Riggu Felis

Gender: male

Species: wildcat

Appears In: High Rhulain




Riggu - "felis" being the genus of wildcats - is the large ruler of Green Isle and commander of a cat army who reside at the fortress by the lake. He is the husband of Kaltag, father of Jeefra and Pitru, and wields a war axe. He is intelligent, physically strong, knowledgeable in the ways of war, extremely ruthless, and keeps the resident otters as slaves. In an injury very similar to Slagar's, he receives a horrific facial wound while fighting Pandion (whose beak has been wounded by his iron barb) when the bird rips into him with his wicked talons. His aide Atunra does her best to heal him but he is left with exposed bone and teeth, and although he wears a half-mask of chainmail it does not totally hide his wounds. After this incident he demands that his army hunt down and kill any birds on Green Isle, also vowing to one day kill Pandion as revenge. In addition to being angry at his two sons for failing to slay the bird, he is annoyed by their spoiled attitudes and his temper eventually snaps when he orders them to be taken to the barracks to serve as lowly guards. He somewhat brushes aside Pitru's warning about "being old", although he is aware his son has the potential to become just like him, and sets his sights on dealing with the outclaw clans led by Leatho. During one scuffle the otters succeed in killing several guards and free some slaves, and after it is discovered that Jeefra has been slain he suspects it is Pitru's doing and has Atunra watch him while he pursues the clans. Atunra is later killed upon orders from Pitru and, upon realizing that he is gathering an army, Felis has Yund (one of the younger cat's allies) executed as a warning to those who might be thinking of switching sides. As a result Pitru and his group desert, and Felis is left to deal with Kaltag's fragile mental state due to Jeefra's death and the fact that she blames her husband as well as the otters. After ordering her to be taken away he heads back out to find the otters, and later succeeds in capturing Leatho. He throws the outlaw into a cage suspended high above the fortress, threatening that if the others do not surrender their leader will perish. The otters decide to fight back, and during the final battle Leatho manages to escape the cage with help from Pandion. The fortress is then lit ablaze when an insane Kaltag, who has escaped her bonds, throws a torch into the room where Leatho is barricaded against some cats. Tiria has Brantalis and Pandion fly up to rescue Leatho, however just as they reaching the ground Felis spots the osprey and slays him with his axe. As he turns he abruptly stops laughing when the iron barb - the same thing that he had lodged into Pandion's beak a while back - strikes him right between the eyes, having been thrown by Tiria's sling. The barb digs itself deep into his brain, instantly killing him and sending him falling into the lake from the pier. His body is later thrown into the burning remnants of his once-proud fortress alongside other slain cats.