Foxthroat's World-building

[Foxthroat]

I'm going to use this as a place to dump my own world-building, when I feel so inclined. I know I have a world-building blog here, but I'll also play around here because I can and it's fun to share and receive feedback.


So, I have three basic worlds going, and way too many ideas for more. But I'm sticking with these three for now; some are more developed than others.

1. A world with multiple clans, along with tribes, clowders, mobs, and housecats. All are semi-interconnected through a conlang and a half-shared mythology and their interactions form a giant community even when they come into conflict or consider themselves very distinct. This has both my world of Mountainclan, Marshclan, Islandclan, etc. and my world-in-progress with some as-yet unnamed clans that will sort of be my 'final draft' of this world, as I'm taking what I like of my original stuff and improving it. It's set along and near the Chattahoochee River in Georgia, the US.

2. A world with clans in and around urban places-- cities and other locales. Also tribes and housecats and mobs to contend with. Clans are called 'Glarings'? Probably will be set in around around Atlanta, or a fictitious place based off of such. So far I have two Glarings, Night's Glaring and Spark's Glaring. This was somewhat based of my desire to explore a group like BloodClan functioning as a 'real' clan.

3. A world like a 'cat island', an island inhabited by many tribes/clans/clowders/etc., where humans/dogs and the like are utterly unknown.

This doesn't include the half-a-dozen projects spinning their wheels out there that I've fiddled with but done nothing about, like rewriting SkyClan or telling the story of a cat leaving a large community of clans in disgust at corruption and becoming involved with 'outsiders' (clowder/glaring/loner/mob/housecat) culture.


Ah, I did have a 4th idea...

4. 'How to Build a Clan'; somewhat for humor and somewhat serious, the idea of showcasing a couple different groups evolving into clans (such as a clowder becoming a clan, a cat feeling 'chosen' to create a clan, etc) as a study of how clans could be formed, a chance to play around with evolving culture and characters, etc.

I actually really like this one.

[Foxthroat]

Right, so I've somewhat expanded the idea of "So You Want to Build a Clan?"

The setting is a currently fictious city that is going to be based somwhat off Marietta/Atlanta or some such one, along with a forest nearby, and possibly an abandoned... park or something?

There are three clans: Ashclan, Alleyclan, and a yet-unnamed one. Each of them form seperately but around the same times, and they end up developing similar codes and interrelations as they do so. However, they each have their own belief system, and while they do all pretty much follow the same naming system (currently, this /may/ change) they each have slightly different ranks. At the moment I've got:

Alleyclan: grows from a group of city-clowders and other ferals who band together for better survival. Don't like humans, but have a network with the housecats and other non-clan ferals in the city.
Territory: a large part of the city.
Ranks:
Keeper: 'keeps' the clan together and safe through leadership; keeps track of rules/history, serves as judge, makes final decisions.
Watcher: serves as a second in command and successor who does the legwork of organizing patrols and personally patrolling and reporting to the Keeper.
Seer: spiritual guide of the clan who interprets signs from Hollows.
Healer:heals the clan, physically by cleaning wounds, trying to keep dry, advising on activity levels; also a lot of emotional and mental support. Non-spiritual.
Patrollers: main body of clan; patrols, hunts, fights.
Seekers: young cats being trained as patrollers, healers, or seers.
Elders: old cats who have retired and advise the clan and teach younger ones.

Beliefs: Believes in Hollowclan, a spiritual 'womb' that is the center of the world and buried beneath the ground. Hollows are spirits from Hollowclan; they communicate with Alleyclan through the Seer.

Appearance: quite varied, due to frequently taking in new ferals and often breeding outside their clan. Tend to show the most 'housecat' traits.

Ashclan: created by a group of cats who escape the 'Dark Place' (a cat hoarder's home) thanks to a fire (said to be caused by the 'Vengeful Spirits', known as 'Echoes'-- it kills some but enables others to escape and flee. The most hostile to humans, and housecats, whom they view as traitors.
Territory: the woods and an abandoned theme park? mall? house? to the north of the city.
Ranks:
Dreamer: receives signs and dreams (often frightening or eerie) from the Vengeful Spirits (Echoes) and uses this as council and guidance to govern the clan, as well as receiving input from each member. Appoints seekers mentors, serves as a judge in disputes.
Deputy: the second-in-command who does the legwork of orgnaizing patrols and the like and who will become the next Dreamer; receives spiritual training from the Dreamer.
Healer: heals the clan, physically by cleaning wounds, trying to keep dry, advising on activity levels; also a lot of emotional and mental support. Non-spiritual.
Sentinels: hunt, patrol and fight. teach seekers. Are the main adult body of the clan.
Queens: cats nursing or expecting kits.
Seekers: young cats being trained as sentinels, or healers.

Beliefs: Believe in the Vengeful Spirits (Echoes), fiery cat-like beings that protect and defend; it is said they freed the cats from the Dark Place and they communicate through the Dreamer. Dead Ashclanners become Echoes and linger on to defend their clanmates from the horrors of the Otherworld. Cats who break the rules or prove themselves evil are judged fit to be returned to the Dark Place for an eternity, along with always suffering from what killed them.

Appearance: a pretty motley mix, but overall are on the larger, more ragged side, many wit darker pelts.

?clan: grows from a clowder into a large clan, one that often breeds with outside loners and housecats in order to keep up strong blood. The largest clan.
Territory: the woods and a canyon/river valley to the south of the city?
Ranks:

All adults of the main clan body are either Hunters (hunt prey, scout, generally the lighter, leaner, stealthier cats) or Battlers (patrol, defend, guard camp, bigger, stronger).

All seekers are trained jointly pretty much, with both a hunter and a battler mentor? But upon becoming a full adult and receiving their full name, they are assigned to one group or the other based on the skills they have shown and their desire.

Leader: is the ultimate head of the clan; serves as a judge, a councilor, appoints mentors and seekers, seeks spiritual guidance, makes rules. is one of the Nine. Keeps the rules, history, and culture of the clan along with the elders.
Successor: is essentially the leader-seeker; is learning how to lead and how to balance spirituality, laws, etc. Must have mentored and apprentice; candidates are picked by a council of elders and the Leader gets final say. Is one of the Nine.
Keeper: keeps all the history, rules, laws, and serves as a judge.
Watcher: very similar to Alleyclan, does the legwork of organizing patrols-- but only regarding the Battlers; so does boarder patrols and reports on threats; is one of the Nine. The head Battler; appointed by a council of elders.
Patroller: serves as doing the legwork and organization for hunting patrols-- but only regarding the Hunters. The head Hunter; appointed by a council of elders.
Healer: heals the clan, physically by cleaning wounds, trying to keep dry, advising on activity levels; also a lot of emotional and mental support. Non-spiritual.
Seer: divines signs from nature and interprets the will of Moonclan.
Battlers: patrol territory, guard, fight. Bigger stronger.
Hunters: hunt for prey, scout, guard camp. smaller, leaner, more stealthy.
Seekers: juveniles in training.
Minders: cats expecting or nursing kits; also give lessons to seekers and kits and help guard the camp. very respected.
Elders: oldest cats who have retired willingly and serve as councilors, advise and appoint cats, teach seekers culture, laws, and history.

Beliefs: believe that their ancestors came from the sky and once lived on the sun, but it caught fire (for some reason) and they were forced to flee. Those who became lost on the way grew to be the first stars. Dead cats who are worthy become stars as well-- in the daytime they live as Moonclan on the forest of the Moon; at night they stand guard in the sky to prevent evil from entering the world and harming the living.

Appearence: have their own 'type': large, longhaired, predominately mackerel tabby cats that tend towards darker pelt colors (with some torbies and reds thrown in) often with very minimal white spotting, though their outsourcing on breeding has introduced more and more new traits.


Consider this a work-in-progress.

The storyline thus far is that a group of cats escape the Dark Place after their 'leader' receives a sign from the Echoes and the fire occurs. An ever-expanding clowder begins molding into something more. A group of ferals in the city decide to try and create a better life for ferals.

[Foxthroat]

WIP! Trying to craft a plot and polish all structures!

Ok. Sorry if I'm repeating myself here, but I really am enamored with this idea. It's a way of tying all my favorite bits of my world-building together.

Basically, I want to write a fanfiction "So You Want to Build a Clan?". It's going to be sort of funny, sort of serious, and explore the development of several clans, along with the characters within them.

So, I have the idea for this world, which is based off the general area of not-quite-north-Georgia, with the Chattahoochee River, Kennesaw Mountain, Redtop Mountain State Park, etc. There's a small city/town in the center of the "mental map" I've got. To the North, there's a mountain. To the East, there's fields and small hills framed by  along with some farms. To the West, there's another river, some forest, and some marsh/semi-wetlands. So the South, there's forest.

So, I have five basic areas: Mountain forest (based off Kennesaw Mountain probably), farms and fields, marsh/wetland/forest, forest, and city. Within or on the other side of the forest I imagine there being an abandoned park or amusement park, something akin to Whitewater in Georgia, or some such thing.

With that said, I'm going to explore several things: the reasons for clans forming, the beliefs that different clans form, the ranks different clans create, the ways each clan functions and makes decisions, and how each clan interacts with those outside clans as well. Probably more stuff too.

At the moment, I've got most of the groups worked out:

North: Mountainclan/North-Mob/Northern Glaring. This is the clan of Foxthroat. Leader takes -sky as a suffix.
Leader suffix: -sky
First leader: Onesky; invented name-changes.
Clan who invented healers and the -tongue suffix.

Central/City: Alleyclan/Central-Mob/Central Glaring. They believe dead cats sink into the earth and join "Hollowclan"; leaders take -hollow as a suffix.
Leader suffix: -hollow

East: Fieldclan/East-Mob/Eastern Glaring: They split off from Alleyclan, feeling things were getting overcrowded and that they were sick of living in the middle of humans.

West: Marshclan/West-Mob/Western Glaring. They're the best swimmers, the fishers, and they are considered very tough and fierce to outsiders, but extremely loyal to their kin-- beyond the usual.

South: Ashclan/South-Mob/Southern Glaring. They escaped from a hoarder and have a deep hatred for humans. They believe in Vengeful Spirits, leaders take -fire as a suffix, and feel cats were created from fire and hold pieces of the sun within them.
Leader suffix: -fire
First leader: Ashfire
Don't have seers; instead their leader receives dreams from the Vengeful Spirits.