Basically, a 'Tavern Cat' started out as a barn cat that kept company at the taverns. They were most often picked off the street, and any significant breed standards were quickly lost.
However, as time went on, they grew more empathetic towards humans; more intelligent. Today they are considered close companions. A guide to lead the wandering home. A warm body on
cold nights. A guardian in the dark. They are the cats of the Starlight Tavern.


~~~~~~~~~~~~

On top of a hill, sits a misshapen building built of wood and stone. Windows shine light into the dusk and music filters from the building. It is a tavern. The crouched shape of the
stables sits off to the west of the tavern. The grounds around seem a bit wild, with climbing ivy overtaking one side shaded by a squat maple. There are various bushes and scattered
patches of tall grass guarding the tavern, but the path leading up to the door is cleared of obstacles and paved with slate.

It isn't long until you spot a sleek cat sitting in one of the front windows, who blinks in hello before turning and jumping back into the tavern. There seems to be a scuffle as the
cat lands - presumably on another cat judging by the sounds - and then another wanders through the open doorway, tail waving. There's a slightly ruffled look to the tail, but you know
better than to point it out. The cat sees it has your attention and jumps up a pile of haphazardly stacked crates to paw at a hanging wooden sign.

It has "Welcome to Starlight Tavern!" painted on it with messy strokes.


~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tavern cats have genetics that are rooted in real life cats. There are some obvious differences; tortoiseshell/calico cats are equally likely to be male or female for example.

Each section will have at the top a quick reference for all the loci involved with that section and all the gene variations possible for each locus. The gene variations are listed out
in order of most dominant to most recessive.

A short-hand used throughout this guide within genetic code snippets is a singular dash. This is used to denote that there are several possible genes in that spot.

Please note - older cats (cats with a lineart version less than 2.5 and with an ID less than 531) are grandfather-ed into the current genetics system. Please don't use these cats as a
 visual basis for what your kitten might look like.

Base color
O: O, o (Red, non-red)
E: E, e (Non-amber, amber - only affects non-red bases)
B: B, b, bl (Black, chocolate, cinnamon - only affects non-red bases)
D: D, d (Non-diluted, diluted)
Dm: Dm, dm (Caramelized, non-caramelized - only affects diluted bases)

Not shown in the diagram is the O locus and the calico base color.
All OO cats are red-based. Calico cats are Oo with one color being red-based and the other being non-red. All other cats are oo.
Both colors a calico cat displays will come from the same level of dilution (ie no Red and Blue calicos or Apricot and Cinnamon).

Points
C: C, cb, cs, ca, c


Silvering, Wide Band (Shading), and Tabby
A: A, Ap, a
Wb: Wb, wb
I: I, i

Not shown in the diagram is a special case with the A locus. A cat that is Apa will display Charcoal. Cats that are AA, Aa, AAp, and ApAp display regular tabby.
Charcoal changes the facial markings to resemble a mask and generally darkens the background color of tabbies.
Example 1
Example 2
Example 3

The Wb gene affects how much of an individual hair has the darker tabby stripes. It does not apply to solid cats.

The I gene turns the background color of a cat silver. If a cat is solid, this will turn the cat "Smoked".

Tabby - Stripes
Ti: Ti, ti (Ticked, non-ticked)
Mc: Mc, mc (Non-classic, classic)
Sp: Sp, sp (Mackerel, spotted)
At: At, at (Non-domestic, domestic)
R: R, r (Exotic, wild)


Not shown in the diagram is the Ti locus. This locus masks all other tabby stripe genes when at least one Ti is present. Cats that are titi show the tabby pattern according to the
diagram above. Cats that are TiTi are Ticked, and have markings similar to an Abyssinian cat.
Example 1
Example 2
Cats that are Titi are Residual and have a similar pattern to Ticked cats but show some stripes as well.
Example 1
Example 2

White
S: S,s
Sm: G, Sm, s
The S locus is unique in Tavern cats in that it's actually two loci working together, so cats will have four S/s genes instead of just two.
4 copies of S = fully white
3 copies of S, 1 of s = Pied
2 copies of each = Bicolor
1 copy of S, 3 of s = Tuxedo
If a cat has 4 copies of s, the Sm locus comes into play. The G gene will give cats Gloves (Think Birman cats). The Sm gene will give cats some sort of minimal white; this might be a
locket or a glove or a tip of the tail. If a cat has 4 copies of s and 2 copies of sm, it will not display any white markings at all.

Mutations
Li: Li, li
Bo: Bo, bo
The Li locus corresponds to a tendency towards offspring showing the Lion mutation and likewise with the Bo locus and Bob mutation.
When breeding cats, the number of dominant genes between the two parents as well as how many parents show the mutation work together to affect the odds of a kitten showing a mutation.
It is possible for cats that do not show a mutation to have kittens with that mutation, so long as at least one cat has at least one copy of Li/Bo/whichever mutation you're looking for,
but the more copies and the more cats that show the higher chance of a kitten showing that mutation.