Board Thread:Off Topic/@comment-24994749-20160215224136/@comment-24994749-20160430233414

I made this thread and never posted anything. Shame on me.

Name: Helidae, Katzidae (Mantle)

Title(s): Night Lurker, Sand Lurker (Vacuo Region), Snow Lurker (Mantle), Forest Lurker (Vale Region), Swamp Lurker (Mistral Region)

Sex/Gender: Female / Androgynous

Appearance: Helidae is universally portrayed as an humanoid feline, with both tail, cat like ears in place of human ones and visibly slitted pupils.

While generally agreed to be feminine, its imagery is androgynous.

Appearence Variation(s): In Vacuo and its surrounding territories, Helidae was originally portrayed with short grey fur with black spots and green eyes. Modern representations tend to give her longer sand coloured fur with black rings on the tail and black ear tips.

In Mantle, Helidae was primarily portrayed with short silvery-grey fur with white spots, and pale grey eyes.

In Vale and its surrounding territories, Helidae is portrayed with short black fur and bright yellow eyes.

In Mistral and its surrounding territories, Helidae is portrayed with long beige fur with black bars, a wide white area on the chest. Ears ending on black tufts of hair.

Patronage: Helidae is considered a protector of huntsmen and huntresses, as well as explorers, from Grimm.

Helidae is also popular among farmers, as a protector against rodents and other animals that ruin crops.

Powers and Abilities: Helidae is primarily credited with general cat like abilities, such as speed, agility, enhanced hearing and smell, and night vision. Helidae is also believed to be able to shape-shift into a feline. Said animal appearance is dependant on the region.

Worship Status: Helidae is primarily worshipped in Vacuo and its surrounding territories. Worship is also popular among nomads around Vale and Mistral.

Worship Practices: Vacuoian aspiring huntsmen and huntresses attend Helidae dedicated shrines before the beginning of the academic year to make offerings of milk. Similarly, huntsmen and huntresses about to set off on a mission visit shrines to present respects and ask for safety and success.

Farmers leave food for wild and stray felines on the fences of their crops.

A image of Helidae is placed at the centre of the territory a nomad group intends to set at; when abandoning the area, the image is buried to be unearthed when the settlement returns.

Origins: Helidae's worship appears to have originated among hunter-gatherer groups, human and faunus alike, from the Vacuoian desert, where it was prayed to for protection of hunters from Grimm.

As populations adopted more sedentary lifestyles, Helidae became a patron of those in charge of fighting off Grimm. Images and small shrines for her could be found on the entry to villages. It was traditional to mark the centre of a new settlement with her name or figure to ask for her protection.

It is uncertain how it exactly spread to other continents.

Current Places of Worship: Primarily Vacuo, and nomadic groups.

Worship at Mantle was always low, but it appears to have died out with the kingdom after the Great War.

After the Faunus Rights Revolution, worship among humans appears to have died out outside of Vacuo. Most followers of Helidae from outside of said kingdom appear to be feline faunus.