Skyfall Clowders: The Skyclaws
Skyclaw Clowder written out in English on the left and the ClowderMew name on the right. The ClowderMew to English translation is as follows: yaawrl 'sky' + kach 'claw' + ulnyams 'clan/clowder'. The center symbol is the standard Skyclaw heraldry, depicting bluebells with a single wood anemone above.
Warriors of the Tors
The Skyclaws, also known as Skyclaw Clowder, were one of the five churl clowders. They lived in the Forest many generations ago before human development drove them from their territory. The old Skyclaw territory is situated where an abandoned industrial park is in the present, just south of Thunderheart and Rivertail territory. The clowder was founded by Clear Sky, a Cavepaw settler. The Skyclaws were the second clowder of the five to be founded as a splinter group from Windpaw Clowder.
Skyclaw Territory
In times long past, the Skyclaws lived west of the Thunderhearts in an ancient, rocky woodland with wide stretches of open tor-dotted meadows and hills. No cat quite knows where the old Skyclaw boundary with the Thunderhearts lay, but most assume it to be in the vicinity of the Abandoned Village on the eastern edge of Thunderheart territory.
Humans slowly moved into Skyclaw territory, uprooting trees and disturbing prey to a point that the clowder began to starve. The other clowders refused to help them, and in desperation, the clowder left the Forest. They moved to a gorge northeast of the Forest and on the opposite edge of the Town, and that is where they made their home for a few more tenuous generations. Eventually, though, the clowder disbanded and it's members became housecats or formed loose coalitions of loners.
Distinct Cultural Traits
Learning a Lesson
The Skyclaws tended to dish out the harshest punishments of any clowder for troublesome cats or offenders of the Code. Troublesome apprentices and churls were often sent into short, temporary exiles from the camp, living by themselves in the hope that they would gain a sense of responsibility and understand the importance of their duties. This punishment seemed backwards to the other clowders who disliked that the Skyclaws so willingly sent their cats, especially apprentices, into potentially dangerous scenarios.
Climb to the Highest Peak
Skyclaw apprentices had to pass two assessments, one to test their hunting and combat skill and one to test their balance and climbing abilities. The second of these two assessments involved climbing to the top of the tallest tor in their territory, the Spire Tor. This behemoth of a tor truly tested a young cat's endurance and climbing skill, and only those who could climb all the way to the top were allowed to be churls. Cats were able to make as many attempts as they wanted, although each had to be at least one day apart to allow the cat to recover between attempts. The Skyclaws may have often flirted with danger, but they at least respected that each apprentice should be in good condition to attempt the difficult climb.
Sun-Baked Clay
Skyclaw artisans were known for their pottery. Clay was plentiful on their rocky territory and they used this to make shallow, decorated bowls. These bowls were prized throughout the clowders and were most often used to hold medicinal herbs and in the production of paint and ink for drawing.
Ambush Tactics
The Skyclaws had a special hunter rank referred to as the scouts. These cats were the most skilled fighters in the clowder and served as both the thegn's personal patrol and as an ambush squad sent ahead of the rest of the churls during battle to launch surprise attacks on their opponent. As a result of their close proximity to the thegn, scouts were the most likely candidates for master hunter which was itself next in line for reeve and then thegn. So by design, the strongest fighters were handpicked from apprenticeship as candidates for the thegn position.
Collective Training
Skyclaw apprentices were not initially given mentors. Instead, the first two months of training were done as a group under the mentorship of the master hunter, master caregiver, and reeve. This was done to help single out young cats for scout training. A kitten's combat skill is unknown when they are apprenticed and the Skyclaws valued being able to give young apprentices a chance to prove themselves capable of scouthood rather than guessing based on build and personality as kittens. A second apprenticeship ceremony was held after this initial training period was completed and this was when an apprentice would be given a mentor and put on a specific training path. Cats who wished to become physicians, priests, morticians, or couriers also had to go through this initial training before officially starting their specialized apprenticeships.
Rule of the Hunters
As hinted at and explained in the above paragraphs ("Ambush Tactics" and "Collective Training") the Skyclaw clowder was nearly always led by a former hunter/scout. The path to leadership was simple, but extremely difficult to get onto in the first place. A young apprentice had to first be selected for scout training, a combat-oriented sub-rank of hunter. Once fully trained, this scout then had to prove themselves to the thegn as a worthy successor in order to earn the master hunter position. The master hunter was third in command, so at that point it would become a matter of surviving long enough to reach the reeve and then thegn positions. As a result, Skyclaw thegns were often battle-hardened and older on average than thegns in other clowders.
Brave and Proud
The brutal training and combat-focused Skyclaw clowder often produced churls that were described as exceptionally brave, lawful to a fault, and intensely proud of themselves and their clowder-mates. Skyclaws had a low tolerance for tomfoolery and mischief often getting themselves branded as killjoys with no sense of humor or fun. While the validity of this is argued, there is no doubt that the Skyclaws were the fiercest warriors in the Forest.