Cat Lord
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The Cat Lord, or Master Cat, is the mysterious ruler of cats and a lord of Balance, in the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game. The Epic Level Handbook included, as an optional rule, the possibility that he is a quasi-deity. In Gary Gygax's Gord the Rogue series, he is called Rexfelis.
There are many other animal lords representing other species. The Wolf Lord is another example.
Publication history
The original male Cat Lord first appeared in the original first edition Monster Manual II (1983).[1]
The male Cat Lord appeared in the Monstrous Compendium Outer Planes Appendix under the "Animal Lords" entry.[2] A female Cat Lord appeared for the Planescape setting in the Planescape Monstrous Compendium Appendix (1994) under the "Animal Lords" entry.[3] The female Cat Lord played an important role in the Planescape adventure Something Wild (1995).[4]
The male Cat Lord appeared in third edition in the Epic Level Handbook (2002).[5]
Description
The Cat Lord manifests as a dark-skinned human, a pale-skinned human with black hair, a black cat, a panther, or as a hybrid of panther and human. In human form he always wears black clothing decorated with gold and gems of feline colors. He has a muscular, compact form, and his eyes are feline in whatever shape he takes.
Relationships
As ruler of all cats since that position has existed, the Cat Lord bears the respect and fealty of felines from house cats to smilodons. Even hybrid beings like weretigers and wereleopards are loyal to him.
Apart from cats, the Cat Lord's only known friend is the goddess Xan Yae. He is the great-great-grandfather of Gord, to whom he abdicates his position at the end of Gary Gygax's series of novels.
Realm
The Cat Lord's realm, known as the Cat Lord's Prowl, is in Brux, the second layer of the Beastlands. Ferrix, goddess of weretigers, also dwells here.
The Cat Lord is also said to have a bower in the Fading Land known as the Court of Rings.
Dogma
The Cat Lord is neither good nor evil, but is concerned solely with the welfare of cats. He travels between the Outer, Inner Planes, and Prime Material Plane in order to watch over his charges, leading them out of danger and sometimes assuming the leadership of feline prides (killing their previous leaders out of cold necessity).
History
Said to be the first of all the kings of cats, the Cat Lord retires at the end of the novel Dance of Demons, giving his title to his great-great-grandson, Gord,[6] who promptly loses it after a palace revolution (as revealed in the short story "Evening Odds").[7]
In the adventure Something Wild, the Deliverers, a group of hunters from the plane of Carceri led by a wizard called Garond the Claw, captured the Cat Lord and brought him back to their home plane. There, he was hunted and killed, making excellent game. A new cat lord, a female, rose to take his place. She immediately fell under great suspicion among the other animal rulers, who believed incorrectly that she had killed her predecessor herself. This was part of Garond's plan, who sought to divert suspicion toward her and away from his own patron, a foul god of beasts.[4]
The novel Blood Hostages by J. Robert King features an earlier cat lord called Malkin, who gives up his divinity for the sake of a mortal woman.[8]
Artifacts
The Ring of the Cat Lord grants a total of nine true resurrection spells, which take effect the round after the Cat Lord's demise.
References
- ^ Gygax, Gary. Monster Manual II (TSR, 1983)
- ^ LaFountain, J. Paul. Monstrous Compendium Outer Planes Appendix. (TSR, 1991)
- ^ Varney, Allen, ed. Planescape Monstrous Compendium Appendix (TSR, 1994)
- ^ a b Vallese, Ray. Something Wild. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1996
- ^ Collins, Andy, Bruce R. Cordell, and Thomas M. Reid. Epic Level Handbook (Wizards of the Coast, 2002)
- ^ Gygax, Gary. Dance of Demons. Delavan, WI: New Infinities, 1988
- ^ Gygax, Gary. "Evening Odds." Pawn of Chaos. Clarkson, Ga: White Wolf Publishing, 1996
- ^ King, J. Robert. Blood Hostages. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1996
Additional reading
- Gygax, Gary. "At Moonset Blackcat Comes: A Tale of Gord of Greyhawk." Dragon #100. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1985.
- -----. Come Endless Darkness. Delavan, WI: New Infinities, 1988.
- McComb, Colin, Dale Donovan, and Monte Cook. Planes of Conflict. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1995.
- Sargent, Carl. From the Ashes. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1992.