Posted by STRAY on Jul 19, 2023 23:10:17 GMT
The Clans of Windsong are varied and diverse. These guides describe the "average cat" in the Clan. Obviously, exceptions exist and each cat is their own individual.
Because of how highly adapted to their territories the Clans are, it is very easy to spot half-Clan kits. Everyone will find out at some point or another. It's also part of the reason they're so unusual to most outsiders. Clanmates who were formerly outsiders will stick out like sore thumbs.
POPPYCLAN | FOGCLAN | RIDGECLAN
Because of how highly adapted to their territories the Clans are, it is very easy to spot half-Clan kits. Everyone will find out at some point or another. It's also part of the reason they're so unusual to most outsiders. Clanmates who were formerly outsiders will stick out like sore thumbs.
POPPYCLAN | FOGCLAN | RIDGECLAN
POPPYCLAN
The colony that resides in the flowering meadows and open forests to the south is a strange one indeed—and one the Clanless would do well to avoid. PoppyClan’s hunting grounds have been drastically molded by deft paws. Borders are not merely scent markers to these cats, no—their ancestors have deliberately planted thorny brambles and briar along their most coveted pockets of land, and their descendants guard them jealously. The wind is gentle as it dances among the blossoms and plays a tune upon the cats’ crude wind chimes.
CULTURE
PoppyClan cats are innovative and orderly. Patience and precision are highly valued here, given that many of their tasks outside of hunting involve delicate weaving and gentle tending. They’re not producing intricate baskets, no, but through studying humans from their border, they’ve created primitive replicas of, well, human things like bags and necklaces.
Compared to the other two Clans, they live leisurely lives. They’re capricious and gossipy… and it’s kind of true. Using your paws in repetitive work can get boring! Why not chat to pass the time? Did you see what that FogClanner did at the Gathering? PoppyClan warriors have a higher chance of making it to retirement (which isn’t saying much in Clan life, but still), and so their wisdom is often sought after. Fantastic tales and accurate recounts of history both are celebrated widely here, and even the other Clans know that PoppyClan’s lorekeepers can generally be trusted.
This level of leisure cannot be reached without first working hard. PoppyClan territory has been shaped and molded by their own paws and their ancestors’ paws before them. They actively avoid combat as much as possible, instead relying on their territory’s defenses to do most of their heavy lifting and turning away anyone who isn’t put off by them. Because of this, PoppyClan cats tend to value cats who make decisions with the far future in mind… even if it means someone has to suffer a little in the present.
NAMING PREFERENCES & VERNACULAR
PoppyClan cats like to name their kits after mostly plants and sometimes animals. Some obscure prefixes are known to pop up here and there (Vervain-, Rampion-, Comma-) since PoppyClan tends to identify and categorize many different species, which the other two Clans like to poke fun at. A cat is rarely going to be named for their stripes, since basically every cat here is a tabby. Instead, names like Tiger-, Badger-, and Hornet- would be used—all things that imply stripes, but also point to other features of the kit’s appearance.
With fast, lilting voices that remind one of birdsong, PoppyClan cats can come off as chatterboxes. They also love explaining things in excruciating detail. This, combined with their typically clear enunciation and heavy inflection, means that outsiders can often find themselves breathless after conversing with a PoppyClan cat. They also tend to be extremely polite… too polite, to some cats. There is always a hint of underlying aggression in their friendly faces as they turn cats away from their borders, a warning to stay away from what’s not yours.
APPEARANCE
Living in the open woodlands has given most PoppyClanners a lean, slender figure. Their long legs allow them greater visibility in the tallgrass and, of course, a bigger stride. This, in turn, makes them proportionally taller than the other Clans, nearly reaching a RidgeClan cat’s height despite having much less mass. They have large flared ears and round skulls, giving the appearance of a youthful face.
Long fur helps protect PoppyClan cats against both thorny plants and blood-sucking insects that lurk in the tallgrass. Dominant white cats are uncommon, but not unheard of—they’ll be assigned to patrol more forested areas and avoid the worst of the sun. Red, golden, and tortoiseshell cats occur much more commonly here than in the other Clans. Nearly every cat in PoppyClan shows tabby patterns, most often the ticked, spotted, or mackerel varieties. Their stripes are generally quite bold, to the point that even their facial stripes may form “masks” to protect against sun glare.
SKILLS AND UNIQUE TRAIT
While not exclusive to their Clan, PoppyClan cats make the most use out of their unusually mobile and deft paws, allowing them to more easily maneuver and manipulate objects. Their jaws and teeth are stronger than most cats in other Clans, giving them an easier time breaking and snapping plant material. Their sense of smell is more acute than those of other Clans, a necessity given the greater diversity of plants in their territory. Aside from that, they have a natural resistance to certain mild poisons and disease.
WARRIOR ASSESSMENT
The PoppyClan warrior assessment begins a little bit sooner than other Clans. It is the most complex of the three Clans, and apprentices may actually be tested in pairs or small groups. Some apprentices have been given the assessment solo, but that is usually only when they are the only apprentice in the den.
As an apprentice reaches warrior age, they will begin gathering the resources for and begin crafting a basic wind chime out of plant material and pebbles. A small patrol led by the young cats’ mentors will take them to an area on the eastern edge of the territory at dawn. This place is called the Garden, and it is maintained by the warriors of PoppyClan as both a tending ground and a testing ground. Bordering it are thorny brambles; the plants within are rotated with the season.
The apprentices will hang their wind chimes upon the lone central tree in the middle of the Garden. They will get a half day to rearrange some of the brambles, vines, and loose leaf litter to be in line with their defense strategy. At sunhigh, the warrior patrol will attempt to infiltrate the Garden or sabotage the defenses and ring or steal the chimes. If the apprentices can successfully defend their wind chimes, they will have passed the assessment. These rounds last no longer than a few minutes. This assessment encourages the young cats to leave their marks on the world and to guard it jealously.
The colony that resides in the flowering meadows and open forests to the south is a strange one indeed—and one the Clanless would do well to avoid. PoppyClan’s hunting grounds have been drastically molded by deft paws. Borders are not merely scent markers to these cats, no—their ancestors have deliberately planted thorny brambles and briar along their most coveted pockets of land, and their descendants guard them jealously. The wind is gentle as it dances among the blossoms and plays a tune upon the cats’ crude wind chimes.
─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───
CULTURE
PoppyClan cats are innovative and orderly. Patience and precision are highly valued here, given that many of their tasks outside of hunting involve delicate weaving and gentle tending. They’re not producing intricate baskets, no, but through studying humans from their border, they’ve created primitive replicas of, well, human things like bags and necklaces.
Compared to the other two Clans, they live leisurely lives. They’re capricious and gossipy… and it’s kind of true. Using your paws in repetitive work can get boring! Why not chat to pass the time? Did you see what that FogClanner did at the Gathering? PoppyClan warriors have a higher chance of making it to retirement (which isn’t saying much in Clan life, but still), and so their wisdom is often sought after. Fantastic tales and accurate recounts of history both are celebrated widely here, and even the other Clans know that PoppyClan’s lorekeepers can generally be trusted.
This level of leisure cannot be reached without first working hard. PoppyClan territory has been shaped and molded by their own paws and their ancestors’ paws before them. They actively avoid combat as much as possible, instead relying on their territory’s defenses to do most of their heavy lifting and turning away anyone who isn’t put off by them. Because of this, PoppyClan cats tend to value cats who make decisions with the far future in mind… even if it means someone has to suffer a little in the present.
NAMING PREFERENCES & VERNACULAR
PoppyClan cats like to name their kits after mostly plants and sometimes animals. Some obscure prefixes are known to pop up here and there (Vervain-, Rampion-, Comma-) since PoppyClan tends to identify and categorize many different species, which the other two Clans like to poke fun at. A cat is rarely going to be named for their stripes, since basically every cat here is a tabby. Instead, names like Tiger-, Badger-, and Hornet- would be used—all things that imply stripes, but also point to other features of the kit’s appearance.
With fast, lilting voices that remind one of birdsong, PoppyClan cats can come off as chatterboxes. They also love explaining things in excruciating detail. This, combined with their typically clear enunciation and heavy inflection, means that outsiders can often find themselves breathless after conversing with a PoppyClan cat. They also tend to be extremely polite… too polite, to some cats. There is always a hint of underlying aggression in their friendly faces as they turn cats away from their borders, a warning to stay away from what’s not yours.
─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───
APPEARANCE
Living in the open woodlands has given most PoppyClanners a lean, slender figure. Their long legs allow them greater visibility in the tallgrass and, of course, a bigger stride. This, in turn, makes them proportionally taller than the other Clans, nearly reaching a RidgeClan cat’s height despite having much less mass. They have large flared ears and round skulls, giving the appearance of a youthful face.
Long fur helps protect PoppyClan cats against both thorny plants and blood-sucking insects that lurk in the tallgrass. Dominant white cats are uncommon, but not unheard of—they’ll be assigned to patrol more forested areas and avoid the worst of the sun. Red, golden, and tortoiseshell cats occur much more commonly here than in the other Clans. Nearly every cat in PoppyClan shows tabby patterns, most often the ticked, spotted, or mackerel varieties. Their stripes are generally quite bold, to the point that even their facial stripes may form “masks” to protect against sun glare.
SKILLS AND UNIQUE TRAIT
While not exclusive to their Clan, PoppyClan cats make the most use out of their unusually mobile and deft paws, allowing them to more easily maneuver and manipulate objects. Their jaws and teeth are stronger than most cats in other Clans, giving them an easier time breaking and snapping plant material. Their sense of smell is more acute than those of other Clans, a necessity given the greater diversity of plants in their territory. Aside from that, they have a natural resistance to certain mild poisons and disease.
─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───
WARRIOR ASSESSMENT
The PoppyClan warrior assessment begins a little bit sooner than other Clans. It is the most complex of the three Clans, and apprentices may actually be tested in pairs or small groups. Some apprentices have been given the assessment solo, but that is usually only when they are the only apprentice in the den.
As an apprentice reaches warrior age, they will begin gathering the resources for and begin crafting a basic wind chime out of plant material and pebbles. A small patrol led by the young cats’ mentors will take them to an area on the eastern edge of the territory at dawn. This place is called the Garden, and it is maintained by the warriors of PoppyClan as both a tending ground and a testing ground. Bordering it are thorny brambles; the plants within are rotated with the season.
The apprentices will hang their wind chimes upon the lone central tree in the middle of the Garden. They will get a half day to rearrange some of the brambles, vines, and loose leaf litter to be in line with their defense strategy. At sunhigh, the warrior patrol will attempt to infiltrate the Garden or sabotage the defenses and ring or steal the chimes. If the apprentices can successfully defend their wind chimes, they will have passed the assessment. These rounds last no longer than a few minutes. This assessment encourages the young cats to leave their marks on the world and to guard it jealously.