Death's details

OC kind-of-reference-not-exactly;
+Lore about shape-shifting in character's universe.

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Bodybuild: Skeleton;
Plumage:  black[dino], w/o plumage[tabula];
Visible behavior: Perky;
Wardrobe style: Multicultural, loves nice textiles. Dark or colorful depends on her future plans;
Traits: She definitely loves variability; for her legs below the knee, I usually use the ostrich's leg bones as a reference; The dino skeleton has a reference to a tyrannosaurus, but not for 100%. Pretty long forepaws, more fingers. The plumage was also ostrich-referenced; She has a long skeletal tail and no wings, unlike her "family" members;

Tabula Rasa is a possibility to create a separate, absolutely new body, which exists and non-exist at the same time. All that is similar to skins in games with special abilities, advantages and a new heap of problems and errors.
The skull of death is what connects it with its canon appearance, currently hidden in a safe place.

And a hooman TR topic I'll touch later.

|"Tabula rasa is a Latin phrase often translated as "clean slate" in English and originates from the Roman tabula used for notes,.."

- Wiki

Locals may use such phrases as "Tab-Colisule", "Tab-Human" to determine how it looks and what physical base it has.

In fact, this whole system was created and exists in the world because of one character whose name we will leave incognito, and whose human design I don't want and will not refuse because I love him, very much. So it goes.

Not necessarily a human body, but this mammal is the most easily mined skin since humans do not exist in the universe code statistics and do not conflict with. To get the body of a representative of another species, you need to gut its Core. It's a dusty and long job, moreover, pretty uncivilized behavior.
The anthropomorphic skin of Death is accessible to her due to the fact that she gutted everything in her path when the word "uncivilized" hasn't yet come into use. Lucky granny. But the same applies to all other gargoyles. They managed to taste a lot of heads at the time when the universe system was less systematic, huh, and their Tabulas may be pretty monstrous if they would like.

But alt-body still has a Core of its owner [if the owner had it]. Two bodies, one mind, one universe to exist.
There are also a couple of other options that include the TabRas base, but change approach and some processes [like "Masks"]. But this is characteristic of other characters, so later.

Bodies have special abilities [Death's TR weighs less and can enter the house, for example] and weaknesses as well. Fatal too.

This is a separate body that exists and doesn't exist at the same time. In order not to lose the existence of being's original body during such a shifting, TRs implies the "taking-off" the original appearance.

In the case of Death, she takes-off her own huge head. Thus, her head is a thing that connects her canon body with the universe where used Tabula rasa. Such a connective thing may have different shapes and sizes, depending on canon body origins and coder's mastery [so it’s not necessarily the head and/or bone, but the theme of “buried bones of ancient creatures” is very suitable for this character]. In the end, it's possible to put it on a shelf. And this is the biggest weakness.

The canon-off process is always a person's own desire and can't be made forcibly. But the destruction of the connective thing means losing your original body, kinda, forever, and a lot of self-errors of different kinds as a result. Usually, creatures hide their coat somewhere in a safe place.

In addition, tabs can also be stolen. Or made with major errors. Moreover, some damage can kill the TR-body, but a mathematical calculation of this shift-magic may decide that the canon body would receive tolerable damage, and this also causes compatibility errors and such stuff as a coma.

Also, the creature’s habits do not change, despite the changed body, and this causes some awkwardness using alien physiology. But this is a pretty minor problem next to a chance of apoplexy or smth.

In general, this whole topic is full of funny/not funny things, but it always depends on the story's individual symbolics.

Officially was discovered and began to polish at the time of the "Experience of the Mind", but glimpses of shape-shifting appeared earlier. For various reasons, and not always correct and safe. So, even in Houses that didn't participate in the MndExp project, locals can use such opportunities. Only the cultural and systematic approach may strongly differ.

Almost always used by politicians, magic-related ones, criminals. Or can be included in school/university/work basics for everyone, forcibly or at personal will. Exist Houses where TRs are prohibited absolutely. Or vice versa, the use of the original body is minimized.

Death has many faces, a diverse approach, and cultures/ages/individuals have different perceptions of this phenomenon. This is the reason why this character doesn't have a constant appearance.