Cats
Cats are a group of mammalian shifters that are defined by their retractable claws, long sharp canine teeth, sensitive whiskers, and superior night vision.
Included in the cat group are jaguars, bobcats, lynx, jaguarundis, clouded leopards, ocelots, margays and mountain lions.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Cats shifters are quadrepedal in their natural form, with thick paw pads and retractable claws that allow them to prowl nearly silently. They have keen eyesight, smell, and hearing, and are capable of feats of acrobatic athleticism. A cat can jump two to three times its height. They are also excellent climbers, although some species have difficulty returning to the ground once they have become arboreal. Their long tails provide them with balance, and their low-light vision is superior. They have lengthy canines that are often used to sever the spine or pierce the windpipe of their prey, and although their bite force is not as strong as a bear's, the bite force of a jaguar is comparable to wolves. They are solitary hunters but will live in communal prides.
When shapeshifted, cats vary widely in height. Jaguars and mountain lions have the tallest stature, averaging between 6-7 feet tall, while species such as bobcats, lynxes, jaguarundis and clouded leopards have a maximum height of 5 feet and ocelots, margays, kodkods and mountain cats may only reach 4.5 feet when shifted. Cats walk digitigrade while shifted and use their tails for counterbalance. Their fingers lengthen slightly and they retain their retractable claws. Unlike many other shifter species, there is little downside for a cat shifter in anthro form; they are as strong, fast, and agile as they are in their natural forms.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Cats are obligate carnivores and cannot derive nutrition from plant matter. Therefore, hunting and animal husbandry are both central to their society. Raising domestic livestock for meat is important to maintain steady food sources, but most cats are capable hunters and will not hesitate to hunt for themselves.
Civilization and Culture
Beauty Ideals
A sleek, well-patterned coat is typically the first thing that will attract a cat's eye. Striking eye color (particularly bright green, deep gold, or the rare blue) is considered attractive, as well as defined musculature, sharpness of claws, health of teeth, and particularly the length of the canine teeth. With the exception of bobcats and lynxes, a longer tail is more attractive than a shorter one. Attractive cats should have slender builds, with little visible fat.
Gender Ideals
Cat prides are often male-led, but are female-dominated. While the patriarch of a pride stakes out and defends the territory, it is the females that organize and carry out the majority of hunts. Cat settlements are often organized around an open pit that is known as the kill pit, where fresh game is brought back to the settlement and then divided by the patriarch to ensure fair distribution. The gender ratios are somewhat imbalanced, with more female cats born than male cats. Physical strength and size is prized in males, while agility, cleverness, and cooperation is prized in females.
Male cats are not traditionally nurturing toward their children, and may be seen as weak or lesser if they are too indulgent with the young. Males are meant to raise cubs with a firm paw, while females are meant to be more tolerant of cub play and silliness. However, that is not to say that male cats never participate in child-rearing, only that their role is to remain the aloof disciplinarian rather than the nurturer. Male cats will still encourage their cubs by pretending to be startled by a cub's play-stalking before scolding them to return to their mother.
When they reach adulthood, it is understood that males will leave their birth pride in search for a place of their own, while females will remain with their mothers, aunts, and sisters for the rest of their lives. This is less true of noble families, where several male children may remain at home vying for a chance to inherit the pride, but both common and merchant families bid their sons farewell when they reach maturity. The solitary journey of a male cat is a rite of passage.
Courtship Ideals
Although cats form prides, they are not the same as the prides formed by their wild counterparts. The patriarch will have up to four mates he claims as his own, but other female members of the pride are not bound to him in any relationship capacity. Rather, these younger females will initiate courtship with males who are on their solitary journey in an effort to draw them into their own pride and make it their new permanent home.
Patriarchs will frequently patrol and mark the edges of their territory, but it is the female members of the pride (or adolescent males who have not reached maturity) who frequently serve as scouts for the pride. More often than not, a female cat will see a wandering male before he sees her. If she finds him attractive or interesting, she will break cover and initiate a chase. All cats have strong chase instincts, so when she runs from him, he is automatically motivated to follow. She will try her best to lose him, a test of his hunting prowess and endurance, but if he is able to keep up until she tires, he has proved himself worthy of her interest and formal courtship can begin.
In the next stage, the female cat will bring her intended back to the settlement. First she will introduce him to her mother and aunts, the older female members of the pride, whose approval is paramount. If the older females do not like this male, they will tell him that he is unworthy of their daughter and indicate he should move along. If accepted by the older women, the male will be allowed to live in the settlement with the pride until the courtship concludes one way or another.
Although female cats are the primary hunters of a pride, conducting a solo hunt is an important stage of courtship. The bigger or more prized the hunted game, the more impressive the male's suit. A female will for instance count the number of points on a buck's antlers to judge whether the male was lazy and took down a young, inexperienced buck, or was dedicated enough to go for the more wily and difficult prey. Once the female indicates that the male has won her interest and she is serious about adding him to her pride, the final stage begins.
A male must seek permission from the patriarch to be admitted formally into the pride. Although great weight is given to the opinions of the young female's mothers and aunts, the patriarch makes the final decision, and carefully weighs the pride's resources and whether they will be able to support another male on their territory. A prospective male is meant to publicly and formally request to join the pride three times - the first two times, the patriarch is meant to reject him, which is a test of his dedication. The patriarch may decline for any reason, but etiquette dictates he must actually state the reason - the young male must hunt a better piece of game, or groom his fur better, or sharpen his claws more before he can be accepted. This gives the young male something to improve on, and when he next approaches the patriarch he should specifically address this area of criticism and indicate what he has done to rectify it.
In very rare cases, a patriarch may decline a male simply because he does not like the other cat. This is frowned upon, especially by the females in the pride, who may be offended that their judgment is being called into question. As a last resort, a young male may seek support for a formal challenge. At least three females of the pride that are not the young cat he is courting must publicly speak support for his challenge, at which point the patriarch is obliged to respond. He is required to listen while each of the females make their case, and if he still declines the young male's presence at this point, the females can demand a trial by combat. This method is often used to remove an elderly or weak patriarch from power, since if the young male wins the trial by combat they are acknowledged as the new patriarch. In the rarest of cases, the patriarch's wives can overrule a request for trial by combat and force the young male out regardless of the opinion of the larger pride. This can often lead to the splintering of the pride, as the young male's supporters may leave to form a new pride with him.
In the case of a male who already has one wife, another female can approach him to initiate a secondary courtship, but must seek permission from his wife before doing so. In addition, four is considered the maximum number of acceptable wives; more than four wives is considered a sign of greediness or overt laziness, as a male with so many wives would rarely need to hunt for himself.
Relationship Ideals
Once a courtship is accepted, the couple will mate for life. Cat males will often have multiple wives, but each subequent wife after the first is subordinate to her in the family hierarchy. Wives within a pride will often develop romantic relationships with each other, and the strongest marriages consist of one male and two to three wives who all share romantic affection amongst each other. Young female cats may also form romantic bonds with each other without the presence of a male, and will court a prospective male together if they are interested in adding one to their marriage.
A strong guardian male and several intelligent females is the ideal family unit for cats in prides. Cubs can therefore be raised by not only their mothers but the other wives in the marriage, ensuring safety for the youngsters. Cubs often refer to all of these female parents as "auntie" with no distinguishment between their biological mothers and the other women who raised them.
Female cubs become extremely close to their mothers, aunts, and sisters. These bonds will last their entire lives, and sisterhood is considered an especially strong and sacred bond among cats. Sisters should be loyal to one another above all else. If a female needs support for their chosen male to enter the pride, they will often seek out their sisters, who will take their side without question. Notably, cats only consider their littermates to be true siblings - older cubs from other cohorts are "cousin." Male cubs, on the other hand, gravitate toward their father or the pride's patriarch, since he is the only member of the pride who experienced the long solo journey during his life and will be a key source of advice and teaching to young male cubs. Births outside of formal courtship and mating are considered normal and are not frowned upon in cat society - a female may take a passing male as her mate because she desires children, but decline to invite him to reside permanently with the pride. There is no taboo against this type of behavior and any cubs are considered full children of the pride.
Common Etiquette Rules
Cat shifters are expected to be well-groomed and comport themselves with dignity in society. If a cat misses their jump, is startled by a sudden noise, or otherwise demonstrates uncharacteristic clumsiness, other cats should politely ignore the gaffe and allow the embarrassed party to engage in a bout of self-grooming to regain their composure. A cat shifter that is routinely clumsy or breaks first on hunts will be viewed with condescending pity by other members of the pride.
Stalking other cat shifters is a childish behavior that is acceptable in kittens and cubs but not in adults. Adult shifters who sneak up on another are considered to be show-offs or to be deliberately causing trouble. This is especially true if they manage to actually startle the other cat and cause them to embarrass themselves.
Prides share resources, especially food resources. The kill pit is an important central part of any pride's existence, and adding one's kill to the pit is of paramount importance to ensure that all members of the pride, from the cubs to the elderly, receive enough food. It's acceptable to snack on small game during a hunt, but any large game that is sufficient to feed several cats should always be brought back to the kill pit before any of it is consumed. A cat that drags in a half-eaten carcass is a greedy, rude cat who is not contributing as much as they could to the pride. Depending on how much of their kill they ate before bringing it back, the patriarch may ban them from the kill pit for several days, meaning that they must now hunt daily for their own sustinence and cannot take any larger game from the territory.
Common Dress Code
Female cat shifters will dress uniformly for a hunt as a sign of pride unity and for easy identification in the field. Sturdy fingerless leather gloves and leather wraps around the feet protect the paw pads in dense forest or jungle terrain, or from cold snow or sharp rocks. The hunters will also wear headbands with family sigils and runes for endurance, swift movement, or luck. Gloves, footwraps, and headbands are all dyed or painted to be the same color. As few loose pieces are worn on a hunt as possible, and all jewelry is left behind. Some hunters will carry bags with medicinal herbs in case of an injury, and these are worn on a leather strap cross-body, to prevent them from slipping off if the hunter has to shift quickly into their natural form.
When in the settlement, shifters dress more colorfully. Tiered collars of beaded leather, gold, or silver are a fashion statement for the wealthy. Capes are a favored accessory, often dark on the outside and lined with bright cloth or fur in cold weather. Scarves are worn in a variety of methods - over the head, over the shoulders, slung over one shoulder and tied at the hip cross-body, tied around the waist with the ends left to drape in the front, and countless other styles. These wide, decorative scarves are usually made of fine cotton and dyed in rich colors. The edges are typically embroidered or knotted into tassels. Male cat shifters often decorate themselves more heavily than females, with thicker collars, a secondary larger scarf worn like a sarong, and additional accessories like leather bracers. Some cats in colder climates will wear fur-lined leather vests and belted skirts that reach the knees, with slits at the sides for free movement.
Cuffs around the tail and piercings in the tip of the ear are the most common pieces of jewelry. It is so common for young cat shifters to forget to remove their earrings on the hunt that many have notches in their ears with a new piercing below it, a sign that they were a careless hunter in their youth. Other forms of jewelry are decorative headbands (more elaborate than those worn while hunting), bracelets, and necklaces. Cat shifters are fond of items that jingle or dangle, as they find movement pleasing and attracting to the eye. Jewelry that is made in regions heavily populated by cats often features delicate dangling chains, ribbons or pieces of colorful cloth trailing from tail cuffs, or earrings with dangling feathers attached.
Culture and Cultural Heritage
Cat shifters equally revere several primary deities. Their lives revolve around the hunt and the pride - food and family. The primary deity is the god of the sun, revered for providing sanctuary, warmth, and safe rest. Most cat species are active in crepuscular periods or at night, and spend the daylight hours resting, working on tasks that don't require physical labor, and enjoying the warm rays of the sun. They also build shrines and give offerings to Huntress, the spirit of the hunt, who is often described as "close to a goddess." Many species of cat shifters believe her to be an ancestor from the time of the War of the Gift, a spirit that has spent six hundred years watching over and guiding her children since that time, while some others truly believe her to be the animus of the hunt, a force that transcends the cat species and applies to all hunter species. This causes some disagreements among different species or even families of cat shifters, but many grow bored of the debate eventually and retire for a nap.
Hunting parties are carefully chosen by the wives of the patriarch from among the females who demonstrate the greatest skill, with an eye which skills can best complement each other. A hunting party will contain one or two trackers, multiple hunters that specialize in stealth and outflanking tactics, and three spear-hunters, who are the lead of the hunt. These three are typically the most experienced hunters in the group and decide on the target as well as the strategy. They are also responsible for flushing prey, which comes at the greatest risk - if an animal is going to fight back, it will usually be when the lead hunters first startle it into the waiting trap. On the hunt, silent signals are passed using the posture of ears, tails, and signs with the hands. Kills are field dressed, and the offal and unusable pieces are left in the forest for scavengers to consume as an offering of thanks to the Huntress.
Outright physical conflict is rare between cat shifters. With so many familial interconnections, fights among the pride would inevitably pit blood relatives against one another. Instead, cat shifters have developed a culture of social reputation and standing. Someone's dignity, or their appearance of dignity, is paramount. In larger settlements where many family prides live close to each other, such as cities and townships, this standing can be elevated or undermined based on whose hunting party someone is invited to join, who claims the most prime sunbathing spots, who brought the best prize back to the kill pit from the hunt, and a host of other subtle maneuvering. Word of mouth spreads quickly among cat shifters, and a social gaffe could result in the passive-aggressive cold shoulder for weeks, until someone else attracts the attention of the rumor mill or the shunned cat gains back their lost social standing. Cleverness and quick wit is prized in conversation, and a slip may be turned into a save if a shifter is deft enough to make a joke at their own expense, an admirable gesture in cat culture, since it necessarily means taking a small embarrassment on oneself.
Although cubs are raised by their blood families (the male cat and his wives), in the pride all adults will keep half an eye out for reckless cubs putting themselves in danger. Cats, however, believe in the school of hard knocks - instead of rushing to snatch a cub away from danger, they may simply call out a warning and a direction to stop what they're doing. If this is ignored and the cub injures themselves, the cats regard it as a lesson well learned. Adolescent cats that are just out of the cub phase may lead younger cubs into trouble or play a little too rough, and are soundly scolded for setting a poor example. A cub that runs too wild will bring embarrassment onto his or her parents, resulting in gossip in the community and loss of social standing, so cubs will often keep each other in line to avoid family embarrassment.
Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals
The year for most cats revolves around the Wild Hunt. This major holiday among cat shifters is dedicated to the Huntress, who cat shifters consider to be their kind's guiding spirit, whether she is an ancestor or a goddess. It takes place during the fourth new moon after the summer solstice, and is a festival of hunting, feasting, preserving meat for the winter, and embracing the cycle of nature. The patriarch of a pride spends the weeks leading up to the new moon carefully observing the wild herds and inventorying livestock. He will speak with hunters and farmers, judging how many animals should be culled and which specific creatures to target. The animals are chosen based on whether they are fit to survive the lean season of winter, providing the best opportunity for the animals who are not culled to maximize the land's resources and birth healthy young in the spring. In the week before the new moon, hunting groups mark the animals with ink on their shoulders or rump, ensuring the right beasts are culled.
During the Wild Hunt, all cat shifters take their natural forms, hunting the way their ancestors used to - on all fours, with only their teeth and claws as weapons. To honor the Huntress, the first kill each hunting group makes is ceremonially bled into ritual bowls. Then, the members of the hunt mark each other with the blood and spill the rest on the ground around the carcass, offering it to the Huntress along with prayers for a bountiful hunt. This is typically the time of year that a new female cat is initiated into a hunting group for the first time. It is considered a low-risk time to integrate a new member, since the chosen prey is already weak or sick and there are so many hunting parties venturing out at the same time. Young cats on their first hunt are not only marked across the cheeks and brow with the first kill's blood, as is traditional, but around the muzzle and on the backs of the hands as well.
Subsequent kills after the first are field dressed and returned to the settlement until all the marked animals have been culled from the territory. The pride then eats their fill, stores the carcasses in cold larders, and spends the rest of the day lazing around the settlement, a complete rest day for every cat in the pride. Family groups rest together, sleeping in the autumn sunshine, grooming one another, telling stories of the previous night's Wild Hunt or of other celebrations in years past. When the sun sets on the day of rest, the cats begin removing the rest of their spoils from their cold cellars and preparing the meat for smoking, spice preservation, or other ways of keeping the food edible during the lean season. Chicken coops and dovecotes are weatherproofed for the season, and livestock is moved to their winter homes. Once these tasks have been completed, the cats of the pride gather around a central fire. They sing, dance, and celebrate well into the night, consuming a second large feast as they do so.
The year's second major holiday is Sunheart, which begins in the days leading up to the summer solstice when daylight hours are the longest. It is said to be the time when the sun god's heart beats the strongest, and he is the most generous with his blessings onto the world below. Homes and businesses hang colorful ribbons, strings of beads, and sun-catchers from the eaves and windows of their buildings. Doors and windows are flung open, letting in the breeze, and a thorough cleaning of all buildings commences. Cats flock to the markets to try and procure items to offer to the sun god on the solstice itself - citrine, amber, yellow flowers, strings of orange beads, charms of yellow and orange thread woven around frames of sticks, and other small items of gratitude. The bounty of spring is celebrated by preparing feasts of fish, poultry, and small game. Delicacies that take considerable amounts of time to prepare, like pureed liver or blood sausage, are served during the Sunheart feast.
At the dawn of the summer solstice, the pride gathers at the sun temple or shrine, which is present in any settlement with a significant population of cats. A temple priest will lead the gathered cats in greeting the sun. They face east, following the priest in a series of slow, meditative stretches that are reminiscent of the motions of their natural forms. Aside from purring or chuffing, no words are exchanged, and the sun's beauty and warmth are allowed to speak for itself. Once the greetings are over, the priest opens the temple for offerings, and cats proceed to heap the altar with the items they procured in the days leading up to the solstice. Some cats may offer silent prayers to the sun god to smooth particular harships, while others may ask for a blessing out loud with common phrases such as "smile upon our pride this year."
After the ceremonial gravitas of the morning's rituals, however, it can be said that a pride of cats forgets their dignity for a time. The sun god is regarded as a warm and joyful deity, and so in the remainder of the morning hours until the feast in the mid-afternoon, cats discard the majority of their concerns about embarrassment and social standing in favor of attempting to make each other laugh. Daring young cats might compete to see who can climb the highest and startle an unsuspecting passerby. Cats will race through the streets in reckless games of tag. Doors to homes and businesses stand open during this time, and it is not uncommon for a game of hide-and-seek to involve the homes of complete strangers during Sunheart. The more a cat can make others laugh by pranks or the sheer joy of leaping through the streets, the more blessings and good luck they are said to bring themselves during the year.
Even during the feast, cats continue the jovial atmosphere. It is traditional to tell tall tales, exaggerate one's hunting achievements, and tell obvious lies about competitions won. The rest of the pride is meant to jeer at the braggart good-naturedly, shouting their own boasts over the other's, until the boasting becomes so ridiculous that someone breaks character and laughs. Conversation will then continue until someone at the feast begins the whole thing again. This continues well into the night, until the pride has eaten and drank themselves to sleep around the table. When they all wake the next morning, it is often joked that the pre-Sunheart cleaning has become post-Sunheart cleaning, and the detrius of the celebration is dutifully cleared away again.
The most solemn ceremony in cat culture is a young male's last walk with his pride. This does not come at a specific time of the year, but at a specific time in a male cat shifter's life. It does not necessarily coincide immediately with adulthood, but with the time that the male's mothers judge that he is ready to make the journey. This journey is simply called the Walk. Before a male cub comes of age, he has heard the Walk spoken about by other males in the pride as a time of spiritual reflection, self-discovery, and maturation. Now, he prepares for the physical reality of venturing away from the pride and the support of the female hunters.
The preparation begins with three days of fasting, which is symbolic of the hardships he will have to endure in the wild on those times when he will inevitably be unsuccessful on the hunt. He keeps a silent vigil in front of the altar or temple to the Huntress during his fast. His mothers or sisters may visit to bring him water, but he cannot have any food from sunrise on the first day until sunrise on the fourth. When he is finally allowed to break his fast, the patriarch and other males of the pride that have made their Walk come to collect him. From then on, he is in the company of the males, who test the young cat's knowledge of medicinal herbs, hunting tactics, tracking, and woodsmanship. They impart on him as much wisdom as they can during this final day before his departure. A cat's father will give him a hunting knife to take with him on his Walk, or if the cat does not have a father in the pride, the patriarch will take up this duty.
At sunset, the pride's males escort the departing cat to the edge of the settlement, where his mothers and sisters are waiting for him. They equip him with everything else he will need on his journey - travel bags, a bedroll, a rain cloak, money they have saved for the occasion. Sisters will often gift smaller items, like handmade protection, luck, or strength charms. The female relatives will gather around the male one last time, brushing cheeks to exchange scent marks before he leaves the pride for good. Finally, as the male sets out alone on the road away from his home, the females slip back into the shadows and follow. If he encounters danger before he leaves the pride's boundaries, they will do their best to protect him from it without being seen. If he attempts to turn back, they will bar his way and ensure he journeys on. Once he reaches the edges of the pride's lands, his mothers and sisters will turn back, and it is then he will know he is truly making his way alone.
Common Taboos
It is uncouth and disruptive to pursue a married male without first obtaining permission from their primary wife. Any female who attempts to pursue a mated man in secret is considered deceitful, a betrayer of her sisters, and is often driven out of the pride. In the same vein, a female cat who is currently in a marriage is not permitted to step outside her marriage and seek other males.
Patriarchs control which game can be hunted, by whom, and when. They are constantly informed by the females of the pride regarding prey populations, grazing conditions, and the health of the livestock herds. A patriarch is the only member of a pride that can order a culling or approve livestock animals for slaughter, and hunting in unauthorized areas or pursuing game out of season can result in severe penalties, perhaps even expulsion from the pride.
History
The jaguars claim that they were one of the first species raised in the War of the Gift, and were indeed one of the first to be approached for assistance in the war by King Llyn and his loyal dragons. During the Year of Blood, the jaguar shifters oversaw the forced displacement of the horsefolk from the interior plains through the Tangled Jungle and into the Wilds. The opinion they formed of the horsefolk during this period was largely negative, viewing them as a weak culture that was incapable of defending themselves.
In the immediate aftermath, two families of cat shifters were elevated to High Nobility. House Sunspear, a jaguar pride in the Tangled Jungle, and House Shadowstrike, a mountain lion pride in the foothills of the Flame Mountains, were granted large territories and given border defense duties. Subsequently, several other families of cat shifters were elevated to vassal nobility - House Deadwalk (clouded leopards) and House Darkstep (jaguarundi) were ennobled by the jaguars of Sunspear, while House Razorclaw (bobcats) was ennobled by the Shadowstrikes.
Cat shifters are respected across the kingdom, and are one of the groups of shifters that enjoy higher social status because of their physical capabilities and group relation with prominent nobility.
Scientific Name
Felidae
Geographic Distribution
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