A rare variant of the leopards that inhabit the Valyean forests, the White Panther, White Leopard, or Albino Leopard has been a creature deigned with higher value than the common leopard. The Valyeans attribute mythical meaning to seeing the White Panther and remains a symbol of Valyean royalty today.
There have been few sightings of such a creature, but often recorded sightings have been attributed to higher meaning by the Valyeans.
Mythology
In Valyea's mythology, the deity Lynnae was said to manifest herself as a White Panther to roam the earth. It was said she had the power to grant visions, see the future, and in her panther form, breath fire, with its exhalation looking like black smoke.
Other tales say that the White Panther could change its colour and disappear in the blink of an eye. White was the colour it appeared as when it wished to be seen. And others read that the White Panther could lift a weight five times its own, that its teeth and claws were venomous, and its roar was like a heavenly chime.
These contribute to various stories involving mythical warriors, such as the Tale of Yohannas where the warrior Yohannas hunted and fought with a White Panther believing it had eaten their children. When they cut open its guts, they found silver and a terrible hurricane swept the coast of Valyea, signally the innocent execution of a noble beast. They buried it amongst the slopes and its corpse spawned a white cotton tree, of which the cloth was silver and tough as steel. Yohannas used this cloth to make a silver tunic. The tunic protected them from a stab wound from the King of the Mountains during combat, and gave Yohannas the upper hand in overthrowing the king.
Historical Sightings
Birth of the Valyean Empire
It's said that King Mikhael III, before the Ketta-Valyean War of 161 RB, has been hunting in the forests with a small party. They came across a White Panther during the night, that was sleeping amongst a pile of carcasses of monkeys. The three stars of Cunni, Leijo, and Regula were the only stars visible from the area of the forest they were in. When they went to approach the big cat, it looked at King Mikhael, yawned and slowly blinked, signalling familiarity.
The company and the King saw it as a sign of victory and the tale was told during the Ketta-Valyean War, boosting morale, and leading the King to believe he would forge an empire. This is why the White Panther appears with three stars on the banner of the Empire. Before, the White Panther had been alone on their nation's banner. The court believed the three stars represented Kettel, F'yore, and Lamércia - the three major powers at the time.
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