Werecats

Race: Werecats

Subraces: Civil and Feral

Human form:

         Werecats in general are taller than the average human when in human form with an average height for males of 7 feet and average for females of 6 feet 9 inches. All werecats can have only three eye colors: gold, green, or blue. Gold is the most common eye color and blue the least common, but blue eyes are more common with Civil than Feral Werecats.

         A more common trait among Ferals is sharp feline teeth within a human mouth, but Civils’ teeth are smaller, flatter, and more human-like though they remain sharper than ordinary humans’ teeth. One commonality of all werecats is that they have pointed and furred feline ears in human form and each have a unique feline form.

Feline Form:

         Feline forms vary from werecat to werecat, but Ferals generally have larger feline forms than Civils suitable to their home environment, though most feline forms are wildcats for both sides of the rift. Uniquely to the race, all feline forms have retractable claws, though not all wildcats do, and even in human form can werecats expose or retract their claws.

Feral Lifestyle:

         Feral Werecats live in woodlands, mountains, and plains as tribes or prides of nomadic hunters and occasional gatherers. Meat is the bulk of their diet, but they are never wasteful. They kill just enough to feed themselves and if there is extra meat it is stored for winter. Fur and skin from their prey is used for clothing, while they use bones and teeth for tools, similarly to native human tribes.

         Ferals serve no lord, but they have an Elder Leader, who usually is the oldest and often greatest warrior among them. A male Elder is called Elder Prince and a female Elder is Princess Bastet. Female Elders are not very common, because if a female is able to bear kits she most likely chooses that over battle. She is never denied a chance to be a Warrior though, for all kits regardless of gender are trained for battle. Only when the kit comes of age can she decide whether to continue and become a Warrior or step back and become Healers or mothers. In this sense, female Elders are afforded more respect for very few willingly trade raising a family for life of endless danger and threat of death. Most female Elders have no kits, but she can choose an heir from among all the Warriors to take her place when she finally bows to death.

         Those chosen as the Elder’s heirs are named Generals, but the rest of the tribe are simply Warriors unless given a special title, such as Trainer or Healer. Trainers train the kits for battle and Healers serve as midwives when a mother is expecting or a physician to mend returning Warriors wounds. Healer Trainers are skilled Healers that train those who choose to become Healers.

         Ferals are often at war to hold claim in their territories, but they hold mothers in high regard and consider each of their kits a blessing. Warriors commonly hug their kits and life-mates (spouses) as soon as they return from battle, before even having a Healer check their wounds.

Civil Lifestyle:

         Civil Werecats live in small rural or pastoral, or sometimes combinations of both, villages under the rule of lords. They honor their lords with taxes paid from their farms or herds and if necessary marry their daughters to the lord and his family. Common herd animals in pastoral and combination villages are sheep and goats, used for clothing and milk and only occasionally to eat. The Civil diet is more vegetarian than the Feral diet, for Civils only eat what they grew and raised with their on hands. Their philosophy is, “If you didn’t work for it you don’t eat it.” Paying taxes to their lords fits in this philosophy, because the lords work to keep their flocks safe.

         The Civils have no armies or to protect their villages, except whom their lord hires to protect his land. Civils don’t often go to battle, but those in pastoral or combination villages often assist each other to raise and guard their herds from Ferals that, according to stories against them, have no shame in stealing animals. Civil lords and lands promote solidarity among them, as do the families and Warriors to the Ferals. Civils enjoy their families just the same, but without major threats they can easily take families for granted.

         The hierarchy in the villages is simpler than the Feral hierarchy. Lords are masters of the village lands, and heirs come from within the ruling family, a kit if he has one or a brother if he is childless. Females can become lords but rarely do, for sons are preferred in leadership positions and most daughters aren’t trained for war. As leaders the lords must have combat training lest they fail their duty.

         This hierarchy also follows into the villages. Males are masters of their houses and trained in very basic fighting skills as guards, though fathers train their daughters if they have no sons or if the daughter is best suited for guardianship. The training is also an outlet for some kits who exhibit more of their natural Feral nature, which turns training into a control device instead of a necessity or worth knowing in itself.

Tensions:

         Considering their larger territory, there are more Feral Werecats than Civil Werecats, but the Civils will say that the Ferals are the exception instead of the rule. Civils are generally proud of their civilized status and the lords they serve. They are so proud and arrogant that oftentimes they demonize their wild kin. Ferals are the subject of almost all Civil horror stories, and are even blamed for crimes within the villages!

         The bitter history that made them so angry and separated the two groups has never been explained, for it was forgotten. Most of Werecat history is oral history and only the Civil Lords have written libraries. So only a Civil Lord could answer the question, and clearly he would have a bias.

Powers/Abilities:

         Werecats’ strongest and best-known ability is their ability to change between human and feline forms at will. As forementioned, all werecats have wildcat feline forms and Feral forms are larger than Civil forms. These forms can both express a specific werecat's personality and homeland. For example, a werecat born in a mountainous area, whether Feral or Civil, has a feline form suitable to the mountain land and climate such as a Lynx, Mountain Lion, or Snow Leopard. A flatland, plains, or grasslands dweller would have a Cheetah or Lion Feline form, and forest-dwellers could have Tiger, Jaguar, or Bobcat feline forms. Based on personality, werecats have absolutely any feline form and markings possible.

         Other abilities, due to the wilder part of their nature, are heightened senses, speed, strength, and agility. Werecats have better night vision than humans and sharper hearing. Werecats’ sense of smell is better than humans, but not as keen as dogs or werewolves.

         Werecats can run faster and longer than humans but equally fast to most Seelie Races. Their strength is greater than both humans and the ordinary cats they take in feline form. Agility is a combination of speed and flexibility. All Seelie Races have speed, but the flexibility of werecats is rarely outmatched. As ordinary cats are acrobats so are werecats in either form.

         Another skill worth mention would be mental strength. Werecats have faster mental development than humans that never decays or changes with age. They also have a good sense of people’s emotions around them and have the ability, especially in feline form, of telepathy. Werecats can speak to others in their minds and can be spoken to the same way, if their audience accepts the exchange.

Religion:

         The Werecats’ religion is a mix of ancestor worship and monotheism. They claim a history beginning in Ancient Egypt, but as a people only worship Bastet of the Egyptian Pantheon. Whether Civil or Feral, they claim Bastet as the Mother and Queen of their entire race, though each of the two groups considers their group her favored children. Ferals claim themselves as the warriors who will protect their Mother when another comes to steal her throne, and the Civils consider themselves her most faithful servants who will see her rise to her highest place. Because of their stations in life, both groups interpret lordship differently. The Civils see their lords as Bastet’s acknowledged heirs, while the Ferals consider the lords usurpers sent to enslave their Mother’s children.

Traditions

         All werecats have annual festivals in spring and autumn. In the spring, Civils celebrate Bastet blessing a new growing season, or in the pastoral villages, birthing season for their animals. The Ferals celebrate spring as the beginning of their year and and how their Mother gave them life. Autumn is the Civils’ main harvest season and they celebrate the fruits of their labor in the land, while Ferals see it as the dying of their year. The Autumn Festival in Feral territory is a solemn affair, for much of the season is used making sure they’d have enough to eat for the land’s death in winter.

         Summer and autumn are key seasons for werecat Coming-of-Age Ceremonies, though these Ceremonies could take place any season, except Winter. Even Civils can feel the land’s Winter death. A werecat’s coming-of-age is a dangerous time for them, though it also brings joy because it marks the time when they are old enough to sire or bear kits and considered adults.

         The time is dangerous because with it comes an urge to mate that cannot be denied. When that need is not fulfilled, a Werecat can lose his or her mind. Civils fear it, for they think it means their kits will become deadly and terrible Ferals, but the fear for Ferals is that their kits will die. Denial can’t kill but facing battle with uncertain mind is certain death.

         Because of these fears, werecat parents choose mates for their kits at birth. Their chosen mates are born the same year because the kits shall come of age at the same time and be prepared to satisfy each other. Another precaution keeps youths close to home for up to a month around each kit’s precarious fourteenth to sixteenth birthdays. Ferals can not afford a volatile youth in battle and Civils want to keep their kits ‘safe.’ Both Civil and Feral werecats publicly recognize kits coming-of-age with a feast honoring all who came of age, though the celebration comes after the young ones had mated, because before then youths are most volatile.