Cheertah's page

I greatly appreciate your interest in our community and our well-being. The situation here is finally getting better and returning to normal. The appearance of those strange phenomena truly caught us unprepared and were it not for actions of some unexpected allies it would have dire consequences for us all and threatened the very survival of our community. And it is one of these allies, who greatly contributed to rectifying the situation, whom I want to write to you about. Where shall I begin. Perhaps at the beginning would be the best.

It was on a stormy night several years ago when I heard a knock on the door followed by a sound of a body falling down into the mud of the street. My body is not as fast as it was when I was younger, so it took me quite a time to reach the door. When I opened them I found someone lying on the ground. Just as I was leaning to see who it is and in what condition he finds himself in, a lightning flashed and I saw the stranger was actually a man-sized black cat dressed in tattered clothes. I had heard about the cat people before, but until that time I never had the opportunity to meet one. But as we say “Be ready for challenges and unexpected friends”. I noticed the being was unconscious but otherwise seemed unharmed. I dragged him inside, took of his wet clothes, lied him down by the fireplace and covered him with one of my blankets. Over the course of several days I have nurtured him back to full health, at least physically. Emotionally, he was quite a wreck. He wear haunted expression, at least I thought he did, as reading his face was not that easy for me at the time.

He stayed mostly silent at the beginning, but slowly opened himself. He shared my passion for traveling and we spent many hours recounting our adventures. His storytelling skills amazed me and I the tales he told me were interesting no matter what the actual subject was. I kept him mostly inside my house. As you well know, Ustalav is not a friendly place for strangers, especially ones that look more like animals than people. Unfortunately my neighbors do not share my opened views and if he moved freely among them, it would have invited a beating at the least. It is interesting that one such as himself should have saved the village.

Although my new friend had many tales to tell, there was one thing he was unwilling or unable to tell me – his name. I just called him Tomcat, he did not mind. But he did tell me about his past eventually. It was quite a long tale, so I just mention the highlights. He was born in a village somewhere in Garund to some kind of their noble family. He was growing up in quite a comfort till an unfortunate day when something old and evil attacked the village and slaughtered most of its inhabitants. The young cat-man ran away and as I understand, to this day he is ashamed that he did so. It makes him a bit unpredictable as he sometimes has tendencies to sacrifice himself for others.

Later he often joined me during my visit to the university. He often spent hours hiding in the library and perusing the tomes on various topics. Fortunately the librarian is a friend of mine and a fellow Desnan, so he did not share this nation inhabitants’ distrust of outsiders. He even let Tomcat spent many nights there, while I was teaching and spending evenings with my academic colleagues.

This all was interrupted when the strange occurrences started. For reasons you are well aware of, I will not put the specific to words in this letter, though you might rest assured I will gladly share them with you if the opportunity arises and we meet again. What I wrote to you before might have been more than was wise to put to paper. Important fact is, Tomcat proved very knowledgeable about many facts and creatures that appeared during that time and greatly helped the other hunters to locate, identify, protect against and bring down those creatures. Sadly his existence was revealed to the public here and they proved to be as xenophobic as expected. Even I was not able to calm them and was forced to send Tomcat away.

During our last evening together, I suggested he might enjoy a more cosmopolitan place and gave him some advice where to stay and what to visit in Absolom. He seemed thrilled by the prospect and I expect him to want to stay there for a while. Should you have a need for such a character, I assure you do not hesitate to contact him. You can trust him.

As always, I wish you luck with pursuits you are currently involved in.

Yours sincerely,

Marius Lindskoy
Priest of Desna