When I went searching for info on Tabaxi while creating Hide I found that there really wasn't much information anywhere so I just kind of made a bunch of stuff up.
So when I was originally working on Hide and was looking up info on Tabaxi subraces I was finding a lot of stuff like âMountain Tabaxi, Jungle Tabaxiâ, etc., and it feels a little rigid so Iâve decided that as far as Iâm concerned, there are as many types of Tabaxi as there are types of big cats. Theyâre referred to as their âbreedâ; so Hide would be a Manul Tabaxi, and a Tabaxi from the jungle might be a Panther Tabaxi or a Tiger Tabaxi, etc. Iâve decided you can also find a more modern breed of Tabaxi which more resemble our house cats which are referred to as just Modern Tabaxi for lack of a better word. More old school big cat (Ancient? CLASSIC?) Tabaxi might look on these guys as being strange just because theyâre mostly the result of Tabaxi who ages ago settled down in cities. Modern Tabaxi live separately from Clans, with typically more individualistic lifestyles.
In a previous version of this document I was using this homebrew thing where the Tabaxi operated with a caste system. I feel like this caste system could still exist in some Tabaxi societies but I decided not to bother with it being a hard rule for all Tabaxi, especially considering Hideâs Clan is situated in this far away mountain range that is disconnected from outside society and I donât know why they would necessarily care whether they were obeying some sort of âcasteâ when its just them out there.
That said, Manul Tabaxi are still not really associated with combat since theyâre so small and squishy compared to other breeds of Tabaxi, which still makes Hideâs decision to leave their Clan and become a knight seem kind of weird and funny to others. (Itâs also still considered kind of scandalous and selfish to leave your Clan and their values behind.) I think especially rude, clueless and condescending non-Tabaxi would find Hide more cute and silly (Dwarves and other short races maybe less-so, because Iâm sure they can empathize with being looked down on because of your stature), while larger breeds of Tabaxi would just see it as kind of dumb (wtf are you going to do. Youâre 5 feet tall.) but obviously wouldnât have the same perspective of Manul Tabaxi= Cute because. Yâknow. Thatâs just a guy. A grown guy. Whatâs wrong with you.
Tabaxi in general have stereotypes associated with them, and certain âbreedsâ have stereotypes of their own that theyâre associated with. In the case of Manul Tabaxi, a couple of popular stereotypes are that theyâre clumsy and that theyâre emotionally volatile. Iâm pulling these from the fact that Pallas Cats/Manuls IRL have stubby little legs and a low success rate in hunting and are also known for being really spicy and aggressive. In the case of the game world, these stereotypes originate from the fact that Manul Tabaxi are relatively small/slow and therefore gain more use from tools than larger Tabaxi might, which gives the impression that theyâre weaker when it comes to physical tasks, and the temper thing is more of a cultural thing â in the culture from which the Clans originated from (and this cultural aspect was brought over to where they live in the mountains), there wasnât as large of a taboo on emotional openness as there might be in other humanoid cultures. Iâm going to steal an attribute from a society in one of the A Song of Ice and Fire books and say that the reason for this is that Manul Tabaxi (and probably some other Tabaxi cultures) have a belief that open expression of a variety of emotions is what separates them from the animals, which they view as being more influenced by instinct than by emotion. From the perspective of other communities, Tabaxi that lean into this reading of emotional expression can seem overly whiny, strangely prone to tears, and excessively aggressive. This reading then gets exaggerated over time; a group of Tabaxi that is just very emotionally open is then expected to be throwing themselves to the ground weeping at the slightest provocation, or attacking people at even the smallest offense.
Hide has become very aware of these stereotypes. Hide was already a pretty emotionally subdued individual just as an aspect of their personality; I think this is both through just naturally having a calmer disposition (similar to their mother, Brook) and finding happiness acting out an emotionally grounding role to other members of their family. After leaving the Clans, however, they came much more aware of the expectations other races had of them and became more and more self conscious of being overly emotional. Hide has already become progressively emotionally closed off as a result of their experiences outside of the Clans, and this intent to not be read as âemotionalâ doesnât help. That said, Hide is still a pretty open book when it comes to physical expressions of emotion. Fur bristling, ear position, tail movement, etc. are things they struggle to mask.
At the end of the day, Tabaxi are just little kitty cats. The info here will be regarding Hideâs experiences but is probably pretty universal for most Tabaxi (and probably can be applicable in some way for other animalistic humanoids), with changes made according to different types of cat behaviours as is applicable to different breeds etc. etc.
First off, general cat body language is to be expected. Ear movement, tail position and movement, etc. Hereâs an article with a bunch of body language stuff for cats. Tabaxi feel the urge to hiss when angered or frightened (to intimidate), the same way humans might go UGH (irritated) and RAAAHH (loud noise meant to intimidate) or whatever it is that humans do in situations.
Tabaxi also have a prey drive! That means they are compelled to catch, kill and eat prey animals. What this translates to for the most part is a decreased level of empathy when it comes to animals commonly seen as prey, which in Hideâs case mostly means mice, rats, rabbits, small birds, etc, as well as creatures that are similar in appearance or stature as prey. You generally will not see a Tabaxi with a pet hamster is what Iâm saying (although nothingâs impossible). Tabaxi generally grow up to learn how to control these urges so that theyâre not just pouncing on and eating every small creature they come across, but baby Tabaxi specifically are known to not have much control over it. You might come across a 3 year old Tabaxi that has caught a poor innocent mouse, played around with it, injured it terribly, maybe killed it, and is now stripping the flesh off of it and pulling out its innards. Tabaxi generally do not see this as reason for concern; itâs considered a normal part of childhood life that, while socially inappropriate, you grow out of as you mature. As a basic analogue, think of kids picking their nose and/or eating boogers, or dirt, or what have you. It can be gross, itâs not something you want your kid doing in polite company, but itâs not something youâre going to be running to the psych office to get checked out.
TECHNICALLY I think Mystery is at the size where they SHOULD fall within the low-empathy side of Hideâs prey drive, but Iâm not going to worry about that because I love Mystery, LOL. I think Iâll play what characters Hide sees as âpotential preyâ and how that affects their behaviour towards them by ear.
In an adult Tabaxi, this prey drive can manifest as a subconscious lack of empathy or interest in creatures that are near the size of their commonly-eaten prey. I donât know if Hide would find an anthropomorphic mouse or something difficult to empathize with if it was similar in stature to them, but a Beatrix Potter-style tiny talking mouse might be more difficult. Logically Hide would understand that that creature is a sentient being, but emotionally Hide kind of wants to eat them. Hide also has to suppress the urge to pounce on anything small that moves quickly; their attention is caught pretty easily by any rapidly moving object. As an example, they can find themself losing focus if theyâre talking to someone with especially animated hands as they become kind of âlostâ in the motion patterns of said hands.
Hide is also an obligate carnivore! This means they canât digest plant matter properly and require meat as the primary source of their diet. Certain foods make them very sick, while other foods, like bread, act as empty calories but are safely eaten. Tabaxi have natural senses that help them in hunting, although not every Tabaxi is necessarily skilled at doing so; as a result of Society a lot of Tabaxi fall out of practice in the act of hunting as a way of subsisting off of nature (they just go to the gocey store). Hide was never properly taught how to hunt (since they were mostly trained in tailoring), and is not the greatest hunter, although they are skilled enough at this point to catch enough for themself during their travels if there are absolutely no other options. That said, they are not a good cook â basically everything they catch gets turned into some variety of stew if theyâre not just eating it raw. They were relieved to hear that Osuna didnât need to eat since I feel like theyâve gotten a good share of complaints from other clients over the years regarding their cooking (even though Hide always expresses they arenât a good cook before they set out, sometimes they get stuck cooking, anyway).
Overall hunting skills aside, Hide is still agile enough to be able to grab a quick meal in the form of a mouse or other small creature off the ground with some regularity. In the Clans it was a pretty common snack â see a mouse just chillinâ within grabbing distance? Sneak up, grab it, snap its neck, and dig in. Dried whole mice / other small creatures like voles, small birds, etc. were also a pretty common snack; theyâre also used as a form of travel ration and arenât commonly sold the further Hide gets from Tabaxi territory (Hide is a little nostalgic for them). Tabaxi will also grab and eat bugs the same way a human might grab and eat, say, a grape off the vine. Hide learned pretty quickly that most humanoids reacted with shock when they would just grab a spider and pop it in their mouth and VERY quickly fell off of doing that around most people, although theyâll sometimes just go ahead and eat a bug if theyâre on their own or they know whoever theyâre with wonât care. Itâs free protein!
This isn't necessarily a behaviour thing, but I feel like some Tabaxi see cats (as in, the animal) as kind of creepy the same way some humans see monkeys as creepy. Just this uncanny valley kind of experience. Hide is one of these people that thinks cats are creepy. Not enough to spark any real fear, but a sort of subtle eegghhhh vibe.
Tabaxi Info đž
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