Name: Zane Hangclaw

Gender/Expression/Preference: Male / He/Him / Straight (Grimalkin/cats only)

Age: Sub-adult (almost young adult! old enough! pfff)

Species: Grimalkin

Family: He won't bother naming them, he does however complain quite a bit about them having 'sold him to the Cartel'

Friends/Associates: The Moths of course! While he doesn't trust easily (at all) outside of their events and gatherings where he knows they have his back, Zane remains basically alone until proven otherwise

Note that among this group, he alone does have an 'enemy', in the form of that Cartel, the House of the Terrapin

Height: 5'1"; Build: skinny, lanky, survival based, he'll probably get to put on some weight later in life, but his growth has definitely been stunted by his history

Hair: fur, light to medium brown on head and tail, hair tends to stand up or droop down depending on the weather, and is kept very short as shown

Eyes: clear sky blue, under worried small brows; slit pupils

Appearance: body fur in creamy tan, is much shorter under the clothes but no less rumpled there. Fur on face, shoulders, arms, back, and upper legs has small rosette markings in a darker brown, but notably he also has scars that he won't show anyone just yet, where he scratched so hard at the runes carved into his skin that they now no longer function for tracking purposes - but if you see them, you'd know that was where they were, and what they were for. While he can fancy himself as a dapper cat, he is small, skittish, and only rarely looks the part of a confidence man... the confidence anyway. Has dark claws on his fingers, and wears comfortable loose clothes in greens and tans, and yes he stole that cane shh. He does not sing, he can howl though. Please make him stop. Also because he was handed off at quite a young age, he worked up the desire to be clean, not that he is dirty, but he cares not at all for mud or smoke or fish guts thank you very much

Image Credits: Catboy by ClockworkCrow

Skill Set: Business Management; Part-Time Thief, You Didn't Hear That Part... For real though he's adept at haggling, and calculating value, virtually anything to do with numbers he can crunch them. He can sense the value of a piece, not just by its materials or workmanship, but by someone looks at it, holds it, or their first response to seeing it. Sadly he's not that great at disguising his own responses yet, but he's learning by watching, with a mirror in one hand and a spyglass in the other, as Grimalkin barter or haggle or argue. With the Moths, he mainly keeps their profit margin high and their quality control even higher. Since he's been told exactly how much to expect they can spend or gain per tour, he works within that range and make sure that if any disparities exist they're not on his shoulders. He can still haggle like a maniac though.

Former Path: while Grimalkin don't necessarily have paths the way that Majiri do, his old work place was nothing like this one, and he doesn't care to dwell on it. Yes, it involved mud, fish, and smoke. He still eats fish. But he won't dig eels out of the mud flats no sir. No. Sir. His ability to swipe things, to him, seems like a no-brainer. He's a filch for sure, and since he's reasonably small and light weight he can scamper around rooftops or up walls very easily. How does he know this? >_>

Current Path: Accountant and holder-of-the-checklists, he is almost always looking for ways to get the group in new and interesting places, mainly so he can see those places. They know he's young, but they respect his abilities and he likes that quite a lot. They don't ask about his scars, they don't ask anything beyond 'do you think that cartel will be around' - the answer is 'no because he won't set up a show in a place known to the Terrapin'.

Star Stone: The Ruby of the Merchant, though he knows better than to think he'll ever see a real ruby up close. Though many merchants might live up to the 'self-interest' he realized early on that the only way to have a sense of self, was to become someone new entirely. He does know that the Cartel leaders want him back, so he has to exploit his natural ability to be several steps ahead every time they go out. Only when he is old enough - or powerful enough - will he finally be able to fully get out there and let himself have true ambitions. But right now even he only aspires to 'not be caught' and 'let's hear that encore!!'

Seasonal Type: Fire, born in mid-summer under the First Quarter of Luna; many under this season can be called impulsive, which he only is when it's really, really obvious he'll succeed (such as 'racing under the caravan and clinging for dear life holding his tail in his mouth'). For his part, Zane is active and enthusiastic, youthfully so, because he's hardly really old enough to be truly out on his own even though he's already experienced so much in his short life already. He yearns, that optimism of the Fire type working in conjunction with his Ruby stone's typical intelligence. Had he ever been respected or given the chance to prove himself to his line, he would like to think he'd be in charge of his own cartel some day.

Personality Traits: He will not be in charge of his own cartel. Even the thought of it brings a bit of bile to his muzzle, the things that they do - the lack of free will and respect... Yeah, no. He'll stick with the people he knows best, otherwise just get lost in the crowd. He still prefers to be alone with his thoughts, but has enough fun just letting loose in an after-party that he won't just leave.

Creature Association: This boy has a fondness for the honey that the Bahari Bee produces, and he's often been compared to them when he's spotted zipping around a venue making sure that everything is as it's supposed to be. Busy working, always buzzing, even if he doesn't have a stinger he's definitely akin to their fast moving and precise nature.

Favorite Food: Fried Catfish dinner! He usually takes this with a honey spice glaze, little bit of wild onion greens, mmmm! Yes, he likes fish. But he likes it cooked thanks! He isn't really up to cooking it himself, but he manages to instruct people on how to prepare it and many other fish dishes, probably thanks to the service that he put in toiling below a restaurant as a kitten.

Place of Origin: Unclear, they picked him up after an Akwinduu show and the only thing they know is 'not to go to x or y in the winter or for this celebration'. They trust and believe him when he gets that spooked look.

Events or History: Zane had never been happier to see a caravan that hadn't been around before, and took the chance that it was headed 'anywhere but here'. He was barely old enough to understand that his 'debt' to the Cartel was foisted on him by other people, but definitely old enough to know that he hated it. He could read and write, do maths, and had a good eye for detail already, but what Grimalkin didn't? He had read wild tales of escapes and bravery, sometimes called fantasy, but he knew that at least some bits of these tall tales were the truth.

So when he was hiding under the Moths middle caravan, no one noticed. Not even the ormuu, since he hardly added any weight to the vehicle. He presented himself abruptly when they stopped for an evening, and Ouahid thought he heard something odd... It was Zane's empty stomach. The Grimalkin never hid what he'd done from them - he'd had enough of lying to his 'owners', "patrons" they called themselves pfaugh. So with this last (biological) member of their crew, they have been able to sort through paperwork, get new gigs, and wheel and deal to far better success. Besides, since he isn't a musician himself, he can do all that stuff they were doing, and they can get down to the business of makin music!

He admits that he's a bit scared of the dragons they've been introduced to, Dunya the Chimera god of the Grimalkin people seems to be smiling at this kit from beyond. Normally distant, Zane has felt like they're... connected now. He's finally doing something of importance with himself. Maybe he's always needed this 'dragon bond' thing?

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