Cat Lord, and Other Beast Cults

The Animal Lords are powerful creatures of neutral good alignment that reside on the Outer Plane of the Beastlands. All petitioners who enter the Beastlands who are not of a specific deity take the form of an animal upon their arrival, albeit an intelligent, articulate one, and all animals of a given type are ruled over by one of the Animal Lords of the plane. Each animal lord is an outsider, with power levels not unlike those of a celestial paragon or demon prince, that represents all animals of their chosen type. For example, there is a Mouse Lord, a Lizard Lord, and a Hawk Lord. The most well-known animal lord is the Cat Lord.

Predating even ancient netheril, when civilization was but a foreshadowing on the face of this crystal sphere, the Animal Lords ventured onto Toril to revel in its unspoiled, primal state, and watch over the animals that populated it. These primal overlords paid little mind to the affairs of humanoid creatures as the mortal races began to spread across the globe; the Animal Lords were only concerned with the wellbeing of their chosen bestial wards. However, some did not turn away active worship of any creature that cared to revere them. It is said in more apocryphal studies of ancient religions of Toril, that some of these Animal Lords became the aspects of the more contemporary beast cults that arose from ancient barbarian cultures, such as the Uthgardt tribes that rebelled against the civilzation of Netheril (Perhaps fostering these clans of odd, bipedal creatures who stood against the encroachment of the natural world would bring a return to Toril’s primal state, and thus, did the shamans of ancient man-tribes gain their powers). In some cases, aspects of the Animal Lords have been subsumed by the later-come deities who made their way into Faerun — such as Felidae was subsumed by Baast in that goddess’ travels to become Sharess. In other instances, the Animal Lords have kept themselves in relative obscurity, or simply retreated their way back to the Beastlands. Seeing as the sole fealty offered to these Animal Lords was by animals, who would truly tell us?

The Cat Lord

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Domains: Animal [Fur], Chaos, Panther
Shaman Spirits: Nature, Tribe
Favored Weapon: A cat’s claws

The Cat Lord is one of the more well known because of his repeated presence upon Toril and other spheres, where he makes himself (or herself) known in some manifestation. Of course this reputation also comes the reverence of many catfolk in these worlds. The Tabaxi and Tibbets of Toril have long known and revered Cat Lord as their protector, as do other similar races in other spheres. While many of these bloodlines that have in later generations come to follow the gods of humans and other demihuman faiths, there are still at least as many who adhere to Cat Lord as their patron. The Cat Lord cares nothing of demihuman races of Toril or any other plane; he is solely concerned with the welfare of felines — from domestic cats through the giant lynx to the largest smilodons.

The Cat Lord is not defined by their gender; they have been regarded as both male and female, or neither. Perhaps there has been more than one Cat Lord, or perhaps it’s the Cat Lord’s own fickleness that they choose whichever fits them given the realm they are in, or just the time of day. Cats need no other perogative besides random whim, and like the felines that are Cat Lord’s dominion, they embody unbridled chaos.

The Cat Lord is uninterested in the homage of any but feline races and creatures, and this is in no way an organized worship; most of the creatures that revere the Cat Lord see it more as a fraternal partnership than anything. If there are clerics of Cat Lord, they are not known to most mortal ken. Druids, Rangers and Shamans, however, are known to gain prayers from the Cat Lord.

Obedience: Find and observe a mouse or rat from no more than 30 feet away. Continue watching the mouse, unseen, for 100 breaths. Catch the mouse and release it in an area where predators hunt. Gain the wild empathy ability of a druid equal to your character level when relating to any sort of feline. If you already have this ability, then you gain a sacred bonus of +4 to these checks.

Boons
1: Feline Friend (Sp) summon minor ally (felines only) 3/day, animal messenger (felines only) 2/day, or summon nature’s ally III (felines only) 1/day
2: Battle Cat (Su) By beckoning the Cat Lord’s favor, even the most humble housecat can become like a lion. You can cast animal growth upon any feline creature as a spell-like ability once per day, using your character level as your caster level; this can affect felines of the animal or magical beast type, as well as humanoids of feline origin such as tabaxi or other catfolk. The DC of this ability is 10 + 1/2 your Hit Dice + your Charisma modifier.
3: Rally the Clowder (Sp) You are truly a leader among cats, great and small, and with a command you can bolster their mettle. You can cast mass atavism as a spell-like ability once per day, using your character level as your caster level. The DC of this ability is 10 + 1/2 your Hit Dice + your Charisma modifier.

Unique Spell Rules

• Summon Nature’s Ally (any): Any of these spells will only summon felines creatures, applying templates such as young, advanced, celestial and dire creature, if need be, to adjust the effective summon level.