Books on the Alevaharin

Feline Colorations

The Alevaharin have a directional sort of division in their race, based upon the four cardinal directions. For each type of coloration - equine, feline, or draconic - the personality, colors, and general powers are slightly different for each direction, though similarities are there.

It should be noted that direction, and therefore powers and to some extent personality, are based upon coloration, not which clan they're from.


Basic Information:

Alevaharin have a total of 23 possible feline colorations, though only about 9 of those will be seen with any regularity. Those that have an feline coloration are considered more 'cat-like' than those that have equine or draconic, and their powers generally reflect that theme.

Strength in their overall power will be given a grade from 1-10, with 10 being strongest. This will affect how powerful they are in all of their direction-specific powers (such as: North is the shamans, so an Alevahari with a power grade of 8 would have stronger shaman-type powers, and therefore able to do more, than one with a grade of 2)

Even though there are only four cardinal directions, there are another four directions (Northeast, Northwest, Southeast, Southwest) that are made by combining the general traits of the two directions that they are between. All that can be classified as a secondary direction often have a mixture of powers from the two cardinal directions (for example: One of the Southwest would have powers of purification and illusion, for which each will get a strength rating, and they'll often be weaker in a specific power than a pure South, West, North, or East)


Directions and Descriptions:

North:
Albinos mostly. The rare guardians and those that are often 'elders' even from birth, they often have very shamanistic powers, while their empathy is generally high. They prefer the chill temperatures and peaceful calmness of a crisp winter day, and are generally unaffected by chill temperatures

South:
Golds, yellows, light browns. They are often seen as very childish, they enjoy playing and are very trusting. Nevertheless, they're very self-sufficient and often have hidden strength of will. Their powers rest in those of purification - of anything - and their telepathy/empathy grades are often very close together, they prefer the warmth of summer and prefer day to night, generally unaffected by heat

East:
Reddish colors, dark browns. They are very creative in their methods of doing things and have very strong intuition, their powers rest in those of illumination and, to a small extent, divination as well. Their telepathy powers are generally stronger than their empathy powers, and they prefer the cool freshness of a spring day

West:
Blacks, the non-conformists of the feline colors, prefer to do things their own way, which may be considered backwards or contrary by others. They have very active imaginations and enjoy using their illusion powers to express themselves. Quests and journeys of any kind interest them, and their (usually) compassionate nature often wins them many friends, they prefer autumn nights to anything else


Colors and their directions:

Snow Leopard - Northwest:
A common coloration for the Northwest, these felines have leopard-like markings (rosettes and broken-spot markings) that are spaced farther apart than a true leopard's. Their base coloration is a grayish color, with white fur on their chin, chest, and belly.

Fishing Cat - Northwest:
Slightly less common than the Snow Leopard, the Fishing Cat has a predominantly gray coat with a few tints of brown in it, with small dark brown or black spotted markings. Their foreheads are distinctly marked with a pair of dark lines that extend up and behind their ears, and then open up into widely spaced stripes down their neck.

Lynx (Canadian type) - Northwest:
The least common of all the Northwest colorations, which is somewhat puzzling to those that have attempted to research the Alevaharin. Elsewhere, the common rule of thumb is that, the more impressive and intricate the coloration is, the rarer it is, but here, the fairly plain Lynx is the least common. The only explanation that is offered to explain this is that the Lynx, with its frosted gray coat and faint spots, has some secret that has yet to be revealed.

Leopard/Jaguar - Southwest:
Most common of the Southwest colorations. Perhaps at one time there was a true distinction between these two colorations, but now they seem to have blended together into a 'half-way' mixture, with the occasional one or two having a distinct Leopard or Jaguar look. Their base coat is a brownish to yellowish color, and are distinctively marked with dark rosettes, some of which will have small dots or irregular shapes within the larger rosette shape. If almost all of the rosettes have the small dots or irregular shapes, then the Alevahari is closer to a true Jaguar coloration, if not, then closer to a Leopard.

Black-footed Cat - Southwest:
Less common than the Leopard/Jaguar, the Black-footed Cat has a base coat that can vary between light, sandy brown to a reddish brown, though the sandy brown color is the commonest. It has dark spotted patches all over its body, which sometime combine to form broken stripes, its legs are barred with dark horizontal stripes, and its tail is banded with dark rings, and ends with a dark tip.

King Cheetah - Southwest:
The least common of all, this coloration is a mere rumor in most places. It's rumored that, on a King Cheetah, the Cheetah's typical spots are elongated in long, irregular shapes, and its spine and part of the top of its body is covered in a black stripe that runs from the top of its head all the way down to the tip of its tail, from which many of the elongated spots near its spine seem to branch from. The base coloration is a golden yellow, much like a normal Cheetah.

Caracal - South:
A common South color, the Caracal is rather plain looking except for the back of its ears, and the few tufts of white fur on it. Its body color is typically a yellowish brown, the backs of its ears are black, its belly is white, and a small area under the eyes is white as well.

Cheetah - South:
Second most common South coloration, despite the questions that its spots raise. Yet again, it seems like the South colors enjoy ignoring rules of thumb, as the Cheetah is a true South, with absolutely no hint of West powers in it at all. Its base coat is golden yellow, and its spots are a dark gold to black color.

Chinese Desert Cat - South:
Rarely seen, the Desert Cat is another anomaly like the Lynx. A bit more plain than the Cheetah, but still rarer than such, the only explanation available is that the Desert Cats have some sort of secret that has yet to be revealed. They have a yellowish gray base coat, with pale stripes on their legs and a ringed tail, with pale, almost invisible, spots over their sides.

African Golden Cat - Southeast:
Common Southeast coloration, these Alevaharin have golden/reddish-brown base color, with the occasion darker stripe or spot. The undersides of their chin, their chest, and their belly typically have a lighter, pale gold to white coloration.

Puma - Southeast:
Almost as common as the African Golden Cat, the Puma has either a yellow buff or a light reddish brown fur color, often with a subtle dappling effect that will blend both colors together. Sometimes a Puma has darker red-brown paws and the tip of its tail will be the same color, as will the tip of the wing-fingers.

Clouded Leopard - Southeast:
Least common of the Southeast colorations, the Clouded Leopard has a pale yellow-brown base color, with large, irregularly shaped markings all over its body, which are a dark brown, almost black, around the edges and then fade to lighter in the middle.

Asian Golden Cat - East:
Most common East color, the Asian Golden Cat typically has a reddish golden brown base coat. Like many of the feline colorations, the undersides of the Asian Golden Cat are white, but not a pure white. Spots of the same reddish golden brown break up the pure white color.

Mountain Cat - East:
Slightly less common color, the Mountain Cat tends to have a gray/brown or reddish/gray base coloration, and is covered in large, dark red irregular spots. Long fur is common on Alevaharin with the Mountain Cat coloration.

Jaguarundi - East:
Another true oddity, much like the Chinese Desert Cat and the Lynx, the Jaguarundi has a dark gray/brown to a chestnut brown base coat, with few, if any, markings on it at all. An ancient, unproven myth exists that the three oddities, the Lynx, Desert Cat, and Jaguarundi, can, when working together, do almost anything, though they'll pay for it later in terms of exhaustion and extreme hunger that may last up to a week.

Lion - Northeast:
Most common Northeast color, the Lion has a typically gray/buff fur color, with a few tints of reddish brown in it. The undersides of these Alevaharin are typically a paler color than their base coat. It's very common to see both female and male Lion Alevahari with a longer mane than normal, and even sometimes a bit of a true lion's mane.

Pallas Cat - Northeast:
Second most common Northeast color, the Pallas Cat has a coat that can vary from light gray, to a russet color, and always has a frosted appearance. It always has two dark streaks of fur on each side of its face that stretch, one from the eye and one from the nose, back and onto its neck slightly. In addition, its tail is tipped with a dark brown to black cap, and there are two to three rings of the same color near the tip of the tail as well.

Rusty-spotted Cat - Northeast:
Least common Northeast color, the Rusty-spotted Cat has a base color of gray, with small rust red spots that form into solid stripes along its back and across its head, giving it its name.


Oddities:

Occasionally, rarely, a Kitling will be born and grow into a coloration that's... rather contrary. The true oddities are the East-West and North-South colorations, though the Melanistics are rather contrary as well. Melanistics are not classified as Southwest or Northwest, even when their base colors would have been golds or whites respectively. They will be called West-South or West-North, based on the fact that their powers won't be a combination but instead an addition. So therefore, a Melanistic that would have been, say, a Cheetah, would have slightly weak South powers, and much stronger West powers, based on the fact that they never truly show the Cheetah coloration in the first place. Albinos are similar to the Melanistics, except for the fact that their powers tend to be a toss-up. Because Albinos show little to no markings, its impossible to tell by eye which breed they are, and typically, the specific breed is never discovered, due to the fact that there is such a wide variety of feline colorations that could show up, and that almost all Alevaharin of the feline coloration carry for. An Albino will be classified as either North-North (shortened to just North), North-South, North-East, and North-West, much like a Melanistic, and only through display of their powers will their second direction become known.

Little is known about pure East-West colorations, as very few have ever been born. Though its suspected that they'll be similar to Melanistics in terms of what powers they'll have.

Tiger - South-West-North, occasionally a pure Northwest:
Tigers seem to truly enjoy being the odd ones out. They fall into no specific rules, as their colorations are an orange with black stripes and white under their chins, on their chests, and down their bellies, making them South, West, and North respectively. It seems, from observations made of the few Tigers that are living, that one of the powers will be very much dominant and unmixed with other powers, and the other two will be weaker and mixed like a normal secondary direction. So, normal Tigers are always classified as either South-Northwest, or North-Southwest, there have been no known West-Northsouth Tigers born. On occasion, though, a White Tiger will be born, these fall into the category of Northwest, and are treated as such.

Black-footed Cat - East-West:
In the fairly rare event of a Black-footed Cat showing a reddish body color, their powers shift to an East-West, instead of a Southwest. Otherwise, their coloration and markings are the same as the normal Southwest, only with a reddish body color.

Flat-headed Cat - East-West:
A rather odd looking coloration, a Flat-headed Cat has an almost black body color, with a paler underside. Its head is a reddish brown color, an occasionally flecks of reddish brown can be seen in the black body.

All Albinos - North-North/South/East/West:
Albinos are just that, albinos. Typically no markings show up, not even faintly, their pupils are typically reddish, their eyes either pink or pale blue, and their fur and mane are pure white.

All 'Melanistic' Cats - West-North/East/South/West:
Melanistic felines are those that have, due to a genetic twist, inherited a much darker coat than what they typically would have. Their fur will be a dark, typically black color - though a few really dark grays have shown up - but in certain lights their markings will show up, showing which coloration they would normally have been.