Starclan and Faeries

[Dreamer]

Starclan

Unlike most other warriors worlds, Starclan does not play a huge involved role on our site. It does still exist, and is where cats are believed to go after death, however, they have little to no interaction with the living, and the only ones who have ever truly spoken with them, are the Healers of Pineclan who must travel through the Faerie realm to complete their training. They never speak of it.

In any case Starclan in this world is much like the halls of Valhalla, where is is said the worthy are sent at death. No one truly knows what happens to spirits who are not worthy of Starclan, or dont reach whatever prerequisites were set during the Pact. However many speculate that they become the small nameless faeries who haunt most of the clans.

The truth about Starclan is this. They are shades, wandering the faerie realm. If they are under the protection of the great named faerie of their clan, they are usually at peace, celebrating their new form of life. If they are under the influence of the brownies, they can be anything from a happy servant granted much joy and peace, or a mindless drudge with no memory of the joy of their past lives. It is disturbing really. But none of them suffer pain or sadness, they either suffer fulfillment, or have no memory of anything else they might have had.

The Pact
While each clan has its own unique pact with a major named Faerie, the clans as a collective made the Pact with the Brownies, the medium tier faeries who have their own civilization in the faerie. Due to conflict in the early days, with Brownies taking the place of kits to learn more about cats and what their life was like, to experience what they did, the clans offered an exchange. If the faeries gave them an afterlife, a place for their spirits to go once their physical bodies had passed on, the cats would serve them there, and then they would be able to learn and know more about cats. The brownies, eager for servants, particularly on a contract with so little stipulations and particulars, agreed. These were still the early days of interactions with faerie, and while the bond did give clan cats an afterlife, it was a dubious exchange and one which put them more at a disadvatage. They mistakenly had not included some clause to prevent faeries from meddling in the clans still. Over time, the Pact still proved beneficial, and the faeries kept their word, spirits who could survive the trip to the spirit world were allowed in. But very few truly know what happens then. In fact, there are rumors in Moorclan that Starclan cats hate the existence they have been relegated to. But Moorclan still is not sure how to break the Pact, none of the clans are.

The Faerie Realm
Unlike our world the Faerie realm is not entirely physical. It is both beautiful and haunting at the same time, with mesmerizing colors and shapes that change at will, and paths which shift in confusing and twisting ways. In this world, Faeries have immensely more power, and whenever one is encountered should be treated with extreme care, respect, and caution. There are plenty of dark faeries who enjoy toying with and destroying those from the physical realm, and even benevolent faeries can be fickle at best. A cat must use all their wits to survive this world, and few return who have entered it by accident, instead they often are destroyed.

The landscape is often a twisted mirror of the physical world. Where the are mountains, there are chasms, where there are oceans there are deserts, where things are green, things are red, things of that sort. Sometimes certain features will be familiar, but be in a completely different place. Sometimes time moves differently, and a cat who had been there a few hours might actually have spent a few days of the physical world. Cats from the physical world are told not to eat or drink anything from the faerie realm, as to do so, would ensure that the cat is immediately changed by it, and will no longer be satisfied by things from the physical realm.

[Dreamer]

Faerie Tiers

There are many kinds of faeries in the world, all which have different abilities and curses. The bigger they are the more dangerous they get.

Sprites
The smallest category, these are said to be the wayward spirits of cats or other creatures who survived and took a new form in the world. Sprites are a mere fraction of what true faeries are like, almost like broken pieces who can never really be made whole. As such they cannot fully communicate with cats to whom they find themselves attached, but are much like pets, cats can recognize their personality and even understand some rudimentary attempts at communication, but not full words or sentences. They take the shapes of the smallest creatures, insects, minnows, birds, frogs,etc. They are plentiful in Firthclan and Pineclan, and often are drawn to cats. If treated kindly, they will often grant small boons, little bursts of luck in hunting, knowing just the right words to say to another cat, a good mood, a good night of sleep, lots of little things. Of angered they can deliver small pinches or electric shocks, runs of bad luck, a daze of confusion, or making a cat get lost. Their forms are distinguihsable from other real creatures in that they are often weirdly translucent, sometimes with a faint glow of an odd color.

Brownies

These are the faeries that are the most dangerous to the clans as a whole. Brownies are what would be considered your typical Faerie from a faerie court. They have their own society, but covet those in the land of the living and wish to take their place. They never quite got over their fascination of the clans, and still will come and meddle in their affairs. Unlike sprites, they take somewhat larger forms, those of badgers, of foxes, of other animals cat sized and bigger. They are much better at replicating appearances of the tings they are taking the shape of, so often the only indication they are not the animal they appear to be, is that they speak cat. In one regard they are actually incapable of perfectly presenting themselves. For some reason, they can generally only appear as black cats, the Cat Sith, unless they learn cats secret name, at which time they can convincingly portray the cat they are impersonating, from personality to appearance. They are the ones able to communicate on the same level as cats, though some are more intelligent than others. One thing remains constant however, they cannot outright lie. This is how the clans prove a cat is no longer a cat but a faerie.

Brownies have more power than sprites, an as such offer greater rewards and curses. They can ensure good hunting for days, healthy kits for a pregnant cat, cure minor ills, and other such things. On the flip side, they can cause blindness, deafness, memory loss, sickness, etc. They are not to be toyed with.

The Named

The most dangerous and terrifying category, these faeries hold the power over life and death. Often they have certain domains or abilities, and there aren't as many of them as the other tiers. The three major ones for the clan are Ciuthach (corresponding to water), Loireag (whose domain is earth), and Devas(the collective mind and energy of nature). There are others, but they are rarely encountered. These faeries all have different origins, most of them created either from smaller fae, or born from the energies which they now control.

A more recent phenomena, which has happened because of the pact between the fae and the clans, is that a warrior who gives a brownie their own name, particularly in Scottish Gaelic, they can become a named Fae. They still draw power from something, and have power over certain things, but they are considered odd and almost wrong by the other named fae.

[Dreamer]

Clan Faerie Bonds

Ciuthach
The named faerie who holds power over many of the waters in the area, particularly the freshwater ones. She appears as a giant translucent speckled trout, hovering above the water of the pool in Firthclan Territory. The Original bond with her was in the great past, when the first leader came to the pool to mourn the death of their kits. Ciuthach, a fairly inquisitive and benevolent faerie, offered the power of many lives to avenge the death of those lives lost. Thus the first leader of Firthclan gained their ability to heal and regenerate, which caused others to assume they had "nine lives." Later, after the Pact, healers in the clan sought help from Ciuthach when a young warrior fell grievously sick from an infection. The cat had been very respectful towards Ciuthach, and this faerie rewards cats who are faithful. She healed the warrior, and entrusted them as the first oracle, to give her gift of life and purifying water to those that were deemed worthy.

Loireag
The Faerie of earth and soil, this named faerie is both territorial and possessive, manifesting as a massive translucent badger. At first Loireag would have been displeased that the wild cats had stumbled onto his domain, but he soon recognized things in them which he appreciated. He tolerated them to be on his land. Soon however, Moorclan dared to enter his domain, his cave. He admired their courage, but was honestly surprised by their request. They wanted his protection? He eventually agreed, if only because he could now lay claim to their spirits to serve him in the faerie realm when the time claim, and he certainly did enjoy hoarding things. However, their request was that he banish all other faerie from his land. It would be tough, but eventually he agreed. He could further remove their territory from the influence of the faerie realm, but it would cost them. He could not risk a single faerie or faerie kit to find a way in, to break his magic. Any kit born with a solid black pelt would have to be sacrificed, left out to die. Their life energies would feed him, and allow him to continue doing what he did to keep them separate from the faerie realm.

Devas

The faerie of wild places, a hive mind of sorts, the energy and force behind nature and life itself. They manifest as something new every time, anywhere from a deer, to a cat, to bird, to even once a human. However they dont often manifest anyway, preferring to speak in the whispers of trees and plants,. They are centered in the Grove, where they most often communicate with Pineclan. Their connection began when one of the first Pineclan cats gave birth in the Grove. Her kits were sickly, dying. Several other cats from the clan were present at the time, and although they didnt have anyone to pray to, they made promises to the mother, to the sky, everything that if these kits survived they would care for them and raise them all together. It was a powerful plea, from a mother, and from a group of those who would support her. Devas recognized the sense of unity of purpose, or desire to grow, to pass on, to nurture. They responded, giving the mother great strength, imbuing it into her blood and the blood of her kits. That was how the line of the Monarchs was born. Later, when the clan had grown, faeries had begun to take great interest in Pineclan. They had no protector, for unlike the other two named faeries, Devas had little power over faeries outside of the grove. One plucky apprentice came to the grove, asking if they went into the faerie world, to meet Devas there, if Devas could grant them some power to protect their clan. Devas thought and thought. Yes, but it would be difficult to find them. The faerie world did not measure distance and position in the same way. The young apprentice may never find Devas. But the apprentice was certain, they would see it through. And so Devas opened the faerie ring, and after great toil and trial, the apprentice met them and were gifted with the ability to walk between worlds, to see between worlds. It was a heavy burden, but one which they took on greatly, and they were the first -sight cat.