Pards

**Pards** are feline based Synths created by ARCDA.

## History

#### **Concept and Creation**

A counterpart to the heavy-duty Canid, Pards were created as a sleeker and stealthier alternative that were designed to be as equally strong as a Canid but with added flexibility.

## Biology

### **Genetics**

Pards are similar in many aspects to Canids, however many of these appear to be superficial as they have additional traits and adaptations that give them a different niche. Like Canids, they have a large colour range in their fur and patterning, and so it is entirely possible for a Tiger-based Pard to have light blonde coloured fur with grey or white stripes, or a Leopard-baed Pard to have black fur with golden rosette spots.

#### **Physical Traits**

* Rounded mobile ears.
* Long flexible tails for balance, with some but limited prehensility to them.
* Fur across the majority of the body.
* Whiskers.
* Soft paw pads.
* Protractable claws, (flex to extend further)

### **Internal Biology**

#### **Organs**

There is a special organ within the inner ear of a Pard which helps them to orientate themselves as well as detect changes in air pressure.

#### **Brain**

The brains of Pards are designed for balance and reaction processing.

#### **Growth and Regeneration**

Unusually, Pards struggle to heal fast. The cause of this isnt fully known but when they take an injury it can take twice as long for them to heal from it than if that same injury happened to an Avio, Preternatural, or Canid.

### **Physical Abilities**

**Senses**

Their key senses are their hearing and sight in low-level lighting. Because they also have the addition of whiskers, they can sense very subtle changes in the air and surroundings.

**Reactions**

Pard reactions are very fast, faster than Canids but lacking the endurance.

**Strength**

**Endurance**

Pards are built for short bursts of energy, attacking fast and hard but struggle when it comes to long distance or extended scenarios that require them to be active.

## **Psychology and Behaviour**

Pards are considered to be one of the more 'twitchy' synths, with their tails, ears, and whiskers almost constantly moving or reacting to different sensory inputs. Though to a Pard they think they aren't expressive, to others they telegraph themselves very clearly, especially with their ears and tails.

## **Pard Variations**

Pard variation is much more limited and much more specialised than with Canids who tend to multipurpose.

#### ***Lion/Tiger***

* The Heavy variant of Pard. It is the most common amongst Core, and they are usually designed to work as Topaz and Rubies in the ranks of the Elites, though those with more stealth and patience work well as Sapphires. They are muscular but flexible, leaner than Canids of the same size, but are faster with sharper reflexes.

* They usually have spotted or striped fur and long tails, with smaller rounded ears.

#### ***Jaguar/Leopard***

* The midweight and highly flexible Jaguar and Leopard Pards are not designed for heavy work but instead fast work.
	+ These include variants with bases of, Jaguars, leopard, cloud leopard, and leopard cats like the Ocelot and margay.
* They have the longest tails of any Pard, and it is semi-prehensile though not enough to support them or help them in ways similar to Primate synths. Though they have protractible claws like most Pards, they use them more for climbing than for melee.
* Their spots often extend into hair.

#### ***Lynx***

* A smaller stockier type of Pard, designed to work at night and in colder climates as Sapphires. They are highly uncommon but are wildly formidable. They have tall ears with tufts at the top, short tails and usually feature spotted or rosetted fur. Their hair and fur colour ranges from black, brown, blonde, to grey, and eye colour varies between hazel and green.
	+ Their abilities include low light vision, sound sensitivity, heightened sense of smell and touch to the point of being able to feel vibrations in the air, rapid reflexes and flexibility, and extreme endurance.
* They're stealth based, smaller than the more common Lion and Tiger Pards, and are especially good when it comes to hand-to-hand combat, making them excellent front line attackers. They're more independent than most synths, and it is usually a struggle to get them to function in groups. Though they will follow orders, they have a strong sense of 'respect must be earnt' before they will do so willingly and happily, and have been known to take out teammates who either betray them or don't pull their own weight.

* Many people are more scared of a Lynx-Pard than some of the critters that ARCDA has designed.
	+ "A Lion you know how to fight, they're large and use their weight against you, a canid is much the same. You can put me against any Synth but its the tiny Lynx that I'm afraid of. They're small but they're quiet, they come up from behind and don't give in easy."

* Because of their capabilities, the LYNX Preternatural base is almost a direct copy of them.

#### ***Cat***

* These subtypes are usually created by Risio and are far more aesthetically designed than the Lion, Tiger, and Lynx variants.
	+ These include bases from domestic and wild cats, servals, caracals.
* Due to Risio's policy on having variety and many different patterns, there is no set appearance for Cat-Pards ranging from looking almost like critters to being nearly human in appearance with the addition of feline traits, however they are usually smaller than Atlas or Core made Pards, slender, and lack the power behind them to take down anyone heavier than they are.
* Core sometimes uses them, paticularly as Sapphires because of their size and stealthiness when trained correctly, and often as an warmer-weather alternative to the more arctic built Lynx.

## **Pard Characters**

***Minor Characters***

* Nara Inxter - A cat-Pard, likely from Risio.
* Friend - Lion-Pard, Core.

## See More

* Synths
* Canids
* Preternaturals
* ARCDA
* Avios

## Trivia

* They do not have retractable claws like cats as their claws are almost permanently protracted.

## Site Navigation

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