Tabaxi (/tɑːˈbæksi/ ta-BÆK-see or: /tɑːˈbɑːʃi/ ta-BAHSH-ee)

Tabaxi, also known as jaguar people or cat-men, were a race of feline humanoids native to the jungles of Maztica.
Hailing from a strange and distant land, wandering tabaxi are catlike humanoids driven by curiosity to collect interesting artifacts, gather tales and stories, and lay eyes on all the world's wonders. Ultimate travelers, the Inquisitive tabaxi rarely stay in one place for long. Their innate nature pushes them to leave no secrets uncovered, no treasures or legends lost.
Wandering Outcasts. Most tabaxi remain in their distant homeland, content to dwell in small, tight clans. These tabaxi hunt for food, craft goods, and largely keep to themselves. However, not all tabaxi are satisfied with such a life. The Cat Lord, the divine figure responsible for the creation of the tabaxi, gifts each of his children with one specific feline trait. Those tabaxi gifted with curiosity are compelled to wander far and wide. They seek out stories, artifacts, and lore. Those who survive this period of wanderlust return home in their elder years to share news of the outside world. In this manner, the tabaxi remain isolated but never ignorant of the world beyond their home.
Barterers of Lore. Tabaxi treasure knowledge rather than material things. A chest filled with gold coins might be useful to buy food or a coil of rope, but it's not intrinsically interesting. In the tabaxi's eyes, gathering wealth is like packing rations for a long trip. It's important to survive in the world, but not worth fussing over. Instead, tabaxi value knowledge and new experiences. Their ears perk up in a busy tavern, and they tease out stories with offers of food, drink, and coin. Tabaxi might walk away with empty purses, but they mull over the stories and rumors they collected like a miser counting coins.
Although material wealth holds little attraction for the tabaxi, they have an insatiable desire to find and inspect ancient relics, magical items, and other rare objects. Aside from the power such items might confer, a tabaxi takes great joy in unraveling the stories behind their creation and the history of their use.
Fleeting Fancies. Wandering tabaxi are mercurial creatures, trading one obsession or passion for the next as the whim strikes. A tabaxi's desire burns bright, but once met it disappears to be replaced with a new obsession. Objects remain intriguing only as long as they still hold secrets. A tabaxi rogue could happily spend months plotting to steal a strange gem from a noble, only to trade it for passage on a ship or a week's lodging after stealing it. The tabaxi might take extensive notes or memorize every facet of the gem before passing it on, but the gem holds no more allure once its secrets and nature have been laid bare.
Tinkers and Minstrels. Curiosity drives most of the tabaxi found outside their homeland, but not all of them become adventurers. Tabaxi who seek a safer path to satisfy their obsessions become wandering tinkers and minstrels. These tabaxi work in small troupes, usually consisting of an elder, more experienced tabaxi who guides up to four young ones learning their way in the world. They travel in small, colorful wagons, moving from settlement to settlement. When they arrive, they set up a small stage in a public square where they sing, play instruments, tell stories, and offer exotic goods in trade for items that spark their interest. Tabaxi reluctantly accept gold, but they much prefer interesting objects or pieces of lore as payment.
These wanderers keep to civilized realms, preferring to bargain instead of pursuing more dangerous methods of sating their curiosity. However, they aren't above a little discreet theft to get their claws on a particularly interesting item when an owner refuses to sell or trade it.

Basic Information

Biological Traits

Tabaxi were taller than most humans at six to seven feet. Their bodies were slender and covered in spotted or striped fur. Like most felines, Tabaxi had long tails and retractable claws. Tabaxi fur color ranged from light yellow to brownish red. Tabaxi eyes were slit-pupilled and usually green or yellow.
Tabaxi were competent swimmers and climbers as well as speedy runners. They had a good sense of balance and an acute sense of smell.

Etymology

Depending on their region and fur coloration, tabaxi were known by different names. Tabaxi with solid spots were sometimes called leopard-folk, tabaxi with rosette spots were called jaguar-folk and tabaxi with stripes were called tiger-folk.
The way the tabaxi pronounced their own name also varied; the "leopard-folk" pronounced it ta-BÆK-see, the jaguar-folk tah-BAHSH-ee and the tiger-folk TĀ-bahk-see.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Tabaxi primarily follow a carnivorous diet, relying on meat as their main source of sustenance. With their sharp teeth and claws, they are skilled hunters and are known to consume a variety of meats. This can include wild game, fish, and smaller creatures like rodents or birds.
While meat forms the basis of their diet, Tabaxi may also consume plant matter to supplement their meals. This can include berries, fruits, or other plant-based foods when meat is scarce or as a complementary addition to their diet.
Tabaxi have a preference for fresh food, especially meat that has been recently caught or harvested. They tend to value meals made from fresh ingredients and may not be particularly fond of processed or preserved foods.
It's important to note that Tabaxi dietary habits may differ among various regions or tribes. For instance, Tabaxi living in tropical rainforests might have a diet that includes more exotic meats and tropical fruits.

Behaviour

Personality

Tabaxi were a reclusive people who often avoided interaction with other intelligent races. However, as each tabaxi possessed a specific feline trait, some had an innate curiosity that compelled them to travel and seek out stories, artifacts, new experiences and knowledge, never remaining in the same place or obsessing over the same piece of lore for too long.
In general, tabaxi did not care for wealth, but they had an almost obsessive interest in ancient artifacts, relics and magic items, not for the items themselves as much as the stories and secrets they held. Once an item had been thoroughly examined and studied, and its secrets revealed, it would lose its allure and the tabaxi would quickly lose interest and pass it on.
Not all tabaxi were motivated by curiosity to leave their homeland, however. Some found safer ways to satisfy their fleeting obsessions by becoming traveling minstrels and tinkers, often accepting interesting objects and stories as payment for their services.

Combat

Tabaxi were exceptional hunters and utilized these skills in combat. Speed and stealth combined with their natural camouflage meant that tabaxi were particularity skilled at surprise attacks. Tabaxi were even known to disguise their scent with aromatic herbs. Their hunting skills and intelligence made them formidable tacticians. Groups would often drive prey into ambushes, sometime playing with their doomed foe before killing them. Tabaxi clans did have berserker warriors within them, these were known as blood-stalkers.
For weapons, tabaxi favored bolas, slings, macas, and javelins with atlatl. These weapons would often be made from wood, bone or stone. Tabaxi were just as likely to use weapons as they were to use their claws and teeth. Their preference of simple weapons was not due to a lack of capability. Tabaxi were quite capable of adapting to new technology or salvaged weapons.
Due to their knowledge of hunting, intelligence and sense of smell, it was practically impossible to trap a tabaxi.

Additional Information

Social Structure

Tabaxi society was built around clans. Clans were split evenly between males and females with 3 to 12 young. Each clan had several Hunts each made up of two to eight individuals. The Hunts patrolled the area around the clan's lair.
Although tabaxi lairs were sometimes just temporary, they were more often small villages of ramadas. Each ramada was built from wooden poles with grass roofs.
Clans were led by elders. About half of the time, leaders were aided by shamans. Clans tended to avoid each other and did not engage in trade. Tabaxi considered trade to be demeaning but in rare instances would use third party agents to trade for them.
When the tabaxi started wandering out of their homeland of Maztica, rumors followed about strange happenings there, but the tabaxi themselves said little about them.

Uses, Products & Exploitation

Tabaxi were sometimes hunted for their pelts. Each pelt could be sold for up to 50 gp. Hishna shapers could use tabaxi skin and claws to enhance their strength. Young tabaxi could be sold on the black market for around 225 gp.

Facial characteristics

Tabaxi possess distinct facial characteristics and features that reflect their feline nature. They have cat-like eyes in colors such as yellow, green, amber, or blue, which showcase their sharpness and keen perception. Tabaxi also have long, sensitive whiskers that aid in detecting subtle changes in their environment. Their noses are elongated and slightly upturned, enhancing their sense of smell. Through their facial expressions, including narrowed eyes, raised eyebrows, twitching whiskers, and playful or curious expressions, Tabaxi convey a range of emotions. With carnivorous teeth, they have a noticeable set of sharp teeth adapted for tearing and biting into prey. These features collectively contribute to the unique appearance of Tabaxi, reflecting their feline heritage.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

Each tabaxi has a single name, determined by clan and based on a complex formula that involves astrology, prophecy, clan history, and other esoteric factors. Tabaxi names can apply to both males and females, and most use nicknames derived from or inspired by their full names. Clan names are usually based on a geographical feature located in or near the clan's territory.
The following list of sample tabaxi names includes nicknames in parenthesis.
Tabaxi Names: Cloud on the Mountaintop (Cloud), Five Timber (Timber), Jade Shoe (Jade), Left-Handed Hummingbird (Bird), Seven Thundercloud (Thunder), Skirt of Snakes (Snake), Smoking Mirror (Smoke)
Tabaxi Clans: Bright Cliffs, Distant Rain, Mountain Tree, Rumbling River, Snoring Mountain

Major Language Groups and Dialects

The Tabaxi language was an ancient form of the Payit language. Those who spoke modern Payit and knew what to listen for could usually understand about half of the Tabaxi words they heard. It was completely unrelated to the Tabaxi language of the Tabaxi tribe of Chult.

Culture and Cultural Heritage

Religion

Most clans worshiped Tezca, Nula, or (rarely) Azul. A minority of clans owed their allegiance to a jaguar lord. In this instance, Zaltec was the dominant deity of the tribe.
The creator figure in the tabaxi pantheon was the Cat Lord Lord, a fickle and tricky entity who bestowed each tabaxi with a specific feline trait and was believed to wander the world, watching over them.

History

Because of the black market and slave trade that brought them to Faerûn, some tabaxi made the jungles of Chult their home after escaping captivity. Tabaxi minstrels primarily lived in and around Port Nyanzaru, but hunters roamed the entire peninsula.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

Tabaxi had few enemies and only the most degenerate clans would attack members of other intelligent species without good reason.

Lifespan

Less than a century

Average Height

6' – 7'

Average Weight

200–250 lbs.

Average Physique

Tabaxi typically have a slender and agile physique, reflecting their feline nature. They possess a lean and lithe build, designed for speed, agility, and quick movements. Tabaxi excel in acrobatics and display grace and precision in their agile maneuvers. With cat-like features, such as a hunched posture, retractable claws, and feline eyes, they exhibit subtle cat-like qualities in their movements.

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Tabaxi have distinct body characteristics that contribute to their unique appearance. They exhibit a wide range of fur colors, including shades of red, blond, brown, and black. Additionally, they display various patterns and markings on their fur, such as stripes, spots, rosettes, or mottled patterns. Tabaxi can also have personalized markings like tattoos or paint.
Their fur can vary in length, texture, and density, with some having sleek, short fur while others possess long, flowing fur. Tabaxi further showcase a variety of eye colors, including amber, green, yellow, blue, and even violet.

The Cat Lord
The deity of the tabaxi is a fickle entity, as befits the patron of cats. The tabaxi believe that the Cat Lord wanders the world, watching over them and intervening in their affairs as needed. Clerics of the Cat Lord are rare and typically access the Trickery Domain.

Tabaxi riding atop giant toucan aerial mounts.