Cats

Group Name: Spotlights (registered) or Scrims (unregistered) Leader Title(s): Raj Dominic Valentijn Local Leader Title(s): Raja/Raj Upper Ranks: Turner/Dean Other Ranks: Rajput (enforcer), Vizier (advisor), Roberts (PR)

In other cities, each major kind of great cat would have its own organization. The unique dynamics of Las Vegas make things different.

People come to town and leave town all the time: oftentimes, someone moves to Las Vegas only to move away within a few months. Some come to Las Vegas looking for fame and fortune, and when it doesn't pan out they leave. Others come to town because they've heard weres can live openly here, only to run away once they learn just how small their cage is.

Organisation

While the Wolves are careful to organize themselves along classic lines, no two Hunts have ever been structured alike. Cats are highly idiosyncratic creatures, and as such the Las Vegas Hunt is much different from any other Hunt anywhere. If the great cats were organized along traditional lines there would be no guarantee that a faction would even exist in six months, thanks to the immense turnover. As a result, all the great cats have banded together into a single Pard led by a Nimir-Raj and/or Nimir-Ra, so that there might be enough members to ensure its continuation. There are several different positions in the Hunt.

The Hunt is broken up into two major factions, called the Spotlights and the Scrims. The Spotlights are registered shapeshifters, most of whom work openly in the entertainment industry. The Scrims are unregistered ones who keep a low profile and try to hide their condition. The Spotlights enjoy better living conditions, but the Scrims enjoy more social freedoms. Often, each thinks the other group has an easier time of things. The Raj's hardest job is keeping the peace between the Spotlights and Scrims, and preserving the Scrims' right to live in peace and privacy while helping the Spotlights enjoy the perks of being one of Las Vegas's greatest draws.

The Spotlights enjoy communal luxury accommodations at the Mandarin's Court casino. However, that luxury comes with a price: the common room is wired for high-def TV and at unannounced times gets put up as a pay-per-view event. The Scrims have their own individual residences. The Hunt as a whole owns a surplus Cold War above-ground bunker that's surrounded on all sides by a dozen miles of government-owned land. It's small and uncomfortable, but it has a lot of privacy. This makes it important to Spotlights and Scrims alike.

The Hunt is led by a Raja and Raj, who are usually, but not always, a mated pair of leopards. The Rajas are ultimately responsible for the health, safety and prosperity of the Hunt, and as such outsiders sometimes think they are the only leopards who take the outside world seriously. Serving in the Beta role is the Turner, so named after the classic silver screen legend Lana Turner. The male counterpart is the Dean, named after James Dean.

Cats are phenomenally social creatures. Cats who leave the Hunt and go out of contact with their fellows can often be driven half-crazy by the isolation. The Roberts is the cat whose job it is to be the social secretary: to go out and touch base with everyone, to provide company to the isolated, to draw the stragglers on back in, often with nothing more than kind words and a scritch behind the ears. Violent methods tend to be counterproductive: the Roberts' principal tools are compassion and seduction as opposed to tooth and claw. The Roberts is named after Julia Roberts, who rose to stardom playing a hooker with a heart of gold.

The Rajput serves as the Rajas' enforcer, and the Vizier is the Rajas' principal advisor. The Rajput serves to look out for the Hunt's security interests, and the Vizier attends to the business interests. Additionally, the Vizier serves as the point of contact between the Hunt and other preternatural groups.

Human-side

While it's common knowledge that the cats associate under the name "Pard,'' very few humans understand that it's much more than just marketing copy. Most tourists (and even many Las Vegas natives!) believe all the great cats are registered shapeshifters. After all — who in their right mind would pass up the opportunity to live such a dream? Police, emergency services and long-term residents know some unregistered great cats exist, but there are no accurate estimates as to how many. The government takes a laissez-faire approach to enforcing the registration laws: so long as the unregistered ones don't make any trouble, the police don't bother to enforce it.

Sample occupations Spotlights Floor prowlers Stage magicians Singers “Gentlemen's entertainment” / Chippendale-style revue Casino security Las Vegas Human-Shapeshifter Relations Office employee Author Actor Croupier Blackjack dealer High-end escorts (illegal; but yes, Las Vegas has more than a few of them) Musician Scrims Any normal mortal occupation

The Rules of the Hunt Respect people's choices. Spotlights don't associate in public with Scrims, for fear of exposing them. Likewise, Scrims don't make trouble in the streets, since that would adversely affect the lives of all the Spotlights. Respect authority. If you decide you're too cool for school and can buck the system, those above you in the Hunt will happily beat you down. Respect yourself. Vegas is full of ways to screw yourself over — some of them normal, some of them preternatural. Disrespecting yourself can lead to trouble for the Hunt. Don't do that. Play your role. You chose which role to play: don't let your Hunt down by doing a bad job of it. That means Spotlights are expected to be consummate entertainers, and Scrims are expected to keep a low profile and live normally. Stay in contact. There's no room for loners in Vegas. You're either part of the Hunt, or else you're leaving town.