Family: Cat
Type: Undead
Habitat: Ruins, human settlements
Disposition: Loyal, grumpy, lustful
Diet: Blood, meat, spirit energy
The bakeneko is a vampiric werecat-like monster with mysterious origins, but most will agree that the first was born from the union of a vampire and a nekomata. Most bakeneko have piercing red eyes and shades of black fur. Unlike a nekomata they have a singular cat tail and are different from other catfolk in that they have human hands and feet.
Similar to the nekomata the bakeneko can assume a cat form with her fur taking the color of her hair. In this cat form a bakeneko still has the ability to speak human languages, which assists her in drawing in prey to alleys or deeper into ruins. Once the prey is lured away from others the bakeneko will appear in either of her forms and make eye contact as her tail sways behind her putting the victim in a trance. At this time the bakeneko strikes to feed on the prey's blood, sinking her fangs into it. A bakeneko’s bite causes pleasure to spread through her victim as her saliva has an anticoagulant to keep the blood flowing until she's full.
If a bakeneko finds a liking to the taste of her prey the prey may wake up finding they own a new cat with a vague memory of taking a stray home. The bakeneko will roam the home in her cat form till nightfall when, as her prey lays down to sleep, she will switch forms and straddle them to feed. There is a chance during these types of feedings she may forget to put her prey into a trance and lose her chance to run if the prey can resist the pleasure from her bite. If the prey chooses to shove her off and run or to grab her hips to take control the bakeneko will be shocked in place giving the former prey the perfect chance.
Bakeneko share the same weaknesses as vampires and other cat monsters. Matatabi and garlic will send a bakeneko into a drunken heat, their throat aching with a dry thirst for a mate's blood and their groin soaked with need. During the day a bakeneko is unable to shift forms and often gets stuck as a cat until nightfall. They also experience a similar restriction during pregnancy; the inability to turn into their cat form is an early tell for good news.
Name That Mamono: Cleo
Cleo is a bakeneko with long black hair and a black cat tail that is tipped in white. Cleo wears only the bare minimum in her mamono form, preferring to remain in her cat form when able. Cleo is a servant of a banshee noble who, on orders from her mistress, assists in taking care of a blind woman and her children. She was given orders not to touch the blind woman for feeding, so she's only fed on the occasional passer-by and hasn’t gotten a proper meal for many years now. Even with her tendency to stick to her cat form Cleo is dutiful in her tasks before lazing around as a cat being petted by the human she must watch over.
Cougars are one of the larger and more powerful members of the cat family. The average cougar can easily grow more than two meters (6’7”) tall and can easily live up to 1500 years before dying of old age. While they must acknowledge their superiors in jinkos when it comes to raw physical power and size, their agility, ruthless cunning, and pure determination make them a formidable foe should one find herself on the wrong end of their fangs and claws. Cougars have limitless ambitions and are willing to take great risks to make it to the top.
Despite their ferocious nature cougars appear at first glance to be among the least monstrous of the cat species. They have human hands and feet, and aside from their tail and ears they lack any fur. Furthermore, their canines are barely noticeable as they are barely larger than their other teeth. However, don’t be deceived as they can effortlessly morph their hands and feet into paws with sharp claws and grow their fangs to easily sevenfold their initial length.
Cougars often take great care of their physique. They train hard to hone their skills, reflexes, and especially muscles. They also take great care of their claws and fangs making sure they are always in tip top condition. This obsession with fitness is not just for their vanity but is also a necessity as their life choices often mean they must be ready to fight at all times. Oddly enough, older cougars are far bustier than one would expect given how toned the rest of their bodies are. Many cougars will adorn their bodies with fierce tattoos and piercings to express their strength and ambitions.
Compared to the average mamono cougars have excellent eyesight -- their night vision especially is among the best. They also have excellent hearing that allows them to accurately gauge the distance to where a sound came from. Their sense of smell on the other hand is subpar.
Cougars live quite odd lives compared to most mamono. It is rare to find a cougar under nine-hundred years old that would see a human as anything more than a useful bartering chip. Instead, cougars tend to develop an obsession at a young age and then will then spend the rest of their waking lives trying to move heaven and earth to reach the top of whatever it is they obsess over. They will not shun dirty tricks or violence to get what they want. Typically they tend to get into a cutthroat business of one kind or another.
In most cases the road to the top is long, winding, and full of peril. Be it that they pushed themselves beyond their limit or that one of the enemies they made along the way got the better of them, six out of every seven cougars don’t live to see their ambitions fulfilled. They often find themselves competing against their own sisters, which almost always ends by claw and fang. Only the most cunning, ruthless, and skilled cougars will survive to finally make it to the top. Yet they will soon discover that their ambitions are never truly satisfied. There is always a new record to set, a new market to monopolize, another organization to take over, a bigger fish to fry.
Cougars spend most of their time either honing their bodies or furthering their schemes. Not surprisingly, cougars do not have many true friends. There is, however, one exception. Cougars often find themselves a futanari or a particularly attractive specimen of a species they do not deem dangerous to their ambitions and take her as a consort. Initially their sole job is to whip out their member or strap-on and help the cougar blow of some steam whenever needed, but it is common for the cougar and the consort to develop a close bond that goes well beyond being mere sexual partners.
Once the cougar is approaching her thousandth birthday something will snap inside her head. She will lose her sharp edges and suddenly begin to develop strong feelings for men. Her obsession will shift away from what it used to be and refocus on finding herself and her concubine a husband who meets their desires. Once a suitable man is found the three will elope, often settling in anonymity hundreds of kilometers away from where they once used to work or operate. Without the cougar at the helm of whatever it was she had built up over the centuries her life’s work will come crumbling down like a house of cards, yet the cougar could not care less.
Cougars like their men young, strapping, and naive. They revel in the thought of using their centuries of experience with their concubine to teach him the ropes and mould him to her exact liking. A cougar is initially a dominant partner who insists on riding on top, but as her relationship with her husband deepens she becomes more and more willing to experiment.
Old cougars tend to develop highly romanticized memories of their pasts. They use these memories to regale their plentiful offspring -- on average cougars have between seven and eight cubs -- with colorful stories of their exploits. And thus they sow the seeds for the next generation of cougars to begin clawing their way to the top again.
Name That Mamono: Xena
At 1,056 years old Xena has entered the twilight of her prime. She is a tall and muscular cougar with tanned skin that is covered in tattoos and scars. She has piercing red eyes and a long, wild, jet-black mane. While stubborn and arrogant, unlike most cougars Xena cares not for titles, names, wealth, or amassing power. She only cares for one thing: the thrill of the hunt and the metallic taste of blood on her lips. In search of ever more dangerous and thrilling hunts, Xena has progressively grown more feral. She did away with weapons and clothing while on the hunt a long time ago, insisting on taking on her prey up close and personal using only claws and fangs. While Xena hunts alone, she does have a concubine camp follower; a madly attractive petite blonde inari named Gabrielle. Gabrielle is not only useful as she takes care of bothersome things like talking to the locals, but her skillful use of the strap-on has Xena mewling like a kitten on those chilly nights between hunts.
Last year Xena travelled to the Frosthaven Archipelago in the far north to chase rumors of a most magnificent beast: a giant albino woolly rhino with snow white fur and eyes as red as blood. Frosthaven’s frigid climate doesn’t lend itself to hunting in the nude, but to stubborn Xena that only added to the challenge. While she came looking for prey, all she found so far was a nemesis. The beast eluded her for weeks before the two finally locked eyes. Yet, as Xena charged at it with a ferocious howl, rather than fleeing in panic it caught Xena by surprise as it counter-charged and horribly gored her on its giant horn before escaping unscathed. That Xena survived is both a testament to her tenacity and a testament to Gabrielle’s healing skills, but the ordeal came not without a price for Xena now walks with a limp. She is now more determined than ever to hunt down and kill her nemesis… or die trying.
A sun cow is a rare variant within the minotaur family with similarities to holstaurs. There is a small chance of one being born from any minotaur family type. Sun cows have varying skin tones from sun-bleached white to a sunburned red. They have an interesting quirk of being born with either human feet or cow hooves.
Sun cows have a more relaxed nature compared to other minotaurs. They are seen to take things slow and are not easy to anger, but do not let this fool you; a sun cow is highly protective of her loved ones and will readily show that she is as strong and destructive as her minotaur kin.
Along with their physical capabilities they have an aura of warmth that heats a 10-foot (3 meter) radius around them. The effects on a person have been documented to soothe and put them in a relaxed mood while also heating them up like they were basking in the sun's rays. On occasion a sun cow has been shown to be capable of pyromancy starting at a young age, sometimes accidentally setting small fires as she relaxes.
Sun cows are also known to produce milk much like holstaurs. Sun cow milk has been found to be more nutritious and adds a heat resisting effect on top of the stamina boost without the drawback of extra thick holstaur milk. Oddly the milk has a red hue to it, and products made with this milk always turn red.
If a sun cow begins to fancy a mate her aura seems to quadruple in effect on the person to make them feel more relaxed, but it also gets hotter as she approaches and causes the person to become rather parched. If the person endures the increasing heat once she reaches them she will take it as their acceptance of her and heft her milk-filled breasts to them to suckle and quell that need for a drink. This brings the sun cow great pleasure and she will bring her mate closer, beginning to play with the person's body slowly as the person drinks. Once the person is no longer thirsty she will end the foreplay and have a slow good time with her new mate.
Name That Mamono: Clara
Clara is a sun cow who stands at 5’5” (165 cm.) in height. She has pink skin and green eyes. Her hair is kept short and is black with green streaks. She has curved up horns and a long tail, both black with green splotches and blue green tips. She favors skimpy outfits that show off her assets. Clara's “father” is a hakutaku and her mother a holstaur. Clara is an ambitious woman who takes chances most sun cows would not as she travels the continent with dreams of becoming a lord’s assistant. She is currently traveling around Amarante with an elf looking for work to increase Clara’s reputation and raise a few coins.
