Post by Dawn on Jan 2, 2013 21:58:26 GMT -5
P o s i t i o n s
L e a d e r s
Clan leaders are the heart of the Clan; their personality affects how the Clan operates and how their warriors treat one another and the world around them. It is up to the Clan leaders to set a good example and guide their Clanmates along the path of the warrior code. They are responsible for calling Clan meetings, appointing warriors, mentors, and apprentices, and deciding Clan policy and strategy with the help of their deputy and any cats they choose to consult for advice. (Usually the medicine cat, the elders, or senior warriors).
When a cat becomes a Clan leader, he or she must travel to the Moon Lake and share tongues with the warrior ancestors of StarClan. The Clan’s medicine cat accompanies them on the journey but leaves them alone for the ceremony, in which the leader is granted eight extra lives and a new name with “star” at the end.
This process can be surprising and painful, but it is important for leaders to be able to fight fiercely for their Clan and live long enough to pass along their wisdom and prepare a new leader. During the ceremony, each life is given to the new leader by a cat whose life was significant to the new leaders in some way.
When a leader loses a life, she or he blacks out for a short period of time, during which that cat visits StarClan and speaks with its warrior ancestors. On returning to consciousness, the leader must still recover from the injury or illness that felled him or her. Medicine cats can usually tell how many lives a leader has left, although this number is kept secret from rival Clans.
D e p u t i e s
A Clans deputy is chosen by the leader, to assist in taking care of the Clan. To qualify, a warrior must have had an apprentice and must be strong and brave, with the qualities needed to take on leadership of the Clan if necessary.
The deputy presides over Clan meetings when the leader is absent, stands in for the leader at Gatherings if the leader is ill, organizes daily patrols, and oversees the training of apprentices. According to the warrior code, when a deputy dies or steps down the leader must announce a new deputy before moonhigh.
Deputies stop being deputies if:
- The Clan leader dies, leaving the deputy to take over as leader.
- The deputy retires and becomes an elder
- The deputy commits a crime against the warrior code and is demoted or driven from the Clan
- The deputy dies or is killed in battle.
M e d i c i n e C a t
The medicine cat is the healer of the Clan. They have a strong connection with StarClan and are very well respected, even by cats in other Clans. Medicine cats are outside Clan rivalries and have a sworn duty to watch over their charges without bias or prefrences. This is why medicine cats are forbidden to have mates and kits as it would skew their ability to treat all cats fairly.
The full medicine cat of a Clan takes on an apprentice just as full warriors do and trains that apprentice to become full medicine cat when they die or retire. Medicine cat apprentices are similar to regular apprentices, except they can gain their full names before becoming full medicine cat and all ceremoneis are held in the Moon Lake.
E l d e r s
The life of a warrior is difficult and dangerous, and many die young- in battle, of disease, or from a natural disaster. Those cats lucky enough to live a long life may eventually retire from their warrior duties to become elders. These elderly cats are viewed with the deepest respect by the rest f the Clan. Many moons of experience make them invaluable source of advice for the Clan leader, and they keep alive Clan history by passing down the old stories.
W a r r i o r s
Warriors are the lifeblood of the Clan. They patrol the borders, keep the fresh-kill pile supplied, and defend their Clanmates against attacks from enemy cats or predators. They fight to protect the Clan for as long as they are able and are often called upon the mentor apprentices, passing on the skills they were taught. During the warrior naming ceremony, an apprentice gives up the “paw” half of their name and earns a real warrior name. New warriors keep silent vigil the first night.
A p p r e n t i c e s
Before a cat can become a warrior he or she must be trained to fight and hunt and defend the Clan. At the age of six moons, kits leave the nursery and become apprentices. At this point they change the second half of their name from “kit” to “paw” to symbolize the path their paws are now on. The Clan leader assigns each apprentice a mentor- and older warrior to guide the apprentice on the path to being a warrior. Apprentices are responsible for chores around the camp, such as tending to the elders, in addition to their training. If they work hard, listen to their mentors, and live by the warrior code, soon they will earn their warrior name, and hopefully, one day, the chance to be a mentor themselves.
Q u e e n s
When a she-cat is expecting or nursing kits, she moves into the nursery. She protects and teaches her kits until the age of about 6 moons when they become apprentices. Some queens leave the nursery as soon as their kits are able to survive without them to become warriors again, while other she-cats choose to stay in the nursery and help current queens manage their kits.
K i t s
Kits are the young cats of the Clan, the future warriors who will one day protect and serve just as their ansestors before them. They live in the nursery until they are about 6 moons old. It is forbidden for a kit to leave the camp or be made an apprentice before their 6th moon, though some kits are too adventerous for their own good and break this first rule.