Legends of Belariath

Laria Swifclaw

Battle of the Gods

There are many stories of how the Cat race began. I've heard many odd tales told by slavers and by the elderly bards of the inn. But, quite possibly the oddest tale I ever heard was told by a Cat Warrior that worked on a river barge. I won't reveal her name for her safety's sake as she was owned by a master. But, this story begins when the world was just starting. Apparently the Gods chose the Cat People to be the first people to inhabit the world and to be above all others. The cats carved out their empire and used copper weapons and were very prosperous. Apparently they developed government and were a very dominant species. However, with all empires they always get a bad emperor. This emperor offended the Gods by trying to become one and the cat people were cursed to be more submissive and swayed easily. After this time many races started springing up as the cat people had lost the Gods favor. The humans and elves for instance had begun their adventure into the world. Well it appears the cats took them as slaves and humiliated them brutally treating these races as cattle. As the races kept springing up the cats would brutally take them into slavery. Well after awhile a human settlement declared war and so the cats called out an army and crushed the settlement. A bad idea since it rallied other people together. Apparently the Humans discovered bronze and convinced many races to work together against the Cats. Apparently the cats had numbers and training and despite the curse they were severely beating the armies of the enemy. But, the Gods had decided that the time of cats had passed and cursed them further with a limitation in breeding that would diminish the numbers. As the war continued the use of Bronze and the numbers of humans went up while the cat numbers declined. Finally a huge victory was struck and the cats had 2nd string troops to send to the front line. A brilliant cat leader lead the humans into a trap but, yet again the God's intervened by bringing the army into a state of sexual urge that they fell upon each other indulging in sexual fantasy. It was then that the army was enslaved and crushed. Without the main army the cats saw settlements fall one by one while trying to make a new one. They saw their own people happily fighting for their masters against them. The cats for all their might suffered defeat after defeat. The great kingdoms started to fall as they relied on untrustworthy mercenaries to fight their wars and their government was plunged into anarchy as the new generation of cats proved to be more cursed then the other generations. According to the source a Queen named Alhanna decided to reorganize the army and won a few minor victories and the cats had a brief moment of growth but then a civil war hit against male and female. It was then that the races decided to destroy the Cat power once and for all. Plagued with a poor economy, a inferior copper metal, and internal struggle the last of the great kingdoms fell leaving only a few minor kingdoms to oppose the races. 14 years after that great battle 2 of the 3 minor kingdoms were taken and the 3rd one was kept around as a show piece. But, as in all things the last kingdom would fall to the wolven might it's pitiful army crushed by the baying of howls by moonlight. Now as far as this story goes I find it hard to believe. But, then again isn't history written by the victors above all other things. In a empire where cat slaves are common why give them hope at all. More logical to say they were more or less slaves all along incapable of such conquest dreams. But, then again she was half drunk at the time so I can say little in essence that would prove my tale and the details are vague as well. Perhaps the girl dreamed it up with delusions of Gradeur. Although it would explain why some cats are more capable of using weapons then others and are less submissive.

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