Pangara

Playable Sophont

Prowling Predators

Pangarans or Clawed Cats are a race of feline Beastfolk feared across all of Haven for their barbaric nature. They thrive in the canopies of the Gorgewald Forest where they live and hunt. Yet, they find little refuge outside of this sheltering wood due to their internal battle with their predatory instincts and propensity for violence. Leading to a life best lived far from the strict rules of civilization.

Pangara adventurers are among the most reserved and controlled of their species, unlike what one would expect. They have learned to control their most primal instincts and redirect their hunting spirit into other more worthwhile pursuits. Many city Pangarans leave behind the wild hunt in exchange for hunting artifacts, criminals, and horrific monsters. Among traditional Pangarans, these domesticated kin are looked down upon for leaving the wilds to be corrupted by civilization's influence.

Kamasi, the Bandit by Gabriel Suárez Marmolejo

Pangara History

The ancient origins of the Pangarans can only be found on the oldest trees of Haven's most ancient forests in the form of claw carvings. The Pangarans were among the first of Haven's primal sophonts alongside others such as the Saheels and Alapicos. They once prowled the rolling plains that stretched across the Solemn Expanse known to the Pantherfolk as the Great Hunting Grounds before the region's ecological collapse. Here they learned to run with the wind and honed their predatory instincts into a fine weapon.

When the First Men descended from the Jagged Expanse, the Pangarans were forced deep into the Verdant Expanse to escape from the Human's persecution of all Beastfolk. They were nearly exterminated by the First Men as they battled for what little territory they could cling to and were eventually forced into the trees that would become their home. Before the first Festival of Resurgence and the rise of the Gorgewald Forest, as few as a thousand Pangarans still lived on the continent and only their predator instincts allowed the Pantherfolk to survive their near extermination. Their survival cemented a deep trust in their animal instincts that would allow them to flourish alongside their Beastfolk kin within the Gorgewald Forest.

General Information

Lifespan

Rarely more than 50 years old, maturing at 8.

Average Height

Just under 6 feet tall.

Average Weight

160 to 220 pounds.

Related Ethnicities

• Beastfolk

Pangara Names

Shadow on the Tree Branch (Shadow), Five Timber (Timber), Grey Claw (Grey), Swift Bird (Bird), Seven Thundercloud (Thunder), Smoke on the Mirror (Smoke), Swan Song (Song), Dead of Night (Dead).

Pangara Clans

Tall Tree, Golden Plain, Broken Mountain, Night Branch, Verdant Grove, Hallen Tree, Grey River, Blue Cove, Twin Peaks, Red Crag, Black Cradle.

Naming Schemes

Each Pangara is given a single unique name, determined by a clan elder and the movement of the stars in the sky. Pangara names can be considered ridiculous to some civilized races but are filled with deep meaning, yet still, most of the cat-folk use nicknames derived from or inspired by their full names. A Pangara's clan name is usually based on a geographical feature located in or near the clan's territory.

Creator

| UNKNOWN |

Garas

Garas is the native tongue of the Pangara.

Tavomia by Lou Lizard

Description

Pangarans are agile, slender, humanoid felines built for predatory hunting from treetop canopies and within tall grasslands. Their lean but dense musculature affords them incredible bursts of speed, and they make quick work of climbing trees or killing prey with their retractable claws. Their large, slit-pupil eyes often come in shades of green or yellow and gift them with their superior vision in the shadows of the night. The sleek fur coats that cover their bodies, alongside their lengthy tails, come in a variety of patterns and hues that usually feature strips or spots used to blend in with their surroundings. Similarly to an Alapico's feathering, a Pangara's fur patterns can easily be used to place their exact familial hunting grounds from the dense wood of the Gorgewald Forest to the sparsely populated trees of the Shardlands.

Civilized Wildling

When creating a Pangara, remember that you are an adventurer and therefore have learned to manage your more wild instincts. You may battle with the wild beast that lies within, but you are no slave to it and endeavor to master it completely. What caused you to leave your people's wild ways behind? Did you follow in the footsteps of family, or do they now shun you as a domesticated cat of the civilized world?

Society

The disorganized smattering of Pangara bloodlines that comprise their society, stretch from the western Shardlands to the tip of the Stygian Throat. They have no sense of organized government or leadership, guided instead by only their most primal instincts. A Pangara is expected and encouraged to embrace these instincts very early on in life, making for an overly impulsive people. Pangara society is reclusive due to the species' predatory instincts and many conflicts with other sophonts. Thus they are not prone to interacting with other sophonts, and even among their kind, adult Pangarans spend much of their life in solitary isolation.

The only known formal settlement of the Pangarans is the small village of Hallen, which serves as the species only place of congregation. Though notably, Pangarans that live long term in Hallen are rarely, if ever, able-bodied adults. Hallen serves as both the center of the Pangarans' mating season and as the last bastion preserving their people's most ancient traditions. During the Pangarans' mating season, their people flood Hallen looking to mate quickly before being forced to wait several years for the next season. This time is also when the Pangarans lose the most people to the civilized world as males fight ruthlessly for female mates and frustrated adults leave the hunt for the criminal underworld or to hunt in the ruins of other ancient cultures.

Clan Territories

Pangara clans are made of loosely related families that prowl the same vast hunting grounds and share the same distinctive fur patterns. These clan territories grow, shrink, and morph with the changing seasons. Thus making it difficult for other sophonts to reliably recognize their kind's subtle markings and scents used to differentiate these various hunting regions from one another.