Yuumi was a Magical Cat whom Queen Mother Filfaeril had given to her daughter. Supposedly, Elminster, the great sage of Shadowdale, had met the adorable cat while adventuring on another plane. Wanting to see other worlds, Yuumi had followed Elminster to the Realms and eventually become Alusair's partner.
Alusair was a fighter who also trained as a Purple Dragon Knight. The Princess Regent had followed Azoun IV on campaigns from childhood, earning repeated military honors. Yuumi had played no small part in those achievements. The Magical Cat often fought alongside Alusair by "attaching" to her, and together, woman and cat displayed extraordinary combat strength.
As everyone knew, martial classes such as fighters and Barbarians were rather limited and reactive in the Realms. Their damage output in a single round was formidable, certainly no worse than a spellcaster's, but their capabilities were far too narrow. Faced with complicated environments and battlefields, they often lacked the versatility and tools to respond. Never mind spellcasters of their own rank-even Master spellcasters a rank below them had countless ways to outmaneuver them, leaving legendary martial combatants on the back foot.
That might sound a little abstract, so here was an example everyone in Aaron's previous life would have known.
The Celestial Empire's Little Giant, Yao Ming.
Yao Ming was precisely the sort of player whose strengths and weaknesses were glaringly obvious. As everyone knew, after bulking up, he became an absolute monster in the low post. As long as he got the ball there, only Shaquille O'Neal, already past his prime, could restrain him a little. Yao Ming was otherwise invincible in the low post. Standing 2.26 meters tall, with a soft hook shot and fadeaway, he could demolish any interior defender at will, including the league's top center, Dwight Howard.
Then why had