\n\t\t\t\t\tnaughtyimpSo what is going on? I'll explain.
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The Equal Dragon Weapon: http://i.imgur.com/Ov8NB3t.jpg
Monster Hunter has a backstory, one written in the blood and dust of the ancestors of both man and monster. War is hell for any time, any species, any world, and this was no different. Humans and elder dragons locked in a battle that ravaged their numbers, bore horrors like the one above, and resulted in elder dragons being rare while humanity was bombed back to iron age technology at best. One must remember that the world of monster hunter is a balance; hunts are to just keep people alive. Grim reminders like the above are still occasionally stumbled across to remind us of these horrible times.
But what other possible experiments were performed?
This "Hunter Monster" aspect explores this with DNA splicing. Obviously, Elder Dragons and monsters are more powerful than humans and sport biological weapons that armies would gladly want. These experiments converted humans into half monster hybrids.
These experiments were carried out on a remote island. The first series were very strange, mostly comprised of elder dragon fusions that could be prone to longevity or mental breakdowns, though as time went on, they started to use nearly any monster and corrected the mental issues. Yet despite all this, the war was over before these soldiers could be put to the test.
Stranded on the remote island and as ages passed, a secluded civilization grew on the outskirts.
This civilization was comprised of these hybrids, functioning not unlike the humans, felynes, and wyvernians of the rest of the world as they tended to crops, loved, and fought wild monsters.
An interesting trait is that they even set system classes for eachother; lesser monsters, such as rhenoplos, bullfango, gargwa, and aptonoth are generally short, rarely breaking 3 feet in height and perform many of the same tasks as felynes. More powerful monsters are around human height of something around 6 feet tall and take up the jobs most humans do as hunters, farmers, fishers, and so on.
Elder Dragons, however, are akin to the wyvernians and, from a young age, are pulled into a covenant to carefully control their views on the world.
This is done because all Hunter Monsters have an incredible ability to "reverse evolve" into a full age-accurate version of their monster self. That is to say a Rathalos man standing at 6 feet could perform this and turn into the full 50 foot long flying, fire breathing king of the skies, and revert back into an unsuspecting humanoid form.
Elder Dragons are brought into the covenant to ensure they have a positive view of the world and don't develop a "God" complex as the Hunter Monsters share the view on the world that everyone should; that a Balance is needed in the world lest it spiral back into the chaos of the great war that ended the world.
Many occurrences of Elder Dragons laying siege on a village are a result of an elder dragon gaining said god complex.
Lao Shen Long tried to demand his own greatness. Another member of the covenant, the Fatalis, volunteered to stop him, but knew that when she would do so, she ran the risk of being spotted. She beat Lao towards the humans, who naturally attacked and slew the Lao, but the Fatalis' fate was sealed as she was spotted. But she met her fate with dignity and fought back in the old castle grounds until the humans slew her as well. Or so they would have you think, though two of the hunters were actually disguised Hunter Monsters.
Hunter monsters have no connection to their feral counterparts; said rathalos man would not be able to converse with another rathalos or rathian anymore than a human would, and even in monster form, feral monsters can still identify that they are clearly different.
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I introduce Mason and his partner, Aegis. He is a hunter who has left the island (in Ukanlos x armor) while his smaller partner Aegis often is disguised in her monster form, pulling his cart from place to place. When they enlist on a hunt, she changes form and dons Felyne armor and does her best to act as if she is a felyne, though she often flubs the dialogue now and then, speaking TOO proper.
And yes, between hunts, Mason and Aegis often engaged in sexual contact, even if he can only really get the head of that tool in her (in her humanoid form, anyway).
Hunter Monsters can breed with any other member of their people. The strange thing is, the female will produce an egg, but the species of the one who hatches usually has no resemblance to either parent in any manner.
IE: A rathalos and rathian could breed and produce a Deviljho baby, a Cedeus baby, and a Gargwa baby.
Due to this, monogamy hasn't been instated in this area, though the bonds between partners such as Mason and Aegis are rather close to it. This also leads to the "village" raising the offspring.
Transforming is generally not frowned upon, but the rule is that if a human spots you, you will not be protected by other hunter monsters and may even be hunted yourself by your kin in disguise.
Mason is soft spoken, often choosing to let his actions speak for him and chooses to wield the hammer in his fights.
Aegis is much more energetic, willing to put herself in harm's way if it means Mason can get a better strike on his foe.