Warriors fanclan blog set in New Zealand, I post very occasionally. I have a Toyhouse with extra character stuff here: https://toyhou.se/kiwianacat main: @kiwianacat
I've wanted to rename old Doespring for a while now, as she shares a pretty unoriginal name with a canon character. So sticking with the (slightly inconsistent) theme of my antagonistic warrior ocs sharing names with some of NZ's pests, her name is now Hedgehogheart!
Hedgehogs feel fitting for her, as despite being a considerable threat to native birds/species as egg eaters, they have a much more positive reputation with NZers because of their admittedly adorable appearance. Mirroring how even though Hedgehogheart is a threat, her outwards warmth and compassion ward off most suscpisions. Heart's also a great suffix, as it fits this surface level read of her personality, since Burningstar avoided knowing her and Wētawhisker (his bio-kits).
My two warriors ocs that are based off my real two cats Patches and Mary! Patches passed a couple years back so it was fun finding old pictures of her to reference.
Also sneaking their real names into their warrior names; Rosemary was Mary’s name at adoption so a nice reference.
what inspired you to make a nz based warrior cats story?
I have a love of being able to take references and inspiration from places I’ve visited irl so it seemed natural to base the clans somewhere that allowed me to continue that! Plus I love our native animals and plants so it’s fun to represent them.
Obviously irl a feral cat population of the clan’s size would be hugely problematic for native birds lmao. If I ever get proper time and energy I think it’d be fun to develop the story in a way that addresses how destructive the clans are.
“Young apprentice Kowhaipaw has always felt like an outsider amongst her clanmates— her blood connection to housecats viewed with mistrust.
When her traditional visit to Starclan’s sacred key reveals a quest entrusted to her, Kowhaipaw is certain of her goal. She must return to her birthplace to discover the beginning of the clans— and maybe her own true potential along the way.”
—most generic Warriors book blurb of all time, it gets more interesting I swear
Here she is! I‘d felt inspired to make one of these mock covers for Kowhaipaw and the gang ever since I’d seen @/planefood ‘s brilliant work seen here. The og Wayne McLoughlin covers still hold a very special place in my heart.
I don’t plan to make any writing’s for this theoretical warriors oc series, but the concept was really fun! Maybe I’ll do a super edition mockup featuring Doespring or Stoatbite sometime down the line.
Here’s the original sketch btw! I wish I’d kept more of the progress to show, but unfortunately I have a slightly chaotic proccess of deleting/merging/drawing over layers as I go and the earlier stages are buried now, rip.
This blog’s not dead yet, hurruh! I’m back with a fleshed out map of Duskclan’s territory; I’m planning on making Dawnclan’s next and then piecing them together.
This was actually a lot of fun to make! Difficult to know where/how to start but I think I executed it the way I wanted to. I’ve left a long rambley guide of each landmark in the description below :)
(Quick disclaimer; this is likely not a realistic depiction of NZ geography/ecology, I did very little legitimate research outside of loosely referencing the environments I’m familiar with. This is very much a passion project based largely in fantasy lmao)
Duskclan’s territory is situated within temperate rainforest/native NZ bushland. It lies on the coast and has a significant portion of its border against the sea; in its eastern portion bordering Dawnclan the river splits as it meets the ocean creating wetlands known as the Riverlands by the clans. Duskclan has no western border, their territory extending out into the wild bush indefinitely (although they rarely, if ever, travel further west than the expanses of the map)
Duskclan’s Camp: Situated in a hollow in the crest of a hill that slopes towards the rivers and Duskclan’s territory (full post: https://www.tumblr.com/kiwianacats/682314420444151808/heres-a-revisit-of-duskclans-camp-or-at-least)
Moon’s Key: Duskclan’s sacred place of worship to Starclan, an island only accessible when the low tide reveals a sandbank that stretches towards it.
Training Hollow: Exactly what it says it is.
Other Landmarks:
- Farbridge (unlabelled): A human made motorbridge over the river in the furthest north of Duskclan’s territory; rarely patrolled to, avoided due to distrust of humans/vehicles.
- The Split (unlabelled, but circled): An island formed by the first fork of the river as it splits off into the branches that form the Riverlands. Neutral territory to both clans, used as a gathering place once per season.
- Marsh Banks: A hunting area where the bush transitions into the marsh, popular as its well populated by prey, but hunters can avoid getting their paws wet if desired.
- Riversroots: Where the rivers meets the sea, carving through the seaside cliffs. Dangerous during high tide due to the rocks and strong currents.
- Scarlet Lake: A lake higher in the hills north of Duskclan’s camp. Known to freeze over during the winter, seldomly visited due to superstitions of it being haunted/unprotected by Starclan.
- Sunset Bay: A sandy bay that curves inwards towards the Moon’s key, frequently travelled by the clan’s clerics.
- Starside Bluff: A bluff/cliff side that faces towards the sea; Duskclan’s dead are buried in the flower fields atop it so they can journey down along the bay to meet Starclan at the Moon’s Key.
You might notice that a lot of my place names are just two words mashed together; unnotice that thank you. It’s obviously an intentional reference to the clan’s two-name system rather than an inability to think of anything more original /j.
Working on a lil pmv focusing on the apprentice lives of a few of my Duskclan ocs (mainly Doespring, Stoatbite, Lichenflower and Kowhaipaw). I’m hoping to finish it in a month or so :)
This shot features young cleric’s apprentice Doepaw with her sister Wētāpaw and newcomer ex-housecat Tūīpaw.
Maggie gets a new ref sheet! She nearly got a new name too; she’s changed the most from the original set of characters, she’s now the oldest at about 25 years which is fun.
Felt like drawing some simple full bodies, so took the chance to sort out some designs for the Dawnclan healers! Really happy with these guys, although I’m a little concerned that Tumblepaw looks more like Pinepelt’s son than Wrenwing.
Introducing the Dawnclan deputies versus the Duskclan senior warriors council!
The deputy system works differently in each clan from each other and from Warriors canon, so I’ll include a bit of context (and some introductions to these characters) below.
(thanks to @nanistar who I adopted Windwhispers design from, isn’t she pretty??)
Dawnclan:
Three deputies are chosen upon the election of a new leader; one chosen by the leader, one chosen by the clans elders and one chosen by the healers. Deputies manage patrols, camp upkeep and oversee training between themselves. If a deputy retires or dies they may choose and train their replacement, otherwise the two remaining deputies will decide for them. When the leader dies/retires the new leader is voted for by any fully named warrior/healer from the pool of deputies. The current deputies include:
Windwhisper, the youngest deputy (35 moons), a social she-cat who likes to stay current with clan gossip/news which informs her decisions as a deputy. She primarily organises hunting and border patrols.
Morningstorm, the oldest deputy (108 moons), who was Magpiestars controversial choice of deputy upon her election (because he killed Burningstar, the previous Duskclan leader, as he was healing). He is externally cold but is surprisingly patient in his role of overseeing apprentice training.
Drizzleleaf, the other one (57 moons), who was selected and trained by the deputy he replaced. They are known for being fidgety and awkward and feel like they have to compete with the younger Windwhisper to have enough cats to properly defend their clan. They are in charge of Dawnclan’s camp defenses.
Duskclan:
Since Duskclan’s leadership succession follows the line of clerics/healers, Duskclan lacks the traditional deputy role. Instead a group of senior warriors, known as the council, decide matters such as patrols, battle strategy and apprenticeships. This council selects their own replacements when a member retires/dies which needs to be approved by the leader. It’s common for the kits of council members to be mentored by other council members and later be selected for the position. The current members include:
Slugbelly, one of the kinder members but only when seperate from the rest. He’s known for his humour which is often given at the expense of others and for ultimately following the group consensus with little independent thought.
Willowwind, the only she cat of the group and one of the more senior warriors. She’s uptight and pedantic, almost obsessive over following the clans rules and traditions. As a young warrior she discovered her kin in a cross clan relationship that bore a kit; not wishing to shame her family she kept the secret and the kit was raised in Dawnclan. She’s never been able to look at Windwhisper in the eye since.
Stoatbite, the oldest member with the most power over decisions. He’s incredibly experienced, particularly in battle and has a strong distrust of cats outside of Duskclan, as well as being known for his recklessness and arrogance.
Thunderclaw, a generically xenophobic older warrior who is strict and severe, believing of the effectiveness of “tough love” which he extends to his kits. Ironically he gained his position entirely though nepotism and has experienced little in terms of severe hardship.
Dappledshade, the newest and youngest council member. He considers it an honour to be included with his young age and although he has some discomfort with the views of the other members he lacks the backbone to stand up to them. Well liked and popular amongst other young warriors and is a bit of a player.
Can’t believe it’s taken me this long to post these, they’ve been sitting completed for who knows how long lmao.
Keaflight is a young scrappy warrior that moved into Dawnclan from Kelton (the nearby town) where she previously lived as a stray. She is fiercely loyal to her new clan and is close with her leader, who helped mentor her.
Magpiestar has been the leader of Dawnclan since she led them away from the Riverlands deeper in the foothills of Mount Sleettop. She was made a leader incredibly young (24 moons) and is heavily affected by this, becoming steadily tired with her duties but devoted to her clan. She sees her younger, brighter-spirited self in Keaflight and gave her the same warriors suffix in accordance with this.
Kiwitalon confronts Stoatbite at Autumnpaw’s funeral.
I really liked how this still for a map part I’m working for came out so I made it into a little fake screenshot lmao. The text isn’t centred at all but I’m choosing not to focus on that.
This better upload, third attempt let’s go. I finished these a while ago, but never got around to uploading them rip. Their shared backstory can be seen on my toyhouse :) https://toyhou.se/19007925.doespring
Just a heads up, I’m going to be participating in Artfight for the first time this year! It’s taken a while for me to get organised as I’m a bit busy atm, so ignore any of the mess that’s still on my profile/character sheets haha, but you can find me here: https://artfight.net/~kiwianacat
