Phantom

A black panther who walked out of the underbrush on the road north in Session 7, making no effort to hide, heading straight for Sage. Hamish drew on him. Sage stopped him — she felt something for the animal she had no business feeling for a creature she had never seen — and spent a spell to ask what he wanted instead.

I found you. I finally found you.

He had been asking after her among every animal that watched the party pass, on the grounds that she treats animals well, and had no idea how the cat distribution system managed to overlook him for so long. He came from the west, and brought a scouting report with him: the orc encampment had moved well away, and the road north was open.

• Follows Sage’s commands. She can only hold a conversation with him while Speak with Animals is up, and it costs her a spell slot each time.
• In a fight, Sage spends her action to command him — she acts, or he does.
• Scouts and reports. Stood watch in Adabra Gwynn’s yard while she packed.
• Took an interest in Barnaby’s waterskin, which Barnaby moved.
• Sage named him Phantom in Session 8 — out loud for the first time as she called him off Hamish, whom he had just knocked flat.

Rut has been told the panther must be kept fed so he does not eat anyone. He believes this. He has not been told where the idea came from.

Session 8

Set to circle the Miner’s Exchange and watch the party’s backs while Dax was inside. He came back having found Barnaby and Hamish hidden in the dark, and announced it by walking into Hamish hard enough to put him on the ground — which is when Sage said his name for the first time, to stop him. When Rut — as a weasel — wedged himself under the front door and could not get out, Sage gave Phantom the job of retrieving him: wait for him to struggle, take hold of him gently, do not eat him, and pull him clear before anyone opened the door.

He did exactly that. He also seemed a little disappointed about the eating.

He understands what Sage says to him without a spell. Speak with Animals is only needed for him to answer.