Khajiit



Khajiit are one of the humanoid races which inhabit the continent of Tamriel, primarily their home province of Elsweyr. They are one of the ten default playable races, and are known for their natural agility and stealth.

Racial variations
The Khajiiti race is made up of several subtypes with very distinct appearances. All Khajiit are feline in appearance, placing them among the group known as "beast races" by the human and mer inhabitants of Tamriel. The exact appearance of a particular Khajiit is determined primarily by the phases of the moon at the time he or she was born. According to recent studies in Elsweyr, it appears that the phases of the moon Massar determine the primary form, ranging from humanoid to resembling a domesticated cat; the phases of the moon Secunda determine the relative size. Some scholars have claimed as many as twenty different subtypes, but only about a dozen have been identified and named to date.

Outside of Elsweyr, only one or two subtypes of Khajiit are typically seen in a given area. The Ohmes-raht make up most of the Khajiit in human inhabited regions, such as Cyrodiil and High Rock. They also strongly resemble humans, with light fur and a noticeable tail. A smaller subtype, the Ohmes, appear almost identical to Bosmer, and those living outside of Elsweyr often tattoo their faces to distinguish themselves from the mer. The Suthay-raht, and their smaller cousins the Suthay, are more feline like, but still clearly humanoid and bipedal. They have more variety in their fur and facial features, and make up most of the Khajiit found in Morrowind.

Visitors, or more likely intruders, to Elsweyr often encounter the Cathay and Cathay-raht, which are often described as "jaguar men". These are still bipedal, but very feline in appearance, and much stronger and faster than humans or mer. The popular series A Dance in the Fire depicts multiple encounters with these Khajiit, which appear to make up much of the Khajiiti army and defense forces. They are described as having "pointed ears, wide yellow eyes, mottled pied fur and a tail like a whip", and have at least basic powers of speech. There is a fourth bipedal form, the Tojay and Tojay-raht, but little is know of them, as they tend to live deep in the southern marshes and forests.

Of the quadrupedal forms of Khajiit, the most well known is the Senche, which resemble tigers approximately as tall as a man, and Senche-raht, which are nearly twice as large. Although they are not known to speak, they are said to be as intelligent as any other Khajiit, and are used frequently as battle mounts by the Cathay. The Alfiq and Alfiq-raht are the closest in resemblance to domesticated cats, but still intelligent enough to understand human speech. The other known forms of Khajiit, the Pahmar/Pahmar-raht and Dagi/Dagi-raht, have rarely been seen, and little is known about them save that they are quadrapedal, and likely somewhere between a house cat and tiger in appeance.

Religion
The Khajiiti religion, while quite different from that of the men or mer, is still clearly derived from the old Aldmeri pantheon. The Khajiit creation myth includes references to powerful ancestor cats with strikingly familiar names. Their legends start with the original litter mates, Ahnurr and Fadomai (Anu and Padomai). These two gave birth to all of the great spiritual children, including Alkosh the first cat (Akatosh), Khenarthi (Kynareth), Magrus (Magnus), Mara, and S'rendarr (Stendarr). A second litter of children soon followed, including Merrunz (Mehrunes Dagon), Mafala (Mephala), and Sangiin (Sanguine), among others. Ahnurr did not want further children, but Fadomai was presuaded by her elder children to birth one more litter, this final group containing Azurah, Nirni, and the moons. At this, Ahnurr became angry at Fadomai, who fled to the void, and birthed one last child, Lorkhaj. Fadomai knew she was dying, her life having been drained by her birth, but she gave to Nirni a gift, that she would birth children of her own.

Nirni went to Lorkhaj, asking him to form a dwelling place for her children. This he did, but he tricked his siblings, forming the mortal plane and trapping many of them there with him. Most of Fadomai's first litter were trapped, while her second litter saw the danger and fled. Into this dwelling, Nirni birthed many children, the various human and mer races of Tamriel. However, one of Fadomai's children, Azurah, had also been given a gift by their mother. She was given permission to take one of Nirni's children, and reshape them to her own liking, so long as she made them the fastest, cleverest, and most beautiful of all creatures. Azurah chose a group of forest dwellers among Nirni's children, and from them, she formed the Khajiit. Nirni was furious at this, and ask her sibling Y'ffer to punish the Khajiit. He did this by turning their grasslands into a dry desert, and their forests into poisonous marshes. The Khajiit, however, were protected by Azurah, who taught them the secret of the moons (the Lunar Lattice in Khajiiti terms), and how to change their shapes to survive. Those forest dwellers who stayed true to their mother, Nirni, were turned into the Bosmer, and given the lush forests of Valenwood as their home.

There is some speculation as to how accurate this creation myth truly is. What is known is that Khajiit were present on Tamriel when the Ayleid first explored the region, presumably long before there was any established Bosmer kingdom. What is not known is how long those Khajiit were in the area, nor how many other meri expeditions landed on Tamriel prior to the Aldmeri immigration (evidence suggests at least one other mass immigration of elves to Tamriel, resulting in the Dwemer of Morrowind). Some Imperial scholars believe the Khajiit evolved naturally from non-sentient cats, much like they believe the Argonians evolved from non-sentient lizards. Topal described the Khajiit as two and four legged cats with only primitive behaviors, and no clear signs of intelligence. However, Ayleid legend tells of bartering ownership of the forests of Cyrodiil from the Khajiit in exchange for the secrets of literacy, and Pelinal Whitestrake, early in the First Era, claims to have fought and killed thousands of clearly organized, sentient Khajiit warriors, believing them to be Aldmeri.

Culture
The Khajiit, along with the Argonians, inhabited Tamriel long before the elves arrived. Toval the Pilot, founder of the Ayleid empire, described an intelligent, if primitive, race of cat-people inhabiting the forests around Lake Rumare when he arrived there with his expedition. Eventually, the elves and humans drove the beast races into the southern extremes of Tamriel, into the forests and marhses that humans considered uninhabitable. For hundreds of years, the Khajiit existed as dozens, even hundreds, of warring nomadic tribes, a condition which lasted into 2E 309 when the province was finally united under two powerful, formerly warring factions. Soon after, the Cyrodiilic Empire began making diplomatic overtures with Elsweyr, leading up to Tiber Septim's unification of the entire continent.

Imperial influence has chiefly been felt in the southern regions of Elsweyr, where relatively large, semi-permanent cities have sprung up along trade routes. These cities are known to move around frequently, but within a small region in the jungles near the river basins. The primary source of income in Elsweyr is their export of moon sugar, which is used to make the highly addictive drug skooma. In fact, a sizable portion of the Khajiiti southern population are "sugar tooths", slang term for a skooma addict, although they seem to be more able to function under the influence than other races. The fertile grounds near the southern rivers are also well suited for other crops, particularly saltrice, which makes up the bulk of the legal trade. The northern regions, still mostly dry grassland, have not progressed far from their tribal origins, and rarely consider themselves united in any meaningful way.

The government of the Khajiit consists primarily of the Clan Mothers of each clan of tribes. These wield power mostly due to their control of moon sugar harvests, but also maintain a hereditary position of power. The nominal head of the Khajiiti religion is a unique form of Khajiit known as The Mane. Khajiit legend claims that it is only possible for one mane to live at a time, and his birth is triggered by the birth of a newborn Khajiit when the two moons have fully aligned in the sky. The Mane is apparently bipedal, and clearly has the power of speech, but does not fall into any of the defined Khajiiti subtypes: he is simply unique. While he is, in theory, a neutral, unbiased religious leader, the Mane is the true power in Elsweyr, and was ultimately responsible for the success of the attempted unification of the province in the last Second Era.

Khajiit, like Argonians, are still considered little more than beast-men by many human and meri cultures. They were oppressed and enslaved by rich families and primary industries in Morrowind, until very recently when King Helseth finally outlawed slavery. They also have a strong racial dislike for Argonians (one which is shared in return), which causes tension in the southern Cyrodiilic cities of Leyawiin and Bravil, where Elsweyr and Black Marsh are both fairly close, and which have strong populations of both races.

Many Khajiit disdain weapons in favor of their natural claws. They make excellent thieves due to their natural agility and unmatched acrobatics ability. Many Khajiit are also warriors, although this is mainly true of the Cathay, and rarely among those found across Tamriel. In addition to their native quickness, Khajiit have developed a natural proficiency in stealth, and have the added benefit of native night vision. These skills, combined with the general tendency of humans and mer to look down on Khajiit and "beasts", leads many Khajiit outside of their home province to become bandits or professional thieves.

Male

 * Agility +10
 * Willpower -10
 * Endurance -10

Female

 * Agility +10
 * Willpower -10
 * Strength -10

Skill Bonuses

 * Acrobatics +10
 * Athletics +5
 * Blade +5
 * Hand to Hand +10
 * Light Armor +5
 * Security +5
 * Sneak +5

Special Abilities

 * Eye of Night
 * Claws (confirmed for Skyrim and were in Morrowind.)

Usage
Khajiit are best suited to using close range sneak attacks. Night Eye is a great power to have for a sneaky character. Khajiit have good attributes for creating a Sneak/Combat cross specialization character. These characters are good for role playing as a Bandit, since most Bandits happen to be either Dark Elves, Wood Elves, or Khajiit.

The Thief
Since Khajiit are best suited for sneaking characters, being born under the Thief is a great way to use this race.

The Warrior
Choosing this birthsign along with Endurance and Strength as favorite attributes gives the Khajiit great attributes for a Sneak/Combat role.

The Lord
Khajiit have little use for Alchemy, and their Willpower is too low to consider Restoration. All characters need a way to heal themselves. For these reasons the Lord is a great birthsign to use if you want a good way to heal yourself.

The Lady
The Lady Negates all the downsides of a male Khajiit.

Demoralize
Every once in a while you will encounter a boss character that is leveled to your character. This power works wonders in helping turn the tide of what would be a tough battle.

Hand to Hand Benefits
Much like Argonians, Khajiit can have incredibly high Hand to Hand (85-100) skill at very low levels (1-2) through use of certain acquirable items, racial bonuses, vampirism, and taking it as a major skill. However the male Argonian has better attributes to support a melee assassin role when compared to the male Khajiit.