Original Post: Ember, April 26, 2015
It’s been quite the month here on the roleplay, the war between MoonClan and NightClan has come into full swing and a new disease has begun to appear in NightClan. The coming month is going to be just as exciting, be sure to keep up with the plot blog entry so you know when things are planned to occur. With all of the battles and whatnot we have planned, please remember not to powerplay.
The topic of this Monthly Meow was suggested by both Raze and Ebony, to write a brief description of all of the leaders. Just a quick note before we get to that: I mean no offense by any of this, if I have a bad note about your leader, it means nothing about your roleplaying skills. There is no such thing as a “perfect” leader, and if there were I wouldn’t want them in power. For the plot to work, we need leaders to make bad choices, who are unable to effectively control their clan, who have things not go the way they planned, who may not be suited for the leadership position and are unable to handle what was handed to them. It makes them more interesting and realistic characters, and progresses the plot. Amazing role-players can write fantastic characters, who also happened to be terrible leaders.
The clans were founded by Moonstar, a kind an honorable cat who cared deeply about each member of his small clan, becoming a father figure to the rag-tag group of cats. He set the precedent for the clans accepting any willing member into their ranks, but his trusting nature became his downfall when he was murdered by his own deputy, Silverstar. Silverstar was a cunning and manipulative leader, who with her deputy, Hawkeye, planned to take over the entire forest and city. Had she and Hawkeye not turned on each other this play may have succeeded. Spottedstar came into power following The War of the City between Hawk and Silverstar, and proved to be dedicated to both her own clan and the warrior code, well capable of rebuilding her devastated clan. Her fun-loving, warm nature made her popular within her own clan and good friends with Fallenstar, who went on to form NightClan. Later in her life, Spottedstar became increasingly more suspicious of those around her. After discovering Fallenstar and Littleleaf’s affair, she attempted to drive out the NightClan leader, resulting in the enduring conflict between NightClan and MoonClan. Following Spottedstar’s death, Waterstar came to power. It can be said that Waterstar wanted the best for her clan, but ultimately lacked the strength and wisdom to effectively lead her clan. She inherited the conflict with NightClan and while given numerous opportunities to end the conflict, she greatly escalated it by killing Fallenstar at the Moonstone. Dawnstar followed in her mother’s footsteps, kind and sensitive at heart, but known to rush into situations without thinking of potential consequences, and being self-less to the point of foolhardy. She accused NightClan of kidnapping her son, shifting the aim of the war away from Fallenstar’s seeming abandonment of the warrior code, extending the conflict. Named deputy shortly before Dawnstar’s death, Emberstar was a stark departure from the lax leadership before her. A decisive leader, she was a proud and often harsh cat who stuck rigidly to her morals. Her stubborn nature and inability to make compromises prolonged the conflict with NightClan through the War of the Drought. Having gone through a number of deputies before her death, Mirestar was only days into his deputyship when Emberstar died. He was a skilled, courageous fighter, but young, inexperienced, and arrogant. While he made the first moves toward peace with NightClan, he was very unpopular within his own clan and became paranoid with age. This led him to be run out by his own clan following an attempt to banish his Medicine Cat on an accusation of disloyalty. In power for only a brief period of time, the cowardly and indecisive Dapplestar followed Mirestar. He broke MoonClan’s uneasy alliance with NightClan, later declaring war on them again with the support of SunClan following the disappearance of several MoonClan kits. Coming after Dapplestar and ruling for an even shorter time was Shadowstar, a wise and well-respected cat. He retired shortly after receiving his lives due to his advanced age and made little lasting contribution to the clan. In stark contrast was Wildstar, an energetic and courageous newly named warrior who came to lead the clan after only a moon as their deputy. He was inexperienced and could easily influenced by his mate, who he named as his deputy, and often did not think ahead. With SunClan’s support, he fought and lost a number of battles against NightClan and DawnClan, before being captured and executed by NightClan after Toxicflame’s refusal to trade a section of MoonClan’s territory under the belief that NightClan would back down before they would. To his own clan, Toxicstar was compassionate and warm, almost a father figure, but could be proud to the point of arrogant in dealing with the other clans and unwilling to compromise or back down. He made several controversial decisions during his time as leader, ultimately dividing his own clan.
RiverClan was the second clan, founded in the river-laced land south of MoonClan by Reedstar, an old friend of Moonstar. He was friendly and humorous, but could stoop to being childish, known to hold a grudge over relatively small things. Reedstar was overthrown by Sharkstar with the help of his former gang members. He was violent and cruel, but quite melodramatic and incompetent to the point where if he hadn’t the support of the gang cats behind him, he would have been laughable. Wolfstar was given the difficult task of rebuilding the clan after Sharkstar was killed. She was well known for her wit, bitter sarcasm, and bravery. However, she lacked leadership skills and never took a very active role within her own clan, allowing it to decline in power, a pattern that Swiftstar followed. Swiftstar was motherly, but unfocused and slow, under her StormClan’s number dwindled further and further. After her death, those remaining merged with MoonClan.
With MoonClan’s support, a former member of Raven’s Army founded NightClan to provide a stable, peaceful place for the city cats following Raven’s fall. Fallenstar was gentle and accepting, an optimistic young cat who initially wanted nothing more than to help her own clan. However, she lacked the strength to control them, being an indecisive and lenient leader who would often agree to whatever she was advised to do without thinking it through for herself. She began the longest lasting war due to an affair with a StormClan medicine cat, starting the tensions between MoonClan and NightClan that last to this day. Fallenstar named her own son, Snakestar, as her deputy. He was charismatic and cunning, but paid very little personal attention to the clan, choosing instead to allow the war be the sole unifying force and accepting some rather questionable characters into NightClan’s ranks for their prowess in battle. He made the first steps away from Fallenstar’s idealism to turn NightClan into the fierce, independent clan that we know them as today, paving the way for arguably NightClan’s most influential leader: Sunkenstar. A virtual outsider to clan life, she was named almost immediately after joining the clan. Volatile, intimidating, merciless. She exerted a high degree of control over NightClan, greatly improving their strength over the short time she was in power. While she would be a hard act to follow for any cat, Phantomstar did not step up to the challenge. He was childish and theatrical, and known for favoring his own family. His deputy, Ghost, received much more respect than he and following the deputy’s sudden death, Phantomstar named Ghost’s son as his replacement deputy. Crimsonstar was well respected for his fighting skill and lineage from Sunkenstar, who had risen to being an almost legendary figure within the clan. He could be violent and unpredictable, seen in his attempts to drive out SunClan following the death of his mate, but he ended Fallenstar’s war and began an alliance with MoonClan. Ivorystar followed him, an intelligent and perceptive cat. She maintained a level of distance and secretiveness from her own clan, choosing to remain uninvolved in the day to day life of the clan. Taking a much more active role was Jetstar, and effective leader and adept cat at manipulating situations into his, and his clan’s, favor. He created a strong alliance between NightClan and DawnClan and is notable for his rejection of many of the clans’ traditions, including allowing warriors to choose their own warrior names. Grounded and perceptive, Frozenstar proved to be a competent cat. She became very involved in the management of the clan, taking far more control over clan life than any leader since Sunkenstar, but being far more compassionate and considerate of her clanmates than Sunkenstar had been. Her restraint alienated her from the more zealous members of her clan, but she did not back down when confronted and gained the respect of many for it.
Hoping to create a place where cats could go without fearing war, Amberstar, a former MoonClan warrior, formed DawnClan. A kind and accepting cat, he had more than a little bit of naïve idealism. He was a very poor leader, leaving many hard decisions in the paws of his mate, and became paranoid later in his life. Following his suicide came Greystar, a stable but largely unremarkable leader who lacked Amberstar’s charm and took only a passive role in the management of the clan. Hawkstar followed her, arguably the defining leader of DawnClan. Gentle, compassionate, and warm, Hawkstar became a father figure to his clan, interested in each of his clan mates and guiding them through many difficult times. His good nature became his biggest fault as he could be too trusting and allowed himself to be manipulated by the other leaders. Lilystar attempted to carry Hawkstar’s style of leadership, but was young and inexperienced, easily overwhelmed by her duties as leader and far more focused on her own personal life than on the clan. While she was a sweet cat, she was unable to be an effective leader. Bluestar suddenly came to power following Lilystar’s suicide and the disappearance of Troutscale, the deputy. This dignified, soft-spoken cat was chosen for the position by her own clan and proved to be an intelligent young cat, deeply involved in leading her clan. Following the tendencies of all of the DawnClan leaders before her, she always choose to believe the best in everyone and became Jetstar’s mate, forging an strong alliance between their clans and making DawnClan far more powerful than it had been in the past. Clawstar followed her, he took little interest in leading the clan, in favor of focusing on his personal life. However, he did maintain their alliance with NightClan and DawnClan thrived under his leadership. Burnstar came into power after Clawstar and proved to be a reserved leader, distant from his own clan, but predictable and reasonable above all else. He began to question DawnClan’s alliance with NightClan following Toxicstar’s excecution.
Chosen from among a band of former loners, Mothstar became the first leader of SunClan. He was idealistic and a hard-working, dedicated cat. However, his melodramatic tendencies and childish nature prevented SunClan from being taken seriously among the older clans, allowing the pattern of SunClan being pushed into supporting positions in NightClan and MoonClan’s quarrels to emerge. In contrast to Mothstar’s impulsiveness, Rainstar proved to be a calm, patient and cautious cat. However, she was no more effective as a leader due to her tendencies to neglect her duties, rarely taking an active role in the administration of the clan and instead focusing on her mate and kits. Duskstar continued the chain of weak leaders. While he was reliable and careful, he did not take a very active role in the clan and easily bent to pressure from both within his clan and without. Later in his life, he attempted to more closely control them but received little respect from his clan mates due to his tendency to lash out when confronted. In stark contrast to the leaders before him, Hailstar was dominant, hard-working, and dedicated, always being extremely involved in the day to day lives of his clanmates and stressing above all else the importance of sacrificing individual freedoms for the good of the whole. He lacked compassion and could be cruel, expecting only the best from each of his clan mates at all times, and the best being what he agreed with. Maintaining a high level of involvement in her clan’s affairs, Endless-star held more warmth and understanding than Hailstar, and was loved by her clan. She carried on Hailstar’s emphasis on the good of the clan as a whole, but chose to see her own clanmates as individuals with strengths that they could build each other up with. Goldenstar returned to a more relaxed policy, giving his clanmates more freedom than either Hailstar or Goldenstar had. He considered his clanmates individuals above all else, a trait that paired with his laid-back personality, could be off-putting to some of his own clan mates.
Ceremonies:
MoonClan
Apprentices:
Cobrakit, Serpentkit, Crookedkit, Firekit: Mid May
Fearfulkit: Late May
Warriors:
Mistpaw, Ashpaw: Early May
Icepaw, Nightpaw, Littlepaw, Lanternpaw: Mid May
Blazingpaw, Brokenpaw: Late May
Deaths: Shadecloud, Talon
NightClan
Apprentices:
Desertkit: Early May
Moonkit, Shortkit, Midnightkit, Onyxkit, Foulkit: Late May
Warriors:
Gingerpaw, Seraph, Midnightpaw: Early May
Hickorypaw, Willowpaw, Honorpaw, Grinningpaw , Silverpaw , Littlepaw: Mid May
Speckledpaw, Spottedpaw, Foxpaw, Ghostpaw, Mirrorpaw, Whisperpaw, Mockingpaw: Late May
Elders: Whiteraven, Ravencry, Arson, Mad-demon, Moondream
DawnClan
Apprentices:
Paintedkit, Risingkit, Smolderingkit, Emberkit, Mosquitokit: Early May
Warriors:
Mockingpaw, Cosmopaw, Twistedpaw, Frozenpaw, Leopardpaw
Relicpaw, Soulpaw, Fossilizedpaw, Ragepaw: Mid May
Dappledpaw: Late May
Elders: Burntstar, Crimsonblood
Deaths: Rivermist
SunClan
Apprentices:
Stormkit, Kodiakkit, Redkit, Wavekit, Cinderkit, Jackalkit, Dustykit, Streamkit, Spokekit, Cloverkit, Elmkit: Early May
Birdkit, Goldenkit, Rainkit, Dusk-kit, Silverkit, Coldkit, Shadekit: Mid May
Mothkit, Endlesskit, Hailkit: Late May
Warriors:
Amberpaw, Autumnpaw, Springpaw, Eaglepaw: Early May
Lunarpaw, Avalonpaw: Mid May
Jupiterpaw, Saturnpaw, Eclipsedpaw, Silopaw, Venompaw, Deathpaw, Tigerpaw, Berrypaw, Badgerpaw, Antelopepaw : Late May
Elders: Mottledleaf, Wolverinemask
Deaths: Cryingwolf
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