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Tabaxi

DM’s Lore #

  • Racial Name: Tabaxi

  • Classification & Lifespan: Feline Humanoid, Medium size, Lifespan: 50-70 years

  • Synopsis: The Tabaxi are an artificially created species, born as a magically bound slave army, whose culture and society are fundamentally defined by an ancient, collective, and fiercely guarded desire to ensure they are never psychically controlled or enslaved again.

  • Creation & True Origin:

    • Creator: Jandar Tornalis, a brilliant but arrogant Elven sorcerer.

    • Method: Created from clay and desert earth, animated by Jandar’s magical essence and a constant, enormous psychic tether that demanded absolute obedience.

    • Key Moments:

      • 1,529 AR: Creation begins in jagged caves of the Silhol Valley.

      • c. 1,535 AR: Jandar’s psychic link snaps due to exhaustion. Tabaxi, led by NAME2, achieve awareness and slay Jandar in a combined act of self-preservation and vengeance.

      • Post-Liberation: Tabaxi scatter, forming nomadic clans, learning survival, and relying on shared instinct. History is passed down via rhythmic stories, not written text.

      • c. 1,590 AR: NAME3 leads a clan to the massive hollow beneath the dunes, beginning the creation of Jandar’s Fall and the end of the nomadic period.

  • Innate Racial Traits (Mechanical):

    • Enhanced Senses: Magically instilled sharp senses and innate agility making them formidable hunters and navigators.

    • Psychic Scarring: Due to the method of their creation, they possess an inherent resistance to effects that directly target mental obedience or telepathic command.

    • Natural Adaptation: A unique, natural proficiency in desert survival and resistance to extreme heat, inherited from being molded in the Silhol Valley.

  • Culture’s Dark Side & Taboos:

    • The Secret History: The full story of their origin is a profound cultural taboo. They share a sanitized version of their ‘liberation.’ The constant fear of true servitude fuels their absolute devotion to meritocracy and neutrality.

    • The Act of Killing Jandar: This founding event created a deep cultural scar tied to necessary violence.

  • Racial Secrets & Vulnerabilities:

    • Proprietary Architecture: The secrets of Jandar’s Fall’s cistern engineering are unique. If destroyed or entirely contaminated, the city becomes instantly uninhabitable.

    • Magic of Origin: Any magic or relic tied directly to Jandar Tornalis or his Elven bloodline may hold a unique, destabilizing influence over Tabaxi psychology.

  • Relations with Other Races (True):

    • Elves: Deep, foundational distrust rooted in their creator, Jandar Tornalis. They will trade, but will never fully trust an Elf’s intentions or magic.

    • Others: Generally indifferent, viewing them as chaotic, undisciplined, and prone to the mistakes the Tabaxi have carefully avoided. They are transactional and highly professional.

  • Adventure Hooks:

    1. Origin Retrieval: Jandar Tornalis’s bones were quickly reclaimed by the desert earth. An cult is attempting to recover the body (or an object buried with it) to analyze the creation magic and replicate the enslavement process.

    2. Relic of Order: A powerful, organized faction discovers the location of the original clay molds and tools Jandar used to shape the first Tabaxi. They believe they can harness the residual creation magic to bind a new army of slaves. The party is hired by the Speaker of the Sand to locate and destroy these relics before the dangerous artifacts can be utilized.

Player’s Knowledge #

  • Appearance & Stereotypes: Lithe, bipedal feline humanoids with fur coloration ranging from sand-white to spotted ginger. They possess sharp senses and highly expressive tails. They are stereotyped as quiet, highly observant, and relentlessly pragmatic.

  • Culture & Philosophy:

    • Core Values: Meritocracy, Communal Responsibility, and Ingenuity.

    • Common Professions: Wayfinders, Merchants, Engineers, and Desert Hunters.

    • Focus: They place high value on knowledge (especially of the desert and trade) and skill over bloodline or age.

  • Racial Strengths: Unmatched agility, keen eyesight, and an inherent ability to thrive in extreme heat. They are masters of architecture, notably inventing the passive Windcatchers that cool Jandar’s Fall and designing the life giving cisterns.

  • Racial Weaknesses: They are often viewed as emotionally guarded, overly concerned with procedure, and possess a slight, unsettling vacancy in their eyes when resting.

  • Relations with Other Races: Strictly neutral. They are indispensable trade partners and guides, but they rarely form deep military or political alliances, preferring to profit equally from all parties.

  • Names & Naming Conventions: Names are often rhythmic and related to nature or movement, sometimes taking on titles based on achievement (e.g., Sunwhisker, Quickclaw, Ghost Runner).

  • Rumors & Folklore (Unverified):

    • “They are people of the dust; it’s bad luck to share water with a Tabaxi.”

    • “Every Tabaxi knows a secret, silent language that only they can hear.”

    • “They do not know how to lie, but they are masters of omission.”

 

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