Official info

Origin: Trespasser | Nature: Vengeful | Boundary: Abandoned campsite | Size: Spindly
Species: Esk | Collection: MYO | Designer: hitodama89

Uncommon traits: Sleek, false ears, claws, bold markings, mid-tone eye
Rare traits:  None
Unique traits: Retractable claws
Nature features: White Clover "Dark Debbie" (Trifolium "dark debbie"), Texas Bluegrass (Poa arachnifera)

Familiars: Domestic cats (small swarm, enchanted)
Enchantments: Ghostly form, Feeling of being watched

Biome: Developed
Boundary: Abandoned campsite
Haunt: Under a rose bush
(Reference photos)

Ownership: hitodama89
- can gift, swap (esk only)
- cannot trade (non-esk), resell
Owner history: Won via Spring Equinox raffle by hitodama89

Personality

Cat's Curse is an Esk who has mostly lost itself somewhere along the way of its miserable life (and afterlife). It acts more like a force of nature than a person and doesn't care about pronouns or names the slightest bit. Humans who wander into its boundary sometimes whisper stories of an urban legend known as Cat's Curse, and as the Esk is the reason those stories exist in the first place, it's only fitting that it uses that term in those rare occasions when someone manages to coax or force it to identify itself. Normally it doesn't have any sort of conversations though, and mostly just hisses menacing, cliché phrases like "begone intruder" to creatures that it meets.

It's likely pretty clear at this point that by personality Curse is a Trespasser through and through. Its soul seems to be filled to the brim with hatred that it projects towards anyone who comes close to the abandoned camping site that is its boundary. The loathing burns especially brightly towards humans, but on the other hand it also has one exception: cats. All felines are free to roam in the area and Curse even seems somewhat protective towards them, which is where the name of the urban legend (and therefore the name of the Esk) comes from. Other Esk are somewhere in the middle of this hate-o-meter: Curse knows it has no means to actually harm other spirit beings, so all it usually does is scare them by staying out of sight and activating its Enchantment. It makes its target feel like they are being stalked by something truly dangerous, hence its name "Feeling of being watched". So far this has been enough to scare every intruder away and the Esk hasn't had a need to decide what would it do if someone blatantly ignored its warnings and came marching straight into its haunt, but who knows when that someone crosses its gloomy, lonely path?

Appearance

The first impression you get from Curse's appearance is that this poor creature should really try eating a little bit more. It has spindly, almost skeletal-looking legs, very thin waist and long, flexible neck. Its toes are like a disturbing cross between human fingers and bird toes with needle-thin retractable claws. Both tail and triangle-shaped false ears consist of really long strands of fur while the rest of the body is only covered by short and smooth fur coat. The main color of the coat is so dark brown that it practically looks black, and it's dotted by asymmetrical cream white spots with a thin layer of orange between the two main colors. The Esk's eyes are deep red in color and narrow in shape, although you can normally only see one of them. The right eye is covered by a dark reddish clover variety called "Dark Debbie" and a few blades of grass, and they render that eye completely useless. Above the creature's head hovers an Enchantment sigil that more or less resembles a crosshair. As white it's inactive and harmless, but when it glows red it makes its target's flight-or-fight reaction go haywire. Besides the real, normal cats that live within Curses boundary, it is also often accompanied by three eerie, ghost-like cat familiars.

Life

Even though Curse doesn't remember much from its past life, from an outside perspective it's easy to see how it has shaped its current form. The Esk was once a semi-feral cat who lived in a loose colony in a moderately busy campsite in Everglades. The cats were fed by an elderly campsite manager couple, but other than that they were left to take care of themselves. Life like that was full of dangers from larger predators and car accidents to campers who didn't always appreciate free roaming cats. What ended Curse's life was two bored young kids who caught the cat and decided to set it on fire just to see what would happen. The cat suffered great injuries and in the haze of pain it decided to seek help from the only source it thought it could trust, which was the campsite's managers. They were sad to see the cat in that state, but like they worded the situation, they left the nature take its course. Having its final strands of faith and hope cut the cat crawled under a bush to die, and die it did. But before its spirit could pass on, it was pulled back and turned into an Esk. Now invisible to humans it started to wander around the campsite, causing "accidents" and whispering silent hisses towards all living beings except its former colony mates. It didn't happen overnight, but eventually the place started to have a dark reputation and when finally the managers decided to retire, they couldn't even give the place away for free to anyone. The campsite was abandoned and only the cats and their guardian were left behind, forever lurking in the shadows of the days gone by.

Tidbits

• Curse's "voice" (Esk use telepathy) sounds mostly like raspy hissing.
• Curse is - understandably - afraid of fire.

About the character

• Created in 2019.
• Esk is a closed species created by witherlings.
• Original character info can be found here.
• Masterlist entry can be found here.

Art permissions

• Everyone can draw this Esk mostly without needing to ask permission first!
  Permission is only required if you want to show this Esk:
• Interacting with another character
• Doing something that might permanently affect its life
• Doing things that might be against its nature.
• Currently Curse is staying in its boundary, trying to scare everyone who approaches
  it away. It does not leave its boundary or visit conservatory!