Sweet white violet (Viola blanda) - Oskwen Derived from base Clanmew osk* (white). The largest of the violets, oskwen may grow a tail-length high! It has fragrant white flowers with purple veins and distinct heart-shaped leaves. It grows in the woods and swamp and may form carpeting groundcover.

Marsh blue violet (Viola cucullata) - Luwoo Luwoo has purplish-blue flowers borne well above its leaves. It grows throughout the territory's wetlands and is about as tall as a cat.

Lance-leaved violet (Viola lanceolata) - Kiru The flowers of kiru strongly resemble oskwen; the plant is instead distinguished by its uniquely long leaves. It's shorter than a cat and grows in the swamp.

Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides) - Nanlo Derived from base Clanmew lolol* (deep green) and nan* (fern). So named for its evergreen foliage, which stays green throughout leafbare. Nanlo grows only in the drier upland woods and attracts ruffed grouse.

Common bracken (Pteridium aquilinum) - Kaonan Derived from kao (triangle) and base Clanmew nan*, "triangle fern", named for its triangular fronds. Kaonan is an aggressive colonizer that may form dense colonies in the woods. Another common name for this plant is brake, which makes Brakelight a perfectly acceptable name.

Cinnamon fern (Osmunda cinnamomea) - Kemwo Derived from base Clanmew kemree* (orange/ginger) and morrwo* (big). Kemwo is a huge fern, growing up to 6ft tall, and produces big cinnamon-colored sporangia each spring - from these it earns its name.

Interrupted fern (Osmunda claytoniana) - Mwich Derived from mwisk* (missing) and och (middle). Fertile leaflets develop in the middle of fronds, leading to a strange appearance and earning mwich its name. This is among the first ferns to emerge in the spring.

Royal fern (Osmunda regalis) - Naliu Derived from paliu* and nan*, "color fern"; this name refers to its colorful fiddleheads and fall foliage. Naliu is quite large, but smaller than kemwo, and often used as shelter by small animals.

Broad beech fern (Phegopteris hexagonoptera) - Eekaon Derived from eeb* and kaonan, "little bracken", for its broad triangular fronds that resemble kaonan. Eekaon spreads rapidly, but dies back in winter and when receiving too much sun. It's little bigger than a cat.

Rock polypody (Polypodium virginianum) - Holfe Derived from hehhefe* (slithering) and holro* (green). Holfe is an evergreen fern that grows in creeping clumps along rocks and tree roots in the woods.

Middle - Och Half-way through a time period, event, story, object, etcetera. Note that Claymew still uses the base word yosawl* to refer to the middle of the day; the phrase "hapif-en-och", translating literally as "day-'s-middle", is used only in poetic contexts.

End - Rran The end of a time period, event, story, object, etcetera. Can also refer to the rear of a body. This is also how a story or play is ended, by simple saying "rran".

Triangle - Kao A shape with three points, used almost exclusively for describing objects and locations.

ClayClan started as a worldbuilding project to support a story I was tossing around in my head. At the time, this story was unnamed and followed Minkpaw, a new apprentice who joins the Clan and unravels a mystery.

At this point I only knew it was set in a swamp. I like taking reference from National Parks, so I started searching for Parks with swamps, and after some googling I found out Arcadia National Park has a ton of wetlands! So I started compiling a species list. As I worked I gradually switched the model region from Arcadia to a general Maine wetland, as this was more appealing to me.

Once I had that together, I started working on ClayClan's culture. This was largely a matter of tossing ideas at the wall and seeing what stuck! I wanted there to be a new rank between warriors & deputy, so I gave them captains. I like exploring religions unique from canon's StarClan, so I gave them the pantheon. I couldn't decide if I wanted their camp to be in the woods or by the lake, so I gave them two camps. Once I had down my base ideas, I just refined them until they felt complete, and since then I've been adding fun tidbits to my own liking.

As I worked, I realized that Pickerelstripe - a supporting character in the original story, as Minkpaw's mentor - was much more interesting to me than Minkpaw herself. So I decided to switch the story to her perspective, and it began developing into the Heart Rot that I love!

With this switch came a change in tone, as Heart Rot is much darker and more serious than my early plans. So I made some worldbuilding changes to fit! ClayClan's religion solidified, kepbon sculptures came into existence, that sort of thing. I'm still making tweaks here and there to tighten everything up.

Okay! Thanks for sticking with me through all of that, here's some random tips! :D

A good place to start is with location! I'm a total nerd about ecosystems, so I like to make my Clan territories as close to their real-world inspirations as possible. iNaturalist is a great reference for finding species in a specific area! Google is also your friend, and I've even used physical field guides in the past. It's a really fun process and enriches your knowledge of the real world - win-win!

Of course, not everyone's interested in this level of detail, and that's all good! I would, however, recommend having an idea of your Clan's territory and the types of animals/plants they regularly encounter. It can be a good springing-off point for worldbuilding! Take ClayClan's bobcat lore as an example, that came directly from wanting to do something cool with bobcats being in Maine.

Is this worldbuilding for a story? If so, what story are you trying to tell? Try and focus on worldbuilding that will affect the plot and see where it leads from there. For example, if your story focuses on family ties, you can explore how your fanClan views family!

Does your inspiration region have any interesting history? If so, you could try and tie it into your Clan's mythos! For example, the setting you've got makes me really curious about how your Clan views the caldera, and all its vents & craters. Do they believe the caldera has always been there? Do they have some lore about the ancient volcano? How do they rationalize the vents? There's lots to explore!

What do you want to see expanded on in Clan culture? The rank system, naming, religion, social structure, etc? Go ahead and change them to your liking, then see how that impacts the world! This is your Clan, after all, play with it how you'd like.

Focus on what's interesting to you! At the end of the day, this is your project, and you should enjoy working on it. If something doesn't interest you like it used to, you can take a break from it and find a different focus, or toss that part entirely and start over. Do what makes you happy!

New york aster (Symphyotrichum novi-belgii) - Palefi Derived from base Clanmew palifuh* (purple) and pfefi* (fluff petal). Tall, thin-stemmed plant with narrow leaves and pale purple flowers. Grows on marshland borders and may be found in nutritionally poor soil. Attractive to butterflies, moths, and bees!

Bog aster (Oclemena nemoralis) - Oskfi Derived from palefi and osk* (white). Very similar to palefi, but a little smaller and with pale, pink-or-white flowers. Found in wetlands and on shores.

Bog goldenrod (Solidago uliginosa) - Morree Derived from waymor* (taller than it is wide) and rreen* (golden). Very tall with a thin, reddish stem and fluffy golden flowers that bloom in late summer. Grows in wetlands and on shores. Resistant to deer and attractive to butterflies.

Water hemlock (Cicuta maculata) - Mwrai Branched plant with clusters of tiny white flowers and deeply-toothed leaves. Grows in marshes and on shores. Mwrai is highly toxic! Consumption results in tremors, extreme pain, fever, and death. Mwrai is especially dangerous due to its resemblance to the herbs boneset and valerian.

Blueflag iris (Iris versicolor) - Pail Derived from palifuh* (purple) and pai* (petal). Thick-leaved plant with fancy blue-to-purple flowers. Found in marshes, fields, and on shores. Though beautiful, pail is irritating when handled, and ingestion results in stomach upset.

Fragrant water-lily (Nymphea odorata) - Ssoskai Derived from osk* (white), pai* (petal), and yasschoop* (sense of smell). Leaves are wide and float on the water; flowers are ornate, white with a yellow center, and bloom from morning til noon during warm months. Ssoskai are found exclusively on the lake. Flowers carry a sweet scent that may be detected hundreds of yards away!

Wild sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis) - Sikibow Cat-sized plant with tiny white flowers in spherical clusters; these flowers develop into dark berries in mid-summer. Grows in forest understories. Browsed by deer and moose, while the berries are consumed by foxes and chipmunks.

Sheep laurel (Kalmia angustifolia) - Besskaf Derived from beka* (pink), peske* (clusters of flowers), and mwssaf* (poisonous). Shrub with thick, leathery leaves and circular pink flowers. Grows in wetlands, forests, and on shores. Besskaf is highly toxic to cats and also exudes chemicals that inhibit other plants, particularly conifers.

Northern St. John's-wort (Hypericum boreale) - Mwurfs Leafy, shrubby plant with fancy yellow flowers. Found in wetlands, on shores, and in shallow lake water. Mwurfs is toxic - contact may result in boils and irritation, while consumption leads to photosensitivity, drooling, and depression.

Small flying insect found on meat - Pfsee Pfsee is used primarily for flies, and refers specifically to small insects that produce maggots on meat. These pose a seasonal threat to the prey-pile... I'm yet to find a solution that the cats could use to prevent infestations, though. Please let me know if you have any ideas!

Small flying insect not found on meat - Ssis Ssis is the word used for little flying bugs that don't lay eggs on meat. It's used most often for midges, gnats, and other tiny buzzing things that have a habit of annoying every cat they come across.

Blood-sucking insect - Nagnak A nagnak is any insect that bites or sucks blood from cats. This is a general term - there's more specific ones for some of the most common nuisances, including mosquitos, flies, and ticks. If a cat receives an insect bite with no known source, they're blaming a nagnak. Mosquito - Eek (homophone with base Clanmew eek*) Biting fly - Gnasee (gnam* + pfsee) Tick - Byyufwo (byyo* + ssuffss* + owo*)

Maggot - Slaw Slaw are what pfsee create! At least, that's how Clan cats see it. Slaw infest meat and turn it inedible - cats generally detest them for this. Unlike the Clans in Better Bones, ClayClan is not medically advanced enough to practice debridement, so slaw have no medical function.