Gatina

Artwork EJaneDM

Apprentice within the Cats of Enultramar. First introduced in Shadowmage Book 9: The Spellmonger Series

While on errand to Enultramar to rescue Ruderal and his mother from The Brother of the Rat, Rondal has a chance encounter with Gatina's brother Atopol.

## Personality and Characteristics

Gatina of House Furtius is the youngest child and only daughter of Hance and Minny, both accomplished shadowmagi. Hance passed on his line's distinctive white hair and violet eyes to both of his children. Her mother has the dark hair common to many Coastlords descended from the aristocracy of the Magocracy. Gatina's white hair is long and straight, but is usually covered by a wig, a magic spell, or dyed to conceal her lineage when she is working.

Gatina is an incredibly intelligent and precocious girl, having mastered reading at an early age. Due to the assassination of Duke Lenguin and Duchess Enora by the Family, her father and mother began a clandestine movement against the rebel Count Vichetral of Rhemes and his Council Of Five Counts that resisted Castali control of Alshar. Though she was young, the nature of the crisis pressed all members of House Furtius into service, and she entered her apprenticeship as a thief and shadowmage with her parents as they built the conspiracy against Vichetral.

Gatina is a very active and energetic young woman who enjoys climbing and swordplay. She has exquisite physical control, tremendous confidence, and a great deal of strength for a girl her size. She is adept at disguise, stealth, and thieving, arguably better at some of these than her older brother, Atopol. She bears her unusual "cute" nickname as a badge of pride, prizing kittens as playful, agile, and fearless.

Gatina's small family is very close, due to the secretive nature of their work. They have an elaborate series of codes and secret family histories, including special cards for instruction in the the family's lore, an extensive library, and connections with several temples and institutions across Alshar. Their family code has very specific ethical and moral guidelines revolving around thievery. They own, through accomplices, several estates, strongholds, secret homes and at least one ship, their family yacht *Daydream*.

## Early years

Gatina grew up on a country estate in Falas County, in Alshar. She spent several of her early years moving from one family stronghold to another, frequently adopting different aliases as she mastered the arts of her house.

## Family and Relationships

Gatina is a member of House Furtius, a noble house of the Magocracy that came to Alshar from Vore early in the Second Magocracy. House Furtius is a secretive house; while many of them are magically Talented, they eschew the common magical professions in favor of a family tradition of high-end thievery that goes back more than five centuries. The family practices Shadowmagic or Photomancy, as it is sometimes known, a discipline revolving around concealment and distraction spells. This discipline assists the family in conducting their heists. Though secretive, House Furtius is related to many of the magically Talented Coastlord families in Alshar, including former Alshari Court Wizard Thinradel, among others.

Gatina's father is Hance, a master thief and shadowmage who, as an apprentice, unexpectedly befriended future Duke Lenguin during a heist at the Ducal Palace. Not long after that encounter, he met the Blue Mage Minureal, while she was doing something clandestine, and soon proposed marriage, as well as a partnership. He taught Minny how to be a thief, and she took to the art with a passion. As a friend to the duke, he was admitted to the ducal court of Alshar under an alias.

Gatina's brother is Atopol, the Cat of Shadows. He is nearly as good as his father, in terms of skill. The rivalry with her good-natured brother has honed Gatina's own skills to a great degree. They are close, since the family's unusual set of rules around their profession discourages much socialization.

Hance's cousin, Onnelik, is not Talented, but he does have a rare talent for forgery which he uses to assist the rest of the family at need. He also keeps a safe house in Falas for the family's use. In addition there are other family members who play specific roles in House Furitus ventures. Due to a necessary code of silence, these people and their roles are only slowly introduced to Gatina.

Gatina is engaged to Sir Rondal of Sevendor, after a brief but tumultuous courtship. She is highly enamored of the Wilderlands knight mage, especially his dedication to duty, his intelligence, and his cool temper.

House Furtius has a cultic attachment to night, darkness and shadow as protective and beneficial to their art. They frequently swear by night, darkness and shadow, seeing them as quasi-anthropomorphic divinities. To date, none of these have ever manifested in the physical world, but they remain powerful symbols to the Furtiruri.

## References

### **Glossary**

###### Trivia:

The name is believed to be a reference to the Brazilian word Gatinha: which is slang for both a cute young girl/woman, as well as a Portuguese word meaning a female kitten.

Example: "Come, fly with me, Gatinha"