Shadow Cat

Basic Information

Anatomy

Similar in morphology to the panthers of jungles Q’Barra and the cheetahs of the Karrnath plains, the Shadow Cat of the shadow Marches is a four limbed feline with sharp claws and powerful jaws. However, compared to these other lower feline predators in their environments, the Shadow Cat stands as the Apex predator of the marshes in part due to the savage landscape it has evolved in.
Evolving in the cold climate of the Marches, has longer and thicker fur than its more temperate cousins and is also much larger, with most adults reaching the height of bears at the shoulder. Their black and white striping also allows them increased camouflage in the black swampy waters of their home, the white theorised to mimic the reflection of ripples to unsuspecting prey as they hunt.
Their long shaggy fur is highly water resistant, both to prevent loss of body heat out of water, and the dripping of trapped liquid when hunting. However the Shadow Cat spends most of its time in the water, its large webbed paws making it a quick and silent swimmer on and below the surface as their legre lung capacity and hemoglobin rich blood allows them to hold their breath for up to an hour at a time.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Shadow Cat's are carnivorous and lone hunters and have been known to eat almost anything they can kill, including humanoids.
They are also known to sleep for up to sixteen hours a day, often under the surface of black waters of the Shadow Marches. Leaving only their nose above the surface to both breath and detect the scent of prey in the area, it is often said by denizens of the area that any break in the water's surface must be treated with the utmost suspicion. As too often a simple black “rock” rises to reveal two hungry orange eyes.

Additional Information

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Shadow cats have very keen eyesight and darkvision that includes a large part of the infra-red spectrum, allowing them great vision in the canopied sampland of their home. However it is sensitive enough that direct sunlight or even bright torch light is blinding to them. Shadow Cats living on the edges of the Marshes have been observed adapting nocturnal sleeping patterns, presumably for this reason.
However the Shadow Cat’s keenest sense is its sense of smell. Above the surface Shadow Cat’s have been observed tracking at a run invisible quarry by scent alone. But underwater is where the true power of the Shadow Cat’s nose lies: with the unique dual structure system of the large high nose, the Shadow Cat can choose to close the airways in its nasal cavities off from its olfactory organs. This allows it to pass water through the olfactory channels as it swims, detecting scent markers through the water as well as air. In fact, dissection of a Shadow Cat female's nose showed that it had twice the detectors for water based markers than air.

Scientific Name

Panthera Noctus