Shapeshifting and size-changing

[RobReece]

So is it explained how someone gets smaller, like when LTW turned himself in to a bird when he was fighting the Naagloshii?  I mean it's one thing to add mass by grabbing some ectoplasm from the nevernever and magically animating it as part of your chosen form, but how do they do it in reverse?  That seems problematic to me.

Actually, I think that would be much easier, since  if don't need to conserve it for when you enlarge again, just convert it to energy and let it dissipate as heat.

[Fcrate]

Actually, I think that would be much easier, since  if don't need to conserve it for when you enlarge again, just convert it to energy and let it dissipate as heat.

Too wastefull. Besides, that would leave you without a good chunk of your energy reserves. I had thought it was like Ant-Man's shrinking while maintaining his mass, but that doesn't work. So... no clue.

[jonas]

So is it explained how someone gets smaller, like when LTW turned himself in to a bird when he was fighting the Naagloshii?  I mean it's one thing to add mass by grabbing some ectoplasm from the nevernever and magically animating it as part of your chosen form, but how do they do it in reverse?  That seems problematic to me.

No, but I hypothesize that it basically becomes part of the NN around the person's aura/ their personal sanctum on the other side to slough off parts of themselves without truly separating.

[Quantus]

No, but I hypothesize that it basically becomes part of the NN around the person's aura/ their personal sanctum on the other side to slough off parts of themselves without truly separating.

That was my image as well, but admittedly I defaulted there because that's how the Animorph books I read as a kid explained it (I think they called it Z-space or something). 

[Mr. Death]

So is it explained how someone gets smaller, like when LTW turned himself in to a bird when he was fighting the Naagloshii?  I mean it's one thing to add mass by grabbing some ectoplasm from the nevernever and magically animating it as part of your chosen form, but how do they do it in reverse?  That seems problematic to me.

The RPG goes into this a bit (one of the sample characters turns into a mouse), and the extra mass is shunted into the nevernever temporarily.

[jonas]

That was my image as well, but admittedly I defaulted there because that's how the Animorph books I read as a kid explained it (I think they called it Z-space or something).

Same reason lol. But considering how ways work on resonance with the opener and the ability to create personal sanctums on the other side seen from typical ghosts to Lea's garden it seems a reasonable hypotheses.
Also Z-space was based off of early science into 'warp drive', but it's becoming more applicable now.

[Mr. Death]

From the game book:

Bob: The wereraven example reminds me, William—shapeshifters of the sort that can change their mass are a very rare breed. If they shift into something smaller, they have to store part of their intellect and mass in the Nevernever, so they can retrieve it when they change back. If they shift into something bigger, they can get the extra mass by way of ectoplasm, so in that respect growing is easier than shrinking.

Billy: Yeah, I thought I remembered seeing something about that. Still, we figured it’ d be more fun if we just allowed folks to go for bigger or smaller forms if they could find the points for it. And the whole thing about storing parts of themselves in the Nevernever is rife with story hooks.