The Oura’thir
History:
Long ago, it was said that Kestali would gift her most faithful priestesses with powerful protectors, great cats that padded beside them through her sacred night. Called oura’thir, these cats were the size of tigers when grown and had eyes that glowed with Kestali’s light, and it was said that the most powerful among them could speak the tongues of elves. The oura’thir have not been seen since the Goddess died, not in generations of elves.
That is, until very recently. But these new oura’thir are different. The eyes that once glowed with Kestali’s light are now blind, fiery orbs. Despite that, the cats seem to be able to “see” their environment without difficulty, though they are clearly using some sense other than their eyes.
As if that weren’t strange enough, they are no longer merely coming to Kestali’s faithful, but are bestowed seemingly at random. Indeed, in the ancient drow city of Cissilith, it is assumed that these cats have been usurped by their terrible goddess Ssa, and are now given as signs of her blessing rather than Kestali's.
The Bond:
The bond between an oura'thir and their Keeper is a deep and mysterious one. Their minds are bonded the moment the oura'thir appears (whether the new Keeper wishes it or not) though the bond is weak at first. Though oura'thir cannot speak, by the time they are adults their mental command is such that they can communicate perfectly through their link with their Keeper. This is not an all-inclusive communication- the two minds remain separate with distinct personalities, and secrets can be kept, though it is usually relatively obvious that one is hiding something from the other. Strong emotions are what is most often felt, and if anything is sent involuntarily it will be these. Indeed, it is possible for particularly acute emotions (even positive ones, rarely) felt by one partner to prove disorienting to the other.
It is not possible, though some have tried, to separate this bond. It is unassailable by magic or alchemy, and any effort to persuade an oura'thir to bond with a different drow than the one to which it first appeared results only in the great felines' disdain. Whether they actually like their keeper or not, the oura'thir tend to feel an urge to be near them. While it is not impossible to impose a physical separation this tends to cause psychological distress to both the oura'thir and their Keeper (even if the Keeper is the one who initated or insists upon the separation, he or she can feel their cat's upset through their link.)
Indeed, this bond breaks only at the death of one or both partners. The loss of an oura'thir is devastating to a Keeper, sometimes lethally so, and there is no recorded instance of an oura'thir surviving the death of their Keeper.
