Catrina

"Catrina is the best! Catrina numbah one!"

Catrina is the most popular, powerful, and beloved adventurer in all the land. Don't believe that? Just ask her! Brimming with self-confidence, enthusiasm for just about everything, and an overabundance of energy, Catrina draws eyes wherever she goes. As the adopted daughter of one Crystal the Centaur, Catrina inherited a lot of her traits from her mother, particularly her love of food and habit of not thinking through a situation thoroughly before acting. Though she always means well, she is not afraid to get her paws dirty if it means dishing out justice to evildoers in the end! At least...those she deems to be evildoers.

## A Box of Kittens

Catrina was born an orphan. Ordinarily this would be the sad beginning of an adventurer's story and would describe them at their lowest point before they eventually overcame their lack of parents in order to achieve glory! Catrina rejects that outlook however! In her view, the thinks that she was blessed to not have parents! After all, that meant that for the longest time, Catrina got to raise herself, and who better to teach Catrina how to live than Catrina? Obviously, when you have a teacher who is on the same wavelength as you, things are bound to go well.

Catrina's earliest memories are of being left in a box with a small litter of Weretiger kin. She is not sure where they came from, though sometimes she likes to make things up. Perhaps she is the daughter of a famous King who was ashamed of an affair he had with her weretiger mother? Or maybe she was actually stolen away from her family by an evil demon lord who had been defeated in battle by a Weretiger hero, and who in an act of revenge took his children far away? Catrina likes to view questions about her past as multiple choice, meaning that she can be essentially whoever she wants to be on any given day. If anything, a lack of parents was quite liberating.

However, Catrina soon found herself in trouble. Self-educated and forced to steal scraps to survive on her own, Catrina traveled through the various cities until she found herself in Lebenreich. Not able to spell, pronounce, or understand what a Paladin was, Catrina was able to figure out why the idea of stealing from them was a bad idea! Despite her skills in stealth, she was eventually caught by none other than the Marshal of Lebenreich, Crystal the Centaur! It was love at first sight. Having been weak and small all of her life, Catrina was overwhelmed with joy at the sight of this giant woman! She wanted to be as big and strong as she was. Crystal took pity on Catrina as well, and in time, adopted her as both a daughter and a pet of sorts. Their relationship is certainly a bit peculiar, but by Catrina's standards (the only one's that matter in her eyes) everything is going quite well.

In her private moments, Catrina may confess that she is a bit sad about not knowing her biological parents, but she will quickly change the subject to focus on something else if asked.

## A Centaur and Cat

Catrina found it a bit challenging to adjust to living with Crystal. For one thing, Crystal's home was massive. Not in terms of the size of the overall building. If anything, Crystal's simple upbringing and outlook on life kept their home small. No, the furniture was Crystal sized who, even in her human form, was an incredibly tall creature! Catrina felt as though she had as much room to run around as she wanted! And run around she did.

Adopting what was essentially a feral child was not an easy task for Crystal who, despite always wanting kids of her own, had never had the opportunity to raise one. It was on the second day, when Crystal caught Catrina "stealing" from the fridge even though she had made it clear that she was free to take what she liked, that the two began to form a stronger connection. Crystal began by trying to teach her morals, about how things like stealing were wrong...but more than that, Crystal showed Catrina that she was willing to forgive her for her mistakes, and accepted her for who she was. As long as Catrina was willing to stay, Crystal's home was open to her.

It was hard for Catrina to understand that. Her home had always been the open road, the side alleys where the guards didn't check in cities, the sewers where nobody else would ever dare to venture...to actually have a home was a completely new thing to her! Taken aback by Crystal's kindness, Catrina began to regard Crystal with something akin to reverence, affectionately calling her "mommy" at every opportunity despite Crystal's initially insisting that she not do so. But Catrina was persistent, and eventually Crystal accepted the term.

Of course, Catrina was still mischievous. When walking through the shopping areas of Strauv, if Catrina was not watched closely, Crystal would often find her trying to steal something from one of the stands. Knowing that Catrina's upbringing, or lack thereof, might get her in trouble, Crystal was left with a dilemma. Catrina was too old to send to school, but clearly needed training. And so, Crystal gave her the training of a Lebenreich guard, teaching her in the art of combat. Though Catrina never adapted to formal weaponry, shew as quite adept with just her teeth and claws, and had a surprising amount of skill with stealth! Furthermore, she displayed a little bit of talent with magic. Of course, Crystal's dislike of magic made her a less than ideal candidate to teach her, and she was always taught only to use magic when it was absolutely necessary.

Catrina has fond memories of resting her head on Crystal's lap while the centaur delivers the pets.

## Beginning Adventurer

Catrina is no wizard, but she was born with a few magical abilities. Crystal still isn't sure where she acquired her abilities from, but even without formal teaching, Catrina was able to teach herself a few skills. In particular, her talents are best used for stealth, whether it is employing magical darkness to blind her enemies, or teleportation to appear where her enemies least expect it! There are few places that Catrina can't sneak into if she is particularly determined to do so.

Once Crystal was satisfied enough with her training that she was confident Catrina could make it on her own, she began to take on a career as an adventurer. Though her mommy didn't go on many adventures anymore, since most were not worthy of her attention, Catrina thought that going out and traveling the world would help her become as strong as Crystal! And so she did. Most of her adventures involve fighting in arenas or a fight with giant bees, but thus far, she has been successful in her missions and grows more confident with each gold payment she receives.

While she was adventuring, however, Catrina heard the terrible news that Crystal had been kidnapped by the Thii. Catrina was very eager to rescue her mommy herself, but she had no idea how to find her! Thankfully, Crystal was eventually rescued by some of her friends and brought home (though the many difficulties of doing so were kept a secret from her). However, Crystal has begun to have second thoughts about her life of adventuring and is taking a break from her work, at least for a while. Catrina though? She would continue to go on adventures and get stronger and stronger.

Then, she would have her revenge on the Thii for what they did to mommy.

## Magical Abilities

While Catrina was born with innate magical abilities, she never knew where they came from. As such, most of her abilities are self-taught, and as a result her magic looks and feels different than those of other people. For starters, she is much more limited in what she can do, with most of her magic revolving around manipulating darkness and shape-shifting her own body. She will never be the sort of magic user who seems to have a trick up their sleeve for any situation. However, what she can do is quite potent.

To aid in her stealth, Catrina is able to form and manipulate darkness around her in order to blind her enemies. Once she knows they are having trouble seeing, she knows that it is time to make her move. As a skinwalker, Catrina has always been a shapeshifter, but she has learned to further morph her body in order to acquire wings and even a few extra limbs. Finally, she can teleport herself into positions that are very inconvenient for her enemies.Her magic is also very quick, and she is always able to cast a spell and rip apart her foes in a single fluid movement.

Crystal was always suspicious of Catrina's magic, but she has come to accept it as part of who she is. If Catrina wasn't taught some level of control over her abilities...well, then she would probably end up using it accidentally. Though she was unable to teach Catrina how to hone her powers, she did help her find a focus with which to channel her powers. Catrina now wears an amulet Crystal purchased her around her neck to help keep her magic...a little bit more controllable and predictable.

## Personality

* Enthusiastic

* Energetic
* Overconfident
* Spontaneous
* Impulsive
* Self-centered

Anyone who meets Catrina can immediately tell that...well, if they are being nice they would call her "spirited." If they are being mean, they would call her "touched." Catrina is always full of energy and is very impulsive, often doing things without reason or warning. For her foes, this makes her an unpredictable adversary who sometimes does what they least expect (or want). For her friends, it makes her hard to keep up with, especially in the heat of battle.

Catrina's manner of speech is very unique as well. As with all things, Catrina is self-taught, and as a result she talks differently than most folks. For starters, she always refers to herself in the third person, consistently and constantly. Everyone will be well aware of what her name is after talking to her. Whether this is a result of her lack of education, a bit of her narcissism, or some combination thereof is currently unknown.

That being said, while Catrina is willing to fight dirty and even bend the rules if need be (such as if she wants a treat she can't afford), when push comes to shove she is willing to stand up for what's right regardless of the foe. That being said, her idea of what is right and wrong often differs from other folks.

She also loves food, just like her mommy.

## Appearance

Though her personality is as big as Crystal herself, Catrina is actually fairly small in stature. She stands at around 5 feet nothing and is thin as well. The largest portion of her body is actually her paws, which she uses to slice and dice her foes in the heat of battle. Catrina wears a hood over her head which she has never taken off in public, not once. The only one who even knows what she looks like without it is Crystal. Without her hood, her confidence wavers and she becomes incredibly shy, so she is unwilling to take it off. The most anyone ever sees of her face is a pair of red eyes.

## Friends and Foes

> "Catrina considers everyone to be her friend when she first meets them. To Catrina, strangers are just friends she hasn't met. But if they get on my bad side, then they are forever a baddie, and Catrina will not hesitate to bring the pain to a baddie!"
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**Friends**

* **Crystal the Centaur:** Her beloved "mommy." Catrina will do everything in her power to protect the woman who adopted her, regardless of the consequences. She has a strong bond and a lot of affection for her mother, and won't hear a bad word said about her.
* **Kimiko:** A rogue who is just beginning as an adventurer, much like Catrina. Of course, Kimiko still has both of her parents, so clearly she was not born with the same advantages as Catrina. Still, always good to make friends with those at work.
* **Arima:** Otherwise known as the "abs" man. Catrina is not sure where she stands when it comes to girls and boys (Crystal hasn't had that conversation with her yet) but she feels like she could scratch those abs with her claws all day, if you know what she's saying.
* **Hilde**: Really smart and shiny girl. Clearly not as good of an adventurer as Catrina, but nobody really is. Still, she supposed that she was somewhat useful during their fight with the BEES!
* **Vilemaw:** Catrina saw him eat a giant bee once. That was pretty cool. She wants to do that too! Bees are probably delicious and taste like honey.
* **Gerard:** Punch-man was turned to stone and made for an excellent scratching post. He may be back to being a human, but she'll probably still use him as a scratching post anyway.

**Enemies**

* **The Thii:** "RRRRrrrrr!!! Nasty bug things! Don't like them! They took mommy, and now whenever they're mentioned, mommy gets sad! Catrina is gonna kill them all for hurting her!"