Katar

The Katar were a race of humanoids with distinct feline features, or furred ears. Their homeland of Vindorand was one of the only nations to gain their independence on their own. The Katar shared their home with several clans of Eludrathi.

The Katar were often targeted by slavers from Harposs, as Katar females were seem as somewhat of a 'delicacy' among northern brothels. Because of this, Katar had a burning hatred for slavers, and showed no mercy when they came across them.

The Katar were a nomadic people, which suited them fine, as Vindorand was one of the larger nations in the Grey Marches. Katar were skilled hunters and trackers, and those that left their clan often found work as bounty hunters or assassins.

Description
Katar were a race of humanoids with distinct feline features, most noticeable with the eyes, fangs, and soft fur that covered most of their bodies. Katar also had retractable claws sheathed within their fingertips, that could be used as a defense mechanism in a pinch. Their hearing was many times better than humans, as was their dark vision and sense of smell.

Due to their nomadic lifestyles and need to evade attackers, katar were slim and light weight, the females usually being smaller and faster than the males.

The katar were often compared to elves, as their ears were extremely similar, with the exception being that katar ears were covered in a thin layer of fur. This lead to many scholars suggesting that the ancient aeldramari created the katar race, through arcane or alchemical means. Of course, such a theory is considered a great insult to both the aeldramari and the katar.

Both genders have typical mammalian traits, including breasts for the females, who carry pregnancies for up to nine months, and have live births. Katar females typically take care of the young of clan as a group. Katar young are cared for by their mothers until they are old enough to participate in hunting trips.

Psychology
Katar believed strongly in cooperation among their own kind, but they also encouraged independent thinking and action. Millennia of surviving by out thinking or out running enemies has lead to cunning and cleverness being praised among the clans. Curiousity was another defining trait of many katar, leading them to travel or become mercenaries for a chance to see the world outside their home.

While avoidance and out smarting the enemy are the most common tactics of the katar, most also possess a savage streak within them. Not normally cruel, katar will go out of their way to make an example of slavers and raiders that trespass on what they see as their territory. With their backs to a corner, katar reveal a savage streak, fighting ferociously until the enemy is torn apart or they can seek an escape.

History
The katar people first came to the attention of the world when the Empire colonised Vindorand in -204 CC. The katar generally kept out of the way of the human settlers, preferring the valleys, fields, and mountains of Vindorand to towns and cities. For the better part of a century, the empire and the katar lived in peace. However, it was during the reign of Persian the Dauntless, that relations would sour between the two.

Humans were beginning to expand rapidly and the empire under Persian was focused on gaining more territory. The katar were forced to become outsiders in their own homeland. While the katar were already nomadic in nature, many resented being forced away from ancestral sites and meeting grounds.

It was the emergence of a group of human supremacists in -180 CC, that hunted katar as sport that set the feline humanoids against the imperials. Many were hunted and slain like wild animals, their pelts taken by their murderers.

Understandably, this lead to several retaliatory strikes against small imperial settlements, where most were killed outright, their bodies staked up as grisly warnings. A local regiment of imperial soldiers, mostly lightly armed and armoured frontier troops was mustered to track down the attackers.

However, the katar knew the land much better than the humans and even the few elven rangers the empire employed as scouts. The feline humanoids would move in, raze a village or ambush a caravan, then disappear before soldiers could arrive in force.

This guerilla combat went on for five years, until the empire was actively losing more than it was gaining by staying in Vindorand. Worse for the imperials, the same human-centric group that had begun the conflict had alienated their elven allies in the region, and soon eludrathi wayfinders were assisting the katar. Finally, in -174 CC, the empire ceded Vindorand to the katar.

For the better part of a century afterwards, the katar and a few wood elf enclaves lived in peace, with the eludrathi spell-singers encouraging nature to reclaim the villages and towns of the humans. The katar remained nomadic, but became more xenophobic and less likely to trust outsiders.

Though they had succesfully broken away from the empire, the katar suffered at the hands of the orc war-tribes that called Vindorand home as well, as their numbers had swelled during the conflict. What few katar settlements there were became well hidden, in high cliffs or deep woods. Orcs and katar frequently engaged in running skirmishes through the lands narrow canyons or open plains.

However, the adaptability and cunning of the katar meant that they persevered, surviving as a people and being one of the only civilizations to succesfully rid themselves of imperial occupation. Katar traders had good relations with the Grey Marches to the north, though very few non-katar were permitted within Vindorand for very long.