in uprooted sea grasses, kelp and strange, skeletal branches...Three more dhenrabi appeared from that torrential portal. The roiling spume of water seemed to burn off wherever it descended...yet the creatures remained suspended, riding the hissing maelstrom.'
DG, UK MMPB, p.781
DG, UK MMPB, p.455
Kulp: 'They aren't. They're born.'
DG, UK MMPB, p.581
DG, UK MMPB, p.455-6
DG, UK MMPB, p.514
DG, UK MMPB, p.516-7
DG, UK MMPB, p.108
DG, UK MMPB, p.146
DG, UK MMPB, p.581
DG, UK MMPB, p.517
"The final days - so long ago now - had been chaotic. The ritual had unraveled, unexpectedly, unpredictably. Madness gripped the Soletaken. Madness splintered the more powerful of his kin, broke one into many, the burgeoning power wild, blood hungry, birthing the D'ivers. The Empire was tearing itself apart."
- Narrator speaking of Treach
MoI, US HC p.264
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