Alynxes Martin Crim (1994) Orlanth's kinship with Yinkin means that cats are part of the divinelandscape for Orlanthi. This has some tremendous benefits for the culture. A truly domesticated wildcat is of great use in hunting by ambush, since a wild lynx (about twice the size of a housecat) can take down a mature deer. (Source: C. Savage, Wild Cats, Sierra Club Books 1993.) House cats are useful to agriculturalists in keeping down rodent and insect populations. Despite the mythical link, however, Orlanthi have to keep dogs for herding. The reason for this is the following tale, related by an old shepherd of the Colymar tribe, one sunny summer afternoon under an apple tree:
One day Yinkin was wandering on the World Mountain, where he met Brother Dog. "Hello, friend," Yinkin said to Brother Dog. "Come rest with me a while on this sunny ledge."
"No time, no time," said Brother Dog. "I must herd my master's cows."
"What? Are you a slave, that you have no leisure time?"
"Come with me and I will show you something."
Yinkin, being the father of curiosity, had to follow Brother Dog then, to see what Brother Dog would show him. He followed Brother Dog all day, as Brother Dog herded the cattle. He saw how Brother Dog brought the cattle up into the pasture, how he protected them from the marauding nosewalkers, how he brought them to water, and how he drove them back to their pen at night. Then he saw Brother Dog's master come out of his longhouse and bless Brother Dog. "I've got to have some of that blessing," said Yinkin. So he went to Brother Dog and asked him to let Yinkin do the herding the next day.
"Not possible," said Brother Dog. "Only I can herd my master's cows."
"But, cousin, even slaves get a holiday, and tomorrow is the birthday of
Mammal Mother. Let me work for you tomorrow, and you can perform the
sacrifice for both of us."
Brother Dog had to agree, and when morning came Yinkin set out to herd cows for the first time. Just like Brother Dog, he nipped at the heels of the cows to get them out of their pen in the morning. But when Yinkin did that, the cows stampeded. "This is easy," Yinkin said out loud to himself. "I got the herd out to the pasture much faster than Brother Dog."
Yinkin caught up with the herd after a while, and saw that they were spread out all over the hills, with their heads down, eating grass. "This is great," Yinkin said. "They way I do it, each cow has lots of room to pick its own patch of grass, instead of all huddling together, the way Brother Dog makes them do."
Suddenly Yinkin scented something on the wind. He stalked off into the woods, and pounced on a nosewalker he found there. Worn out, he took a nap in a tree near his kill. When he woke up, he dragged the dead nosewalker all the way back to the cow pen, arriving just as it got dark. The cows had straggled in by themselves. Yinkin dragged his kill up to Brother Dog's master. "Look," Yinkin said, "I herded the cows all day and still had time to hunt this nosewalker!"
Brother Dog's master smiled at Yinkin and said, "Yes, and you will get my blessing, which is to free you from ever having to herd my cows again!"
Alynx Breeds:
Hunting alynxes come in several breeds, which specialize in different prey. Hunting breeds are common only in their home regions and nearby. A hunter keeps close to his cat, both to support it in the kill and because cats will cache the entire kill and eat it over a couple of days unless the hunter takes it away.
The Oxhead breed of Talastar is the largest, and hunts deer, pigs, and sable. It ranges in size from forty-five to fifty kilos (SIZ 7-8). One can train it to attack people, but it must be kept chained or penned up after that.
The River Cat breed of the Tanier River region is almost as large (around forty-five kilos; SIZ 7), and hunts deer, young elk, ponies, otters, and alligators. In the upper regions of the river, they also take dinosaur eggs.
Somewhat smaller are the Forest Cat native to Heortland and the Bear Cat of eastern Fronela (about forty kilos or SIZ 6), which hunt small deer, hedgehogs, porcupines, and other forest creatures.
Most Orlanthi regions have a hunting cat breed in the thirty to thirty-five kilo range (SIZ 5). These take rabbits, small species of antelope, rubble runners, and other prey in the SIZ 3- 18 range, including the occasional deer. A common (but misleading) term for these is bobcat.
Smaller cats are not often used for hunting, but some places have a twenty-kilo breed used to catch birds, rabbits, and squirrels. Hunters sometimes turn such cats out to hunt and drag their kills home, thus sparing the hunter the effort of going out into the woods.
Cats in the SIZ 1-4 range (5 to 23 kilos) usually serve to kill pests, such as rats, mice, and crows. The smaller sizes are useful to control insect populations, especially grasshoppers and locusts.
A well-stocked Orlanthi farm has a family of about a dozen small cats (SIZ 1-3) for pest control, a couple of bobcats, and a breeding pair of larger cats for hunting. The kittens of the latter are traded, one kitten of good lineage often bringing an ox or pony in trade.
The statistics and description in Gloranthan Bestiary are woefully incorrect. The larger breeds, which hunt deer, have a STR in the 2D6+10 range. Smaller specimens have a STR of 2D6 + SIZ +2. However, none of them ever have a damage penalty.
Like most cats, shadow cats take prey which is larger than themselves. They hunt by ambush, killing with a bite to the neck. The cat aims the blow for the neck if it possibly can, and when it hits it hangs on, continuing to do damage, until the prey succumbs. The cat rakes only when trying to get away. When it is trying to kill prey, it needs to use its hind paws to stay upright. If the bite to the neck does not kill immediately, the cat must hang on and apply its weight to force the prey down.
Other skills of shadow cats include: Climb 95+18, Jump 80+18, Swim 40+18, Listen 70+2, Scan 50+2, Smell 90+2.
Random note: Mongols used Golden Eagles to hunt wolves, and the weight to strength ratio of raptors is much higher than represented in the RQ rules. Change the Hawk stats on page 24 of the RQ Creatures Book to STR 2D6+2 for hawks and STR 2D6+5 for eagles.
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