Meet the clans: WolfsFootClan
Clan Name: WolfsFootClan
History/Formation:
- ClubmossClan was formed by MossPatch, a very seniory warrior, who recruits nine farm cats into a clan after his best friend SpeckleDaisy died unexpectedly, and her last wish was for him to create a safe place. After many years, a sickness called WolfCough spread through the clans and nearly eliminated them. ClubmossClan split off into four clans: TipClan, DownyClan, QuickClan, and ClubmossClan2. It took a few more years before the clans reunited and formed WolfsFootClan, a large clan of around seventy strong.
Rivals:
- Fallen Clowder
- Cicada’s Faction
- RippleClan
Age:
- 13 years in the cliffs territory, 5 in the in the valley territory as seperate clans, and 44 years in valley territory as a combined clan.
Shaping Events:
- Root’s rebellion, QuickStar’s legacy, the BeeClan war, WolfCough, CoyoteStar’s Revolution, WolfStar’s serial killer reign, and finally HollowStar’s Slaughter.
Heroes and Villains:
- in the new territory, QuickStar is viewed as the best leader and BerryStar is the clans savour during the plague.
- WolfStar was the youngest leader in history. He turned on his clan, killing over 80 souls alongside his deputy GoldfishFur.
Territory:
- dense, shady forest with small ponds and underground tunnels.
Climate zone:
- cold winters below freezing, short hot summers.
Fauna:
- predators: foxes, badgers, wolves, bears, raccoons, dogs, European northern pike.
- prey: squirrel, voles, shrew, birds, frogs.
- neutral: weasels, owls, muskrats
Flora:
- North-American plants and fungi. I know too much about plants and definitely should not be allowed to list all of them.
Medicine and sicknesses:
- your basic herbs, they make tinctures and wrap the herbs in leaf bundles.
- WolfCough
Symptoms: wheezing, high body temperature, dizziness, sores appearing on joints, aches, previous scars tear open, foaming mouth, incredibly aggressive and attack anything that moves. Some say they appear undead, coughing blood. Passed through: fluid (saliva, mostly). Treatment options: blazing star, borage, bright eye, chickweed, feverfew. Recovery status: 3/10 usually recover, with kittypets having the highest recovery rate
- Kittencough (Fading-kitten-syndrome) is frequent in these clans because of the tough territories. This would be normal if it weren’t for one thing: the paranoia of wolfcough returning, which leads to most kits suspected of having kittencough being killed in fear of it turning into wolfcough.
Landmarks (new territory)
- Bat Cave: a cave filled with bats and a sandy floor. Often used to train apprentices
- Herb Field: a small secluded area that’s covered in herbs, making the clan abundant in medicine and supplies.
- DownyClan’s old Border: the grass starts to get dryer around here, and the dirt gets more sandy.
- Camp pond: a small pond next to the camp filled with Lilly pads, cattails, tadpoles and minnows.
- Broken Maple: a maple tree towards the edge of the territory, bordering the other clans, that was struck through the centre by lightening. This is where they bury the bodies. The maple is in a small island circled by a thin stream of water.
- Beyond the territory: unexplored lands
Religious centers:
- Broken-Maple burial ground.
- StarQuartz Cave: a large cave filled with giant quartz pillars and spikes.
Camp:
- A sandy clearing with a badger cave for the leaders den, a root patch where the herbs are stored. The camp is protected by large, thick grasses that kits are forbidden from going near. There’s a dug-out den under a rock for the warriors. The apprentices sleep under a patch of folded over ferns. The leader stands on the large rock in the clearing. The nursery is a protected ring of brambles and vines.
Clan Characteristics
Build:
- very strong, poor stamina. Thick legs and large ears.
Pelts:
- mainly medium furred grey cats with green eyes, lots of rossette, point and smoke patterns.
Kits:
- kits are taught quickly what predators to ignore. Kits are taken care of by their parents or the whole clan depending on the parenting style of the parent(s).
- kits are named after birth, but can be renamed by parents and leaders later on
Custom Roles:
Dencat - doesn’t participate in most warrior duties and stays in camp. Usually tasked with watching kits.
Lore-keeper - they hold and pass down the stories of the clans
Champion - an amazing warrior who will likely be chosen as deputy after the current deputy retires, becomes leader, or dies.
Messenger: clans can only have two messengers at a time. They travel between clans and are allowed to cross borders and even hunt on other territories. They send messages and info between the clans and are forbidden from fighting.
Collector: a fast and agile cat who fetched items in a pinch. Herbs, mossballs, hay, prey, trinkets and tools. They often are trackers, but mainly need to be fast. They have to pass a race to become a collector.
FishWatchers: meant to keep an eye on the rivers, swamps and lakes to predict water level rising. They consider rain to be an omen of something, but all refuse to say what.
Gender Roles
- very fluid concept of gender and sexuality, Kittypets helped them come up with terms such as tolly, demitom/demimolly, and jacks
Clan Culture
Code of Conduct:
- the most important rules are to kill kits that show symptoms of WolfCough in fear of another plague. Aside from this, and kits in danger must be protected regardless of circumstances.
Process of law:
- laws are decided by votes and strategical debates. Any cat can propose a rule to be considered.
Mates:
- most clans in this area operate on a “not-my-problem” system. They can mate with cats from other clans and groups freely, and if a cat brings home kits they are not required to say who the other parent is. Age differences between two years are looked down upon, and cats have to be 12 moons to take a mate.
Ceremonies:
- The 12 moon ceremonies have a “trinket casting” to predict how they will do in their life. Pebbles, shards of glass, bones, sea glass, herb stems, twoleg items and skinned twigs are casted and each has its own specific meaning.
- They mourn by placing the cats favourite prey item on the grave, and scattering seeds from their favourite plant onto the grave.
Naming:
- non-traditional, 1-3 part names
- Kits are named by their parents, and cats can request to change their names.
- Certain names are forbidden, such as Root and much later, Wolf.
Religion:
- The dead— starclan, dark forest, Father Mallow, and the Crystal Path.
- Father Mallow is a lilac-silver pixiebob tom with very bright indigo eyes who watches over the clans as a deity. As the patron saint of newborn kits and herbs, they protect kits from sickness. They represent rebirth, health, and curiosity. They’re heavily associated with ceremonies regarding kits, and are called on by the clan when a kit dies.
Influence:
- religion is kept as a belief that holds little values to clan decisions unless a prophecy is involved, and even then the clan is wary of self fulfilling prophecies.
Worship:
- New-Sprout Festival: honey is smeared on prey, herbs are replaced and flowers are scattered around camp. Plants are placed in the cats fur, and those who are able to sleep in the clearing under the first full moon of spring.
- Mallow Moon: held on the last moon of leaffall, the clan collects mallow and spreads the seeds in their dens in hopes of welcoming Father Mallow to rest for the season so he can prepare for the next spring. Mallow are weaved into cats tails, and placed in a circle around the nursery. If a cat dies during mallow moon, they have a piece of mallow placed under their tongue so they can hopefully speak with Father Mallow while they pass through the Crystal Path.
Afterlife:
- starclan, the dark forest, and ghosts. All must be remembered by at least one cat, or their final resting place is undisturbed.
- Father Mallow watches over the ghosts and leads them along the crystal path where they can choose to be reincarnated, sent to starclan, or made a ghost to wonder and protect the clan.
- crystal path is a third form of afterlife, where the ghosts of cats who do not find a place in starclan or the dark forest, such as kittypets and loners. The crystal path is represented by the shimmers in water, and the Milky Way in the sky.