Two weeks ago, we voted on what role StarClan and The Dark Forest should play within the universe of Warrior Cats of the Forest, then had a run-off vote between the two most popular options. Of the members who voted on this run-off vote, approximately 80% favor a gradual reintroduction of StarClan into clan life both at the Moonstone and across the territories as a whole. As such, we will expand StarClan’s current role on the website into something more akin to the role of StarClan in the first canon arc.
Going forward, the Moonstone will be opened more frequently to nonleader, non-medicine cat characters for direct contact with StarClan and cats will be permitted to receive “omens” where potentially natural experiences are interpreted as StarClan-sent. However, cats will not have ways to verify that omens are true or that cats are telling the truth about what they experience at the Moonstone. This means that while omens and prophecies will not be incontrovertible and we may choose to periodically have fake prophecies or omens in which cats report experiences that were either not linked to actual StarClan intervention or are a misrepresentation of what they were shown.
One of the previously-discussed potential benefits of gradually reintroducing StarClan is that it allows us to give important roles to low-ranking characters, rather than leaving the website’s plot largely in the hands of a small number of leaders and medicine cats. To ensure that this benefit actually comes to pass, it is important that we, going forward, consider how we can use this new tool of StarClan intervention to give everyone a hand in the plot, rather than further limiting important actions to a small handful of “important” characters.
All contact with StarClan and potential omens must be staff-approved and go through the Plot Planning Channel. Cats cannot have powers or a “special connection with StarClan” and any prophecies must either be small and short-scope in scale, or involve whole clans and site-wide plots rather than focusing on specific characters. As an extreme example, a leader could have a vision that a particular kit should become a medicine cat, but a warrior cannot have a vision that they personally are destined to unite all four clans to face an encroaching army of Dark Forest warriors. The plots of Warrior Cats of the Forest will continue to revolve primarily around living cats and any omens or prophecies given should help to move forward the website-wide plot.