Name: Sandelmingoblius Genene Blahkenschtanipon
Alias: Cat
Age: 32 (though he ages like a human, so he looks relatively young as a cat)
Race: Human/Domestic Cat
Height: 10 in
Weight: 9 lbs
Physical Description: Cat is a simple domestic silver tabby. He is of an average size with a long, lean, slender body, sleek short fur, and sharp features. He is mostly light grey in color with areas of white on his mouth, throat, and belly. He is covered from head to toe in a patterning of spots and stripes of darker grey. Cat's eyes are a predictable cat-yellow, with a tinge of green to them and sparkling with supreme intelligence, at least when compared with other felines. He was far more impressive as a human, but those times are long gone and no cat lover would ever deny that he is a handsome specimen, though perhaps a bit on the average side. His gait is quick-paced usually, but when he walks he is slow and graceful, always careful not to make a single sound. His movements are secretive and he is quite stealthy, but this is almost entirely due to being a cat.
Possessions: Cat has only one possession now, and that is the small top hat with a purple band and gold feather that he wears almost everywhere. He had it made for him by a kind haberdasher he came across who liked cats and let Cat stay with him for a while. The miniature hat is something that Cat likes to think makes him look royal and kingly, as well as highly sophisticated. Such personality traits were only exaggerated further when he was cursed.
Powers or Strengths:
Magic Spells - There are few spells that Cat is still able to conjure, as he lacks the ability to make specific movements with fingers, gather proper materials, draw symbols, and read complicated incantations from spellbooks. He still has a few that he has mastered however from his magic-learning days. All of these spells are used by muttering an incantation and concentrations of energy and emotion in a specific way. The most powerful one is a protective spell that calls upon the essence of life itself to protect a loved one. Though it is powerful, it can only be used in times of dire need when emotion runs high and can easily strip Cat of his own energy. It even has the potential to kill him in order to save another's life. The only other four spells he can cast are:
- Healing Spell - Heals small injuries quickly but does not work with larger, more serious ones.
- Lighting Spell - "Fiat lux." Mostly useless, Cat can light all candles or lamps in a room at once with a simple incantation and concentration of energy.
- Levitation Spell - Also mostly useless, Cat can levitate objects for a brief period about one of two inches off of a surface. He can also move them, but the spell can only be used for about ten seconds at maximum.
- Heating Spell - Useful for cooking and making tea, Cat can heat liquids almost instantly, but can only bring them to boiling points. This generally only works on liquids and soft solids like butter, but oils can get very messy.
Speech - Cat, though he is a cat, can still speak. He speaks fluent Eyropan still, though often his speech is interrupted by sounds such as purrs and light, whirring growls. Without speech, he would only be a superbly intelligent cat and nothing more than the average stray to most people.
Cat weaponry - A sophisticated set of teeth he is blessed with, as well as hooked, retractable claws and supreme sensory systems. Whiskers help him move seamlessly and his ears, nose, and paws are also very sensitive. His sight is also good, though he often only really registers a target that is moving. He can't see some colors but he is not completely colorblind. His bite is obviously painful, but his saliva also carries special bacteria that can give a sickness called cat scratch fever. His long tail balances him well, his spine is flexible, and he nearly always lands on his feet.
Weaknesses:
Magic Problems - Being unable to write symbols, gather specific materials, and make complicated hand gestures means that Cat is unable to do the vast majority of the spells he once knew. Even if he could do these things, he does not remember most of what he knew as a man because he is simply out of practice. His magic requires him to focus his energy, so he is often oblivious to things around him when he is casting a spell.
Vain - Cat is extremely vain and loves to talk about himself. This can drive others absolutely mad.
Comparably Weak - Though Cat has sophisticated cat weaponry, he is still small compared to most other people in Marn and his bones are thin. He is no more physically strong than the average cat, despite his supreme intelligence.
Picky - Cat is extremely picky about everything from people to food. Floors must be clean. Hair must look good. People must not speak in stupid accents and food must be fresh and glorious. Obviously, being essentially a stray cat, there isn't much hope for such things to be the way he wants them to be. He often complains about this, though they shouldn't matter.
History: Sandelmingoblius was born and named in a place in West Eyropa, a small town with good schools and free spirits. His mother and father were loving and quite rich, though often they would fight with each other and both of them were having affairs at the same time for most of San's childhood. He was nicknamed 'San' as a boy and grew up with a decent education, having some ups and downs here and there due to trivial things such as which girl to court and what job to get. His mother died when he was about twelve years old, leaving his father in a weird sort of despair that, for whatever reason, only made him more frisky with the other women in town (most of them married).
Tired of living this sort of life, San wanted to increase his knowledge and spoke to an old hag in town called Tragaya. Tragaya was one of the only people in the whole town who knew how to do real magic and was thus feared by almost everyone. San, however, wanted to learn more about this mysterious art. She turned him away many times until finally his persistence to learn paid off. She tipped him off about a man named Rugle Topius who lived a bit East from the town who would teach him all he wanted to know for a price.
So San set off to find this mysterious man, carrying with him a lot of money from his father and the hope that he would be able to do something worth while finally. Eventually he made it, finding a cabin in a mountain that the old hag had spoken of to him. he knocked on the door apprehensively, and was greeted by a tall, but ugly man with a barrel chest and very large stature. He had dark, brown eyes and was almost always unshaven. He seemed like the least likely person on earth to know any magic at all, but when San spoke his name and purpose, the man laughed. He told San that he would teach him an art of magic spells, but only if San was to complete one favor. It would be any favor he asked that the man would tell him of when it was time to tell it. The whole idea seemed awfully fishy, but this was in fact the Rugle Topius that Tragaya had spoken of. San agreed; he signed a piece of parchment that had hastily been turned into a contract.
For thirteen years San worked with Rugle. He stayed with the family there while and in the day, Rugle would teach him the proper use of different magical substances and how to draw symbols properly when preparing a spell. Together they practiced spells of all sorts that were often quite difficult and had to be practiced for weeks upon weeks before San was able to properly conjure results. When San had free time, he would read eagerly through the many old books that Rugle lended him and would sometimes speak to his three lovely daughters. Though Rugle was very ugly, all three of his daughters were beautiful. They were each very different from one another and bore no resemblence to the bear-like Rugle at all. Often San would help Rugle tend to the animals on their mountainous property; all of which were odd and woolly. The most 'normal' looking of them all was a yak-type creature with hair so long, it touched the ground and horns so large, it was a wonder the animal could hold its head up at all.
The trouble came when all three of the daughters became very much interested in San. Yazil, the darkest one with long, wavy black hair and large, deep brown eyes was calm. She was interested most in studying animals and fancied San because of the way he handled the animals on the property with care. Lida, the palest with angular, almost masculine features and piercing green eyes was adventurous. She liked San for his brave, determined nature and high goals. Balir, the tan one with exotic features and unlikely blue eyes liked San for his looks. She sought knowledge in books, but she was quite dull in the head.
There are not many men who can stay away from three beautiful women always on their tail (though San had no idea he would actually have one soon enough). San slept with all three of them, but Yazil the most. The other two daughters lost interest after a while, but Yazil never stopped seeking his company. After a while, Rugle stopped in the middle of spell practice one day and told him something.
His favor was to marry Yazil, as she had fallen in love with San. Fearful of this prospect, San declined immediately. Rugle warned him that he had signed a contract and Rugle had the ability to ask him whatever he wanted, but still San declined. Eventually they began a shouting match and San left with his belongings in utter rage, storming down the mountain angrily and heading in no real direction. He stayed in a nearby town's inn that night, but woke with a start.
Rugle had turned him into an animal for breaking his contract. San was a four legged, domestic tabby cat, forever doomed to live his life as a cat because of his vain personality and selfish behavior. He adopted the name Cat after he realized that San was human and he was not San any longer. Cat went to find a person with magic capabilities to cure him, but everyone he visited told him that the spell cast on him was a permanent curse and had no cure. Cat was outraged.
He adopted an odd lifestyle, one of a traveler. He traveled Eyropa for years looking for somebody who could change him back to his former self, even meeting a haberdasher who created his products with magic and made him a nice-looking top hat. The haberdasher was a man that Cat lived with for nearly a year before leaving, determined to find an answer.
Eventually, he gave up on this quest and was finally convinced that he would never be human again. He came to Marn only because he had never been there before, and did not plan on staying. There was no reason for him to do so. The town was corrupted anyway, what with its ridiculous ban on magic and weird people...