Been thinking a lot about the idea that a StarClan cat appearance becomes more fantasy-like based on the stories of them and how they're perceived by the living. So new spirits would look more like how they were alive while older spirits would look different.
[ID: A sketch of BB!Gray Wing, Patron of Wisdom, over many generations. Xeir hood has changed into the wings of two pheasants, with their eyes overlapping xeir own, and beaks crossing above the nose. Xeir body is covered in illegible script.]
While I do imagine they keep a "BE NOT AFRAID" normal-form that they can choose to appear as, yes. Over time, ancestral spirits begin to lose touch with their mortal forms and become abstractions.
Once, long ago, the Four Seasonal Gods resembled something very much like an ancient patron of Silverpelt. In comparison to Rock, Sol, Midnight, and Sharptooth, even the oldest spirit in StarClan (Gray Wing) is still an infant.
Partner and I are still designing the other founders but Gray Wing and Clear Sky are pretty solid.
[ID: A sketch of BB!Skystar, Patron of War, over many generations. He is wearing a thousand pelts stitched together like a king's robe, flowing down his body.]
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EDIT: I've decided to kill Gray Wing a lot earlier. This information is outdated as most of xeir roles are going to be taken by Bright Storm.
This is still here for posterity's sake, but eventually I hope to put up links to new summaries for Bright Storm as Thunder Storm's wise old guide who must unlearn abuse apologia, and Gray Wing the Wise as a Patron of Wisdom and the only cat to die on the Sun Trail Journey, never reaching the Forest.
[ID: The Better Bones version of mortal Gray Wing. They are a dark gray cat with a lighter gray "hood" of fur, wing-shaped tufts, and a shoulder burl. Their ears flop and there is a dark circle under their eye.]
In BB!DOTC, Clear Sky is a villain. From start to end-- his development is only towards being slightly less bad, but always a threat.
And Gray Wing loved him. For a long time, when they closed their eyes, they were seeing their pure-gray brother contrasted against the snow of the mountains, dragging a hawk home, his smile confident but still kind. They couldn't believe the idea that Clear Sky had changed so much that the memory was no longer accurate, much less accept the painful thought that perhaps, that kindness was never there at all.
It is a painful lesson to take, that forgiveness is not always a virtue. That humility in excess is a sin stronger than pride. Love can be a powerful, blinding poison.
They must reckon with the fact that their enabling behavior caused many of the people they love to be hurt. They downplayed Clear Sky's escalating violence. They encouraged their son Thunder Storm to live with him. They stood by as Turtle Heart's mate was exiled after her death.
For this, Gray Wing dedicates themself to early ThunderClan. Their plans are pivotal in its early success, becoming Thunder Storm's grand advisor. After their death, Gray Wing is remembered as a Patron of Parentage, Wisdom, and sometimes even used as an example of overcoming blood loyalty to serve one's Clan.
In BB, Gray Wing is gib gender. They go by They/Xe/He!
When Jagged Peak broke his leg, Clear Sky cast him out of the early Clan group. Bright Storm and Gray Wing tried to keep him alive, but failed.
Xey watched him die, withered away just like Fluttering Wing. Gray Wing has lost so much family-- a father, a sister, and now a brother. And they will never see their mother again.
They never want to lose another member of their family.
Gray Wing is unambiguously considered the parent of Thunder Storm... or, they would be.
Bright Storm passed away when Thunder Storm was about 4 moons old, as Sky's Clan grew more and more hostile towards Shadow's Clan.
Gray Wing desperately tried to bargain for peace, foolishly believing that if Shadow's Clan gave Clear Sky what he wanted, he would leave them alone
No one can change that much, they believed. There was goodness deep within him, he just needed to realize it.
And he didn't want Thunder Storm to grow up in a violent world... and certainly not in a world where his 'true' father was the villain.
But Thunder Storm never would have known Clear Sky if it hadn't been for Gray Wing's worry. He certainly didn't see him as a 'father.' The young cat picked up on what xey believed.
And when Clear Sky and his cats took refuge after the fire, he realized was wrong about his son. He was useful, after all.
Gray Wing believed they were doing the right thing, encouraging Thunder Storm's curiosity, telling him he'd still love him no matter what he chose. That there was something to learn from Clear Sky.
After all, he is a powerful leader, and his father like how Bright Storm was his mother.
Time and distance was sanding down Clear Sky in his memory. The cats of Shadow's Clan had split in the face of his blasphemy, but many deeply admired Clear Sky's way of ruling.
His group was powerful, their kittens growing fat on the forest's bounty while they had to become very crafty while living in the mucky part of the woods.
And perhaps it was wrong to throw out a cat with three legs, seeing as how Thunder Storm had grown into a decent hunter...
But Turtle Heart's mate had never been able to learn how to hunt. Bumble could barely climb a tree, and her fumbling claws couldn't even catch a fish.
When Turtle Heart died retrieving her kittens, Tall Shadow announced that Bumble would need to catch her fair share, or be cast out. She did not share their blood or their beliefs, and with Turtle Heart dead, they wouldn't have enough skilled hunters to feed her and the children Turtle left behind.
Shocked, some cats turned to Gray Wing for xeir wisdom. Xey were the one who saw through Clear Sky's cruelty, surely xey would know best.
And xeir ruling was... that Tall Shadow wasn't to be undermined. Xey had seen Jagged Peak starve and die, no matter how hard xey and Bright Stream hunted to feed all of them.
"Our ancestors spoke to us on my return with Thunder Storm. It would have been difficult to feed Jagged Peak, but he was one of ours, just as Thunder Storm is. Bumble... is not."
And Turtle Heart had deigned Gray Wing as godfather of the kittens, after all. They would be safe with him.
Betrayed, Bumble was cast into the forest, Acorn Swoop and Lightning Cry watching the kittens cry for their other mother with horror.
But if Gray Wing the Wise was saying it... surely they must not be seeing the truth.
When Thunder Storm returned from his time with Clear Sky, having witnessed the sick reality of his style of leadership, he was numbed to learn this. Then, he flew into a rage, shouting down every monster who'd turned Bumble out into a violent forest with a tyrant just beyond the border
When Gray Wing came forth to try and calm his adopted son, Thunder Storm shoved him back. "I didn't think I'd come home to find a second Clear Sky."
He was speechless as Thunder Storm rallied his friends, charging back into the woods to find Bumble before Clear Sky did.
Those words knocked around in their head. They sent him to learn from Clear Sky, and to see the good in him... but he came back furious. With Sunlit Frost, who had been cast out just like Jagged Peak.
...it was a wake up call. Xey'd sent xeir son to live with that ghoul. Xey'd cast their godkit's mother out into the wilderness. And now, xey were about to lose Thunder Storm too.
What had they done? Gray Wing rallied as many reinforcements as possible, admitting their mistake, and reminding them that Thunder Storm needed them now.
The battle that followed was the beginning of ThunderClan.
And, afterwards, Gray Wing dedicated themself to the strength of the budding Clan, creating plans for escape, travel, and battle as the nomadic group skittered around the forest to remain close to their nearest allies.
And still, it tugged at their heart that it had to be this way. The fact that Clear Sky wanted to eradicate everyone in the growing group was a hard pill to swallow, and he still had to excuse himself from the meetings when the topic of Clear Sky's raids came up.
Somehow, even though they were living in the reality where his violence was stark and undeniable... sometimes it didn't seem real. Like they'd fallen into a horrible nightmare.
It's even harder to breathe when xey have to think about it.
But they came to admit and apologize for their mistakes... especially to Bumble. She never did anything to deserve the fact he didn't have her back that day.
She forgives him in the sense that she doesn't hold anger towards him, but after that, she always has him emotionally at arm's length.
After the disastrous First Battle, the borders settled, and Gray Wing was finally able to relax, retiring peacefully and becoming the first elder.
The Trivia
He is older than he was in-canon, at least 7 years old when the cats first set out (instead of... 1 year old)
Xey were already respected for xeir wisdom in the mountain, and were pivotal in leading the group after the death of Shaded Flower, their leader.
After their retirement, Thunderstar is very concerned with caring for his aging father and his asthma. Dapple Pelt spent more time in ThunderClan than anywhere else, as Cloud Flight traveled between the groups with his services.
When Dapple Pelt died without a successor, Thunderstar felt desperate, watching Gray Wing struggle to breath.
It drove him to resort to serious negotiation tactics, to acquire a new doctor.
Thunderstar goes to great lengths to make Gray Wing as comfortable as possible. He takes care of all his cats this way, but he's known as a particularly devoted son. This established the precedent that a Clan is about its elders, and providing for them.
To battle for more territory, and to be strong, is to serve that ideal.
In terms of design, Gray Wing's meant to look like a wet beast lmao
Droopy ears, shaggy hood.
There will never be any biokits from Gray Wing. No. They have three children; Thunder Storm, Pebble Heart, and Sparrow Heart. These ARE real kits.
Pebble Heart becomes Owl Eyes later, earning the very first Honor Title.
If Slate exists, she won't be Gray Wing's mate. Having a mate just isn't in the card for xem.
I have half a mind to change all of the Skykin's last names to Sky, so Gray Wing becomes Gray Sky, and Jag becomes Jagged Sky... but, I'm holding off for now.
As soon as I saw the sketch of what Gray Wing looks like after many generations I knew I needed to draw xem. Not entirely sure how accurate the colors are though.
He doesn't have canon colors as a spirit yet so that's perfectly good! Love the little pops of color!
