Catherwolf (cat-er-wolf)

Should you make the mistake to try and spend the night in the forests hugging the mountains of Forice you might be in more danger than you might consider yourself. Of course - the nights are never completely silent, there's noise everywhere and that noise will fool you into thinking there might not be a predator nearby. 

You will hear a soft purr - and maybe you'd think for a second "did I bring my cat with me?"

Slowly but steadily the purr is going to get louder the longer you take to understand the hint. It will louder and longer and higher in pitch until it turns into a spine-chilling howl announcing you're two seconds too late to run. 

I hope you prepared your good running shoes because catherwolves are the slinkiest, fastest nocturnal hunters in the entirety of Forice. Good luck. You need it!

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Additional Information

Social Structure

Catherwolves live in families - and those families form packs. Every family would respect their elders and protect their young ones for as long as they need to - the cubs are not forced to leave the family unless the family is under attack by something bigger and more dangerous and running away to get to the safety of family who HAS left the family but not the pack is the wise thing to do.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Catherwolves can be found in the darker woods in the bases of Khabros and Border mountains on the main continent of Forice. Supposedly - but still not proven as there hasn't been much exploring going on - they do have greater numbers in the southern continents of the planet where the entirety of the landmasses are covered in dense woods.

Average Intelligence

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From what's been recalled by survivors they are assumed to be of at least human intelligence: they hunt by stalking in 3 to 4 small packs of two or three individuals, have conversational system inaudible for most ears, good memory - as they could recognize the same person going back on their territory and allowed him close enough to leave the massive chunk of meat he was carrying and inherited memory - it's been observed that young catherwolves who were making just their first steps,  would walk alone down paths their parents and grandparents walked before they were born.

Written for: Bestiary February

Covering prompts: colorful, nocturnal, silent, stalk, purr, howl, danger

Lifespan

80-95 years

Average Weight

30-55kg

Average Length

body - 1,80m/2,20m; tail - around 1m/1,50m

Average Physique

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Catherwolves look a lot like a cheetah does except for the paws and facial structure which remind more that of a gray wolf. They have long and lean bodies perfectly built for silent stalking through heavily forested - and often crunchy-floored - terrain. They have huge amber-golden-fiery eyes which can see perfectly in complete darkness, soft fur coats that change completely in sun and moonlight and extremely wide vocal range.

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

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In bright sun these fascinating nocturnal beings can be seen lounging around the forest's edges or on small clearings and meadows showing off somewhat boring - looking beige- to- gray colored coats spotted with either lighter (for females) or darker (for males) spots. 

However as soon as the moon rises in the sky what looked beige turns all possible shades of yellow and orange and goes to and through all shades of the rainbow the darker the sunlight color goes. The spots remain as they are however - they do not glow in the night. Because of that peculiarity and the fact they stick to the darkness of the trees they can remain invisible while hunting their prey.