The Romani are another group in Europe which could work, although in 1220 I'm not sure if they'd be found anywhere other than the Theban and Levantine Tribunals. Since they're believed to originate from India this would allow for a character born in Europe who could still conceivably have a tiger ancestor.
According to Wikipedia, the Romani came to Europe with the Mongols (not as part of the armies, just following them). They reached the Novgorod and Levant Tribunal by the XIII century, the Theban and Transylvanian by the XIV century, and most of the rest by the XV century (the British Isles by the XVI). So definitely later, but of course individuals might well have traveled there much earlier.
But if you only go by origin, well, the Huns as early as the V century migrated from Central Asia (where tigers were probably present) to Europe, followed over the centuries by other tribes (Magyars, Kumans, the Mongols themselves...)
A lookup of the Siberian tiger's range shows its summer hunting areas included the area just south of Novgorod area. It is not that odd. Now admittedly a lion would be more commonly known than tiger.
I would love to see what stats you put to the tiger since a Novgorod shapeshifter with Tiger form is one that I like for concept (used mostly lion stats with a few minor changes).
The Tigers are lonely and they are more sneaking hunter, they can swim a few too.Pick and serch or change the appropiate qualities of the Lion template. And the sieberian tiger is greater that lions and others tigers, sooo should a option be Large?
The Romans also had access to tigers from somewhere --- they fought in the Colosseum in Rome, for example, and presumably were a possible "feature" in amphitheatres in other cities. So, it is possible for a captive tiger to have been virtually anywhere in Mythic Europe during Roman times.
Also, even during the 13th century, kings and other very powerful nobles had collections of rare and exotic animals. So it is conceivable for (say) there to be a tiger present in a royal collection in England in 1220.
I mean honest to God Iranians.
I wrote a page length history of the Kaliz, but my computer ate it and its late so I can't be bothered writing it again, but there were between 2000 and 15000 Muslims living in many villages in Hungary in period (according to Berend, Gate of Christendom). The Hungarians divided them into two types, but the main one you are interested in are the Kaliz, who are Khwarizmis.
In folklore Pest was founded by Muslims, with the permission of Geza, father of Stephen I. These were Kaliz traders.
al-Garnati (who died in 1170, lived in Hungary for a few years) said there were "thousands of Maghrabis and countless Khwarizmis" in Hungary. We know they were still there in 1220, because the Pope gets up the king for not firing them all from his mint and making them wear marks of shame, as per Second Laterna Council (1215). They argue about this for ages, until eventually the Pope excommunicates the king for this in 1232. A later king goes off to wander with his Cuman relatives and vests all his power in a regent, whose name was Kaliz, who gets "baptised immediately". So there are a lot of them around: there are 40 modern placenames which clearly mark the inhabitants as Ishmaelites.
What are they doing? Tax collection, guards, minting, accountancy, traders.
Fascinating. I'll have to learn more about Central Europe's eastward facing trade links. I didn't know they were anywhere near so developed before the Mongol period.
ACtually, there are two breeds of the Siberian Tiger. Those further west (closest to Novgorod) tend to be a little smaller and shorter and close to a lion in size. (actually small than some of the biggest lions of African). Further east, add a 2-3 feet to length with corresponding increase in mass. To the mythic europeans, in novgorod, you would have the tigers and then the huge mythic tigers that are almost never seen.
Odd, I thought they arrived in Anatolia and the Levant earlier than that . . . . ah, I must have been thinking of the "Atsingani," and it's unclear if they were Romani or not.
It also depends how you are using folklore. Some Ars is "what people in the C12th thought was true." and some Ars is "What people who were later thought was true in the C12th." For example, we bang on a lot about Aristotellian physics in the game, indeed, there's a book about it, but reading Aristotle is heretical in 1220, because it was forbidden by the Second Lateran Council. Later the Church reverses this and pretends it never happened, reading Aristotle, or teaching his works, in 1220 is a path to Hell.
When a man steals the cub of a tiger, the tiger swiftly chases him, and would catch him except for a trick. When the tiger comes near and the robber sees he cannot escape, he throws down a glass sphere (or a mirror); the tiger, seeing its own reflection in the sphere and thinking it is her stolen cub, stops to nurse the supposed cub. This gives the robber time to escape.Finally, sound decent advice to aid my tiger-cub stealing antics!
bestiary.ca/beasts/beast131.htm
It would be nice if Ars would take a step back to being "the world of the 12th century as we think it actually was, plus selected fantastic elements". The fantasy has gotten out of hand, for example, when canon chooses Aristotle's "Zones of Fire" at the equator and prime meridian over the reality of regular voyages to Vinland and Zanzibar.
My preference is for a merger between the two, the historical perception and the 'modern' fantasy. I also think that is truer to the spirit of the unique setting (as I interpret it anyway).