Nyla Griff

Magic Cat

Female

56

1'9"

14 pounds

Awakened Cat

May 13th, 1404

Nyla was born nothing more than the average street cat in Bellmore, destined for a life of scraping to get by and living without the assurance of food or a warm place to sleep every night. At least until a kindly wizard took pity on the infant kitten when he found her alone and crying on the street, her mother dead and her siblings all starved or frozen. He named her Nyla, and she was not yet old enough to be wary of humans so her animal mind simply saw that he was giving her food and shelter and that was all she needed.

Over time Nyla grew interested in the wizard's work. She didn't understand what the odd human was doing, always smelling of herbs and smoke, but she knew she liked it and felt a bit of a calling to help with the magic he wove into everything he did. She stayed out of his way and let him work, of course, but always happily donated her fur or shed claws or whatever else he needed when he needed it. At least until one day when something went wrong with one of his experiments and everything backfired, leaving the wizard injured and Nyla with some side effects of her own; she could speak, though only through the magical mental form of communication, and her capacity to understand and learn had grown to that of an adult human thanks to the magical blast. When the wizard recovered and realized what had happened he saw Nyla less as a pet and more as a partner, teaching her to use the magic she'd gained and always treating her as human despite her feline form.

As the years went by Nyla knew she'd outlive the wizard; he was already old and not doing well, and the explosion that had caused her sentience had done a number on him as well. In time he passed, and Nyla followed his last wishes to the letter. He had no family, and Nyla knew all his research and work, so he had asked that she take only what she needed and burn his tower down with his body inside. Then she was to travel, see the world, learn everything she could until the end of her days.

The night the tower burned Nyla left it all behind. She mourned, in her own way, but also knew this was coming and hadn't been surprised by it. So she began to travel, also not at all surprised that most people knew nothing of a 'talking cat', which lead to a bit of a trickster in her over time as Nyla found herself fond of pretending to be normal and then spooking the unsuspecting as she spoke to them with her magic. So far it's been a fun ride, and though she misses her wizard master dearly Nyla also knows to keep going and just allow things to happen as they'll happen and travel where she pleases.

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