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The Cat

Monster Name: Cat
Dates Used: 1995 - Current

The cat is a mysterious and capricious creature who wanders the fields, pouncing on unwary hunters or chasing them for short distances and then, feigning boredom, stopping to groom herself nonchalantly. She is almost always a female, dressed in some kind of elaborate cat outfit (ears, tail). The cat can kill with a touch and is invincible. The cat may be the Wizards' familiar; she treats Wizards and Squires as friends, purring when she meets them and allowing them to pet her or scratch her behind the ears. She is capricious and takes no sides, and generally considers all other participants in the game to be rivals or potential prey. She respects the Vampire and Shade as (almost) equals. She hates and fears the the Werewolf, maintaining the traditional rivalry between dogs and cats. She avoids the Pterodactyls, but will attempt to eat the Spondees at any opportunity. Fortunately for the Spondees, although the Cat cannot be killed by their venom, she is very aversive to getting wet and will learn her lesson very quickly.

On her own, the Cat will ignore most monsters, preferring to kill the more-contemptible Hunters. However, she can be bribed with Fish, purchased from the Fishmonger. The cat will not bite the hand that feeds her. Anyone who feeds her is a Friend, and therefore safe from being attacked in the future. She may or may not extend this to the friends of a Friend. Anyone who gives the Fish to her with sufficient respect and/or flattery is a Special Friend and might be able to convince the Cat to do things.

Evolution and History

Date of Creation: 1995
Creator (and first player?): Annie Fox

The name of the beast has apparently changed a bit more than her nature - sometime before 1996 (perhaps in '94 or '95?) she was listed as the "Werecat":

 THE WERECAT- The werecat is an unpredictable creature.  She may be found
roaming anywhere.  If you approach her when she is a nice kitty-cat, she
will reward you in some manner.  Be careful--when her claws are out, she
kills with a scratch.

In 1996, the cat was listed as "The Wizard's Familiar", with slight editing of the basic text:

  THE WIZARD.S FAMILIAR- The familiar is an unpredictable creature.  She
may be found roaming anywhere.  Normally found in a foul mood, if you
approach her when she is a nice kitty-cat, she will reward you in some
manner.  Be careful--when her claws are out, she kills with a scratch.

Joel writes: Annie created the WereCat in Fall of 1995. That year, she was the WereCat and was generally found to hang around the Oracle (who that year was Sarah Piatt). The next year, Annie graduated and Sarah filled the role. Since Sarah was (is!) my S.O., I changed the name from Werecat to Wizard's Familiar, since I was a Wizard that year.

Chaos' description, written for the Panic Book in fall 1999:

wizards' familiar (1 or 2): kills by touch, cannot be killed. the 
familiar is basically a cat, and can dress for the part as much as desired. 
the familiar is placated by fish, and can do something useful when offered 
fish, if someone thinks of something, or can simply not attack.

In 2002 and 2003, the cat was listed briefly, with references to the Fishmonger and Oracle:

   The Cat is playful but can be deadly.  The Fishmonger sells fish, which, 
if given to the Cat, will please her greatly.  The Oracle is also said 
to be fond of fish.

After the introduction of the Fishmonger, the Cat came to like fish, so that now the primary purpose of the Fishmonger is to acquire fish with which one may be able to bribe the Cat -- once -- to do whatever one likes (within her caprice). Among other things, the cat can kill any monster of her choice with a touch (at a player's command), if she so chooses.

In the 2004 hunt, it was decided that this included the Black Knight, with rather unsatisfactory results -- a group of Hunters befriended the cat and sent her off to fight the Black Knight, who managed to knock her over so that she hit her head -- an automatic (but painful) kill for the cat.

Illustrious Cats of the Past

• 1996 - Bethany (BMC '98): I played one of two Werecats the year of her creation (I believe - 1996). I do not recall the name of the other with enough certainty to post here, but I do still have my costume.
• 2003 - Sam Crane '04
• 2004 - Lisa Spitalewitz '06
• 2005 - Susan Zell '07
• 2006 - Rebecca Goldman '07

	Characters in the Pterodactyl Hunt	(view·discuss)
Admins	Hunt Wizards | Squires
Current	Pterodactyl | Jabberwock | Vampire and Shadow | Black Knight | Oracle | Race Kings | Orcs and Hobgoblins | Werewolf | Dactyl Guards | Cat | Fishmonger | Hydra | Kobolds | Turtles | Sphinx | Spondees | Phoenix | Imp | Troll (treasure)
Planned	Grue | Kraken | Assassin | Dragon | Harpies
Retired	Cardboard Tube Samurai | Achilles | Wraith | Siren | Medusa | Bug-Blatter | Unicorn | Grunts | Troll (riddle) | Necromant | Thief