Marine Cat

A marine cat is a bit bigger, quicker, and longer-lived than an ordinary cat, colored like any house cat but tending toward dark coats and vivid eyes. Most are female, making toms scarce and prized. They live only aboard sailing ships, where sailors credit them with luck on long voyages.

Now and then a marine cat is born with a curse-born gift, always a water-related one such as Swim or Breathe Water, and it never needs the curse-warding red metal. Sailors consider these rare cats luckier still, and no captain would ever give one up.

It fights with a bite and both front claws and, when threatened, can be vicious, often going for the eyes. If something is holding it and both front claws hit, it can also rake with its hind claws that round for 1d2 each.

A marine cat leaves its ship only for a short stroll on the docks. It may visit another vessel, but never one with a cat of its own; marine cats observe a strict etiquette and meet either on the docks or when a captain brings his cat aboard another ship 'to call.' Sailors never steal another crew's cat, since that is terrible luck.

Aboard, it goes anywhere: up the rigging, into locked cabins, asleep in the powder magazine. It loves startling people, perching just where someone turning around finds himself nose to nose with its unblinking stare. It watches strangers aboard constantly and dislikes any change it did not cause itself.

Crews hand their cats morsels of fish and beef at mealtimes, and the cats hunt rats and bilge vermin in the holds. Lucky or not, they seem to look after the ship. A sailor sneaking somewhere he should not be tends to tread on a tail and set off a yowl that brings everyone running, and a dozing lookout may be jolted awake when the cat decides his earring is a toy.