Name: Kai’ter’ah
Age/Sex: 16/Female
Race/Species/Origin: Changed human from pre-Libitina Etuua
Physical: 5’3”. Very cat-like, agile in a martial artsy sort of way. Striking green eyes (with cat-like pupils) that turn hazel when angered or using powers. Straight, shiny, jet-black hair that reaches about 3 inches past shoulder.
Personality: Earthy character, close to nature, in tune with things. Fiesty, upbeat.
Skills/Abilities: Has knowledge of medicinal herbs and such. Can heal people/animals.
Powers from Libitina: Can shape-shift into a black panther-type cat, but only when feeling strong emotions (fear, anger, sadness, happiness, etc).
History: Kai lived in the small village of Adris while growing up. After her mother’s death, her father became obsessed with his work as a guard in the larger nearby city of Arak-Sur. Kai was only seven years old at the time. She had a younger brother, Gee’est’u’nah (known as Gee {with a hard “G”} for short), who was only six when Libitina hit (Kai was ten years old). To help support her family, Kai worked with the village hunters who trapped and sold the skins of the numerous, local big cats.
One day a villager brought back a cat that was only stunned unconscious. Kai was there when it awoke, and it attacked her. The wound became infected and went systemic. Kai was sent by her father to live with her uncle Saijio, who was a doctor in Karthra, a nearby village.
She was just starting to recover when Libitina struck. The chemical caused Kai to go into a coma for an indefinite period of time. When she finally awoke, everyone around her (i.e. in the village and surrounding area) was either dead or had disappeared. Emotionally distraught, she suddenly found herself transforming into a large black cat. She panicked and ran home to her father and brother, whom she also found to be dead.
In shock and not knowing what else to do, she stayed around her home for a long time, burying her father and sibling next to her mother’s grave. She eventually managed to return to her human form, and decided to travel. Over the years she stayed in various villages, gaining medicinal knowledge and skills, and helping heal the sick. She learned how to survive off the land and how to live in a semi-nomadic lifestyle. Generally, she encountered no problems associated with her cat-shape, discovering she only changed when under severe emotional stress. This was usually not a problem as she had developed a calm and laid-back personality.
However, one day while she was walking along the road toward another new village, she witnessed a child being murdered. She transformed into her cat-form and chased after the man, but was too late to save the child. The villagers happened upon her at this moment and wrongly concluded that Kai was at fault for the child’s death. It was then, with the villager’s pursuing her, that Kai (literally) ran into Deygo and the rest of the travelers.
Other Information: Kai is aware of her actions while in cat-form, and can control them. Kai also had a pet cat when she was growing up, Leucos, whom she loved very dearly. He died during Libitina, so to remember him, she keeps a tooth and claw from the him in a small leather pouch she wears around her neck.
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