Language: Tabaxi

Tabaxi
Region(s): Chult Race(s): Tabaxi, Humans

Tabaxi is a language spoken by the Tabaxi (humans) in the jungles of Chult. It is a sublanguage of the Chultan language.

Tabaxi (monsters) are humanoid jaguars found in both Maztica (not yet discovered) and Chult. They live in small clans in the jungle which often include a shaman. Female Tabaxi will occasionally mate with Jaguar Lords. Tabaxi generally avoid hunting other intelligent creatures for food and prefer wild swine or the huge rodents native to Maztica. They are excellent hunters and almost always surprise their prey.

Tabaxi (monsters) are not innately hostile to Humans and some trade and alliances with Tabaxi Tribes have happened in the past. It is rumoured in Chult that portals exist deep in the jungle to to other places, perhaps even worlds. Unknown to any this is true, though such portals are only sporadically active - and lead to yet undiscovered Maztica.

The humans known as Tabaxi should not be confused with the cat-men (monster tabaxi) that dwell in jungle settings such as Chult. It has been suggested that the baffling sameness of names arose when a stripling Cormyrean explorer mistook a human warrior wearing a war costume made up of the tails of lions and panthers for one of the cat-men. Upon learning from a guide that the mysterious figure was a Tabaxi, the explorer mistakenly concluded that such was the name for the legendary catmen.

Travelers hoping to win the cooperation of the Tabaxi would be well-advised to learn their language and customs before visiting the jungle.

Most humans native to Chult consider themselves part of the great tribe known as the Tabaxi. This is not to say the scattered clan units recognize any central ruler; they most certainly do not. Yet the culture of the Tabaxi ancestors has remained so strong and dominated so many other less expansive cultures that the entire country finds itself peopled by men and women who share a common language and a somewhat uniform social structure. While this presents some obvious benefits for the Tabaxi, it also makes them relatively suspicious of strangers and intolerant of people unfamiliar with their customs. This unfriendliness is even more noticeable in villages near the coast, where slave traders often descend upon unwary Tabaxi and carry them off to a life of servitude and captivity.