Tenevaya (The Shadow Death)

Deep in the jungles of the newly discovered island chain of Treniere, in the southern ocean of Berkai, lays an ancient civilization of cat-like humanoids. They live in isolated family groups; each one deemed a distinct pride. The race comes in an abundance of diverse colors and patterns, each pride having an overall theme as dominant colors and designs emerge. Whole prides will look like their specific non-sentient forbearers, such as tigers, lions, or jaguar. Each pride has its own way to govern, live, and hunt within their territory. One common goal transcends all pride law, as the Tabaxi people are united in defending their jungle home from outsiders. As a race, they are almost wholly unknown in other parts of the world since they do not seek land or travel beyond the Turquoise Archipelago.
 
As the Rakai Empire was rising in power and establishing colonies in other lands, so too did their influence spread. Now the Shackles (a pirate nation) who look to trade with the Empire scour Rakai for exotic and thus very expensive trade-goods. Since the nobility within the Empire are particularly fond of opulence and exotic novelty, the Tabaxi as a whole are under attack as they fetch well above standard price for meeting both criteria. Specifically they are prized for their colorful pelts, ability to understand and communicate with their Owners, and inborn nimbleness. Since capturing one is a particularly difficult feat — the jungle herself does not take kindly to outsiders, and the Tabaxi are respected hunters and trackers — Tabaxi pets in the Empire trade hands for remarkable prices and are seen to elevate social status to any House who has the fortune to own one.
 
When slavers from the Shackles happened upon a lone female Tabaxi near Okanawee, they seized the opportunity to steal her. Though unexpected, a male was also captured at that time when he tried to fend off the attackers. It became obvious that they were a mated pair, and that the female was pregnant. This was good fortune for the Swordskull crew, who had recently fallen upon hard times, because they now had something no other could boast: a baby Tabaxi for sale.
 
Smuggling the pair out of Turquoise Archipelago was near suicidal due to the fact other, larger crews would seize upon any and every opportunity to steal their highly prized cargo. Thus, a death-bond was devised among the Swordskulls — no man would speak of the two Tabaxi or forfeit his life. The strategy (and sheer greed) worked, and the cargo was successful smuggled all the way to the Empire to be sold. Upon arriving, a fury ensued as word quickly spread among the nobility of a baby Tabaxi on the open market.
 
Bidding for the cat-family escalated quickly, and took over a month to be settled. It is said that even the Mystaan the Golden had expressed interest in procuring them, but that he lent his sway towards a particularly favored noble family to secure their claim. Thus, for the outrageous sum of 970,000 gold, House Masi came into possession of the three Tabaxi. The two were quickly whisked away to the Houses' stronghold and immediately set up under strict guard on a small piece of land right outside the family's main castle. Housed like respected representatives, the pair was given everything they desired, in the hopes that the female would remain healthy and give birth to a viable cub.
 

Six months later an onyx colored cub was born and yet, under the penalty of death, the family was left entirely alone. Under no circumstance was anyone to interfere with the Tabaxi, as doing so might prompt the savages to flee; potentially injuring the cub. Since no one had ever seen a baby Tabaxi, it was widely known that only the Emperor was permitted to view the cub using scrying magic. Other than that, they were undisturbed for a total of 4 years.
 
The first 4 years of her life, Itzala Hosto Gainean (Shadow Upon the Leaf) knew that her parents were unhappy, that they were slaves; yet her early childhood felt safe and secure in the circle of their love. She was taught to speak, to read, and to write in the common tongue; to sing in praise of the great Cat Lord and rejoice in the simple things of life. About this time the Lord of House Masi, Archduke Oppian, issued orders that the cub be removed from the family land as carefully as possible. To do it, he sent his Master Huntsman Ortherax, an Elven Ranger.
 
Knowing that Tabaxi are in fact sentient beings, Ortherax coaxed the cub away from the family home using pieces of golden jewelry. Once the goal was accomplished, Oppian sold the parents and had them immediately removed from his land in the hopes that their lack of interference would allow the cub to grow in accordance to his wishes. It became known across the empire that the cub was female, and that Oppian boasted he would turn her into the greatest hunter in all the land. Renamed to Tenevaya smert', she came to trust Ortherax who would be her mentor for many years to come.
 
For Tenevaya, Ortherax became her surrogate parent and trusted companion. He showed the Elven serenity and long-lived goals of one who had all the time in the world. From him the small panther cub learned to speak Elvish, and the preferred language of nobility: common. He taught her to hunt, and to kill; to harness an inner patience that all great predators need to stalk and take down prey. She learned the cornerstone bow skills House Masi was renowned for, and to be loyal to the Archduke.
 
By the time Tenevaya was 9 years old, she had surpassed many of the human bowman, credit mostly given to the accuracy at which her enhanced eyesight provided and the physical prowess inbred to her cat-like form. Ortherax started to pit Tenevaya against increasingly dangerous foe, up until the time she was deemed ready to hunt humanoids. Her first humanoid kill was a local farmer, who she was told had been stealing from the House. Watching the entire hunt via a scrying orb attenuated to the small gold ball on her collar, Archduke Oppian was well pleased. He ordered Ortherax to continue his teachings, but turn the cub's attention to using her physical attributes more than the bow — he wanted her kills to be savage, bloody, and overall… entertaining.
 
The next year the Archduke began to host great balls and hunts, where his prized killing cat featured in prominence for entertainment. Nobility from all sides of the Empire would rally and jostle for invitation to these events, immense offense intentionally offered to those left out. The greatest attended hunts were when the Emperor himself brought the prey, often another noble who had broken his laws or stepped out of line. Gathered around a large "viewing table" the whole hunt and kill would be seen and experienced via carefully attached scrying objects Tenevaya wore.

 
As with all things, in time the thrill waned and the nobility began to send back more declined invitations then accepted ones. It was no longer of interest to see a giant cat chase down and kill some boring human prey item; there was no real excitement in that. By this time Tenevaya had been moved into the castle proper and lived in a spacious, gold-gilded cage; displayed prominently to anyone walking into the Great Hall. She lived only to train, to kill, and to amuse the nobility; knowing nothing else. Oppian would sometimes spend hours watching his prized pet, lost in thought as how best to regain favor with the nobility, what new ploy he could come up with.

It came as an accident, the thought... the plan. One day Oppian overheard a conversation between the cat and his Master Huntsman. "This cage bores me Uvazhayemyy starets, perhaps I could try hunting you?" "Do not get ahead of yourself, for I would not be easy prey, Tenevaya." Why had he not thought of it sooner? Yes! Have the cat hunt far more worthy prey! Humans who had skills, who could actually hunt her in return. An ultimate battle of the survival! Oppian began planning the extravaganza immediately.
 
The event was heralded as the biggest coup of the century. Every House was invited to attend, even those previously in disfavor with House Masi. The feasting and festivity went on for two weeks straight, and the day of the Hunt dawned bright and clear. When Tenevaya was brought out upon her golden leash the crowd went wild with excitement, only seconded when Ortherax himself was brought out in similar state. When the two locked eyes, Tenevaya was horrified, though Ortherax looked calm. He had found out about Oppian's "grand plan" weeks ago, and the kernel of betrayal had festered into hatred; he also had a plan.
 
The Hunt started off as per normal, with the prey being turned loose and jeered into flight by the nobility. They gave the Elf an hour lead time to run and escape before the cat was loosed upon him. Then the scry would start, and Tenevaya's every move witnessed in live-action real-time. Unbeknownst to anyone though, Ortherax had contacted the Scholar’s Delight, a group devoted to the flow of information, to help him free Tenevaya and thus destroy House Masi' favor with the Emperor. Having set up an antimagic field in a specific location, he lured his pupil there and had her ambushed where no one could witness the feat. This sent the nobles into a furious rage, aimed directly at Oppian — who had no recourse because none of his magus could regain viewpoints upon the Hunt.
 
Melting into the mountains was particularly easy for the small rescue party, for they had not only Ortherax himself, but his astute pupil as well. Divesting Tenevaya of her scrying jewelry rendered them all but invisible, for none of the Hunt Magus’ had ever thought to scry the cat herself. Knowing that the Archduke would be enraged, and stop at nothing to find them, the two pledged themselves to Scholor’s Delight and helped them gain more knowledge about the inner workings of House Masi for the following 2 years — never leaving the safety of the mountains. Eventually the pair wanted more, and felt it was safe for them to move out into the world.
 
Unfortunately, their luck ran out at that point, and Tenevaya was captured by an undercover group of the Order of the Golden Drake who was stationed there. Due to her exotic nature and previous dealings with House Masi the Tabaxi was taken to debriefed by the General himself. At that point Ortherax lost track of the cat for 2 years, until she mysteriously reappeared at a Delight safe-house, inquiring about him. The two have yet to be reunited face-to-face, as Ortherax has been sent on an undercover mission — though they communicate as frequently as safety permits.
 
Having been recruited into Scholar’s Delight as well as used as an informant for the Golden Drakes, now Tenevaya goes by the code name "Agent Seven" and is currently working for both organizations (mostly unbeknownst to one another).
 
Due to her feline nature and the fact Tabaxi are almost unknown in Rakai, Seven tries to keep her identity a secret by wearing flowing clothing that hides her true nature. She removes this clothing only to hunt outside of the cities, or to move through enemy territory more effectively. Under her clothing Seven enjoys wearing multiple gold adornments, harkening back to her upbringing; each ear is pierced three times with gold hoops that have various gems dangling or inset. She wears three golden bracelets on each wrist and six such hoops along her tail. Due to her dislike of slavery, Seven refuses to wear anything around her neck that would otherwise remind her of a collar.