Our story started approximately 13 years ago, in a deserted part of the city, right under The Cassander Bridge. Yam, the party’s favourite Tabaxi - well, not yet, as the party have yet to meet - was harvesting puffballs with her companion, Bread- an unusual hybrid creature that resembled a (really badly drawn) fox with a pair of crow wings and talons for front legs- when she spotted a dehydrated and shrivelled Gnome, half-buried with her head submerged in the concrete path.

“Hey. I’m kinda stuck. Can you help me?” The Gnome whimpered.

“Why are you in the ground???” Yam furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

“Idk I just woke up here,” the Gnome replied.

“Oh ok.”

Yam spun around and started walking away, with her orange partner following close by. She reached down, allowing Bread to scurry up her hands and perch on her shoulder. Hearing the footsteps getting further away, the Gnome cried out with more urgency.

“Wait holy shit please get me out of here I am genuinely STUCK- I can’t see anything and dirt is in my eyeballs- OH GOD DIRT IS IN MY EYEBALLS-”

Yam halted in her tracks at the flailing Gnome and with a scowl, she swiftly slammed the Gnome onto the wall with a roundhouse kick straight to the kneecaps. 

“There. Done. Unstuck.” Yam replied with indifference in her tone, seemingly unfazed despite the strangeness of the situation.

“Hey! Wait! You! Wait for me! Let me go with you! Where are you going? Bring me along! Wanna go to the pub??? What’s your name?  My name is Rolf! Rolf the Rogue! What are you? Ohhhh you look like a funky little creature. WAIT WHO IS THIS CHILD, SO CUTE, WHAT IS HIS NAME????” Rolf squealed and babbled at the half-running, half-walking Yam.

“...Yam. Bard Tabaxi. Now why don’t you go and stick your little head back into the ground and LEAVE ME ALONE.”

Bread growled, unweaving himself from around Yam’s shoulders and slipping to the ground with surprising grace and agility. His plumy orange tail was bristling, as was his fur, as he crouched low to the ground, hackles raised and ready to spring.

“Tabaxi?” Rolf asked, looking up at Yam curiously. “Oh, I see it now! Fuzzy little child! come here, pSpsPpsPSPsppSPSP-”

Yam’s tail flicked irritably and her ears flattened against her head. Her paw flexed a little and the sharp tips of her claws glinted in the sunlight. “What the heck. All you need to know is that I’m a Tabaxi, now go away!” Bread growled again, warningly.

“Ooooo fun, let’s both go to the tavern! I’m starting to get bored of being in an alley… Field trip! FIELD TRIP!!”

“Field trip?” Yam stared at the Gnome incredulously over her shoulder as she bolted ahead. “No no no, I am not chaperoning a field trip! I have much more important things to do today. C’mon, Bread!” The Tabaxi kept running further and further away, her tail streaming out behind her, her fox-crow chimaera easily keeping stride.

“HEYYYYY YAMMMM WAIT FOR MEEEEE-” Rolf cried out desperately, but Yam wouldn’t stop. The Gnome quickly adjusted her boots and decided right then and there that she was going to chase down that stupid cat and tackle her to the ground!! 

So, the chase began, with Yam speeding through the city at a speed faster than light, and Rolf waddling around with such vigour that could rival the slowest snail in the world. Shortly after, Rolf collapsed into a panting mess, exhausted from the intensive 500m jog she just endured. Her short hair now resembled a crow’s nest, with random strands sticking everywhere, including her mouth, and her monocles hung loosely on both of her eyes.

“AEughHhhhHh… I WILL. CATCH UP. TO YOU. ONE DAY. JUST WAIT FOR IT!!!” She spat out between each breath and pumped her fist in the air with a new sense of determination, and soon started sprinting in the general direction of the Tabaxi like before.