The jaguar-descended cats of San Lucas originally came from the northern highlands of their western continent. They built a powerful civilization called the Uaithni Empire to rule their lands and crossed the mountain range to the south. They conquered the barbarian panther-derived cats, and held control for thousands of years. But as with all great empires of history, they became decadent and slow to respond to threats. What could threaten them after all? First they began to hire local Gangani to secure the southern lands for the empire, and then to supplement their northern troops. In time the Uaithni made up a distinct minority of their own military, though they jealously guarded the command ranks. That imbalance would prove fatal to them.