Tree Pard

Tree Pards are arboreal cats found in the forests of the Northeast and Southeast. They have the same average weight as a human, though they are lithe with more powerful muscles for leaping and climbing, covered in grey fur with black spots. Southern Tree Pards tend to be larger and heavier than their Northern cousins.

Tree Pards are carnivores and expert hunters. Their favoured prey are simians and similar creatures, including Forest Baboons, Emerald Monkeys, Giant Arboreal Sloths, and humans. They also consume tree-dwelling rodents such as Hatra and various birds. Tree Pards have powerful jaws capable of threatening even large creatures such as elk if required. They spend most of their time in the trees, and are highly adept at moving across and between branches.

Tree Pards are highly intelligent, most classed in the Haltan hierarchy as San-Beasts, with many Ata-Beasts amongst them. In Halta, Tree Pards are valued as scouts and hunters. There is some discontent among ata-Tree Pards due to what some see as a bias pushing them to take up these roles, and a near-universal tendency to pair each Tree Pard scout with a human handler... close personal friendships often blossom, but the Tree Pards note that HUMAN scouts often operate without Tree Pard companions while the reverse is never true.

In their southern range, Tree Pards are decreasing in number rapidly due to the depredations of the ape Beastmen in service to the Lunar Anathema Raksi, who favours the simians who make up their usual prey. Favoured apemen often sport beautiful cloaks formed from the skins of Tree Pards.