#bb!shadowclan

This is info that's scattered across a bunch of different posts, plus more deets and changes I haven't had a chance to dive into. Snowtuft committed an atrocity which would torment his victims and descendants for generations, for both its legacy and its trauma.

SO I wanna put as much of it as possible into one place for now, so you don't have to go guessing based on older posts. Especially since some of those posts are long outdated, but I haven't contradicted them yet.

To start the story of the two families, it begins with Snowtuft and the bloody end of the Crusade Era.

CONTENT WARNING; this is one of BB's darkest tales. It involves depictions of xenophobic violence, child murder, war crime, PTSD, abuse, and kidnapping. BB!Snowtuft's a bad kitty!

SEE: Kitten Stealing

(Also: After writing it out, I kinda realized this would be great as a BB entry on its own. I should come back and clean this up someday.)

I'm counting them. I haven't named them yet, but in my notes, they're marked down as "WindClan Massacre 1" and "WindClan Massacre 2."

Dawncloud is a mess in-canon. She's an apprentice who's supposed to be an old queen with several litters, and a mate so old he should have been dead before she was born. The way I've decided to approach her is by making her more accurate to her TPB appearance; an old queen.

She is now Raggedstar's littermate.

A friend of Yellowfang's youth, along with Ashflame (previously ShC Ashfur).

Finchflight was a total git. The kind of husband that you really hope she divorces, but never does.

Nasty to her friends, really full of himself, a fantastic warrior who doesn't let you forget it.

"Dawcy, what do you see in that guy?" "Ohh, you don't know him like I do."

Together, they had several litters of kits. I'm still working out the nitty gritty details on how many litters and how many kits in each.

The oldest were the two who eventually die in the massacre. There weren't as many ShadowClan casualties as WindClan casualties that night, but they were strong warriors in the initial strike squad.

I'm thinking of giving them bird names-- Drake and Harrier, maybe. Finchflight would want his firstborn kits to have names like him, and Dawncloud would oblige.

Scorchwind is in a later litter. He was born after his uncle earned the honor title of Raggedpelt, and Dawncloud adored her brother's old name.

With his blessing, the unused, "lucky name" was passed to Scorchkit.

There's another "maybe" cat who might be hers-- a Glitch Warrior, the "Not Brokenstar" forest rogue from Rise of Scourge.

His WIP name is Braketail. A brake is a marshland dominated by one species of plant. I'm tempted to make his name Brakebone though.

May or may not stay in the Dawnkin family, though. Depends.

Since BB!Brokenstar both does not have the "child soldiers" plotline and has a much longer rule than his canon counterpart, Dawncloud is now the progenitor of some "kit saves."

Currently, Mossthorn is her lastborn.

Finchflight died while they were young, so their temperament is vastly different from his older siblings.

From there, Swampfang, Volewhisper, and Blossomfrost are grandchildren now.

Discopaw and her unnamed sibling (current WIP name Poppaw) may also be Dawnkin, depending.

I'm still deciding who the parents were, though.

Current draft is giving Swamp/Bloss/Vole to Mossthorn, but I might give them to one of the dead firstborns. I like the idea of Volepaw getting horribly mauled while rushing to his parent's defense.

Dawncloud there in the camp, burying two children and unsure if her grandson will survive his injuries, deciding in that moment she cannot lose another kit.

Sadly though, this doesn't have a happy ending. Dawncloud's family is devastated by Runningnose's plague.

Dawncloud, Mossthorn, Volewhisper, and Pop are taken out as Nightstar sympathizers. Disco and Swamp are targeted too, but survive.

Blossomfrost wanted to be a Cleric. She begged Runningnose to let her help, not knowing it was him who had unleashed it on the Clan that "betrayed" Brokenstar.

He warned her that the plague was dangerous, and that there were serious risks involved. She could have distanced herself from the infected, stayed safe. But she didn't.

Her death was unfortunate collateral. She was a bright young warrior with a good heart. A waste.

I'm unsure if Discopaw will stay in this family, but it's definitive that Crowfrost will be descended from Dawncloud. What defines this family is their bright, two-colored irises. Crow has cobalt ringed by brilliant blue frost.

To add insult to injury, I imagine Nightwhisper's name is a direct reference to Volewhisper. Probably Runningnose's idea; to have the first warrior that Tigerstar names be a repeat of the first title Nightstar gave.

'Let this be the sight you die seeing, Dawncloud,' Runningnose's subtle smile and gleeful eyes silently declare, 'I've taken your kits. I've trampled their honor. Everything you betrayed your Clan for was for nothing.'

AYE AYE CAP'N ANGEL (POSITIVE).

Angelshade is his official name, I'll take Silkflower and keep it in my back pocket. For you I also did a drawing of him which I'll turn into a character summary later, once the tree here is done;

Tried to keep his design pretty animator friendly while also putting in the silver colorpoints. He's Blackstar's uncle and I wanted to make sure it showed.

WC fandom is wonderful and amazing with cat designs, but also, I'm holding up the Saggy Wrinkle Lovers in our community singlehandedly. Rejoice, for I present you; Evil Old Man

Bitemark on his ass is a love letter. For who? I'll let you be the judge of that.

Was trying to make sure he was "grizzled" by Clan Culture standards without being too complex, so I made sure his major scar is in an area easy to keep "out of frame" and the shoulder slash is simple.

Big pouch, old man throat dangle, canon-appropriate chad jowls.

Also simplified his ear "jag" into a missing piece.

He will be one of ShadowClan's biggest menaces, gleefully taking part in all of Brokenstar's most violent plans and committing quiet, personal atrocities of his own.

Angel (Derogatory)shade will eventually die in a pool of his own blood at the hands of a BloodClan cat, but I'm unsure if it's still going to be Scourge, or someone else. I kinda like the idea of it being an extremely pointless death done by someone who never even knew his name, OR having it be incredibly cathartic for the person who killed him while he never even saw it coming.

Also, I was trying to find a Northern English villain to suggest some good evil quotes for him since you mentioned lipsynch work (re: i like the idea that all BB cats would have northern english accents in an "english adaptation" of the clanmew) but the only one I could really find was Curtis from Top Boy.

Link, but CW for Curtis being a domestic abuser and gang member lmao.

This is hard to find out because of the unfortunate reality that wetlands are an "unpopular" natural biome. It's hell out there. No one appreciates their local swamps and marshes </3

But I'M here, NUMBER 1 GOO FAN. Quickie on some of the most common species ShadowClan will be hunting, in an English wetland. 5 for your convenience.

Small intro/recap to BB!ShadowClan's food culture; For a mixture of several reasons, including early collaboration and trade with WindClan, living in an area heavily affected by seasonal changes, and cultural pride in being able to eat anything, ShadowClan has one of the most varied diets of any Clan. Mammals, fish, birds, if they can get their mouth on it, they will eat it.

(Yes. This means predators as well. Other Clans will avoid eating predators for culture and taste reasons. ShadowClan finds it offensive to just let good meat rot.)

The most important reason in that list must be stressed; winter is CRUEL to ShadowClan. The RiverClan river is a moving source of water which rarely completely ices over, most animals in ThunderClan don't hibernate, WindClan's rabbits are active in the snow. For most Clans, they will not feel the "bite" of winter until towards the end, when the prey populations crash. ShadowClan feels it immediately.

That's a problem because Prey Item Number 1 Will Surprise you. The most popular prey in ShadowClan is...

1: Ducks.

And with the most common species, mallards, at about 2 pounds on average (with males being slightly larger) you're looking at 5,442 calories each. Enough to feed 15 warriors for a day.

(Note: This estimate is low; actual value would probably be higher. This measurement is taken from this chart which measured whole carcasses and caloric value rounded from 5.9 to 6, and this particular duck was "dressed"-- so its organs, the most valuable part of the animal, were already removed.)

Ducks are SO valuable as prey it's hard to oversell them. They're huge, they're highly nutritious (thiamin, vitamin a, vitamin b, iron), and they're PACKED with fats. They also lay eggs, TONS of them, which ShadowClan will happily snatch from inattentive hens.

The problem with ducks is, they don't stick around in the winter. Mallards might stay if the weather is mild, but if the water starts freezing, they're a-leaving.

That means that right when ShadowClan needs them the most, they'll vanish. If the marsh freezes, which is VERY likely because it's stillwater, they can't access ANYTHING under the ice. So Prey Animal Number 2 ALSO becomes an issue;

2: Carp

Their size and weight varies immensely, but the european carp is a species that AVERAGES 6 - 15 pounds. Using our rough estimation numbers and only a 6 pound fish, that's 10,884 calories. That's a whole Clan fed, if it's rationed perfectly.

Many carp are larger and heavier than cats. Here is a picture of a human fisher with two 5-pound bass so you can get a feel for just how big fish are

The biggest problem with carp, aside from the fact that icy winter conditions will block access to catching them, is that their gallbladders are poisonous. Carp bile is the only dangerous type of bile Clan cats encounter (that I know about so far). When being eaten, Clan cats must take care to gut them gently and remove the organ without spilling toxic green slime everywhere.

(ShadowClan actually collects and uses this bile for other purposes. Dried and diluted, it can be used as a medicine for treating parasites, and wet and mixed into a poultice it can be used to dress wounds. If gargled, it can also dissolve and loosen stuck bones in the throat, VERY important for unknowing kittens who tried to eat cooked bird bones.)

These two are the most common animals in the highly varied ShadowClan diet. Hunt in the shallow marsh, and you're bound to bump into either a duck or a carp at some point.

But when winter rolls in, they start to rely on mammalian prey.

3: Rats

While some rats can breach 2 pounds (SHOUT OUT TO ALL MY NEW YORKERS) most of them only clock in at about half a pound-- 250 grams. That's 1,250 calories. About 3 cats fed.

(NOTE: These estimations of how MANY cats they feed assumes that these bites are being distributed evenly, such as if the animal was being put into a soup or meticulously portioned. It's more likely that a single rat is eaten alone or only shared between two warriors who then bulk up. The sensation of "fullness" is determined by weight rather than caloric value.)

Rats are highly adaptable omnivores, but most of their diet is actually plants! Humans associate them with garbage and filth, and yes, the rats from carrionplace would certainly taste awful. But most of the rats ShadowClan catches would be living in natural conditions, eating nuts, fruits, and smaller animals. So it doesn't make sense that canon sees ALL rats as dirty-- they should actually be a HUGE part of a warrior's diet!

Especially in ShadowClan, where the invasive brown rat has all but eliminated the native black rat population. Brown rats are huge, thick-tailed, excellent swimmers who stick around in the winter and find themselves right at home in a marsh or swamp.

In fact, ShadowClan thinks hunting them is a two-way blessing. A cat stays fed through the winter, and more resources are freed up for the rarer, but more delicious water vole. ThunderClan isn't the only Clan that understands population management.

And speaking of...

4: Squirrels

Significantly smaller than carp and ducks, gray squirrels are usually about 500 grams. I've heard it said that they triple in mass over the winter, but since I'm not sure if that means they triple in weight, I'll simply rule that a wintertime gray squirrel is 1000 grams. Which means about 5,000 calories, enough to feed 14 cats.

...but also. don't underestimate how big a squirrel is. You are a 200-pound bipedal ape, these are 10 pound cats. They are also eating all the organs you, a human, would usually toss.

The general term, wetland, refers to all land that is... take a guess... wet. The difference between a marsh and a swamp is that a swamp is wooded land, which means squirrels can live there!

ShadowClan often finds itself in conflict with ThunderClan over squirrels. The native, endangered red squirrel is a cultural icon to ThunderClan and they believe it's important to protect it at all costs by killing gray squirrels whenever possible. ShadowClan, meanwhile, agrees red squirrels are beautiful, but isn't willing to be aggressive with gray squirrel populations to protect them.

5: Cheating

In true ShadowClan fashion I do what I want and use number 5 to babble about several animals they turn into grub

And SPEAKING of grubs, they love to forage for larval treats. They regularly make snacks out of chafer grubs, stag beetle larvae, cutworms, and if they can manage it, baby honeybees. Chafer grubs are their absolute favorite, which is another reason why WindClan is so passionate about maintaining their moorland; when it turns into grassland, ShadowClan is energized to fight for grub foraging space.

The "problem" with the meat of predators is that it's said to be tough and taste strong and unpalatable. ShadowClan doesn't entirely mind it, but if they end up with a predator in spring and summer, they like to use the seasonal stream (called a syke) that cuts across ThunderClan to soak the meat in running water for a few days.

Not to mention that they really will just grab at any animal, in addition to those lizards and frogs they're notorious for. Hedgehogs, crayfish, waterbirds, snails. There's all sorts of spices they'll use to try to season a strange meat, between mushrooms, pellitory, juniper, rosemary, so on.

Funny enough, it's kinda the Head of Kitchen's job to NOT be super experimental! It makes sense when you remember that the HoK's job is to feed everyone.

If they were experimenting with the day's meal and bungled it, at best the whole Clan goes without supper, and AT WORST you've just given everyone food poisoning. They are probably selected for the job because they're a good cook and very experienced, but they'll have to save their most interesting ideas for free time from now on!

ShadowClan's warriors are the ones who REALLY drive the whacky food processing their Clan is known for. The dynamic is like this;

Snaketail: "Wishbone, how do you suggest I eat a hedgehog?"

Wishbone: "Just bake the whole thing, skin it after"

Smokepaw: "Wishboooone are these snails edible?"

Wishbone: "hmm, yes, but you may not like the taste. Purge them first and lightly soak."

Ratscar: "Ho, Wishbone! Take a look at what a monster left behind! It's too big for me to do much with, have you any ideas?"

Wishbone: "Oho! Vixen! Hmm... yes, I know just what to do with this."

Sure! He's a supporting character in Ripplestar's Rot, and becomes leader of ShadowClan after the Great Pancakening at the Battle of the Gathering.

I wrote about him and every leader post-Ripplestar over here

Marshpaw was a little older than Ripplekit when he was brought to the Clan, just newly apprenticed. Their apprenticeships overlapped and they were teenage friends.

Marsh has always been a sort of quiet dude, he's never been a go-getter. More of a steady, practical guy.

He was friends with Spottedpelt and Gorseclaw too, him and Gorse were the more "level headed" people in the group.

His first name was Marshtail. "Scar" is an Honor Title.

Him and Ripplemoon were young warriors when they became mates. Marshtail could tell you that he liked his passion and drive, but, it would be a half truth. He can't really pick anything in particular that is his favorite trait

He could spend a day stuck in a tree hole with him and it would be enjoyable. He just likes his vibe, he likes to be with him.

There's not much to say about him before the ending of Ripplestar's Rot, because he's a mild guy. His ideal life would have been being a background character who goes on patrol a lot lmao

But at the death of Ripplestar and Spottedpelt, suddenly he was thrust into power he NEVER wanted, in the middle of mourning the loss of his mate and his extended family, and the end of a war he'd given everything to.

His heart broken, he had to clean up what Ripplestar left behind. The other three leaders blamed ShadowClan for everything, and the war had taken a chunk out of the population.

Especially in ShadowClan, with a ton of their warriors being slaughtered at the Gathering. Because of Gorseclaw, they'd seen the attack coming and prepared by only bringing their strongest warriors.

In fury, Dalestar of WindClan and Birchstar of RiverClan exiled many of the outed rebels within their ranks

So, Marshstar was dealing with the other Clans baying for a severe punishment of ShadowClan, adding a flood of new commandments to the code, and also a political refugee crisis

This was a mess. An exhausting, painful mess

It didn't get better, either. No matter what Marshstar did, someone was going to be furious. He couldn't appease the other Clans while maintaining ShadowClan, so, they started exacting revenge by attacking constantly.

(And, mind you, this was the age of Kit Stealing and pillaging. These attacks were high-stakes)

Eventually he stopped apologizing or even negotiating at all. ShadowClan became a sort of secluded, defensive nut that shared very little news, and even skipped Gatherings a few times.

But even that didn't please his warriors. They wanted the Gatherings. They wanted their own revenge. Even as the population recovered, Marshstar refused to do anything else.

The rest of his life felt like he was just biding time. 9 long lives without Ripplestar felt like a curse.

He did do one thing though-- when Houndfang was young, she was a goddamn punk. Little rebel without a cause, the Clan used to be frustrated that she was given such a ferocious name; she could have used a name to calm her down instead :/

She reminded Marshstar of a casual discussion about warrior names he had with Ripplestar, once. About how he liked names that simply made sense, and didn't need to be defended with prose. A Hound and its Fangs

He took a shining to Houndkit, in his melancholic way. She liked bothering him, he wouldn't snap at her or push her away. He would even sometimes enable her-- telling her little tricks for sneaking past the big warriors or giving her advice on how to persuade them to do what she wanted.

So the habit only got "worse." She had absolutely no fear of him as an apprentice and would just announce her opinion to his face.

thinking about it, Marshstar probably took her as an apprentice towards the end of her time as Houndpaw, after getting in too many fights with her mentor and the mentor trying to appeal for a delay of her assessment until she learned respect.

"Hm. No. I don't want her spirit broken. I think the other Clans deserve some hell, actually."

Houndfang didn't have ambition as a kid, she didn't know what she wanted. Marshstar gave her an outlet and it became electricity in her veins.

She quickly took over the Clan when she became deputy, and was more of a leader than he ever was. He just let her start running it.

I feel like he cast his name off, just before he died. He did not want to be Marshstar, he wanted to return to Marshscar, so he held a renaming ceremony for himself and passed on leadership officially.

ShadowClan was reignited in a way it hadn't been in years when Houndstar took power. In the passionate cheering of the crowd, Marshscar slipped away.

No one ever saw him again after that. He was probably sick and went somewhere he could pass away in solitude. Cat behavior

His heart remained with Ripplestar for the entirety of his long life, and for him, it was a relief when it was finally over.

When he got to StarClan, they tried to put him on trial. He got frustrated shortly into it. Ripplestar and Spottedpelt are not here so Literally Why Should I Care?

And they're going to throw this big bombastic ballyhoo, why? To posture? For who? This is pointless and quite frankly embarassing.

He actually interrupted the court proceedings with an Excuse Me. I Don't Want This.

"Thank you for your time. This has been a waste of mine."

It's kind of funny to think that if Houndstar knew about what her mentor did here she would flip her shit at him lmao.

The succession of leaders in BB!ShadowClan is Marshstar, Houndstar, Cedarstar, Raggedstar, Brokenstar, and from Nightstar on you know the drama. Ragged and Broken will get covered in 'Brokenstar's Cataclysm' eventually.

Marshstar

Was Ripplestar's lover and deputy. Survived the disastrous defeat at the Gathering.

With their ambitions to bring SkyClan back dead, Marsh had to focus his attention on his Clan. They lost a lot of warriors...

But, some of the rebels of other Clans had been exiled, so there was a small boost in population.

ShadowClan developed its "reputation" in the Ripple Era, of being cold and cruel hearted. They were attacked a lot and became notoriously aggressive at defending their borders as a result.

He wasn't a 'happy' person. Always a bit forlorn and defeated.

Really did not like being a leader in these circumstances. His warriors didn't usually feel comfortable approaching him, you could tell he did not want to be in this situation.

Eventually, he picked Houdfang as his deputy. Houndfang was extremely aggressive, but not ambitious. Marshstar wanted to leave a leader after him who would be strong, forceful, and defend the Clan ruthlessly.

When he died, he was buried beside Ripplestar. ShadowClan has a complicated relationship to their legacy, their graves are far out of the way in the Forest Territory, and overgrown.

Marshstar sat through about half of their StarClan trial, but quickly grew annoyed. He hated this game of being interrogated, questioned for his sins, his life being weighed. Like... screw you people, "I can already see that Ripplestar and Spottedpelt aren't with you so why should I care about this? Thank you for your time, this is a waste of mine."

In terms of personality, Marshstar is soft-spoken but tired. He can be a pessimist or a realist depending on his mood.

As part of the Dark Forest crew, Marshstar is usually tagging along with Ripplestar's clique.

Houndstar

They weren't lying that Hound can Star

He was BRUTAL. He was always skirting just around the edge of the code, he "encouraged" disproportionate violence against attackers.

His punishments for violating the code against killing was light and his punishments for violating the Law of Loyalty were heavy.

During Darkstar's Commandment, Houndstar took Oakstar's side at first. It seemed like a foolish dream, and the fact this would put an end to kitten stealing seemed odd. Yes, he'd seen kits stolen from his Clan, but he'd stolen from others equally. Challenging each other for resources is what warriors do.

However, he turned around on it before Oakstar did. Houndstar was still a pious cat, with much faith in StarClan. If Darkstar had been given a commandment, he trusted her. Three kits dead was a heavy cost.

He believed very strongly in the idea of legacy and was very close with his children. I'm planning for him to have at least two litters; BATEAR might be in the oldest one, Mousewing was in the younger and was never able to meet her brother.

I might hit this character with the Woman Beam

Cedarstar

Wasn't actually very violent. He was a logistics guy. Fantastic deputy.

Not even half as peaceful as Pinestar, but they vibed. Did a fair amount of trading, particularly flax for leather. Cedar chips as well, as the only cedar in the territory is planted by Carrionplace.

I think Cedar had some corny satisfaction in being The Cedarbringer. He was a bit of a nerd.

DON'T mistake this for nonaggression though, Cedar was just as willing to push borders as any other leader.

His deputy, Stonetooth, is his dad. He chose him for his age and wisdom. Cedar also definitely had kids of his own, I'm planning for this family to have been pretty big at some point.

When Heatherstar took power and started their campaign to take the Mothermouth Moorland, Cedar rose to the challenge. The conflict was standard at first

But as it dragged on, as ShadowClan stopped having access to flax and was losing their important summer hunting grounds, it stopped being the normal amount of inter-Clan violence.

The battles got larger and bloodier with each season

The war drained his lives away. Though he'd overseen the gentler years of the Campaign Era, the stress had caused him to lose weight and turn gray before the end.

Yes, but I'm not sure where to put him. He's not on the tree for now-- he might be from as far back as the Code Era or Ripplestar's Rot. I'm also not sure yet of what his crime was.

There's a few cats who have "bonus info" that won't be on the tree because they're too far back. I'm nearly done so I'll share it here;

Hollowbelly Was the apprentice of Molepelt during Larkstripe's Strike. He was a really sweet dude, very nurturing, who felt like he needed to take a stand. When Dalestar broke the strike by codifying the Cleric's Vow, he backed away from the Cleric position because he had always wanted to have his own kits. It was a dealbreaker for him.

Sloethorn The Cleric before Redthistle. Is probably related to either Hollowbelly or Molepelt in some way.

Snakethroat One of Dawnstar's deputies, probably her second, who eventually was replaced by Ripplemoon. He was handsome and confident, but retired because he decided he didn't want the stress of being a leader.

Redscar, Jumpfoot, Mossfire, Brightwhisker, Flowerstar Holding onto them for the Law of the Deputy, which was coined in the Code Era after the death of the final founder, Riverstar, plunged the Clans into chaos. Their names might have been ancient-esque, but are remembered as the modern forms.