The Cattan (Kat-ahn)

As one dips into the whirlpool that is Ashirion's history one finds many things, some good, some bad and some tragic. So it is that the historian settles upon the Cattan and turns his weary page one more time to chronicle what remains known about this race, a race that thanks to the depredations of the Shadoen - is almost extinct. Over the next few pages, we shall be taking a look at what remains of these once noble, proud and feline warriors.

What are the Cattan?

The Cattan are a race of anthromorphic 'feline' creatures that came from the whim of the Cat Lord 'Lord Capricious'. Where ere the Wolf God set down his progeny, the Cat Lord laid a mirror and made a reflection of such, for the Shakari he shaped the Eldrin, for the Wolvren the Cattan. Little or no thought was given to these people - they were cast from the primal forces of the world at the whim of their god, a god that in all sense and purpose was indeed fickle.

What do Cattan look like?

They stand on 'planti-grade' (human style) legs, at a height of no more than seven feet tall. They are built on a much larger body mass than humans, and have broad thick shoulders and tightly packed muscles, as one would expect from a race of cat-creatures that are modelled from the 'predatory' big cat frame. Upon their shoulders sits the feline head, full of teeth and twitching whiskers, their heads and bodies are drawn from the big cat types such as: Panther, Jaguar, Leopard, Cheetah, Lion, Tiger, Lynx and Puma to name but a few. Their arms, end in vicious long retractable-clawed hands, they do not have paws...they have clawed hands, strong-clawed hands capable of ripping flesh to bloody ragged tears.

Their lower body is just as strong and powerful as the upper, their legs, while thickly muscled and packed with mass, are capable of delivering a crushing kick that can knock an opponent back quite a few feet. Most Cattan can wear boots, but some Cattan remain bare-footed, all the better to use their wickedly long clawed feet to great effect. Again, the claws are retractable and very sharp, like most predatory cat-claws. They have a long, sinuous tail that can be extremely expressive and in some ways prehensile, although not strong enough to carry an extra weapon or use in any way to hang from branches.

They have the usual fur markings of their big-cat relatives and display the same colourations and eye-colours of those cat 'phenotypes' mottling and so on, rosettes and fine lines, circles and so forth.

Unlike their big-cat counterparts however, male Cattan and Female Cattan have a more humanoid genital and body structure in those respects, no barbs and no extra nipples. They do have a generous covering of body fur and most look down upon the display of their bodies outside of a closed group of felines, so they take great pains in wearing clothing amongst the other races.

What do Cattan wear?

For casual clothing, they prefer light clothing, something that preserves modesty and covers their bodies. But something that is not heavy or likely to cause them to overly sweat much. So simple shirts and leggings, cut with a hole for their tails, fingerless gloves so their claws can slide out easily. Some may well wear a cloak and again, this will be light and easily removable, they don't like to be confined, they like to have a range of swift movements.

For war or combat, things are different. They will dress in plate armour and the more ornate and showy the better - they like to make an impression. Most of the armour will be lacquered to really show off the Cattan's sense of pride in his equipment. Metal swords are polished to a high degree and shine, the back of the helm is often left open or the helm is left off entirely, so their manes can flow freely and without restriction. The armour itself is usually highly decorated and covered with ornate cat-figures and motifs, some of these are from the various tribes and some of them are personal preferences from the Cattan who wears them. They very rarely go into formal battle or informal battle without boots either, they know full well after a period of tense civil war inside their homeland, the other side can place down traps to cripple a bare-footed Cattan or worse.

What about Cattan Weapons?

The Cattan favours a weapon that is light and fast, usually curved or thin. They liken their weapons to 'claws' and are just as effective with them as they are with their natural weapons. Most weapons are decorated with small icons and designs, again, cat-like in nature and they favour hanging ribbons, beads and scarves from the hilts. These are usually bright colours and made from very fine silks. For ranged weapons they despise the crossbow, since the trigger mechanism can be very tricky for them to use (Some Cattan's however are quite good with that weapon). Most of them prefer the larger, longbow, something that can give them a good reach before they go toe-to-toe with a potential enemy.

Cattan Society

At one time they were a powerful and respected (usually from fear) Empire from the Eastern Shardlands of Ashirion. They had their clawed hands into all four corners of that land, and many tribes existed all under the leadership of one ruler, the noble and proud King Rrawrdarr (The Bloodtiger). The King banded and united the disparate tribes after a bloody Civil War that happened in 3000 DW, the Cattan Homelands knew a time of peace until their destruction in 3481 DW. We shall speak of that much later however, for now is the time of remembrance and learning of the age when the Cattan were at their height of power.

Cattan Society took many fragments from the world around it, they were much more focussed than the Wolvren and they were much more dedicated to certain of life's elements. For one, it is best to describe the Cattan as a cross between a military regime and a decadent empire on the verge of self-destruction and collapse (Roman or Greek for instance). They were hedonists who plunged themselves into everything they did, while most cat-creatures could have been described as lazy, the Cattan were far from lay-about and 'sun' drinkers as many irked Human historians have labelled them. They threw wild parties and partook of dark delights, they would challenge each other to single combat (usually to the death) in the many 'gladiatorial' stadiums of their homeland, but they were far from savage, everything was formalised.

Their military was known to be one of the finest next to the Shakari, and certain Human, Elven forces of course. And they spent a great deal of time in battle to hone those skills, leadership and tactics were however a little shaky at times, due to the fact that cat-creatures do not tend to follow the excellent 'pack' instincts of the lupines. So one leader might fall due to the inaction of his troops, usually because they were not sufficiently motivated or they just didn't like him, or her. While not as solitary as many of the natural cat-creatures, the Cattan evinced a certain arrogance that would become their 'Achilles' heel in 3481. Again, we shall speak of this later in these parchments. Their music was mostly drum and string based, their claws oddly enough made playing harps, lutes and the like unique, and the sound was an acquired taste to some - I personally found it to be quite soothing, unless of course you had the Cattan singers, which really sounded like yowling to a non feline ear.

For beverages they would drink a light spiced wine that we came to call, enoohiyE, this being the word for 'mule' in the feline tongue (both Cattan and Felin use the same language) some Cattan renamed it to 'caiaessicai' which means 'kick' and later on still it became known to us as Cai. Even though the wine was light, it had the power to knock most beings down and out for a good few hours, but the Cattan would drink it till they passed out for days. I remember waking up at one of their weddings and finding that I'd accidentally proposed to the King's wife, the King was fine about this and somewhere for quite a while I was married to a Cattan. Later on, to avoid this particular problem, the Cattani adopted the more human style of marriage - one mate, for as long as they both shall live.

Cattani society being cutthroat however saw a lot of divorces via a dagger or a poisoned cup of Cai.

Cattan Architecture?

Stone and steel, are the primary constructions of the Cattan Empire at the turn of the Bloodtiger's reign, the inclusion of these methods were part of his plan to strengthen his hold on the Capital of 'JagorR' and also stop his people from being burned as Barbarian and other raiders would simply set fire to their wooden constructions and forts. He is the first Cattan to utilise metal in the construction of walls and defences, also one of the first Cattan to understand the advanced concepts of steel braced walls and stone fortifications. Their villages became Cities over a matter of years and eventually each major population centre was more like a fortified town, or a barricaded City. The fires of the watchtowers would burn long into the night and the cries of the Cattan in battle would chill the Barbarian raiders who knew naught of this advanced warmongery, they expected to find an easy target - they found only death and yowling battle cries.

Cattan builder's favoured pillars and sloped roofs, they favoured carvings and ornate hangings. Sometimes they would link a group of rooftops together in order of descending height, these of course would be brightly coloured and painted (sometimes they would even be gilded). The prime concern was making this look visually appealing while keeping a certain practical defensive construction, so in addition to this they would often add spikes and protrusions, since the Cattan had nimble reflexes and could quite easily avoid them. Most children were taught at an early age, exactly how to watch for the 'spike-roofs' and dodge the sharp barbs, but any invader who wanted a quick trip across a Cattan City would be met by these distractions. Curves and sharp angles were also incorporated into Cattani structures, and it is with a sad heart that I report, nothing of the Cattani Cities now remains - this is a loss to the sage community as a whole.

Cattan Attitude and Mindset

The Cattan of then are very much different to what is known of the Cattan of now, the Cattan before were arrogant and supremely confident in their ability as Warriors, and this is what saw their demise against the fell Shadoen. They refused help when it was offered, from the Shakari and the others, saying their God would protect them and if he did not then the Shadoen would learn that the Cattan were descended from the mighty Eldrin. The Cat Lord, must have been laughing for a while when he heard that, considering nothing is further from the truth. In one week, nothing remained of the Cattan's home shard, except the crumbling Waystone that I once laid to connect the realms to our own. The price of eternal vigilance and ignorance is often paid in rivers of blood, as the Shakari well know, for they trod a path before the Cattan that almost saw them become a footnote in the books of yore.

Now the Cattan are learning, they are learning they are far from the 'predators' of Ashirion that they once thought they were. Their world lies in ruins and their power base is broken, they are a shadow of their former selves whose tails are firmly tucked between their legs. They must now relearn how to 'fit' in formal society once more, for the powers that be, the people of the broken sphere do not easily forgive or do they forget when the hand of friendship comes back ripped in tatters.

What was once known of them remains in the hands of beings such as the Great Wolf. Who could have helped them, but they refused even him. Still, my story, their story is far from over - so I continue my work here and now, to remind you of what they once were.

Aside from the arrogance and the irritating self-centred nature of the race, the Cattan played hard and they worked hard. Each member of their society had a job or task, be it from a runner to a War Leader and they did that to the best of their ability, they educated their children in the arts of war and the arts themselves, they were quite the proponents of the dramatic arts and staged many fine plays. They were not overly fond of neither dancing nor enthusiastic movement that came from such an exertion. They had a passion for sculpture and painting, and as said before music. In love they were united and faithful, they do not openly show affection in public, and nor do they mrrr, purr, or snuggle as I have heard bard's tales speak of such. Any Cattan who displays those tendencies was thought of as a lunatic by their peers and openly ostracised, some may even have been killed by a local shaman, due to the chance that they were possessed by the spirit of another unworthy race, such as say - the Foxlin for instance. Any Cattan who invades another's personal space without invite is likely to find that they themselves are flattened and ripped to shreds, without a warning.

They were not a race that wore their hearts on their sleeves so to speak, they kept themselves to themselves, Cattan to Cattan, breeding with an inferior race such as a human or a Felin was thought of as akin to prostitution - there were no sex slave Cattan or prostitute Cattan. The last reported incident of such was in Sudelar where the King's chancellor himself had to call in a surgeon with great magical skill to reattach something important, which the Cattani had 'bitten' right off.

They however did make wonderful bodyguards and excellent merchants, so it is highly likely that Cattani who survived the desolation of their homeland would indeed take up a similar kind of career and attempt to fit back into something again, for they loathe to be left out of the loop, out of the way of things, out of sight and mind. Imagine if you will a large giant cat that wants you to pay some attention, they rip up the furniture, or sit in you parchment tray, steal your crystal ball - of course the Cattan do not do that kind of thing, no, they tend to get into your face about it, they tend to complain and they tend to make themselves heard. They are not a race that likes to be kept in the dark, even though, they themselves kept others in the dark.

Any Cattan that are encountered these days are nomads, forgotten wanderers of their once proud Empire, misfits and hopefuls. They will be a sad reminder of the powers of darkness and the price of pride, they will not be prone to opening to any but the closest of confidants and certainly they will never mate with a non-Cattan, it is highly likely that they would find themselves hunted down by other Cattan if they did, the numbers are so thin these days - diluting the bloodline of this proud cat race is not acceptable and they are still arrogant about that. They are Cattan and even if offered the change from an Eldrin, they would elect to remain who they are.

And for now, this is all I will say on the subject.

~Serbannen (The Wise)