Original Post: Ember, June 29, 2015
It has been a very eventful month on the website, to say the least. After over a month of registrations being closed, we received a wave of new roleplayers. In the roleplay itself, a new plot began in which the medicine cats overthrew their perceived weak leaders in what they declared to be the will of StarClan.
Everyone, please remember to post on the Character Updates page following the exact format provided. This streamlines the update process, I’m able to do them more quickly and am less likely to make mistakes.
In May I received a request to do a Monthly Meow centered on stories that the elders tell the young of their clans and how these stories have changed over time. I have chosen four plots from early on in the roleplay to focus on: The Birth of the Clans, Robinwing’s Mission, Raven’s War, and The Mischief of Aurapaw and Lionpaw. All are presented as how the story could possibly be told nowadays and an explanation of what has been changed and for what reasons. Thank you to Angel for suggesting this topic and Silverwing for helping write the stories.
The Birth of the Clans
“As a young kit of barely three moons, Virgil was abandoned by his twoleg owners and fled to the city. There he joined a gang and learned the skills needed to fend for himself in such an unforgiving environment. The cats there were brutal and cruel but Virgil continued to be optimistic throughout his harrowing experience, and even made friends with an old queen. Sadly just as her kits were born, she fell terribly ill and soon joined the ranks of StarClan. Virgil took the surviving kits and went to the forest, where he faced new threats for which he was not prepared: foxes, badgers, snakes, all the horrors the forest had to offer! Only one kit survived the first moon: Reed. As Reed grew, he and Virgil built up a ragtag family of sorts; loners, kittypets and gang members who shared Virgil’s vision of a forest and city where all cats could live in peace.
“Much later, when Reed was fully grown, Virgil and his family was chased out of the forest by a group of vicious gang cats. He fought valiantly, but was severely injured and collapsed in a heap in a cave. When he woke he found himself surrounded by beautiful cats made up of stars. One of the star cats’ leaders, came forward and introduced the strange assembly as StarClan. She proclaimed that Virgil was to be known by the holy name “Moon-” and was destined to unite the forest. When Moonstar awoke, he was fully healed. He ventured to find the rest of his group, intending to create an organized clan guided by the principals StarClan lay before him. He offered Reed the position of deputy, but the cat refused, seeing Moon’s healed state as evidence of cowardice. Reed believed that Moon had abandoned the gang, and was using “StarClan” as a cover-up for his own failure. He and the cats who sided with him abandoned Moonstar, but the cats who remained were loyal and brave.
“Those days were peaceful. From afar Reed watched the clan grow and sulked in hiding with his few followers. He admired Moonstar, but still blamed him for his friend’s deaths. He started his own clan, RiverClan, and accepted any cats that wanted to join. However, his clan grew slowly and never prospered, the cats he allowed in were often bare of all morals and soon, Sharkstar rose and destroyed the few honest cats of RiverClan.”
This story would be told throughout the clans, however it would be most popular in MoonClan and DawnClan as this story has been presented as these two clans would tell it, to highlight the importance of StarClan in Clan life. Cats in SunClan and particularly NightClan would focus on MoonClan’s process of gathering cats and establishing his territory, rather than on his communication with StarClan and Reed’s abandonment. His background as a city cat would be presented as heroic and his leaving brushed aside as simply needing a place where no organized cats lived, rather than because city cats are inherently savages, as they are said to be in this telling of the story. The story told this way has some factual inaccuracies as well. It presents RiverClan as struggling to get started when Sharkstar took over, while they were just as prosperous as MoonClan if not more so. As well as this, Sharkstar’s henchmen were largely taken in from a city gang by Sharkstar specially for the overthrow, there were as many honorable RiverClan cats as honorable MoonClanners, and dishonorable MoonClanners and dishonorable RiverClanners. Among the less than honorable MoonClanners were Hawkeye and Silverwing, who would later be deeply involved in a plot to destroy the clans and take control of the entire city and forest. In the story no connection is made between the old queen and the StarClan cat Moonstar is approached by, but they were the same cat. This detail could be omitted as it inconsistent with the idea that nonbelieving cats do not find a place in StarClan. However, the same detail could be highlighted in clans that believe any good cat can go to StarClan. It is more likely to be told this way in DawnClan and SunClan.
Robinwing’s Mission
“Robinwing joined MoonClan as a young kit, having been found with a dying mother alone in the forest before her eyes had even opened. However frail and small the little kit might have been, it was foretold that this cat would prove vital in the survival of the clans. And so, as StarClan decreed, she was raised in the path of a warrior. She worked hard and what a brave and clever cat she grew to be, never faltering in her charms or with her claws when the need came for them to be drawn. As MoonClan became aware of the growing threat of BoneClan, Robinwing was given her warrior name and sent on a very dangerous mission: To infiltrate BoneClan and learn as much as she could.
“Robinwing cleverly tricked Sharkstar, a dark and evil cat, into allowing her into the clan. Here she became friends with the former RiverClanners, all of which were now being held captive in BoneClan’s prison. Among these cats was Darkeagle, a dashing young warrior who she fell deeply in love with. She stayed in the clan for a moon and became firmly engrained in the clan’s dynamic. But soon enough, Sharkstar grew suspicious of Robinwing and had his warriors watching day and night. This was when Robinwing made her mistake, while guarding the prison late at night she let the slightest wisp of a smile show on her face when Darkeagle hummed a song to a younger apprentice. Sharkstar witnessed this himself and demanded that Darkeagle be killed before her eyes, before Sharkstar’s warriors would kill her as well. He dragged Darkeagle from the prison and engaged him a long and ferocious battle. Moonhigh came before Darkeagle began to slip into exhaustion. Just as he did the prisoner apprentices fought away their guards and swept across the camp, fighting back Bone Clan warriors and allowing Robinwing to escape with her love, Darkeagle. They, with the heroic apprentices, returned to MoonClan where they gathered a mighty force to destroy BoneClan once and for all.”
This story, as told like this, would have a wide appeal as it focuses on the story of one cat, not the heroism of her clan, and the villains are a group that hasn’t existed for generations. It can be told as a love story, as being about the value of hard work, or of overcoming adversity. However, it has been simplified, leaving out and changing important details. Hawkeye and Silverwing’s involvement in the story has been omitted both to simplify the story and to avoid tainting Robinwing’s idealized image by associating her with their later betrayal. It leaves out that Robinwing is Moonstar’s niece and her mother was in fact a RiverClanner, this could be explained as being either an unnecessary or distracting detail, as favoring clan-born cats too much, or as these facts simply being lost to time. The love story between Robinwing and Darkeagle is presented as a central part of the story, while Robinwing’s loyalty to MoonClan was her driving modivation. This could be changed to make it more relatable to cats of all clans. Robinwing’s mission has been changed from rescuing the prisoners to simply gathering information, and the other prisoners are mentioned very little. While they were instrumental to the plot, Darkeagle is the only one mentioned by name and the apprentices only appear in a last minute supporting role. Darkeagle is presented as a heroic figure, while in reality he could be quite cowardly and stood little resistance to Sharkstar’s attack. Robinwing’s return did not directly lead to MoonClan’s attack on BoneClan, in fact it took place roughly a moon later and only after Silverstar discovered that Hawkeye had attempted to assassinate Sharkstar on her own. This would be left out to make Robinwing seem more heroic instead of putting Hawkeye in a seemingly brave and selfless position.
Raven’s War
“Many moons after the great BoneClan battle, Silverstar and Hawkeye grew apart. Hawkeye’s behavior became more and more violent until she was banished from MoonClan for attacking a kit! Queen Raven of the city welcomed Hawkeye, graciously allowing her to rule beside her. Together they assembled the largest army of cats ever seen.
“The war flared to action as Hawkeye murdered one of her own former clanmates.
“When the first battle was fought the clans believed they were prepared, but they did not anticipate what would happen next... Neither Raven nor Hawkeye showed up to the battle! Instead they sent Bone, a high ranking guard, to take the lead. Bone set a trap that the clans would have lurched into, if it were not for Fallenstar, who stopped them. The battle was tied, but both sides suffered heavy losses.
“Raven was pleased with this, as the forest cats became even greater monsters in the mind of the city. Throughout the following moon, many city-cats joined her ranks and doubled the size of her army.
“During the second battle, Hawk had gone mad; she came to the battle herself, only armed with her claws and her fangs. She and Silverstar fought one on one until both died as the clans and city fought. The clans won as the city cats had no leadership. Raven disappeared and was not heard of again.”
This story has few clear factual inaccuracies, but is extremely simplified. Raven accepted Hawkeye into her ranks so easily because Hawkeye was her sister, and Raven was heard of again after fading out of power when two of her kits, Foxtail and Spiderleg, joined MoonClan. The story is, above all, told as one of great battles and a black and white conflict. While Fallenstar’s war would be a difficult story to explain in any timely manner and there are many toes to step on, even in NightClan few cats would be offended by presenting Raven as a villain. Among the city she was rarely hailed as a hero after the conflict, which fed into NightClan’s foundation as a clan in the city. This story can be presented as being about the importance of good leadership, or of not blindingly following a leader. Fallenstar is listed under her clan name, while at the time she would have been called Battle Cry. The story could be told this way to prevent making the city cats more sympathetic by having one of the heros of the story clearly shown as being an outsider to the clan.
The Mischief of Aurorapaw and Lionpaw
“MoonClan and NightClan’s seemingly endless war raged on more bitterly than ever before when two daredevil apprentices, Lionpaw and Aurorapaw, dared each other to get as far into NightClan’s territory as they could. The ran straight into the city, through thunderpaths, in front of the screeching feet of monsters, across every obstacle they came across until, feeling as brave as any monster of the forest, the two reached NightClan’s camp where … they were immediately taken prisoner after only the slightest of struggles. Even in NightClan’s prison their foolish antics knew no end, Aurorapaw allowed the taunting of NightClan apprentice to provoke her into attacking. She was immediately seized by several warriors and thrown back into the prison. Once more they gathered their courage and began to call out insults to NightClan’s leader himself! For it they got punished with injuries that hurt more than just their pride.
“Their absence was immediately noticed by their clan and a rescue patrol was sent and returned with definite proof that they had entered NightClan’s territory. MoonClan’s leader gave NightClan five days to return the apprentice, but come the fifth day, they remained locked in NightClan’s prison. MoonClan went to battle and in the fight many honorable warriors were slain for nothing more than two apprentices’ foolishness.”
This story would be an important cautionary tale throughout the clans about the effects a poor decision made by only a few individuals could have on an entire clan. It would be most popular in MoonClan, where there is the most risk for cats doing potentially dangerous things to make themselves appear brave, and SunClan, where the clan’s importance above an individual is stressed more than in the other clans. In NightClan, emphasis would be put on their eventual victory following their clan being invaded and on their rival clan’s inability to control their own apprentices. The story omits Pantherpaw’s involvement to maintain focus on the two troublemaking apprentice. As well as this, it leaves out what happened to MoonClan in the battle to return the two apprentices beyond many warriors being slaughtered, as that would turn the focus to Emberstar’s misplaced trust in NightClan’s honor, rather than the warriors’ perceived sacrifice because of the foolish actions of the two apprentices.
Ceremonies:
MoonClan
Apprentices:
Scorchingkit, Chillingkit, Freezingkit: Mid July
Meltingkit, Cloud: Late July
Warriors:
Forestpaw, Shroudpaw, Lashpaw, Cobrapaw, Serpentpaw: Mid July
Fearfulpaw: Late July
Elders: Swanfire, Sherlock, Sunfall, Hushedwhisper
NightClan
Apprentices:
Thunderkit, Stormkit, Nightingkit, Cinderkit, Risingkit, Poisonkit, Forestkit, Battlekit, Dragonkit: Early July
Lilykit: Mid July
Hissingkit, Sparrowkit, Burrkit, Hickorykit, Toxickit, Riven, Raggedkit, Black-kit, Survivingkiti, Redkit, Hauntingkit, Hissingkit, Bleedingkit: Late July
Warriors:
Redpaw: Early July
Tigerpaw, Foxpaw, Tigeresspaw, Vixenpaw, Slashedpaw, Midnightpaw, Onyxpaw: Mid July
Elders: Frozenstar, Lynxcloud, Moonwater
DawnClan
Apprentices:
Coalkit, Axlotkit: Early July
Burnedkit, Wolfkit, Fishkit, Peachkit, Branchkit, Streamkit: Mid July
Sacredkit, Winterkit: Late July
Warriors:
Pebblepaw, Drenchedpaw, Sapphire, Paintedpaw, Emberpaw, Bluepaw: Mid July
Elders: Koifang
Deaths: Owlsight,Spotted-dance, Spiritwinds
SunClan
Apprentices:
Angelkit: Mid July
Sunkit: Late July
Warriors:
Wavepaw, Cinderpaw, Jackalpaw, Dustypaw, Streampaw, Spikepaw: Early July
Birdpaw, Goldenpaw, Duskpaw, Silverpaw, Coldpaw: Mid July
Endlesspaw, Hailpaw: Late July
Elders: Feathersong, Gravestone
Deaths: Flare
Opmerkingen