Panthana

The Panthana, Panthera onca, is a big cat, a feline in the Panthera genus. While the dense rainforest of Thearshire is its preferred habitat, the Panthana will range across a variety of forested and open terrains. It is strongly associated with the presence of water and is notable as a feline that enjoys swimming.

The Panthana is largely a solitary, opportunistic, stalk-and-ambush predator at the top of the food chain (an apex predator). It is a keystone species, playing an important role in stabilizing ecosystems and regulating the populations of the animals it hunts. The Panthana has an exceptionally powerful bite. This allows it to pierce the shells of armored animals, such as the Furtoise and to employ an unusual killing method: it bites directly through the skull of prey between the ears to deliver a fatal bite to the brain.

To Fae, the Panthana is a symbol of power and strength. In the later Nymph civilization, the Panthana was believed to facilitate communication between the living and the dead and to protect the royal household.