Name: Tysabri (tee-sah-bree) Bond: Rytasa Li'Multigenus Age: 102 Rank: N/A Sex: Female Species: Demon Cat (Not literally a "demon from Hell" type of demon, but rather a breed of feline crossbred with unknown creatures many eons ago. They're called "demon cats" because of their appearance: horns/spikes/fins etc.) Height: 6'0" Fur: Much like that of a "bicolor" or "mitted" Ragdoll cat Markings: White body with a brownish "mask", brown hands/feet with white fingers/toes, a brown tail, and a light cream/tan "cape" over the back area Eyes: Cerulean blue Place of Birth: Rap'teru, Demon Cat homeworld, exact star-chart location undisclosed Current Residence: Sitheil Tirean, Splintyr Sector Physical Description: Tysabri is a large feline, standing perhaps six feet tall in anthro form. Her markings are those of a "bicolor"/"mitted" Ragdoll cat -- basically a white body with a brownish "mask", brown hands/feet with white fingers/toes, a brown tail, and a light cream/tan "cape" over the back area. Her eyes are a deep cerulean blue. She has a long flowing "mane" that reaches down to the base of her tail and is a grayish-tan in color. Each demon cat has different "bits" that give them their unusual appearance, and Tysabri's are two-pronged golden horns on her head and two large, crescent-shaped silver-gray shoulder spikes. Demon cats don't wear clothes, but they don’t have any visible parts that would cause nuns to faint. Tysabri occasionally wears simple tiaras or "forehead jewelry": basically a chain that runs around her head, resting on her forehead, with gems or charms on the chain. Personality: Tysabri is almost painfully serious most of the time, which is actually just a façade to cover up her extreme loneliness. At a young age, she was apprenticed to a master tactician who worked closely with the demon cats' Royal Army. Tysabri spent most of her childhood in a large, cold castle, far away from any other creatures her own age. She got an excellent education and is well-schooled in military and non-military tactics, but she has few friends. Whenever she does engage in conversation, she... well, tactfully weighs each and every thing she says, trying to measure out how her responses will affect any possible future encounters. As a result, she's viewed as a bit of an oddball, and most demon cats near her age will avoid her. She is now serving her "journeyman" training as a tactician in Sitheil Tirean, as a sort of "exchange program" for young beings of the Gate-connected planets. Lately, she's been seriously considering leaving her post as apprentice tactician to find someplace--anyplace--where she will fit in. Or at least somewhere where she can learn to fit in. Abilities: »Tysabri has an extremely flexible, clever mind, and a good sense of tactics and politics. Now if she only had the social abilities to put these things to use! Story: "And if the enemy's army numbers over one thousand infantry units?" Tysabri hesitated only briefly. "Attempt to split the troops into at least two groups. Drive one group into the standing defenses if possible." "Correct." The grizzled old man tapped his pointer against the gigantic map laid out before them, which was divided into hexagons, with small carved-stone figurines representing armies, units, and defensive structures scattered seemingly at random. "But what if you manage to divide the infantry, but cannot drive any into the standing defenses?" With the ebon-black pointer, the man slid a group of carved pieces away from the tiny stone fences. Tysabri regarded the board thoughtfully. Her brows drew together. "Well--you could--" "No," the man said, drawing the pointer down the map, away from the figurines. "It's the obvious move, but if you draw the group away towards the river, the other group will simply crush against you from behind." Tysabri suppressed a sigh. That's actually not what I was going to say, she thought to herself. But it didn't matter. The old man thought that her apprenticeship to her homeland's Royal Tactician amounted to little more than a pile of wet hairballs in the corner, and he thought she could figure out little more than the most rudimentary of tactics. It's not like he was directly prejudiced against her; in a place like Sitheil Tirean the humans were the minority, not six-foot-tall catlike anthropomorphic beings. Her long tail, stretched out behind her, twitched restlessly as the old man went over flanking, pincer, and sweeping movements, all the while shoving stone pieces around the map. After an intolerably long time, he dismissed her for the day and she darted out, nearly hitting the top of the doorframe with the huge silvery-gray spikes that protruded from her shoulders. She was the only one of her particular species on Sitheil Tirean, although most of the other creatures were bipedal animal-like beings as well, so she often felt surrounded by familiar creatures. Nothing could abate her bone-deep loneliness, however. It had been with her since before she left Rap'teru for her apprenticeship here, she mused, making her way carefully through the caves, trying not to knock her shoulder-spikes against anything breakable. They were sturdy bonelike structures that were connected to her skeleton, so they felt no pain and were in no danger of breaking, but it was disconcerting to knock the wooden frame off the top part of a door just by going through it. Up ahead of her, a white wolf with a gray face strode down the cave path, with a small silver dragon at his heels. The dragon seemed to be studded all over with green jewels and was smiling. "Hey, Ty," the wolf called, and Tysabri recognized him as Airt, one of the security guards (so to speak) at the Gate building. Tysabri had met him the first day she had arrived on Sitheil Tirean, shivering and disoriented from the aetheric travel. "Hello," she managed rustily. Her deep loneliness stemmed in part from an inability to know how to react in most social situations. "Tactics" didn't really help there. "Hello, Nexratri," she greeted the small dragon, who was Airt's bond. How she envied the easy friendship between beings and their bonds! The small dragon nodded a greeting, and Tysabri raised her eyes hesitantly to Airt's. The wolf was slightly taller than her, which was pleasantly unusual here. (She towered above Lakota, which made her feel odd.) He was not bad-looking, either... well, for a wolf and not a Demon Cat, that was. Suddenly he met her eyes, and she snapped hers back down to the floor, causing the jewel strung between her head-horns to rattle. "You know," Airt said in a strangely gentle voice, "I hear there's another group getting ready to go to the Abstract Destiny again. I hear there's another hatching, and they could use a few more candidates." Tysabri couldn't meet his gaze again. "Sure," she mumbled to her feet, which didn't respond. "I only say that because... excuse me for being so blunt... you look like you could use a friend," Airt continued. Tysabri could feel herself blushing beneath her fur. Her shoulder-spikes threatened to melt under the onslaught of her embarassment. "I... don't think my tutor would let me leave," she said faintly. "Apprenticeship... you know... teachings, learnings... all. That. Stuff." She felt like a fool. "Oh, leave that to me," Airt said blithely. "I'll talk to Lakota, and we'll bully your teacher into letting you have a few days off." Suddenly he clapped a hand to her shoulder, right in front of where spike met fur, and squeezed. "Just don't worry about it. Go to the Gate building now, they're getting ready to leave. Hurry, you don't want to miss it." He grinned, but she didn't see it, as she was still inspecting her feet. "Right, thanks," she mumbled, fully expecting to slither despicably to her room and go into a miserable sleep. She was actually still expecting to do just that even as she dashed into the Gate building just in time to follow the others to the Abstract Destiny... Home | Adopt/Sands | Growth | Appearance | Culture | Breeding | Forum | FAQ Residents | Abandoned | Guardians | World of Splintyr | Store | Contact Lakota Splintyr is a member of the Nexus / Kshau Protectorate All characters, images, and text, including Schattarneki and Splintyr are the property of and are copyrighted to Crystal Carlson and DragonByte Studios © 1998-2005. All rights reserved. ...