The ‘first’ clan in the sense that it was the the first true clan to settle in the area-- despite having been created by the combination of four clans, Pineclan, Mudclan, Boulderclan, and Fogclan who fled a rabies epidemic-- Mountainclan often considers itself the ‘true’ clan and the pinnacle example of loyalty to the Codes and clan ways. They are relatively neutral to outsiders, not picking fights but not backing down from any threat. They generally get along well with other clans, though their current leader, Oaksky, is rather hostile to outsiders and distrustful of other clans.
Mountainclan Territory Overview:
Who’s Who:
Founding Leader: Onesky: longhaired cream mackerel tabby molly with a green left eye; missing right eye.
Founding Successor: Ravenheart: large, sturdy, shorthaired black tom with yellow eyes.
Founding Healer: Jaynose: lean, longhaired, blue-gray mackerel tabby molly with white paws, throat, and muzzle and green eyes.
Founding Keeper: none at beginning; first Keeper: Boulderheart: longhaired gray-brown mackerel tabby tom with hazel eyes.
Current Leader: Oaksky: longhaired gray-brown ticked tabby tom with yellow eyes.
Current Successor: Mudclaw: longhaired brown classic tabby molly with yellow eyes.
Current Healer: Frostfur: longhaired white tom with blue eyes. Deaf.
Current Keeper: Cloudpad: longhaired white molly with amber eyes.
Territory:
A small, sloping mountain that rises up from the southern side of the lake and is thickly forested with a variety of hardwoods and conifers. There are many boulders and clefts, and quite a few streams run down it, feeding into the lake. In the summer is it cool with the shade of the trees, but in the fall and winter it becomes a rather exposed place due to the lack of foliage; then the cats hunt more often on the lower slopes or among the gentle foothills to the south, west, and east.
Due to their large size and weight, Mountainclanners avoid hunting birds, and prefer to prey on: squirrels, rabbits, mice, voles, shrew, moles, snakes, rats, hares, frogs, lizards, toads.
Camp:
A good ways up the mountain slope on the southern-facing side there is a deep cut into a cliffside that leads to a tunnel which opens into a large cave. This cave has several dens in it: a den for younger warriors on either side of the camp entrance, a den for the leader directly across the cave from the entrance, a nursery to the right of the leader’s den, an elders’ den to the left, a senior warriors’ den to the left of the elders’ den, and an apprentice’s den to the right of the nursery.
Several large ledges around the cave shelter the dens and provide places for cats to nap, share tongues, and play. In the center of the camp is the prey-pile, where kills are stored. A long tunnel just between the leader’s den and the elders’ den leads to the healers’ den, which opens into smaller dens for birthing dens and for the healers to sleep in or deal with patients.
Leader’s den: a large, deep cleft up on a ledge filled with moss and scraps of prey-fur, this is the leader’s retreat from the bustle of clan life and also where they sleep during the day or at other resting times. A crack in the back of the den leads to a larger cleft where the leader can privately consult up to three cats at a time.
Younger warriors’ dens: sheltered hollows filled with moss and pine needles overhung by ledges that frame the camp entrance. They are positioned so that any attack will meet immediate resistance.
Senior warriors’ den: a large cleft set back into the wall and filled with shredded leaves, pine needles, moss, and prey-fur, it is sheltered by more ledges and is positioned to readily defend the elders.
Nursery: a very deep-set cleft filled with spongey moss, feather, and fur scraps, this is where the queens and their two-moon old kits reside; all over cats keep well away from the nursery, only interacting with the kits when they’re out and about in camp.
Apprentices’ den: a series of moss-padded ledges and nooks in the wall near the nusery; the apprentices are placed here because they are viewed as least threatening by the queens, and often play with the kits.
Elders’ den: a very large and spacious alcove with thick, soft bedding and a few ledges inside, this den is not only where the elders sleep and converse, but where any of their clanmates may come for advice, stories, or just to share company.
Healers’ den: a series of interconnected small caves with places to store some very basic healing supplies, one cave with nests for injured cats, one cave with nests for ill cats, one cave which has ceiling cracks that let in a small waterfall that fills a pool and stream, one cave for the healers to sleep in, and one cave with soft nesting for conversing with cats dealing with personal issues or just needing someone to listen and care for them.
The Keeper does not have a den; Keeper apprentices sleep with the other apprentices, and the Keeper sleeps with the appropriately-aged warriors.
Sacred Spot/Burial Ground:
The Peak, the highest point of the mountain, which is bare of trees and has many rocks scattered about it. Quite near the camp, it is an easy walk up a series of gentle slopes and trails which are edged by scrubby bushes and more boulders and tufts of grass. Mountainclanners believe that the spirits of their deceased clanmates climb the Peak and then jump into the sky, ascending to Moonclan.
At every half-moon, the leader and healers bring prey bones to bury around the Peak as offerings of sustenance to the Moonclanner Star Warriors who guard the gap that the Peak is.
When cats die, they are buried all around the peak, along with some prey bones to take to the Other World with them as a gift to the guards.
Important Landmarks:
The Mouse Barn: set on the foothills to the east, this barn was once a vital part of Mountainclan territory; now it is mostly collapsed and considered very dangerous and unstable; an apprentice was killed there by a caving-in roof. It burned down during the Great Fire.
The Scorch: a large swathe of burned territory at the northeastern side of the mountain; likely caused by humans, it has only just begun regrowing. This loss of some hunting ground has caused Mountainclan to get into greater conflict with Hillclan and Marshclan as well as extending their hunting to no-cat lands in the foothills.
The Strip: a long stripe of twisted trees caused by a particularly huge oak crashed over during a storm after having been struck and killed by lightning not many moons before. It tore up several other smaller trees, notably pines, and left a deep score.
The Swift Stream: really a series of streams; one feeds into the Healers’ den, others tangle together and tumble down the mountain slope and end up feeding into a large creek that runs into the lake.
The Marshclan border: the site of many aggressive confrontations and scuffles, especially in late fall and during the cold time when both clans feel the other is encroaching on their hunting grounds.
The Hillclan border: the site of many aggressive confrontations and scuffles and both clans claim a series of foothills quite close to a rabbit warren.
The Deep Patch: a deep, dark patch of dead trees and thick undergrowth in an unknown location on the mountain which purportedly contains Hungry Jaws, a large, vicious, wolf/dog/??? Creature with glowing yellow eyes who eats those who break the Warrior Code, or just gobbles up wandering kits and apprentices. Said to have gotten into a competition of unknown sorts with the historical trickster hero, Foxthroat.
Sparrowstripe’s Leap: a dangerous drop-off to a creek, where a Mountainclan Warrior, Sparrowstripe supposedly fell to her death while escaping an unknown pursuer, said to be her clanmate Pineface.
Ravenheart’s Hill: a large hill to the east which overlooks a series of pine copses, the foothills, and a large highway, where Ravenheart, the clan’s first successor, supposedly fought a dog to defend a wounded clanmate, Stormfur. Also said that he is buried there, for many moons later as an elder he purportedly hiked out there and passed away watching the sunrise.
