The Feliseans of Cartyrion

Coloration & Markings

Your fur and skin may be of various colorations and markings depending partly on which culture you derive from. Your coloration is most likely tuned to provide you with some natural camouflage in the environment in which your culture developed. These colors can range from tawny shades for those who live out in the open, to black for those in the deepest forests, to white in the polar regions. Many are either somewhat mottled or have dark spots of varying sizes to better hide in dappled sunlight, and even shades of grey have become well known among Urban culthre Catfolk.

Special Senses

While you cannot see in complete darkness, your cat eyes give you the ability to see well in light that humans and some other races would consider quite dim. You also have an exceptional sense of balance that enables you to survive falls with less damage than would be expected - and you always tend to land on your feet ready to move after a fall.

Demeanor

While much of your attitude and demeanor will be based on your culture, as a Felisian it is safe to say that you will exude self-confidence, courage, and patience. You will not back down from reasonable threats or challenges, but your approach to meeting them may not always be with physical force - cunning and patience are weapons in your arsenal as well.

Origin and Spread Across Cartyrion

The Feliseans were Awakened upon the world by the Felinar, one of the many Astralar races of deific beings that have shaped Cartyrion since its initial creation. Two distinct groups were Awakened, each in a region supporting a different biome: an open plain / savanna region south of the Great Basin, and a heavily forested jungle reagion between the sea and the mountains that ring the basin to the south and east. The first members of these Folk quickly adapted to the biome in which they found themselves, and thus two distinct cultural groups formed almost immediately: the Forestfolk and the Plainsfolk. Over time, some of the Feliseans moved into the high mountains themselves, giving rise to a culture similar to, but distinct from that of the Forest. Still others discovered they had a fascination environments completely alien to those into which their race was born: the frozen wastes of the extreme north and south, urban environments built up by Folk of other races, and even the sea itself.

Until your people started interacting with other Folk, they did not build cities or settlements. The Savanna Folk built temporary shelters that could be easily brokwn down and transported when they moved to follow the game. The Forest and Cragwalkers built more permanent shelters, but as they are loners, villages were not a concept they understood.

In the time since they started interacting with other Folk, though, your people have begun to adopt some of the ways of others. Today, there are some small clusters of dwellings in the Felisean jungles that could be called villages. In the plains, there are several settlements where some of the Catfolk live permanently. These also act as collection points for the nomadic groups to come together for celebrations and trading. FInally, as the Mariner Catfolk culture grew, the need for seaport settlements arose; there are several along both the savanna and jungle coastlines.

For a long time, there was no overarching political organization among the Feliseans, but their first encounters with the Humans caused your people to rally around a central leader to respond to incursions. Since then, the Feliseans have considered their lands to be one Kingdom - the Kingdom of Felise. There is practically no administrative structure behind this kingdom, though, other than the (mostly figurehead) King or Queen, who has been elected by the Elders of the Plains, the Elders of the Forest, and the Elders of the Mountains.

Lifecycle

Your life began with a typical live birth, and you are as likely as not to have a twin that was born with you. The odds of identical twins are very small; 'fraternal' twins are the general rule. You were born helpless, much like human children, but developed basic survival abilities much faster. You were walking by the age of five months, and beginning to speak intelligently by nine months.

Your childhood passed by more quickly than that of a human child, with you entering adolescence at about six years of age. Adolescence for Catfolk, though, is a long period of learning everything it is to be Felisean. in fact, a full twelve years will pass before your Catfolk society considers you a full adult and ready to find a mate.

Mating for life is not unheard of among the Catfolk, but it is far from common. Specific mating and family formation customs vary with culture. Among the savanna culture, "group families" may include several polygamous maies and females, and while one of each will be the "alpha", that designation is for purposes of decision making, not mating rights. Among the Forest and Cragwalker Catfolk, mating may be a fleeting activity, with the mother left along to raise any young. The other cultures have shown a variety of mating and family formation tendencies that probably reflect their original cultural ancestry.

Females are fertile till about the age of forty and barring illness or accident, individuals are expected to live approximately seventy years.

Cultures of the Catfolk

• The Cragwalker Catfolk Culture
• The Defender Catfolk Culture
• The Forest Catfolk Culture
• The Mariner Catfolk Culture
• The Savanna Catfolk Culture
• The Tundra Catfolk Culture
• The Urban Catfolk Culture

---

Banner background by RÜŞTÜ BOZKUŞ from Pixabay
Banner portrait by RPGDinosaurBob on Heroforge