Catfolk of Darodem and Beyond
Ringwaldts Catfolk design came as much from the want to buck fantasy conventions as it was to design a cat people I found interesting.
I knew I did not want to fall into the genre convention of, X group is just here because they are.
And that led to the spark that would be ‘Catgirl Vikings’ which also works as a good tag line better then ‘Catfolk Vikings’ I feel.
So I now knew where I was going with catfolk as before that they were planned to have gone mostly extinct.
This new spark revitalized my thoughts so my designs started to formulate.
One of the first things to come from this was to answer the question what do the Catfolk of my setting look like?
Thinking about that gave me an idea what to call each of my catfolk subtypes.
Lions or Tigers(sometimes Ligers); These are the most bestial and outright animalistic, at least in appearance, catfolk.
( Art by Awkwardos )
Leopards; Refer to any catfolk who are mostly passable for human but still have the fur claws and other traits of a cat.
( Art by MizaelTengu)
And another just for reference
( Artist I...actually can’t read their signature *sweat drop* )
Lynx or Kitten(if you are feeling to be rude); These cover Catgirls characters with claws, ears, eyes, and/or tail and no other major additional traits.
The Nekomata of Eriona are this category.
( Artist : Embersign!)
So I had 3 Distinctions of Catfolk in three differing sub-types.
And from that I started to expand outwards on what makes Catfolk, well Catfolk. Starting by noting the differences between the subtypes.
Ligers obviously were the biggest but such size and competitive attitudes led me to the idea they were the traditional leaders in older times. The more technology has advanced with weapons and armour the less they have been able to assert such physical power on the other Catfolk. They also traditionally controlled most of Darodem pushing out the other Catfolk into surrounding regions in waves of migration.
Leopards as one of the groups oppressed by the Ligers initially moved to outlying regions. They would return with new weapons, allies etc, to retake territory from the Ligers in a dance back and forth for territory.
Lynx spread out faster then the Leopards. They were aided by a mostly human appearance making it easy to attach themselves to human traders, ships and more. Along with joining Leopards migration away from Liger controlled territory has greatly spread the Lynx beyond their home region of Darodem. Well the Leopards and Ligers fought the Lynx simply avoided it and carved out their own small region outlying far from the territory of the other two.
This is all historical and isn’t set in stone as I am very much still working on the Catfolk as a people. I wanted my catfolk to be spread out.
My biggest problem has been connecting this past with the present.
By that I mean it goes; Historical Catfolk, The Star Fall, 300 years pass and then....
‘The Eruption of Gwydenlvier‘
This super volcano at the center of the territory, Nore-Ewden at the center of Darodem. The destruction was huge and radically reshaped the region. That was with the aid of many powerful Catfolk mages diverting, redirecting, and sealing away parts of the eruptions destruction.
The eruptions effects were intense and the widespread destruction from famine set the stage for a brutal series of conflicts.
And that is where my historical lore for Catfolk of Darodem stops in the middle of a civil war post a super volcano which devastates the region leading to at least 50 years of war.
I do not know how I want the region to have begun to recover. Maybe unification under a singular King or Queen? Maybe it hasn’t recovered or it has under competing fiefs.
Maybe it is currently under occupation by Rivermoot and/or Dragons Reach?
I have earnestly been playing with the idea of running a campaign; during this turbulent period for the sole reason of creating the future narrative. And it is important to figure out how it stabilizes or does it not and how do its neighbors impact it in the following years.
The Catfolk or the Nekomata of Eriona have more lore to them but that will be for a future post.
So in the future expect an expansion upon the catfolk lore and history.
Fun Fact; Darodem isn’t even the set name as I debate between it and Daevnish for the regions name. At one point Nore-Ewdin was the regions name.
I now leave you all with this.
