Magic is common in Dominicus Felinus, with most cats of the kingdom capable of small bits of magic, such as shapeshifting, defending themselves, and even healing. The magical abilities of cats are judged on two basis: reservoir and manifest power. The actual capabilities of a cat when it comes to magic is a measure that combines the reservoir rating with the manifest rating.
Reservoir Power
As the name indicates, is the amount of magical power the cat has, directly affecting their ability to travel and endure the living, human world, and their ability to share energy with a potential Summoner (or cats like to call them-familiar). While some cats are able to gain more magical power the longer they live in Dominicus Felinus, for the majority the rating is a static rating based more on their lives before they died and enter Dominicus Felinus. Cats that did more heoric deeds are considered closer to executing the will of Catus and blessed by the spirit of the First Warden, and generally have a much higher Reservoir rating.
A Reservoir rating of 5 is the mimum necessary to become a Warden, while 6 is the minimum rating necessary to sustain in human form while in the human realm, and bond with a human summoner. It can be safely assumed that ratings above 6 is only seen among Wardens and the royal family (who are honorary Wardens).
The need for sustinance itself is related to the Reservoir power ratings of the cats.
Manifest Power
Manifest-power measures the actual combat abilities of the cats, and can be honed by cats over time. Though based on their previous time alive, the cats may already be inclined and talented in certain directions.
The types of Manifest powers are classified as physical power, illusion power, psionic power, elemental (or evocation) power, healing power and ritual power. Of them, ritual power is usually associated with divine powers and generally do not manifest among cats outside of the members of the Order of the Divine Nepeta. Healing power, physical power and illusion power are more common amongst the ordinary cats in the kingdom.
Cats that have Manifest powers, and wish to defend the kingdom with their powers, can train in two ways: joining the Wardens of the Order of the Divine Nepeta (if they have sufficient Reservoir ratings), or training with the Circle of Hospitaliers. While the kingdom itself is relatively peaceful, it's still good to be trained in the use of physical and illusion power, since other than the creatures of the Grimmfell, there are other dangers that occassionally threaten the kingdom.
What about herbs?
The use of healing power itself is usually sufficient, and the cats themselves usually do ingest certain herbs from time to time to improve their condition. After the Second War of the Realms, the kingdom saw an increase in the number of Summoners visiting the kingdom with their respective Wardens. They introduced some new herbs that the cats had not seen before, and methods such as oinments, oils, poutices and scented items (candles, incense) etc. Many of these methodologies were not very practical for cats, especially that one instance of herbal sticky pads from the Orient that removed fur from cats when pulled off. However these methodologies were a fad and since then, cats only viewed these additional items as mere accessories.
