It is easy to see how one might be mistaken in the case of the Basmoli. They may well modify their physical appearance quite extensively to emphasize the leonine resemblance. Black head hair and tawny body hair can be achieved by dyes and bleaches and paints. Pointed incisors can be made by filing. Eyes can not actually be given slitted pupils, but correct eye makeup can give them a definite feline cast. Etc.
I take this stance because I do not want there to be hard physical evidence that any of the Hsunchen are actually beasts. Outsiders should be free to look at them and conclude that they are just ordinary people with a peculiar religious belief. I want Hsunchen to be able to forget that they are beasts and become ordinary people, without bestial stigmata that they and their descendants will bear forever.
Yes, practicing Hsunchen do look like their totem beasts, but this is because they try to look that way. There may be selective pressures (sexual selection) that tends to make the people look more like their beast brothers, but this can only modify their physical structure slightly. Only powerful magic can reveal the true beast form.
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