Lucia, the female Catfolk

You’ve always been the type of girl who picked your race and class options based on aesthetics and what seemed “Cool,” and then figured out how to optimize your character later. After all, with a game as immersive and vast as The Realm, your inner roleplaying nerd was free to run wild.

Looking through the available racial options, you’re tempted by the graceful elves or mysterious Heaventouched, but when you get to the option for Catfolk, your mind makes itself up. You are going to be so cute with your little ears and tail!

You’re a little disappointed to see how many subrace options are unavailable, though, no doubt to-be-included with the full game. It might have been cool to be a Tiger Girl or Lion Girl, but the default Catgirl still has a lot of cool customization options. Nervous about how it might feel to have any radically different bone structures or facial shapes, you are glad to see that the game offers some more scaled back versions of your race’s feline features.

You spend some time sculpting your avatar into a cute, modestly-curved figure with a relatively human face, albeit one accented with a cute cat nose, golden eyes, and pointy black ears sticking out above your short red hair. A long black tail matches your ears, and the fangs and sharp nails/claws seem mandatory, which is fine with you. They probably increased your unarmed damage, or something. You’re mostly glad not to have paws or a muzzle, which seem like they would make wielding a weapon or drinking a potion rather difficult. You notice with some embarrassment that there are even options for customizing your labia, and you spend a quick moment to make sure your cute pussycat has a cute pussy, the thought making you giggle nervously.

With your appearance sorted (you are already planning to spend a few hours trying on different armors and outfits later), you decide to finally see what being a Catgirl even means in The Realm.

Nimble and playful, the basic, or “lesser” Catfolk are a common sight in many civilized lands within The Realm. Unlike their more wild or tribal counterparts, the basic Catfolk enjoys a relatively positive reputation among most other races, though some are quick to dismiss the feline people as fickle or unsophisticated. Catfolk society tends to act as a subculture in each local region, rather than its own separate culture, and the basic Catfolk lacks any unique language or religion. Catfolk gain four points to distribute per level, as well as +1 Speed and +1 Charisma. In addition, Catfolk tend to have a higher affinity for many athletic and social skills, but a lower affinity for many scholarly or magical ones.

This clearly seems to set the standard for your Catgirl to become a rogue of some kind, and you spend a few minutes letting your imagination paint a picture of a rough-but-charming young Catgirl on the run from the law, accepting shady quests in the back of taverns and seducing rich noblemen only to sneak away with their riches in the night. Or perhaps you’ll be a wandering cat-knight, bravely rescuing young princesses from evil wizards and winning the hearts of the common folk? The possibilities swim through your brain, but you finally decide against putting the cart before the horse. You’ll have to play it by ear, seeing what opportunities line themselves up for you and coming up with a fitting persona along the way.

Last but not least, you’re going to need a name. You definitely want it to be cute, but not so cutesy that people never take you seriously. You roll syllables around in your head until you eventually settle on “Lucia,” but of course your friends will all call you Lulu. Perfect!

You take one last moment to give your new character a once-over, then hit accept, plunging you into darkness.

The Chosen has chosen; may her path be true.

You see nothing and feel nothing, but you try to stay calm. Soon, the darkness and calm gives way to true oblivion, and your consciousness slips away.