Pineclan Info

[Dreamer]

Wildcat by Cloudtail the Snow Leopard, on Flickr

Pineclan

The first clan to form, Pineclan is the most diverse of all the clans. Cats from all backgrounds, including a small number of Noble's pets, came together to form the clan during a dark time when the humans were persecuting and driving cats out. They banded together for their own safety, and carved out their own place. As they grew, they were forced to expand, driving out the local wild cats to satisfy the hunger of their growing ranks. There is no one type or body shape in this clan, and in fact draw from many bloodlines, which introduced colors like chocolate, silver shading, and colorpoint into the clan. They are known for their ambition, their cunning, and their strong identity in their clan.


Culture
As the oldest clan, they have a long history of tradition and culture to uphold. Many outsiders consider them haughty and proud, as cats who like to lord over other their size, stability, and power. They like to boost that their roots are as old as those of the twisted pines. However, they do like to share their power, and are quite open to allowing outsider to join, as long as they pass the entrance requirements, where they must prove they are not faerie, they are allowed to join. Pineclan doesnt turn their nose up at new blood, and uses it quite well to protect and expand their influence further. However newcomers should be prepared for the highly competitive and strict nature of Pineclan. To be anyone in the clan requires a cat to actively make an effort to excel. Of course they will still be part of the clan if they are not, but they stand little chance of gaining acclaim or ever becoming a consort or warrior of import.

Pineclan is by far the most expansionist clan. Unfortunately they have for the most part expanded as wide as they can, being bordered by humans, Moorclan, Firthclan, and rocky cliffs. This means they often find themselves at odds with Moorclan, and often push at Firthclan, though with them they are more careful. They learned the consequences of pushing Firthclan too far, and they still regret it to this day. In times of need, they occasionally push into the human places, so they can get the vermin of the houses. However that often invites the wrath of humans, and the local cats. The vermin can often cause sickness, and humans can be more deadly than almost any other animal.

Most of their territory is deep shadowed forest. To outsiders it can be a very confusing place, and even some of the young cats in the clan can get turned around. There are scent and claw markers to help distinguish them, though many of those closer to the border are false, with the intent to lead enemies astray. It means Pineclanners instinctively watch where they are putting their feet, and have very sure footing. They are also avid tree climbers, who are good at avoiding sharp pine needles. Their camp is the most open area of territory, though even then the majority of the ground is covered by creeping juniper bushes. Their nests are unique, made as gestures of affection between cats, so that each one has different materials based on the cat receiving it.

Pineclan deals with faeries in an interesting way. Instead of embracing them, or completely shunning them, they accept that they exist, and figure out how to deal with them. They are very adept at mind games and word games, and endeavor to match a faerie's wit and out talk them. For them, faeries are dangerous, and should not be taken lightly. At the same time, they show great respect to Devas, the named Faerie which they bonded with. Since Devas is a hive being connected to the plants and nature of territory, Pineclan cats often offer respectful prayers to them when they kill prey.

[Dreamer]

Ranks
No ranks are gender/sex specific.

-Monarch-
The leader and highest authority in the clan. It is an inherited post, where the next monarch is chosen from among the previous monarchs kits. The monarchs are the head of all the small details of administrative function in the clan, such as well being in camp, making sure everyone is fed, and that apprentices are doing well in their training. However, unlike the other clans, Pineclan Monarchs are also taught a large amount of politics, and they are often liasons between their clan and the faerie realm, as well as outside cats and other clans. They have their own code of conduct to which they hold themselves, and are not as personable or down to earth as other leaders. But they have the presence, authority, skill and respect, and do a good deal to improve morale and charisma in their clan. They can sometimes seem aloof in how they handle things, but they do their best to connect with their clan and work to best prepare their clan for what is necessary. They spend a lot of their time educating their successors, their heirs, so that they may take after them to ensure a solid line of succession with cats who are knowledgeable and experienced at leading. The monarch chooses from among their kits at their discretion, and siblings will often have bitter rivalries to get the monarch's attention. However, if the rivalry disrupts clan life, the cats involved are immediately disqualified, so these rivalries are often quite and sneaky. The faerie bond given to Pineclan is one which runs through the Monarchs bloodline, which gives them longer lifespans, immunity to certain diseases and higher tolerance to sicknesses, and a slight ability to see into the future. Thus if somehow there s no immediate heir or successor, a new leader must be chosen from the royal bloodlines, to even be able to accept their blessing.

-Consort-
The Consort is a cat chosen to be a good partner to the Monarch, whether platonically or as a mate, they work as a solid team to lead the clan. They are usually of the opposite biological sex from the leader (though sexual preference and transgender cats still count), because one of the main things which is part of the consort's duty, is to provide heirs. Sometimes exceptions are made for pairs which are an exceptionally good team, but cannot produce kits. The stability of clan leadership is more important. Of course they usually do plenty else. Often consorts are great warriors, or intelligent and clever with resources. They deal with the more day to day business out in the territory, being there when the Monarch themselves cannot. They are dedicated to the clan, servants of all, but most importantly, of the monarch. You can decide to turn down a Consort position, but it is considered a great honor to be chosen as Consort. If a consort dies before their monarch, the monarch may take another consort, but if the monarch dies before the consort, then a new leader is chosen from among the potential heirs.

-Healer-
Healers are intelligent, sneaky, clever. They have to be to attain their position. Healers have a pact with a faerie, but it is one which must be earned. The healer has 2-4 apprentices when the time comes to choose, and they learn the arts of healing herbs, but also of good counsel and wisdom, and of cunning. They are trained with how to deal with faeries, of the dangers. Then they go to the faerie ring within their territory and pass into the faerie realm. There they must make their way to the faerie which issued this challenge. If they survive, and do not get lost or flee from fear, they gain the ability to walk between the real world and the faerie realm. With this ability they can protect their clan from certain faerie interference, and save cats on the verge of death. But it is dangerous, and they must choose who to save, because they only have a certain amount of energy to use in saving others, lest they risk being stuck in the faerie realm forever.

-Elder-
A cat who has reached an advanced age, or fought valiantly a sickness or disease which qualifies them to retire from warrior life. Elders in this clan often congregate in the center of camp if the weather is nice enough, and will talk to any cat who comes by. Although their den is nice and cozy, the center of camp is their spot to gossip and tell stories for the whole clan to hear, and they make the center of camp the happening place to be. This time in their life is when they finally have a chance to rest and try something other than the specialty they spent their life doing.

-Warrior-
Warriors are adults who have earned their place in the clan through training and hard work, and perform their duties to
help the clan thrive. Pineclan is a highly specialized clan. While every warrior knows the basics of each job, they usually only do one thing, unless necessity drives them to change. However, this means that everyone is highly productive, and the clan rarely goes hungry, or without a service needing done. The abilities, both natural and gaind through experience, are a source of pride for each warrior as they do their duties. Each cat has a place, a duty, a role they play in the clan. And each one is equally important. A cat earns their name when they complete their warrior trials. Warrior trials consist of: a solo hunt to catch an prey from a species chosen by the assessor, and a spar against a warrior that ends in a success, draw, or showcases precision of movement and tecnique(such as escaping a difficult grapple). If these two main tests are achieved, and their mentor vouches for their preparedness, they are named. Then they must carry a piece of prey to the Grove, and pray there until the next sunrise.

-Nurse-
Being a -flower cat is a lifes calling, and not one to be taken on lightly. The nurses in the clan all collectively raise kits, even the heirs. The idea is to foster strong relationships among peers, and free up potentially vital parents to return to their duties. As such, -flower cats must always be available to help watch, play with, and educate kits. When it is not their shift, they should be doing something else useful to the clan, particularly around camp. Nurses do a great deal of educating, along with help from the elders if necessary, but nurses often spend time with the elders to learn old stories and history, so they can allow the older cats to rest, and not ask them to deal with young kits.

-Apprentices-
Pineclan is fairly strict on how their training progresses. They begin all cats at five moons, training them in a gauntlet of general skills, heavy with teaching if responsibility through chores. At seven moons, they teach cats the finer points of fighting and hunting, so that they all have a solid base of knowledge. Then at nine moons, they are encouraged to pursue that which interests them the most, to choose a path, almost a career they wish to have for the rest of their lives. Although their mentor remains the same, they are encouraged to seek out warriors who have the same specialty as them, or ask their mentors to work with them on what they wish the most. It isn't unlikely that at this point their mentor will change, as apprentices seek out that which they wish to be. They then spend the next three moons honing their skills until they are considered skilled enough to attempt the trials.

-Kit-
Pineclan has a large number of kits, but they lose between a quarter and a third before they reach adulthood. This is due to more predators, humans, and more faerie influence. In general however, the kits that do survive are most likely to succeed. Even before reaching...As kits they are taught how to solve riddles, puzzles, and play mind games, alongside the other bits of culture and history they learn. They must keep their minds sharp, as young kits are most vulnerable to ill meaning, and even some well meaning fairies. So playing mind games and word games is essential to ensure that faeries cannot steal them away or take their place in the clan. But also, kits are taught to be honest, to not lie unless it is part of a game, and that there are some games which they cannot play.

[Dreamer]

Naming

Like in Firthclan, kittens in Pineclan have secret names to ensure that faeries cannot replace them with changeling kits. However, secret names become almost irrelevant once a someone becomes a warrior, and often they will reveal their secret name during their warrior ceremony. In any case, kits are publicly named at a ceremony held at the grove. Here kits are introduced to both the clan and the faerie Devas. Their names are called out before the clan by the one who birthed them, and the clan responds in whispers as if telling the plants and Devas.

Due to the presence of colorpoint in Pineclan, cats are used to seeing a white kit and guess that they will be colorpoint. Naming them at around a moon of age allows some of the color to show through, but sometimes a secondary transitory name is required should their pelt change drastically during apprenticeship.

Pineclan names are varied, but a common thread is that Pineclan litters often have themed names for the entire litter, such as birds or berries, or flowers, or animals. When it comes to suffixes of course, the clan highly values skill suffixes. Cats work extra hard to get them, and are incredibly competitive. However at the same time, that means that personality suffixes, being rarer, are more unique for the cat than a skill suffix. Thats not to say that -fur, -pelt, and -stripe arent valued, because all suffixes are important. It simply means that they are not as common in Pineclan as the other two clans.

Appearance

Pineclan is the clan that has no set type of appearance. They generally are more average looking, sometimes leaning towards oriental and sometimes towards cobby body types. Compared to the other clans they are decidedly more lean and often smallerin both size and bulk. They are equally short furred and long furred, with occasional cats with shorter muzzles (nothing as drastic as persians though). In appearance they are the most varied, although they are also the most likely clan to have high amounts of white over their pelt. The unique colors which have been passed on in Pineclan are Silver shading, chocolate, and colorpoint.

Traditions

Pineclan's grand history means its traditions are granted great pomp and attention. Besides their warrior and kit naming ceremonies, they have several other important ceremonies.

The crowning of the monarch, like most of the important ceremonies is done at the Grove, in the hope that Devas will grant its support to the new monarch. Once the body of the previous monarch has been buried, the chosen successor steps forward before the clan and announces their intention. It is very rare for the clan to disagree with the chosen heir, but it is still the opportunity for the clan to reject the appointment. If the appointment is accepted with a majority, then the new Monarch takes their title and calls forward their consort. Together the two make a vow to protect and care for their clan as best as possible.

Their ritual of burial, by contrast, is more quite affair. The body of the deceased is brought to the grove, decorated with flowers and scented herbs. Once the period of vigil, from dawn to dusk or dusk to dawn depending on the time of death, is over the cat is buried. Buried with them is a seed, which represents their name and achievements in life. A healer is buried with a certain herb, a leader with an acorn. If a plant successfully sprouts, the clan believes that that means the cats spirit found peace with Devas. If not, then the cat did not make it into the afterlife safely.

In addition to these rituals they have holidays which they celebrate.

Law

In Pineclan, the Monarch's word is law. They have trained for many moons, and learned of the traditions of the past and the common punishments for certain things. Generally they have an "eye for an eye" understanding, and are just in the most unfortunate sense of the word.However monarchs do consult with both their consorts and the elders to ensure that a decision is one which makes sense. Also, cats are allowed to appeal to the consort if they feel they have been unjustly treated, to seek a retrial.