Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Rinian2 04-23-07, 09:39 AM	The Cathari. The disconcerting eyes of the person in front of you carry the indefinable aura of eternity. There is an ancient race that exists on the Wheel of Life in a way unique from all others. They are the race to whom death is a mere nuisance. When they die, they are affected by something very similar to the Reincarnate spell. They are the Cathari and few apart from the Cathari themselves know the truth of their existence. For all Cathari, death is simply another step on the Wheel of Life. As far as any can tell, within seven days of the death of their current body, they are born again, either as a child or a young adult, depending on each individual’s choice and prior preparations. Many scholars believe that the Reincarnate spell was a magical attempt to duplicate the Cathari’s incredible abilities. The Cathari speak of The First Shedding in tones of awe. The First Shedding is the event that gave them their unique abilities, but also robbed them of the chance to be reborn as a True Cathari. Since the time of The First Shedding, the original bodies of the Cathari have not existed as a biological species. Thus, in a way, the Cathari became extinct at the moment The First Shedding was complete. Many of the Cathari had sired children, all of whom were mortal. These mortal children were mourned deeply for of the brevity of their lives. Many initiated studies whose purpose was to make it possible for them to sire children that they would not outlive. Centuries after the First Shedding, many Cathari also began to seek a reprieve from their memories. They longed for new experiences and, having lived for centuries, new experiences were rare. The Cathari were becoming bored. One of the Cathari behind the First Shedding was ancient even by the new standards of the Cathari. She famously stated, “My skin feels full to bursting and I yearn to be empty. I need to forget, if only for a lifetime.” The solution was found by one of the youngest Cathari, one who was just a child himself when the First Shedding occurred. The Ritual of the Empty Skin (so named because of the previous statement) granted the Cathari who had learned it the ability to be born once more as a child, with no memory of their century’s long existence. The first Empty-skin Cathari (or more simply ‘Empty Cathari’) was watched over by many Cathari. They rejoiced at his simple life; his delight in things that they themselves considered mundane, his adoration of his mother, his devotion to his mortal wife, his love of his children. The first Empty Cathari lived a life to be envied. And so, many Cathari performed the Ritual of the Empty Skin to allow themselves a lifetime’s enjoyment of simplicity. When the Cathari who was the first Empty Cathari returned to being Full Cathari, he retained most of the memories of his Empty life and he continued to watch his children. He watched them begin families of their own. He watched them grow old. With sorrow, he watched them die. And to his amazement, he watched them be reborn. The Ritual of the Empty Skin had solved both of the Cathari’s problems. Unfortunately, it also has been the cause of much animosity towards the Cathari, since it is their mind born into a child who would otherwise have been simply a child. The Cathari laugh at this and state that, since the child has no memory of being Cathari, it is still just a child. Today there are still very few Cathari ‘children’, since only a child sired by an Empty Cathari even has the potential to become a Cathari. And then, only if the child lives until it reaches a venerable age. It has to be said however, the Cathari are much more at peace with themselves since they have been able to sire Cathari once again. Personality: The Cathari tend to enjoy life more actively than other races. Since many of the Cathari that exist today have been alive for millennia they have a wisdom that can only be gained with such age. But, conversely, they will take great risks with their safety unthinkable to other races simply because they know that their Skin is temporary and that they will be born again. Among the Cathari there are no gender specific roles as every Cathari has been both male and female many times in the past. Appearance: There are no specific physical traits that the Cathari have in common, except perhaps the look of ancient wisdom within the eyes of one much too young to possess it. Some Full Cathari tend to prefer styles of clothing and modes of speech that have become unfashionable. Some of these styles may even have been unfashionable for centuries. Relations: Some of the more superstitious races view the Cathari as a threat to their God’s eternal plans. In general, the Cathari are welcome in most places. Many Full Cathari count the older dragons among their friends. Alignment: The Cathari have a mental stability that only comes from age; because of this they are usually have a lawful tendency, although they often remain neutral until they are ready to act. Empty Cathari seem to have a predilection towards neutrality. Cathari Lands: The Cathari do not often have any interest in conquest, although such ambition is not unknown. Often a Full Cathari will have a house or two in any given major city. Religion: The Gods disapprove of the Cathari’s movement through the Wheel of Life and do not grant them any Divine magic. Most Full Cathari disapprove of the Gods because of their unique perspective on the Wheel of Life and do not worship them. Empty Cathari, because of the effects of the Ritual of the Empty Skin, can worship freely. Language: The almost universal language known as Common is the ancestor of the ancient Cathari language and so it is known by all Full Cathari. Most Full Cathari also know many languages including Draconic, Celestial, Infernal, Sylvan, and the languages of many humanoid races. Empty Cathari have the same languages as normal for their Skin’s race. Names: Since most of the Cathari have been both male and female an uncountable number of times, there is no real difference between the names they give to their boys or girls. The naming conventions of the local area occasionally play a part in what name a child is given, although some Cathari use the original form of the name, not the more common derivative. Other Cathari give their children the names of heroes or heroines, of places, or even of emotions. Empty Cathari are named according to their Skin’s race’s conventions. Adventurers: A Full Cathari adventures as the mood comes upon them. They often prefer to visit sites of historical importance, or at least places that they have pleasant memories of. Most Cathari adventure simply as a way of relieving the monotony. Empty Cathari have some of the Full Cathari’s daredevil nature, but coupled with a mortal’s healthy fear of injury and death, most Empty Cathari remain close to home. CATHARI RACIAL TRAITS These abilities are common to both Full Cathari and Empty Cathari. • Life after Life: With this ability, a Cathari will be reborn in another body within d12 weeks of the death of its previous body. The Cathari’s new young adult body is determined using the table used by the Reincarnate spell on page 270 of the Player’s Handbook (3.5). Strength, Constitution, and Dexterity scores are all dependent on the new body but a Full Cathari will retain their Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores. Each time this ability is used the Cathari loses one character level. The effects of Level Loss are detailed on page 296 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide (3.5). This loss of level is an unavoidable part of the Life after Life ability and cannot be denied. The only way that a Cathari can die forever is to die at 1st level. (The Ritual of the Empty Skin affects this ability.) • Sealed Life: A Cathari cannot lose levels permanently due to energy draining effects. Neither can a Cathari become undead or be brought back to life by any means other than their Life after Life ability. FULL CATHARI • Aberration: Full Cathari are not subject to spells or effects that affect humanoids only, such as charm person or dominate person. • Recognise Cathari: A Full Cathari can discern whether or not a person is a Cathari simply by looking at them. If the person in question is an Empty Cathari, it requires a DC 25 Sense Motive check to recognise them as such. • Spurn Madness: As an additional bonus to all saving throws against Mind-Affecting effects, a Full Cathari applies their Wisdom bonus (if positive). This means that Will saves gain double the normal Wisdom bonus. • Venerability: A Full Cathari has lived for a very long time and therefore gains the mental bonuses of the Venerable age bracket, namely +3 Intelligence, +3 Wisdom, +3 Charisma. No Full Cathari can further benefit from any bonuses due to great age. Any physical penalties from great age will only affect their current Skin. • +2 racial bonus on Bardic Knowledge and Knowledge (History) checks. A Full Cathari has lived through a great deal of history. • Automatic Languages: Common. Bonus Languages: Any (other than secret languages, such as Druidic). A Full Cathari has lived long enough to have had the opportunities to learn almost any language. • Prohibited Classes: Any class that grants access to divine magic is denied to a Full Cathari. The Gods do not approve of the Cathari. • Favoured Class: Bard. A multiclass Full Cathari’s bard class does not count when determining whether he takes an experience point penalty for multiclassing (see XP for Multiclass Characters, Player’s Handbook page 60). Seeing history first-hand gives a Full Cathari a unique advantage when telling stories about it. • Level Adjustment: +1. (Although most Full Cathari will have many character levels, and likely be epic level characters.) EMPTY CATHARI • An Empty Cathari is identical to the race chosen from the Reincarnate table, excepting the Life after Life and the Sealed Life racial traits. • By virtue of the Ritual of the Empty Skin an Empty Cathari is not considered to be an Aberration. • None but a Full Cathari can tell that an Empty Cathari is a Cathari. • Level Adjustment: +0. NEW FEATS Content to Linger [RACIAL] This feat allows a Cathari to remain Absent for much longer than most other Cathari. Prerequisite: Cathari, character level 3rd. Benefit: Whenever the Cathari's Life after Life ability is used, the Cathari will be reborn after 2d12 years. The Cathari may prevent this feat from having any effect by performing an hour long ritual at any time when he is not in danger. Special: If a Cathari possesses both this feat and the Eager to Return feat and has not done either prevention ritual, the duration of his Absense will be decided randomly by the result of a d6.Result Duration of Absense 1-2 2d12 days 3-4 d12 months 5-6 2d12 yearsNormal: A Cathari will be reborn after d12 weeks of Absense. Eager to Return [RACIAL] This feat allows a Cathari to be reborn much quicker than most other Cathari. Prerequisite: Cathari, character level 3rd. Benefit: Whenever the Cathari's Life after Life ability is used, the Cathari will be reborn after 2d12 days. The Cathari may prevent this feat from having any effect by performing an hour long ritual at any time when he is not in danger. Special: If a Cathari possesses both this feat and the Content to Linger feat and has not done either prevention ritual, the duration of his Absense will be decided randomly by the result of a d6.Result Duration of Absense 1-2 2d12 days 3-4 d12 months 5-6 2d12 yearsNormal: A Cathari will be reborn after d12 weeks of Absense. Ritual of the Empty Skin [RACIAL] This feat allows a Cathari to start their next life as an Empty Cathari. Prerequisite: Cathari, character level 3rd. Benefit: At any time when not in danger, the Cathari with this feat can state that they are performing the Ritual of the Empty Skin. The ritual takes about an hour and requires no material components. The next time the Cathari dies, their Life after Life ability will take effect in a different way than usual. Within seven days the Cathari will be born as a baby to an appropriate woman of the same species. This child will have no memories of being a Cathari; thus he will be an Empty Cathari. The Skin after an Empty Cathari will always be a Full Cathari. Special: Half of the Empty Cathari’s experience points are added to the experience point total of the Full Cathari when they are next reborn. No matter what level or class features the Empty Cathari had gained, the Full Cathari only receives these experience points. GLOSSARY Absense: the period of time between one life and the next Empty Cathari: a Skin with a mother and no memory First Shedding, The: the event that gave the Cathari their unique abilities Full Cathari: a Cathari with their memories intact Ritual of the Empty Skin, the: a fairly simple ritual that allows a Cathari to live its next life as an Empty Cathari Second Skin: the second life lived by a Cathari (most Cathari are uncomfortable within their Second Skin) Shedding the Skin: the death of the Cathari’s current body Skin: the current body/life of a Cathari True Cathari: a being with the body of a Cathari and the mind of a Cathari If this looks familiar, there's a reason - I am reworking the Cathari to allow for the fact that there would be almost no way that every member of any race in mythical times would each know of a single event such as The First Shedding. There would be some that would have known nothing about it before waking up as something different. I'm also thinking of coming up with another feat (or perhaps a Cathari Paragon class) that would allow a Cathari to be reborn as something other than a humanoid. I was working on this ages ago and I recently returned to see that my orignal post had been archived. So, in search of possibilities, I am reposting it. I look forward to any suggestions that you have.
Rinian2 04-24-07, 07:52 PM	Oh, I forgot to mention that, if you are interested, there is a link to the archived post in my signature.
bobothechimp 04-24-07, 07:58 PM	No odd ability score adjustments.
Rinian2 04-24-07, 08:11 PM	No odd ability score adjustments. Except in the case of a race that only gets the adjustments for having lived a really long time. They are not really racial adjustments; they are simply the venerable age bonuses that each and every individual of the race has gained individually.
Rinian2 04-26-07, 09:20 PM	I'm thinking of another feat (perhaps the beginnings of a Ritual of the Empty Skin feat tree) that will offer two or more choices for the Cathari's next Skin. It would be similiar to the some of the benefits described in True Reincarnation from the Masters of the Wild for so long ago.
Rinian2 04-30-07, 11:26 AM	Bump.
Rinian2 05-03-07, 11:34 PM	Bump.
Rinian2 05-06-07, 10:29 AM	We've reached the magic 150 views... does anyone have a comment yet? :)
Radijs 05-06-07, 11:50 AM	I'll take a pot shot at it. Though its a very original concept I'm already expecting the preverbial nightmare of a Cathari PC in my party. "I've lived for fifty millenia, I should know all that." It would still make them good as NPC's, wise old guides or questgiver types. But as a PC, you said it already. most Cathari are old enough to be epic level characters. Ability scores: It's been said already, when creating a race don't give them odd ability score adjustments. Increase them to +4 or decrease them to +2. Its one of the golden rules for creating your own races. For a +4 on three mental scores without penlaties I'd go for a LA of +2. With a +2 bonus on three mental scores i'd add a +1 Abberation type; no increase warranted yet. Free ressurection: Well that one's a toughie. Pretty sweet deal. no 5K worth of diamonds. Since time isn't much of an issue to these guys, maybe you'll want to up the duration to a year unless there is some previous intervention, like a raise dead or something. Favored class: A creature thats mostly lawful prefers to be a bard? A class which is more linked to chaotic. Maybe another class that doesn't have the same chaotic tendencies. In my personal opinion the whole race seems kinda flakey. They live forever, are often epic but still suitable as PC's as low as level 2. A big stretch if you ask me.
RhynoD 05-06-07, 12:25 PM	I don't see them as bards either. They're described as huge risktakers, so I would imagine them more as some kind of combat-driven character, a fighter of some sort. They would want to be in the middle of the action, right? And while I like the 7 days thing, perhaps there should be some other prohibitive cost. Minus a level and a half? They lose all short-term memory? Maybe a month or so instead of 7 days?
Radijs 05-06-07, 12:33 PM	I'm still for a year on the ressurection thing, maybe even a decade. Something like that is rather, unpredictable.
Rinian2 05-07-07, 04:02 AM	I like the idea of a longer time before reincarnation... but how long? A year seems a little arbitrary. What about when an Empty Cathari is reborn? Would the original Reincarnation rules apply instead? A longer ... lifeless interval makes sense to me but I would like the same kind of randomness as the Reincarnation table allows; a random race after a random time. (I may have to come up with another word for the space between lives.) I have thought about another racial feat that would either delay or hasten rebirth, probably both. A more rapid rebirth for those that have not yet become jaded with their long existences. And a longer duration for those that wish for a rest. I understand what everyone is saying about even racial stat bonuses but I can't see that they are racial in nature. Every Cathari is simply really, really old. And the bonuses to stats indicate their venerable age not a racial trait that is shared by all Cathari. Would it be best if I gave the bonuses a special name like Always Venerable or something? some other prohibitive cost Each time they are reborn, a Cathari; whether Full or Empty, unavoidably and irrevocably loses a level. Isn't that enough of an incentive to stay alive? The original idea behind the class was just a random thought that came to me while watching Quantum Leap. Sam Beckett doesn't seem to get any form of break between each of the lives he jumps into. What would it be like to live like that? As far as Bard as the Favoured Class... I couldn't think of any class that really fit a race that spans millenia except one that could tell the tales of history. Perhaps each Cathari should, at character creation, choose one class that would be its Favoured Class until the end of time. How do you think that would that work out?
Radijs 05-07-07, 04:46 AM	I'd call the bonuses "wisdom gained over the years" and treat them as racial bonuses. It saves you opening a whole can of worms. If you're really bent on calling them aging bonuses then in fairness you should give them the penalties too. The prohibitive cost of losing a level exists for other races too, but they (or rather their companions) need to shell out a small fortune in diamonds to come back. And thats what we're comparing them to, other playable races. Favored class: Any. That could work, but it would be another little nudge to make them a bit more powerful.
Rinian2 05-07-07, 10:14 AM	If you're really bent on calling them aging bonuses then in fairness you should give them the penalties too.And therein lies the problem. The bonuses really are just the mental benefits of having lived a long life but the physical negatives aren't present when a Cathari is reborn. The main reason that I don't like the idea of increasing the bonuses to +4 is that I imagined that the True Cathari were similar to Humans in that their original bodies had no racial bonuses to statistics but, if that were the case, they'd have been weaker to begin with without the versatility that symbolises the Human race in D&D. However, the point isn't as they were, it's how they are. I don't see the Cathari as an inherently powerful race. It might sound lame (or flakey :)) but I do just see them as really, really old. Thank you for your input. Especially the idea about a longer dormant period... very nice.
Lionhearted 05-07-07, 11:28 AM	Ah the dilemma of the never-resting cathari, to be graced with the gift to see the flow of each generation, see nations rise and fall, to ubsurp and understand the multiverse like no other being other than the allmighty gods themselves. Yet the pain, the awful pain of seeing your beloved die, the agony, the sheer agony of seeing history repeat itself. The CURSE of an eternal life, this our gift and our eternal burden. I can imagine the Cathari being rather cynical after like 50 millenias ;) (btw, this is not constructive in any way, just had to fluff some)
MHolland 05-07-07, 11:29 AM	Sounds very similar to the original concept for Mummies in the World of Darkness by White Wolf. I am curious if that work had any influence on your new race?
kaionon 05-07-07, 12:44 PM	Speaking from RAW IIRC, if they were to gain the stat bonuses for aging then it would be ALOT higher the +3 after such a large ammount of lives. If they were to gain the +3 age bonuses to mental stats, die, and come back as say... a dwarf. It would be entirely possibly for the dwarf to get to venerable once more and have the bonus increase to +6. It could go like that for many many lives. I think this is all by RAW, but I don't have any books with me. Perhaps instead of the "age bonuses" perhaps a +2 or +4 to two mental stats of their choice, to represent how their lives have affected them. It would be kind of funny to have a unintelligent Cathari that had alot of common sense and personal magnatism but during his lives he was never able to properly expand his mind.
Rinian2 05-07-07, 07:13 PM	Very nice, Lionhearted. You've seen the futility of eternity, the beauty of an instant. :) In answer to your question MHolland, I've not seen much of the World of Darkness stuff; only the GURPS versions of Vampire, Werewolf, and Mage. kaionon, the way I read it (and the way I think it works) is that you can only get the aging bonuses three times; once when you reach Middle Age, again when you reach Old, and once more when you reach Venerable. With the way the Cathari live; the end of one life is the beginning of another, they are living the same life mentally no matter their outward form. Unless they perform the Ritual of the Empty Skin, and the life they live then is a seperate but connected memory to the Full Cathari once they begin their next life.
Rinian2 05-21-07, 07:55 AM	I'm thinking about the dormancy period problem, but keep on coming up with the idea of rolling a twenty-sided dice and saying that the result is how many weeks the Cathari remains dormant for... but I don't like the idea much. I'm looking for an random amount of time but not... really random. I don't want a table of durations but I'm struggling to think of another solution. Any suggestions?
Radijs 05-21-07, 09:23 AM	A random-not random number is the thousand years devils stay dead when they are slain on the material plane. But that would be, overkill.
fiendish_platypus 05-21-07, 09:47 AM	Maybe 1d6 weeks, or months, or days... 1d20 seems like too much.
Rinian2 05-24-07, 10:24 AM	A thousand years, Radijs? That might reduce the possibility of a recurring Cathari antagonist working against the PCs. How about one d12 months? With, of course, a few feat options. Eager to Return [RACIAL] This feat allows a Cathari to be reborn much quicker than most other Cathari. Prerequisite: Cathari, character level 3rd. Benefit: Whenever the Cathari's Life after Life ability is used, the Cathari will be reborn after d12 weeks. The Cathari may prevent this feat from having any effect by performing an hour long ritual at any time when he is not in danger. Special: If a Cathari possesses both this feat and the Content to Linger feat and has not done either prevention ritual, the duration of his Absense will be decided randomly by the result of a d6.Result Duration of Absense 1-2 d12 weeks 3-4 d12 months 5-6 d12 yearsNormal: A Cathari will be reborn after d12 months of Absense. Content to Linger [RACIAL] This feat allows a Cathari to remain Absent for much longer than most other Cathari. Prerequisite: Cathari, character level 3rd. Benefit: Whenever the Cathari's Life after Life ability is used, the Cathari will be reborn after d12 years. The Cathari may prevent this feat from having any effect by performing an hour long ritual at any time when he is not in danger. Special: If a Cathari possesses both this feat and the Eager to Return feat and has not done either prevention ritual, the duration of his Absense will be decided randomly by the result of a d6.Result Duration of Absense 1-2 d12 weeks 3-4 d12 months 5-6 d12 yearsNormal: A Cathari will be reborn after d12 months of Absense. How does that look?
Thief_of_Hope 05-24-07, 03:44 PM	First of all, I just wanted to say that I really like this race's flavor, and the crunch is simple but very effective in conveying it. Very nice. And I agree with your statemnt that there isn't that much that's making this an OMG OVRPWRED!!!1!! race. The free reincarnate is, really, not that bad. I think randomizing the time it takes is a good idea, although maybe it should be available in a matter of days, so that a player could actually take advantage of the main feature of this race. Perhaps, if you go through with your change in the timing, the Eager to Return feat could reduce it to 2d12 days? Or 5d4, 4d6, whatever seems fair. It just seems like making a cathari PC would be kind of a waste of time if you can't even take advantage of their centerpiece ability. Will players be willing to play a cathari as risk-takingly as they are described as if, when they die, it means the choice of making a new character or waiting numerous play sessions before they can play again? With the idea as drafted now, a week's time would be replaced by a month to a year's worth of time, with the option of reducing it to a week's time to a year's time. No player will play a cathari for being born again and again if the other players are all leveling up, and he's thinking, "Wow, I sure wish I could be gaining levels too, but I can't come back for a quarter of a year." I'd rather just roll up another character at that point, completely nullifying the reason for playing a cathari in the first place (other than the role-playing purposes). I personally think that 4d4 or 5d4 days seems like it might make sense, since you have the random amount of time, and the chance of being out of the game for a while, but you'll be back soon enough that the race will still be attractive for play. I'd gladly pay the feat slot for it if need be. I also had a question about the empty skin cathari. Is having your next life be as an empty cathari like hitting your eternal reset button, or is it a pause in the game? What I'm asking is, after the empty skin life, will they only have memories from that life and each one after, or will they, after leaving their empty life, regain all memories they once had, plus the empty life ones? Thanks for making an awesome race like this!
Rinian2 05-27-07, 05:52 AM	Thanks, Thief_of_Hope. I'm becoming more enamoured with Absenses of random duration but I want the race to be a little more... natural is kind of the word I'm looking for but it doesn't quite fit. I want the race to be realistic in the way in fits into the world. If anyone wants to take a half orc they have to expect predjudice from the more "civilised" races and want the same understanding of limitation with the Cathari. They were never intended to be a powerful race... just different. Individuals of any race can be powerful and the same is true of the Cathari. When a Full Cathari performs the Ritual of the Empty Skin the memories of his long existence will be inaccessable to him during his life as an Empty Cathari. Once his Empty Skin passes away, he will return (after some random period of Absense :)) with all of his memories intact which include those of his Empty lives and all the lives he lived as a Full Cathari.
Rinian2 06-04-07, 08:20 AM	I've just had a thought which left me a little confused. What would happen if two Empty Cathari had a child together and it lived until the Venerable age category? I had no answer to the question and was wondering if anyone had a suggestion.
Rinian2 09-01-07, 05:02 AM	I've changed how long a Cathari will remain Absent and added a couple of feats that can alter how long the Absense will be. Please, let me know how I've done.
TheGuild 09-01-07, 09:31 AM	I like the class concept and the overall flovour of this class. Its different i'll say. quite nice actually considering that i've actually played a character (PC and later NPC) with the effects of eternal life... What would happen if two Empty Cathari had a child together and it lived until the Venerable age category? You know i don't think that they would be able to have a child... Think about what it means. If something is Empty then it cannot full something else with life... so why not make it they give birth to fully formed children who are not alive... could maybe make them give birth to something undead... would make for an interesting twist on the lawful side... These are just my ideas. As a DM and a player i value role playing above most rules and so am always interested in flaws of races and characters.
Rinian2 09-06-07, 11:44 PM	--- so why not make it they give birth to fully formed children who are not alive... could maybe make them give birth to something undead ---Both of those possibilities seem a little cruel to inflict on someone. I'm leaning towards the idea of a 'Broken' Cathari; a child that is born a Full Cathari and can recognise other Cathari but has no basis of reference to understand why they can see these things.
Rinian2 09-09-07, 09:16 PM	A BUMP for good luck.
Rinian2 09-19-07, 03:53 AM	One last bump. I'm hungry for feedback. :D
Lord_of_the_Bump 09-21-07, 03:58 AM	I like these guys. A question though... why does the Reincarnate spell work within seven days and these guys have to wait, sometimes for years, and the spell is meant to be a lesser version of the ability?
Rinian2 09-29-07, 06:11 AM	Um... that's a good question. The Life after Life ability was an accidental side effect of The First Shedding. It's my opinion that The First Shedding didn't really do as it was meant to do, and it certainly wasn't meant to affect every Cathari alive either. And it is because of the unexpected results of The First Shedding that the Cathari must wait longer than the spell created by people that would've been wary of the Cathari problems. Does that make sense?