Into the Moon Falls

Much like canon, it won't be realistic. Cats won't have accurate genetics, there's supernatural elements with StarClan and the Place of No Stars.

Ranks and how the culture works for each Clan will be different than from canon (Using @bonefall 's Better Bone AU as inspo)

Thought process is The Founding Era > As it says on the tin, need to work on the details of this as part of me wants to make it as fantastical as possible but also to figure out on when is it a bit much.

(Eras I have yet to figure out but basically where the code starts being formed)

The Clash Era > An era in the Clans where relations were harsh and hostile, leading to a war between all four of the Clans - only to be stopped once StarClan shook the earth. Literally.

Either in this era or under the next one, the Clans are told to prevent this from happening again after all four of the leaders were killed in the conflict. (Either as a result of the war, or due to the destruction from the earthquake.)

May name the era the Fault Era to reference the earthquake that happens to end it. But for the cats its to reference the fault of the leaders

(More eras I have yet to figure out, detailing how even though they aren't at each others' throats, Clan life is still rough and nowhere near perfect. And how sometimes, cats look upon the worst events in history and think they should go bring it back.)

The Modern Era (name pending) > Current events, such as the civil war in BurrowClan (and the rebellion afterwards), SunClan recovering from most of the council dying, etc etc.

StarClan

In this verse, StarClan takes from inspo from modern books (in which they are often or not flawed, messy individuals who's desire to keep the Clans safe can screw over cats) and the first arc books (where they don't interact with the Clans).

StarClan is an endless plane of territory found in all of the Clans, where prey runs wild and the temperature is just right for any cat. In the middle of the realm lies the Moonfalls - which connects to the mortal realm waterfalls of the same name.

When you die and get your proper burial, unless you've done enough to be put on Trial (Will be detailed later on), your influence on the mortal world is based on your memory. Instead of "fading" when cats barely recall you as you were Background Character #47, you can barely connect with the living and tend to be expected to stay up in StarClan.

However, if you have a legacy and go down in history, you have so much power to send messages to the living, send down weather and signs, and stand as a judge for those who are at risk of being damned. Cats like the founders being the most powerful of them all.

However, they are not immune to their flaws. There are many a cat who are a product of their time, and have some old beliefs, and other cats who could have changed for the worst being dead, disconnected from mortal life. No society is perfect, and StarClan represents both the positives and the negatives of it all. All what matters is to make sure the Clans - therefore StarClan - exists, even if it hurts others.

(Of course, not all cats follow this mentality. It is not a monolith and there's some genuine good folks in the stars.)

The Place of No Stars

For those who were deemed unworthy for the stars, they may find themselves banished here - which unlike canon, isn't as terrible.

(After all I want to make some morally gray to genuinely good cats who were unfairly punished without feeling awful about it.)

In this verse, The Place of No Stars is the actual name of hell and the Dark Forest is more of, a section of it but I will probably call it the Dark Forest here and there. Less wordy that way.

When a cat is under scrutiny by StarClan, they are placed on a Trial with the judges being the founders themselves. Typically they are assigned what we call a defense attorney - but I want to use another term for it, and have to stand up against their term for a prosecutor. It is not a matter on if the cat is guilty - the stars after all, would know that they are or not - it is a matter on if they can "forgive" their actions, and prove themselves worthy of such a thing.

If a cat was to be deemed as unworthy, they are sent to this realm - a nightmarish land that's a distorted version of reality, often or not reflecting cats' - both dead and alive - fears. Unlike in canon where they are meant to starve (not that they do starve regardless, you're dead that stuff doesn't matter), there are animals there - which are... off compared to the mortal world. Birds with sharp teeth, fish that can swallow a cat whole, anything can go. It's an admittedly "edgy" place, however a cat can embrace it and find that its not the worst.

Similar to StarClan, cats don't fade nor double-die here - if two demons decide they want to wrestle and kill another, the "killed" will respawn elsewhere. Problem, is that they are always respawned somewhere random, making things quite annoying to deal with.

It is important to note, that while this land has its objectively bad people such as murderers and the like, that some cats who only did minor mistakes - or just simply pissed off the stars somehow - will find themselves sent here. After all, society changes for the worst at times, and those that we (and cats from better times) will agree that some laws should be broken - or that maybe sending someone away from the stars for stealing prey is always too far.

(Which leads to some situations where one demon is asking how another got sent here, and find out that oh they killed a bunch of people, how about you? And the first cat has to admit that they overhunted the local prey population for sport.)

It is known that some cats have, very rarely, chosen to go here - whenever its to stand with a friend who's been exiled here, or guilt, or... any reason. Rare, as most would hate to give up an afterlife with their friends and family, with respect and power, to go to a place like The Place of No Stars. But it has happened.

Ghosts

The secret Third Option (tm), and the least known in-universe - in some cases a cat may find themselves unable to reach the afterlife. Most commonly, this happens if a cat was not given a proper burial (Example is that Ravenwing's burial being disrupted would doom him to be a ghost). However, there are other cases where a cat is neither StarClan or Dark Forest.

Choice (Only happens with cats who suspect they may be going to eeby deeby, but rare.)

Banishment (VERY rare and extremely serious when this happens! Only happens after a cat was accepted into StarClan, and then is driven out.)

Died outside of the Clans' territories (If StarClan can't see you, then they can't get to you.)

Cats who remain tethered to the mortal realm tend to find it a... painfully isolating environment. After all, you tend to be away from your loved ones nor do you expect to talk to them again in the stars when your living friends and family pass away - and are aware that cats aren't able to see you.

Plenty of the details is explained here (ooooh you want to read my lore post so badly, you want to reblog it and comment on it or give it ANY sort of attention).

Garterstar's design is very much inspired by garter snakes, she does have fur its just Very smooth and sleek.

The five stars by her represent how she only receives 5 lives, as a result of killing her rival, the deputy who was chosen over her, at such an important place. StarClan was quite furious with her about that.

In this verse, you are not forced to give lives. If you don't have enough cats who support you, you won't get the full 9. The 5 cats were some of the few souls willing to stand by her.

The big star is well, for starters because its cool, but its meant to represent the life she got from her late friend who's death kickstarted this. Who gave Garterstar a life of forgiveness... you can only imagine what message was trying to be sent.

No notes on Copperstrike's design, I just think it's cool :)

When I do a full ref of him I'll explain more about him as a person, but he kind of has the energy as a mildly scummy CEO? Type to hold his power over people's heads, and brush off stuff.

He did mean his apology to Garterstar, but it was in the type of apology that rubs you the wrong way. Like "Look, I'm sorry that your friend died but its been moons, can you get over it?"

Who knows what sort of leader he'd be like? Perhaps, he'd mature, but perhaps the power will go straight to his head even further. Big theme about this arc is what the Clan could have had.

He did go to StarClan, as a side note. The death was a genuine error on his part, may have been in a trial though (as those are in this verse.) Didn't give Garter a life though, was rightfully upset over it.

My main worry with them being a wooded wetland Clan is making them too similar to ShadowClan (or fanon/rewrite versions of them) or my swamp colony from my original story - So I decided to make it where they are very tight-nit as a Clan. Type of Clan where if you were to do something embarrassing, there's a very high chance that others Will find out and poke light at you.

However, it comes at a cost as cats who are outcast for any reasons have very little chance in getting in their good graces again. And whenever a cat gets discovered to have done a crime worthy of exile, there's an expectation to never talk about them again. Especially if, a cat was executed for it (Sad! The Clans support capital punishment!) then it is said that speaking about them will "bring back their memory". Which, while lets the victims to rest easy, can also easily lead to events repeating.

I know I plan on designing a character who was affected by the Clan shunning them that they flat out self-exiled themselves to live as a hermit, and now exist in a weird zone of "They didn't Technically do anything illegal but idk, they sure were weird so maybe its best we act like they don't exist".

Leader - Garterstar (She/Her)

Warrior name was Garterstripe, and is certainly a controversial figure in BurrowClan.

As stated in the post introducing the Clans, there is a tradition in BurrowClan where there are two deputies that symbolize the Clan having two camps. When a leader senses their time is up, they choose one of the deputies to succeed them

Problem is that the past leader, Flintstar, did not choose Garterstripe and instead chose her fellow deputy Copperstrike (he/him). Who she absolutely HATED.

Need to flesh out on the details, but Copper made a bad decision that costed the lives of someone she cares about. Thinking about it being to check up on some unstable tunnels or along those lines.

I must make this clear, that Copper didn't do this out of any bad intent - Just a bit incompetent. He was not a bad dude, however I also don't want him to be blameless. Situation requires to be as messy as possible.

So, when Copperstrike was chosen Garterstripe flipped her LID.

So, she started a coup over it as she convinced other cats who had concerns over Copperstrike to stand by her side. Which all ended in a fight at the Moon Falls. Where Garterstripe drowned him (and bashed his head onto the rocks for good measure)

This. Lead to quite mixed results as you'd imagine! Killing someone who was meant to be leader, AND at the sacred site was bound to cause issues.

So, when Garterstar offered an olive branch to the other side and was willing to let the losing side stay- while some cats stayed, plenty of them left. Oh well, not her loss.

As a leader, she's strict and often or not holds grudges. Type of leader who will give your kits... questionable names if she doesn't like you, while rewarding those who she likes.

(As you'd expect, she heavily favors those who were on her side)

Naming scheme is typically based on skills, simplicity. And well, see the above.

Deputies - Weaselbite and Driftblaze

Weaseldance (Any):

A cat both loathed by some and respected by others. Known for betraying Copperstrike's allies for Garterstar.

I'm thinking they were related to Copperstrike, maybe was a nephew.

Regardless, halfway through the civil war Weasel switched sides. Why? No one knows

In reality, it's because Weasel knew Garter was a powerful ally to have, and did not want to test his luck if she did win.

And if their own family hated Weasel? That's how the tunnel crumbles. Weasel would do ANYTHING to survive

Garterstar rewarding their "loyalty" with power was a sweet bonus. And may have planted a seed in their head about the idea of being leader one day.

Ah, but it's best to plan before making any moves. Weasel doesn't feel like joining Copperstrike in StarClan any time soon.

Ngl, I'd imagine some of the cats who sided with Garter are a bit frustrated that he was chosen as deputy over them. Just a brown-noser who wanted to escape being associated with Copperstrike.

(which is probably why Weasel isn't plotting any coups themselves, he is Aware on their reputation and others suspecting that.)

Popular with the youth though, absolutely loves training apprentices. Whoever their apprentice(s) was came out surprisingly well.

Driftblaze (She/They);

Was actually one of the supporters of Copperstrike who stayed in the Clan, and was given deputyship as a sign of good faith.

But if you ask them, she thinks its performative. Just a way to make Garterstar look good, I mean look at how the leader rewarded a traitor!

Ultimately took the offer and stayed in the Clan, as well... She didn't want to risk leaving their family in there, family that was too worried to leave.

BurrowClan may be under the eye of a leader they don't approve of, but the unknown scares Driftblaze too much.

Besides, Driftblaze could make sure that the Clan doesn't fall apart. Who knows would be Garterstar's other choices for deputy.

Has kind of... overworked intern energy. Frustrated, annoyed half of the time. Quick to snap at anyone who pushes too much.

In my heart Driftblaze has anxiety, but the type of anxiety that shows itself through a short temper and lashing out (instead of the overused portrayal of smol anxious bean)

Doesn't... particularly wish ill-well towards Weaseldance? Yeah he's a suck-up and she can't trust them as far as she can throw him. But, she can recognize the need to be safe.

Still doesn't care That much about the cat though. Doesn't help that she heavily suspects that Garterstar would pick Weaseldance to be next leader over her (assuming they both live).

May or may not be willing to help with the rebelling cats. On her own terms.

Healer- Softsong (She/Her)

The only healer of the Clan, as the previous lead healer was killed in the civil war, while trying to save an injured patient. I know that she 100% killed whoever murdered her mentor.

No punishment, as its considered a massive taboo to hurt a healer.

Healers in this universe have a code in which they must be neutral and have no biases - therefore Softsong on paper, wasn't on any sides. And she'll tell you so, convincingly so.

In reality, Softsong is the type of person who CAN'T be neutral in any matters. She needs a hill to die on, and this hill is that Garterstar was the rightful leader.

No idea on what yet, but she didn't like Copperstrike at All. I know that her issue with him isn't as personal as Garter's, she honestly might have just. Found him annoying.

However, Softsong is a master at playing up the whole "soft, passive healer" role that she was assigned. Her murdering a cat was the only thing that could have broke that image, and even then she played the part of someone Horrified at her actions

(and ngl, didn't need much to fake that because ew ew ew, murder? Kind of gross actually.)

Wants to find an apprentice soon though, she isn't an idiot and knows that the cats who left may come back and she doesn't want to go out the same way that her dear old mentor has.

I feel like this is sounding like she's kind of evil, and while she's more of the antagonistic side of things she's more Angry. Passionate. But also women get to be a bit sinister, as a treat <3

Lorekeeper- Spidergaze (They/Them)

Admittedly I Don't have a whole lot on them at the moment

I know that they are one of the oldest cats in BurrowClan, and also stayed out of the civil war.

Probably nowadays is a bit :/ at Garterstar, on account of the whole "murdering someone at such an important place" and was able to note that StarClan, as expected, doesn't... have the best opinion on her.

Can't help but to wonder on how many lives Garterstar got from StarClan (wasn't sure if I mentioned it, but you are Not guaranteed 9 lives. Leaders are expected to keep it a secret for that reason)

I imagine them being more strict? Focused on the good of the Clan, and being honest - even if it hurts others' feelings. Will not hesitate to speak out against any decision Garterstar makes that they personally disagree with.

Not that much of a suck-up to StarClan, this May change but I see them more of a "I do what I think the Clan needs, I don't Need what the stupid dead cats' advice if the obvious answer is Right There"