Cats in the Sea of Stars (A to Z, C)

As one would suspect, the dragons of the Sea of Stars feel a certain kinship with cats, natural predators with a disdain for others.  Many of the draconic houses have both working cats and cats for pets, not that their dragonish masters have to under take any of the unpleasant tasks of having cats leaving such to the Visse and other servants.

Some among the dragons have adopted larger cats, lions, tigers, leopards, or even more exotic felines, for use as guards, hunting animals or even decoration.  (It is amazing how some people are cowed when their ruler is surround by a subservient pride of lions.)  The hunting cheetah of the Crystal Plains are justly feared and cooperate effectively with dragonkine when hunting.  While the crimson leopards from the Bloodwood Forests are exceedingly effective as guards and have a petranatural ability to communicate among themselves.  The grey-gold lion prides of the Amber Savannah willingly accept dragon as the leader of their pride even when they have adopted human form.  Needless to say, the Visse do not care for having to deal with big cats and actively recruit larger handlers when such in in a household.

While dragons like cats, their relationship with the Catfolk of Felix Talis has been more fraught, the Independence that manifest in a pet is one things, less so if they talk back, especially less so if they argue philosophy with you.  The Catfolk, however, respect all the dragonkine and are careful not to twist their tails . . . too far.

Cats are a popular choice among the familiar animals for spellcasters and many have developed considerable intelligence and some even have acquired their own magical abilities.

Notes: Art from the Wellcome Collection and used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.