Leonid

Leonids, also kaddiska or mau, are a feline humanoid kin. They share many characteristics with their closest cat relatives.
Many different patterns of fur. They express diversity and adapt to the various environments they've spread to in SE Odenna and Northern Ellador. Males have manes that vary in color combinations as well.
Yellow–tan, brown, orange, red, gray, black, two-toned (esp. white belly, black elsewhere). Black to brown stripes. White is the least common color (w/o stripes, see below). A blue–gray does occur in the north, in forests and amidst taller, greener temperate grasses. Lighter colors, incl. red, most common among those that have migrated the farthest north and high in the small populations that have taken up residence in Tanus. Mane colors most often differ from coat color.
Stripes are indicative of lower class, because they mean that animal and its ancestors had to blend in and hide out the grass, rather than lying proudly on a rock and being king of the tropical savanna. Gnolls as spotted and scavengers are thus an even lower class kin not considered fully cats/felids. They were frequently captured in war with smaller hill tribes and brought in to build the great cities of Amassu.
Staring and contentment. Leonids make good guardsmen as they can sit and stare intently for long periods of time. Even if they doze off they can snap awake at the slightest sound—they don't ever sleep that deeply.
Take small naps right after eating, like clockwork. High amount of leisure time, even in cities, compared to human societies. Build cities but don't expand far and build far-flung empires beyond home region. Do subjugate within their general area though.
See less color but excellent night vision. (Blue only or blue and yellow, B&W in addition for both.) Better peripheral vision, something elves do not have. Elves see further in addition to having the best of night vision as leonids do. Less finite vision: very slow moving objects can seem stationary. Eyes don't move back and forth, instead head must turn. Amber to yellow eyes. Some in north can have blue eyes. Details
Hear better than elves and canids, but can't hear sounds as low. Can direct ears independently to hear sounds more precisely from that direction.
Sense of smell better than humans but not as good as canids.
Paws remain quite similar to a lion's but with opposable thumbs and a more prominent dewclaw. Some have the condition to have 6 digits on their paw. Matagots in the west on the other hand have more primate-like hands and vestigial (less prominent) dewclaws. If coaxed by odd circumstances or assaulted, matagots have been known to produce viable though sterile offspring with leonids.
Have 18 digits: 5 on handpaws and 4 on footpaws. Count in verbal base-10 most common, but base-8 and even base-18 are more common than in human societies.
Both females and males have either 3 or 4 pairs of nipples. They do not have fatty breasts like primates and their nipples only grow slightly when nursing cubs. Like all cats, males have barbed penises and pain is wrapped up in pleasure for copulating felids, esp. the females. When females are in heat (usu. spring and fall, though can occur year round, esp. in tropics or subtropics), males are strongly drawn to her, so she may mate with more than one. Males then use their barbs to try to scrape out the semen of any previous partners of hers. She can have cubs from multiple fathers though. Males posses that find a group of females or kill the other males usually drive off all young males into exile, where they must find another pride or become a posse of their own.
Long, dark, and handsome is the standard.
Sustain far less injury from falling, extremely efficient at landing.
Able to climb decently well with claws, but not as much as a small wildcat.
Fit through any space their head can fit through. A small head can be a symbol of craftiness, creativity, and relative prestige. Use whiskers to measure the space. Other, more premonitional, magical detections with whiskers.
Regard lions as respectable animals, but dumb and slow, sometimes silly. Wildcats are esp. considered comical animals (much like sapient primatids view monkeys).
Hawks, dragons, jungle bears, and thurses are symbolic animals of power. Sphinxes are moderately revered. Minotaurs and centaurs are secondarily fascinating and prominent in heraldry.
Obligate carnivores, with slight opportunistic dabbling in herbivory. Look at domesticated cats as base and disgusting for their wanton omnivory. Cultural thread of some seeing domestication of cats as exploitative of animal and violating natural order (notion arises sooner in felid cultures because of they are visually closer to their non-sapient relatives than hairless vs. hairy apes—they don't see this distance for primates). Eat 11-18 lbs of food (meat) / day. Do have the ability to overeat (maybe nap more) and eat less in the following days.
Overall smaller populations than humes.
Don't drink milk.
Don't engage in agriculture, only animal husbandry. Use and semi-domesticate lions, tigers, and wolves for warfare. Don't need horses for short distance travel or battle. Not prone to travel far or much.
Very fast.
Hunt ungulates. Raise cattle. Domesticated the chicken from jungle fowl, raise pigeons. Raise goats (sheep are a more northern (human) and western (Ashan) thing). Raise semi-domesticated rats bred to be huge, eaten as snacks or appetizers. Bugs are eaten as snacks as well, flying bugs being the favorite. Scavenging parties of a few females and a male (sometimes that ratio doubled or tripled) go out semi-regularly. Pre-urban society were hunter–scavengers and clashed with gnolls even more.
Night hunting.
When they clash with equids to the north, they don't hesitate to feast on their fallen enemies.
Withstand heat/fire better than average (except for fur singeing). Only sweet through pawpads though.
Jump a length of 12 yards (6 times their height). Employ jumping in combat regularly (as opposed to humes).
Dry mouth, very rough tongue. Can peel skin off in a few strong licks. Dry poop, very concentrated pee. Can get all their water from meat if they need to. In cities, there is a home or neighborhood patch of dirt for burying waste (not burying it is an intentional snub to the person you see going for or near that spot next) or they collect the dry waste in covered buckets and try to pee in streams (can wait longer for it to be convenient). Empty buckets right after peeing if that have to use one (due to concentratedness). Lick themselves clean. Never take baths. Some individuals love swimming immensely and seek it out regularly while others avoid water. Sitting in rain more tolerated than by humans due to fur and less ceiling cover in structures.
Nepetal (catnip), honeysuckle bark, valerian, are matabi / silver vine are drugs for most leonids (2/3), all with a similar effect: pupil dilation, relaxant, urge to roll, playfulness, vocalization (equiv. to "yeaaaah").
Dittany and zinziba have strong healing effects for felids with mild affects similar to nepetal.
Grab each other's scruff as social bonding, play, and dominance establishment. Mothers use it to pick up kids.
Stomachs / the whole center of front are considered inappropriate to touch unless close to that person.
Don't live as long as humans.
Manes darken with age.
Onions and garlic can be poisonous to them in concentration. (Ex: onion juice poison)
Kings rule a city from a prominent rock at the center that the city was built around or was cut for that purpose (there are often legends of how it was there since X era of Y hero). Houses and buildings much less enclosed and covered. Need a ceiling less than primatids do.
Society matriarchal in spite of king asserting his physical power. King is military/martial leader and sexually dominant/favored, but does not run government and administration. Females organize, administrate, regulate, manage, and hunt. King is somewhat figurehead then.
Still cough up hairballs, but like human nasal secretions, do so and dispose of them politely.
Do form cities and villages, but are less social. "Hermeticism" normalized and more common. Pride cf. clan, smaller division within city, but could potentially be whole city.
Have scent-producing glands on forehead, lips, chin; underside of paws (interdigital); and along tail. Rub against things to mark them as their possession or triangulate space to mark territory. Scratch trees or wood to do the same. Lick off scent of dominant individuals whose social authority they buck or scents of other species.
Leaving hunted game on someone's doorstep is more a sign to show them their failure than to help them. They may be small, insignificant or inedible kills just to add to the jab. It is accepted by the community and a cause of shame for the recipient. Some individuals (male or female, who both hunt) may take on a more difficult kill just to rub it in even further and this is considered an insult.
Tasseled tail used to signal others, most often "C'mere".
Signal others 5+ miles away with roar.
Biting, clawing, falling back and kicking away, pouncing, leaping, tail whacking. Wear armor and use weapons the same as other humanoids of comparable size. Night fighting, ambushes, and warfare.
White leonids without stripes (manes white as well) are revered as profoundly shamanic, they are highly magically attuned, and culturally and fatefully conditioned to be great protectors and bringers of peace. Some are prophets. Don't have special eye colors. There are also "celestial" white leonids which are tutelary spirits or fae taking this cultural form when manifesting. They are often guardian fae that have teleported from other worlds. They have blue or red–orange eyes that glow faintly to brightly depending on emotions.
Have up to about 40 real/strong/regular social connections (cf. human 150).
Meowing is the fauning whine of matagots.
== Gallery ==
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== Sources ==
http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2011/07/a-group-of-cats-is-called-a-clowder/
http://messybeast.com/catnip-valerian.htm
Category:Felids
Category:Leonids
Category:Kins
Category:Amassu