Tabaxi

The tabaxi were a race of sentient, cat-like humanoids from the land of Zatal. Though there were many sub-species and ethnicities, all tabaxi shared a natural curiosity, which sometimes manifested as intense wanderlust.

The lifespan of a tabaxi was significantly shorter than a human, usually becoming full adults around 6, and entering old age close to 30. Few tabaxi lived past 40.

The Light of the Full Moon

Despite their historical difficulties in organizing systems and governments, one of the most compelling features of tabaxi culture were instinctive, almost metaphysically powerful beliefs. Tabaxi ideology, the Light of the Full Moon, encompassed many spiritual and philosophical ideas which were difficult to put into language, and never written down.

Tabaxi were paradoxically suspicious of outsiders, but welcoming and loyal at the same time. They had intense wanderlust, but also a yearning for home and hearth. Tabaxi were considered somewhat mercurial, but they held long grudges. Most tabaxi had a strange relationship with their gods, paying deference to Tezca one day, and cursing the sun the next. Tabaxi often participated in "Ranepht" rituals of mourning and celebration as part of the Light of the Full Moon.

Tabaxi Nails

The nails, or claws, of a tabaxi were particularly important. Washing one's hands and nails was seen as a sign of simple respect. Painting one's nails, on the other hand, was far more complex.

The Great Unity

The tabaxi's primary belief (sometimes called the Great Unity) was an instinctive bent to see all people as inherently tabaxi. It was something known automatically to all, and summarized in one phrase loosely translated as "We are all tabaxi". Just as a dwarf found peace, comfort, and stability in the Moradindrian and the nations of Frostholme believed deeply in the Blood Code, most tabaxi shared this unspoken worldview. It was not usually something discussed or explained; like the Moradindrian, it simply "was".

In essence, all sentient people were the same to the tabaxi-- fur or no fur, round ears or pointed, tail or no. Whereas most other sentient Races may (or may not) see others as equals, a dwarf would never consider an elf to be anything but an elf. A dragonborn would have been insulted to be called human. A gith would never be a halfling. However, whether they spoke it aloud or not, most tabaxi deeply believed in an ultimate truth; we are all tabaxi.

Compatibility with Glavian Philosophy

The Unity was sometimes likened to a philosophy of the Glavian Empire's state religion; all persons will eventually become a part of a greater whole. This idea was weaponized by the Glavian House Sylvestra in an attempt to convert the tabaxi to Glavian culture. The tabaxi, however, were far too discordant and disorganized, and generally rejected this comparison. Glavians assimilated cultures by force; tabaxi (especially after Empress Cuahatemoc's reign) simply saw all sentient people as themselves.