From the distant land of Zandoriel over a vast sea, Kara’Ta is one of the cat-folk of the southern jungles who was brought over in chains by human slavers of both Edrador and Tharador. He barely remembers the jungle or his old primal instincts. From a cub he was under the chains of a gladiator master, throwing Kara’Ta into cage fights and battle royales alike. He would always come out barely scratched, though his competitors often would not leave the arenas on their feet at all. Beyond the power of his claws and his ability to duck and weave under blows like he were spinning a tapestry, the feline-gladiator would also become an artist with all kinds of blades, painting masterworks upon his enemies with each stroke and slice.
Eventually the slave with no name other than “The Feline Fighter” earned his freedom after years of bloodshed in the fighting pits of Torish Istrath. When no other slavers would dare risk their fighters against the Kara’Ta his master had no choice but to set the cat-folk free. As this news was passed, Sultan Hakim was swift to sweep up the newly freed fighter, as his own royal guard had just been executed by himself for incompetence. In a test of mettle, he pit the gladiator against his newly hired court sorcerer: Inaya. The two dueled for near on thirty minutes in the Sultan’s own garden before he finally called an end in the stalemate, seeing that in both his bodyguards he had chosen wisely.
Kara’Ta was given a hefty salary and free reign of women and accommodation within Dahabi Palace, though had little time for any as always he was at the Sultan’s beck and call. He could not complain however – pit fights were replaced with sparring and a straw mattress was replaced with a feathered bed and silken sheets. Though still he felt no more a slave than he was when he was a gladiator, he knew to defy the Sultan’s wish for him as a bodyguard would mean his own certain death.
