OVERVIEW
Vaghri are feline humanoids with retractable claws, vertical pupils, and triangular ears set high on the head. Their whiskers assist navigation in near-darkness and crowded spaces, and their ears can rotate nearly 180 degrees to track sound independently of their head position. Some Katari are more pronouncedly feline — muzzle, dense fur, tail — while others are nearer to humanoid with primarily feline eyes and ears. About half carry a tail. Their fur and skin patterns span the full range of felid colorings: solids, stripes, spots, marbling, calico.
Vaghri stand between 3 and 6½ feet tall and live to around 150 years. They are found across Tarim-Shaiel in broadly distributed communities, without the geographic concentration that marks some other ancestries. Their hunting instincts are not separate from their social selves — Vaghri are simply people for whom the read on a room, the tracking of movement at the edge of perception, and the precise assessment of threat are natural functions rather than practiced skills.
They have a reputation for pride that is not entirely inaccurate. Vaghri do not perform humility they don't feel. They are also, among the peoples most frequently sought as companions and partners by those who understand what it means to have someone in their corner who will not flinch.
Ancestry Features
Vaghri hunting instincts are not separate from their social selves — the read on a room, the tracking of movement at the edge of perception, and the precise assessment of threat are natural functions rather than practiced skills. When a situation requires them to be fast, they are usually already moving.
Vaghri retractable claws are part of how they engage with the world at close range. Deployed in contact, they can create a vulnerability in an opponent that wasn't there before — a disruption precise enough to change how that opponent is able to defend themselves in the moments that follow.