Thief Lord: The World of Cato

(June 25, 2007)

The land of Cato is a world not known to many. It is a place of great beauty but also great dangers, but despite the dangers that lurk in the darkest corners of Cato the inhabitants of this land try their hardest to live their lives as best they can. Most life on Cato is peaceful but like every land that has various different kingdoms, there are conflicts and wars. The land is dotted with small towns, villages, castles, and grand cities that have all seen their share on those conflicts. Even with the altercations of different kingdoms the land continues to prosper and grow giving people of all walks of life a chance to make something of their life. Although life goes on as it should in Cato trouble is slowly growing stronger and preparing for conflict that will shake Cato to its core.

The inhabitants of Cato come in all shapes and sizes but what stands out the most are the different species and professions. Also the different lands of Cato have different attributes and terrain. In this next section I will try to thoroughly explain the different races, creatures and lands in Cato so that you, the reader, can get a better feel for….

THE WORLD OF CATO

(The following is just to give you a feel for the people of Cato and hopefully a good basis and understanding of this world that I have created. Hang in there for now this is my first story and it will get better as I progress through the story. That’s why I joined FP, to get better lol.)

NOTE-Now remember this is my first story so some of these things are subject to change or something may be added, so if that happens I’ll make sure to put it in bold and have the date so you can tell what has changed or what’s new. Also rating subject to change as well.

NOTE2- For those of you who are not that familiar with some of the weapons and items I mostly referred to medieval times when incorporating items and weapons into my story. So if you are not quite sure what a certain weapon is I will be posting links to pictures of the different weapons so you can get an idea of what they look like. As for items just pm me and I’ll gladly describe it or send you a picture of it.

YOU DO NOT HAVE TO READ THIS FIRST IN ORDER TO READ THE STORY BUT IT REALLY DOES HELP IN UNDERSTANDING SOME OF THE GOINGS ON IN THE STORY. IF YOU DON’T WANT TO READ IT ALL SKIMMING THROUGH IT WOULD HELP ALSO.

Table of Contents

Species

Professions

Creatures

The Lands of Cato

Places of Cato

Characters

End Note

Species

Humans (some have magic and some don’t)

Clothes: They wear a wide variety, mostly typical medieval age clothing.

Eyes: They have a variety of color, the same as eye colors now-a-days.

Races: Black, White, and Asian (I’m not racist that’s just the races I decided to include in this story)

Professions: mercenary, thieves, rogues, item hunters, wizards, mages, bounty hunters, knights, farmers, artisans, and other everyday professions

Forms: Humanoid (depends on the profession in some cases)

Weapons: Almost all

Traits: They are tactical, smart, and have a variety of tempers lol.

They have a variety of different strengths and weakness it mostly depends on the person and their profession.

They live in a variety of different areas and terrains, cities, towns and villages.

Enemies: Werewolves and Goblin-kind (that’s like trolls and ogres and creatures like that)

Allies: Dwarves, some Lycans, and Elves.

Lycans (magic, some only to a certain extent. the magic that they are born with allows them to change at will)

Clothes: They wear well made custom armor and clothes (Not much different from human clothes except their armor does look a bit different. Also there clothes and armor have to have a special spell on them so they that they grow with the Lycans so they wont rip. That way when the lycan turns back he/she don’t have to worry about messing up countless numbers of clothes)

Eyes: In human form they could be any color but in lycan form they are black with now whites just all black and lycan prophets eyes are all white)

Fur color: black, grey and white fur ( white fur is a little more rare than the other two)

Professions: mercenary, rare item hunter, rogues, thieves, soldiers, outlaws, mages, knights and some other every day professions

Forms: human, wolf humanoid, and large wolf

Weapons: scimitars, broad swords, great swords, knives short and long swords, crossbows, compact bows, and long bows.

Traits: They are normally tactical, intelligent, and mostly smooth tempered with a few exceptions. When a Lycan does become angry and he is in his human form his canines usually grow longer.

Strengths: They have superhuman strength, speed, healing and sight. They also are all born with the ability to wield magic but can chose whether they want to learn how to wield it or not

Weaknesses: Silver and Fire (although they are not afraid of fire it takes longer to heal from a flame wound than it does a normal wound)

Lycans don’t usually travel in packs of more than 15 with few exceptions. Mostly only elite lycans travel by themselves but some rogues and thieves do as well. They normal live in small towns and camps since they are a nomadic people but they do have a capital city where the majority of lycans live.

Enemies: Werewolves, Goblin-kind and some Humans simply because some Humans refuse to see the difference between Lycans and Werewolves.

Allies: the Blood Mages, neutral to most, Dwarfs, some Humans

Elves (magic)

Clothes: They wear elven garments and some human clothes

Eyes: They have blue, green and gold eyes (gold eyes are rarer than the other two). Gold eyes usually means that the elf has I high amount of magical energy)

Races: woodland elves (the most common type of elf), moon elves ( lest common elf, usually they never leave the safety of the Imperial city) and dark elves (when ever a elf become practiced in the dark arts they usually become a dark elf)

Professions: mercenary, rangers, outlaws, thieves, wizards, and some every day to day professions

Forms: Humanoid

Weapons: dual swords, knives and all bows except crossbows

Traits: They are tactical, smart, variety of tempers.

Strength: magically enhanced speed, marksmanship and sometimes strength, they also normally live much longer than humans

Weakness: If their magic is disabled they are a lot more vulnerable to attack but not completely helpless.

They tend to live in forest villages or in grand cities built in the sturdy tree tops of a Sentinel Tree Forest (the biggest tree in all of Cato. Even though the tree is strong they use supportive magic to help hold the city up in the tree tops) they also can be found living with humans. They often travel in small groups of 3-8 and they often ride on great hawks (these hawks are magically raised to grow big enough to carry elves)

Enemies: See Human

Allies: Humans, Lycans, Dwarves, Moon Mages

Dwarves (no magic)

Clothes: They wear mostly armor but they do wear normal dwarf clothes also (they are the same as humans just smaller).

Eyes: They have a variety although not matter what color they are a darker hue than normal

Types: mining and warrior dwarves

Professions: excellent blacksmiths, warriors, knights, miners, tradesmen

Forms: stout humanoid and shorter than the average human

Weapons: any as long as its not to big

Traits: stubborn, smart, short tempered and bold

Strength: An average dwarf is stronger than the average human, thick tough skin

Weakness: sometimes their size impairs them

The mostly live in mountain cities and towns although they do live in other places such as human cities

Enemies: Goblin-kind and Werewolves

Allies: Humans, Elves, Lycans

Gnomes (no magic but able to learn how to use it)

Clothes: Gnomish traditional clothing and engineer clothing

Eyes: They have mostly green and blue but some have purple

Types: scholar gnomes and engineer gnomes

Professions: engineers, money handlers, scholars, wizards, thieves

Forms: very small humanoid

Weapons: knives, guns and magic staffs

Traits: most are very good natured with a few exceptions

Strengths: stealth and learning ability

Weaknesses: sometimes size

They mostly live in dwarf or human cities although they do have some of their own towns which are underground

Enemies: any kind of predator, Werewolves, Goblin-kind, Dark Mages

Allies: Humans, Lycans, Dwarves, and Elves

Werewolves (no magic)

Clothes: They mostly wear tattered and old clothes due to that fact that they can’t control when they change so they don’t take there time to dress up.

Eyes: normal variety in human form but they are completely red in Wolf Humanoid form.

Fur Color: brown, black or grey fur

Professions: mostly bandits, outlaws and rogues

Forms: Human, Wolf Humanoid (werewolf form), and Feral Hound

Weapons: scimitars, short swords, axes lances and knives

Traits: hot tempered, very unstable, some are truly mentally ill from their werewolf affliction

Strength: superhuman strength and speed

Weakness: same as lycans (most werewolves are not that smart but some are and those usually are the leaders)

They usually reside in heavily wooded areas and abandoned towns or with vampires.

Enemies: most everyone with a few exceptions

Allies: Dark Mages and sometimes Vampires

Goblin-Kind (some magic to begin with and can also be learned)

Clothes: They wear tattered clothes and motley second rate or stolen armor

Eyes: green, black, brown and yellow

Races: Goblins, Trolls and Ogres

Professions: Outlaws, Bandits, Rogues, and Thieves

Forms: Humanoid

Weapons: Anything they can steal and wield

Traits: Some are mild tempered but a lot are hot tempered they are smarter than they look but not by much

Strengths: some what faster than humans, trolls have super human strength and ogres are more than a match for a human

Weaknesses: They don’t work well in teams

They are mostly nomadic but if they do settle down its mostly in swamps and mountain ranges

Enemies: pretty much everybody even each other sometimes

Allies: other Goblin-kind

Vampires (blood magic)

Clothes: They wear gothic and normal human clothes.

Eyes: blood red

Types: Pure Vamp and Convert

Professions: Bounty Hunters and Mercenaries

Form: Human, Bat Humanoid, Bat

Weapons: short sword and knives

Traits: calm on the outside but easily angered, intelligent, some are ruthless and blood thirsty

Strengths: They have superhuman speed and strength

Weaknesses: The never ending thirst for blood, to much sunlight

They mostly live in forest shrouded in dark magic but some vampires venture out and live in towns and cities with other species. (not all vampires are evil)

Enemies: Everyone with some exceptions

Allies: Some Werewolves

Professions

(Professions will give you a feel for some of the different kinds of people and the jobs that they make their living with)

Thieves: Thieves are common enough in any city, living only with whatever they can still. There has been a movement recently in Cato among the thief populace that has change things for the better, for the thieves that is. Thief gangs have been forming as well as well as feuds between these gangs. With this new ideal of organized crime thieves have become much more than they used to be. They steal much more valuable things now-a-days and they have become bolder. It’s gotten as bad as full out brawls with law enforcement and even knights.

Artisans: Artisans are usually very proud of their craftsmanship. They have recently begun forming Artisan Guilds so that they may network and improve their craftwork within their privileged community.

Farmers: Farmers usually stick to their villages but they do make occasionally trip to the city to sell their goods. They hate anything and any creature that they consider a threat to their crops.

Wizards: Wizards are often jovial but are not scared to get serious when the situation calls for it. They are among the most powerful beings with magic and are not to be underestimated. Since they have an astonishing amount of power all Wizards are governed by the Wizard’s Council.

Mages: Most people don’t understand the difference between Mages and Wizards but actually it’s quite simple. Wizards are born with the ability to wield magic were as Mages have to go through a ritual to wield magic and even then its only a certain type of magic. Most Mages are very secretive but not all. For those who aren’t so secluded they usually are a part of one of three sects, Moon, Blood, or Dark Mages.

Moon Mages: Moon Mages are almost always Elves. They draw there magic from the power of the moon so their magic is strongest when the moon is visible. They all wear a white cape and hood with a gold crescent moon on the back of the cape to signify their membership with the Moon Mages.

Blood Mages: Blood Mages are usually those who feel they have the calling to help others. Blood Mages have the ability to cleanse blood and heal most aliments and wounds. You can normally find Blood Mages on the battlefield or in cities and towns as the designated healers. They all wear a blood red cape and hood with a white tree on the back of the cape to signify their membership to the Blood Mages. (Trees often symbolize life in Cato)

Dark Mages: Dark Mages are despised by almost all of the inhabitants of Cato. Dark Mages are usually humans who would do anything to live longer and gain more power. They give themselves over to dark magic in order to accomplish this goal. The only thing is the dark magic distorts the Dark Mages body and sometimes requires the Mage to become part animal for the prolonging of life and increased power to work. They all wear thick black capes and hoods with a red flame on the back of the cape to signify their membership with the Dark Mages. Some also wear masks and gloves to hide their disfigurements.

Mercenaries: Normally keep to themselves and always looking for work. They normally take jobs as guards or assassins but they also help increase the ranks of armies whenever there’s a war, for a price of course.

Knights: Basically Knights are simply Nobleman who can fight. They help keep the order in their kingdom. Every kingdom has an order of Knights to help the regular guards keep the order. Although most Knights tend to be arrogant they aren’t all like that and none of them should be underestimated. Knights normally wear their own custom armor but the wear a cape with the kingdoms symbol on it.

Noblemen/women: Noblemen are often arrogant and wealthy. While there are some who are caring and compassionate about the people of the kingdom their reputation still keeps less fortunate at a distance. They are a big target for Thieves so they often have Knights posted at their places of residence.

Rare Item Merchant: These Merchants are often sought after by Knights. They often sell illegal merchandise to anyone with the right amount of money. They sell everything from Magical Weapons to Forbidden Artifacts. It’s a dangerous life but it pays extremely well.

Bounty Hunter: Ruthless hunters of criminals and dangerous creatures. They often have a slew of different weapons and traps they use to catch their pray. They are mostly loners with a few exceptions.

Bandits and Outlaws: Bandits and Outlaws usually are just a nuisance but every now and then there are enough of them to cause some real damage. They are basically Thieves who just take by force rather than slight of hand.

Rogues: Rogues are simply a combination of a mercenary and a thief.

Creatures

The creatures of Cato are much like the ones of your land with a few exceptions. In this section I’ll go over some of those exceptions. More will be added if the appear in the story.

Dire Wolves: Dire Wolves are a lot bigger than normal wolves; some even grow to be as big as horses. Since Dire Wolves come from the same canine family as the wolf they look similar with a few differences. Dire Wolves have longer legs and their snouts tend to be longer that a normal wolfs snout. Due to their size they are strong, faster and have much more endurance than normal wolves.

Great Hawks: Great Hawks are similar to the dire wolf and normal wolf relationship. Great Hawks look similar to other everyday Hawks with the exception that they are about the same height as a horse. They are powerfully built and because of that elves train them to fly them around as a mode of transportation and a weapon in battle.

Dragons: Dragons are among the most powerful and Intelligent creature in Cato. Now although all dragons are powerful not all are intelligent. There are 6 different types of Dragons that are based on scale color and intellect.

Brown Dragons: One of the most powerful of the dragons but also the least intelligent. Most brown dragons do not travel in groups do to there violent and territorial behavior. They mostly live in valleys, and rocky terrain near mountain ranges.

Green Dragons: Green Dragons are among on of the most intelligent of dragons but not the most powerful. Normally a full grown adult is hardly bigger that a horse. Although because of their peaceful nature some have been breed to grow no bigger than a dog so that they may be sold as pets to the populace.

Red Dragons: Red Dragons are about in the middle as for as intelligent goes but it’s just as powerful as the rest of them. The only thing about Red Dragons is that they were made from the magic of Blood Mages so they are always at the Mages beck and call.

Black Dragons: Black Dragons are the same as Red Dragons except that they are controlled by Dark Mages.

White Dragons: White Dragons are a little more intelligent that Red and Black Dragons and they are just as powerful but they were created and are controlled by Moon Mages

Spirit Dragons: Spirit Dragons are the most elite of all dragons. They are the most powerful and the most intellectual of the species. They come in to different forms when they are in there in there solid for their scales are golden or silver. In their “spirit” from (which is when they manifest themselves completely into magic) they are almost like ghost, hence the name spirit form. They are controlled by no one and are by far that rarest of the dragons.

The Lands of Cato

This section will grow as more kingdoms are introduced into the story.

Kingdom of Cratos- This is the kingdom where our story takes place. It is also one of the three most powerful kingdoms in all of Cato. Cratos is also the birth place of the Thief Gangs.

Places of Cato

This sections lets you know what type of terrain is in Cato and also what races tend to live in that area.

Cities

Most peaceful races live in Cities, although there are some hostile cities.

Towns

Most peaceful races live in towns although it’s usually less of a variety.

Villages

Most of the time there is no more than two different races in Villages, peaceful or otherwise.

Castles

Humans, Elves, Wizards, Mages, and Vampires usually reside in Castles. Some goblin-kind live in old abandoned Castle ruins.

Fortresses

Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Lycans, Wizards and some goblin-kind and werewolves live in ruins of Fortresses.

Towers

Wizards and Mages reside in Towers.

Ports

Same as Cities

Swamps

Goblin-kind and Werewolves

Dense Forest

Lycans, Werewolves and Goblin-kind

Mountain Ranges

Wizards, Mages and Goblin-kind

Caves

Lycans, Werewolves, Goblin-kind

Deserts

Humans and Elves

Sentinel Tree Forest

Elves and Lycans

Characters

(Characters will be added as they appear in the story)

Andre “Dre” Sivad- Dre is a citizen of one of the biggest cities in Cato. Now although cities are said to be the best place to seize opportunity there is one thing that is blocking Dre from it, he is a Pure Blood Lycan. Most Lycans are shunned because the populaces normally dosent take the time to see the difference between lycans and their dangerous cousins the werewolves. So because of this lack of knowledge Dre had to make a choice, do what ever it took to survive or die trying.

If you are reading this then you have read or at least skimmed the information. I hope it wasn’t to boring but I really feel that it will help support readers as they read my story. If you have any suggestion, opinions of ideas be sure to email or PM me, any contribution to my story will be carefully looked over and much appreciated. So with that being said please enjoy the story ).

-Lycan Prophet