#bb!starclan

I’m curious if Splashtail was rejected for lives or if he refused to take them on principle

The solution is very simple. Most angels can't communicate directly! What's the point of speaking in omens and signs and prophecies if you can just say what you want

Between the realms of life and death is a sort of veil, like a strange, dusty membrane. A spirit can cross through it and try to influence the mortal plane, but it's got that disconnected feeling of working in heavy gloves.

Still, it's reliable to zip down and drag a couple of items to the nearest Cleric. They're trained in divination, learning basic systems for properly interpreting signs and omens.

The bright feather of a jay = StarClan is pleased with you

The dull feather of a jay = StarClan is disappointed in you

Hairstreak butterfly = Follow this

Snail shell, swirl-up = Yes

Snail shell, swirl-down = No

Trying to chat casually is AWFUL. Have you ever been asleep, and someone started trying to tell you something or command something of you? Sometimes you'll remember it, other times it just ends up warping whatever dream you were in, but most of the time you'll catch absolutely NOTHING. That's what it's like when gramma talks to you.

It's easier to connect to spirits you knew in life, or have a kinship with. Strong emotions make this more powerful. Rituals, like invocation (calling StarClan to connect the ancestor to you), channeling (directly contacting the spirit, usually via a sacrifical object), or prayer (catching the attention of a spirit) can strengthen the connection, but there will always be that veil.

Think of spirituality kind of like a stat. In life, having a huge number means you're really good at receiving messages and understanding intuitively if you're near something supernatural. In death, you're better at sending them and what exactly will get through.

Other assorted tidbits in closing;

More powerful spirits have a higher "stat" in spirituality, but they're also usually more disconnected from the mortal they once were.

Skystar, Patron of War, could pretty directly tell you what the confusing omen means...

But. He's very likely to angrily blast you with a lightning bolt for asking him to do something he sees as beneath him.

Thankfully this is why Invocation is helpful. If you tried to invoke someone who would get angry you're bugging them, the "call" won't go through.

Thanks to Clan cat ego and shifting popularity, good patrons often go uncontacted because they're less "cool" or unpopular. Pinestar actually got a lot of mileage out of his invocations of Bumble.

SPIRITS ARE INDIVIDUALS. Even when they've hit godly status and are distant from mortality, StarClan is not as united of an entity as it presents.

StarClan is not a fair or rational entity. It's the most powerful ancient spirits remembered over many decades, and a bunch of recent dead relatives a few generations behind the living.

Lizardstripe understands it best; the lower angels make a jury and a crowd and the patrons are the court staff.

The younger spirits are more connected to the living, but the older spirits have more functional power to pass on accurate signs

Ancient patrons, especially the founders, tend to not give a lot of "personal" attention to prayers, and when they do answer they tend to be cryptic. They are very disconnected from their mortal selves, more legend than life now.

Riverstar in particular is notorious for this. As the Patron of Water, he's essentially an abstract concept, on top of being a mysterious and wise person when he was alive.

Angels of all levels are perfectly capable of acting alone and messing things up, though. Birchface actually sent the sign that wound up getting Mapleshade’s kittens drowned, and he's just kept quiet about it out of fear this whole time.

Spottedleaf was UNRIVALED in her connection, both in life and in death.

Firestar doesn't know how she made it look so EASY... and he's also got a good connection, himself. He wishes he had more time to learn from her.

Shadowsight got his incredible connection by being tormented by Ashfur. He blasted him with lightning and turned him into a living radio tower.

If Ashfur and his accomplices hadn't blocked off StarClan, Shadowsight would have been more haunted and hounded than Goosefeather. They were the only "signals" he was picking up

(And then Ashfur ate all his accomplices anyway.)

SO those sorts of stunts are not pulled often. You need to be extremely powerful to alter the living like Ashfur did to Shadowsight

(In case you're about to ask; Goosefeather was likely either a mistake or an accident, unless I end up tweaking his story later)

The only time where you're guaranteed to be able to directly, perfectly talk to any cat is during a leadership ceremony. It's considered too sacred and personal to burden with commands, because the leader will only ever experience this once.

Going through the Moonplace is actually not a guarantee! They send very strong dreams to those who visit, more like TPB than later arcs.

As for why ghosts don't just reveal their murderer-- in addition to how hard it actually is to speak directly, most murderers simply take precautions.

It's known StarClan can be watching, but there are also demons to channel. There are rituals to ward watchful eyes.

Can't reveal your murderer if you don't know who killed you.

If you're Redtail in particular and your incredible sister breaks the law to summon you directly for answers, you actually waste the entirety of the time you got to yell at her about using the wrong method <3

But in a nutshell; no more zoom calls. You will STRUGGLE for your divine revelations and only end up receiving them when you've royally pissed them off the way God INTENDED

Windstar is waaaaaaaaaaay different. Modern cats have completely forgotten that she was kind of a bitch. Of all the founders, I'd actually say that she's the most different. They de-girlbossified her.

Her revelation from Gray Wing the Wise was that she had a taste of battle and choked on it; ergo, she should expand her horizons. She spent the later half of her leadership doing just that, encouraging her cats to trade, forming alliances, and collaborating heavily with Shadowstar on technological advances. She was so loved that ShadowClan constructed a cairn at her burial-- a mound of stones around her body.

In life, she never lost her intensity. Though she took the revelation to heart, she often held grudges, took part in skirmishes against the others, and displayed a lot of bias within her heavily-hierarchical Clan. She could even be cruel and unfair in her judgements. Moth Flight personally experienced this in life, as The Wind Runner held her parentage against her before she'd proven herself useful.

In BB, Moth Flight is the daughter of Cloud Flight and Wind's terrible ex-mate, Branch. Windstar's kittens are Morning Awakener and Dustiest Muzzle.

(note: Names still might change. Park cat names are titles, three words at most, which are collected over their lives. Traditionally, a king bestows these titles, but in WindCo it's their parent. I feel like it fits her to have three kits called Big One, Middle One, and Little One tbh, lmao)

In death, these less savory aspects have been filed down by the sands of time. She's remembered as intelligent and jovial, loud and singsong. Her real build was lanky and wiry, but she's imagined to be as fat as a rabbit thanks to her trading and innovation. She gets associated with the matriarch doe that runs a warren.

(Gorselike Fur is depicted as harelike.)

The stories give her a king-like air to her. Most of the post-battle WindClan tales open up with her being approached in her camp, describing the kittens that took over after her death as 'heirs,' because the Wind Coalition didn't have deputies until Riverstar's death and a succession crisis.

In contrast, Shadowstar is actually the least changed founder. Her revelation was that she had failed to break her own legacy (remembered through history as failed to be compassionate, as her "legacy" of being the descendant of Broken Shadow is forgotten) and someone else would be broken for her. That turned out to be her nephew, Sun Shadow.

After winning a staring contest with One Eye, Sun Shadow won the right to become the God of the Sun. It is said that if someone else wins a staring contest with him, THEY will become the next god, so Sun Shadow defends his position viciously.

At night, he must rest, and his aunt is there to shelter him. This is why there is day and night-- as Shadowstar allows him to sleep in her embrace.

(Post-Lake there are actually arguments between River and Shadow "philosophers," who fight over if Sun Shadow is actually laying down to rest in Riverstar's embrace instead. Blood has been spilled. Average college professor discussion.)

So, as a patron, she's associated with shelter, safety, rest. Sanctuary. It's something that ShadowClan heavily values about itself at various points through history. So Shadowstar is seen as gentle, protective, and pragmatic. Someone who deeply regrets how she lost sight of the value of life, and will now fight to defend the cats under her charge.

Quickie thing to answer asks with. How does the 9 Lives system work in BB?

BASICS, PULSARS

At its simplest, when the previous leader dies, the deputy makes a pilgrimage to the Moonplace (Stone or Pool) and receives 9 entire lives from Starclan. Yes, NINE. The 10th, the one you started with, remains in the afterlife.

This is called your "Pulsar," a concept somewhat like a "soul." The difference is that only cats in the Clan Afterlife System get Pulsars, where all cats have souls. A leader's 9 deaths will slowly fill in that very faint pulsar, until their final death combines them with it.

Most Clan cats simply die and their soul immediately becomes a full, solid pulsar upon reaching the Afterlife. But this is about Leaders.

Until the MODERN ERA (BB!TBC, the "current day" in BB) the previous leader HAD to be dead before the deputy could receive a life.

Pinestar and Brokenstar were not dead, ergo, Sunstar and Nightstar could not receive their lives.

No lives until the previous leader is dead and their pulsar is filled. ALIVE? NO LIVES!

The Clan cats are currently, as we speak, inventing a ritual to strip an ousted leader of their lives without killing them. "Alive? No Lives!" was a rigid rule for most of Clan history, but will soon have an exception if the ritual is performed.

Lives can be for any reason the Patron sees fit, but most of them are wishes or advice on how they hope the new leader rules.

LIVES COME FROM CATS YOU HAVE A CONNECTION TO. You will never receive a life from a spirit you do not recognize, or are unfamiliar with. (Elder Bones doesn't do pointless fanservicey cameos in this house)

Only 9 and no more. No, you cannot "replenish" lives or get extras.

LIFE DENIAL AND THE DARK FOREST

You do not get a 9-life guaruntee. It's uncommon, but if you don't have enough cats who want to see you rule for a long time, you won't get all 9. Because of this, leaders are encouraged to keep the details of their ceremony secret.

StarClan may also choose to "delay" lives. Blackstar was only given one life freely, the rest he earned over many years of repeated pilgrimages and trials as penance for his role in TigerClan.

It was unprecedented for Tigerstar to be outright and utterly rejected by StarClan when he went to receive his own. Instead, he went to the Dark Forest to recieve lives, both from demons and rebellious angels. And a surprise.

You can receive a mix of Dark Forest and StarClan lives, but StarClan will almost certainly damn you for taking forbidden lives.

There are extreme situations where there may not be enough ancestors to give the full set-- Spiderstar of SkyClan only received 3 due to a terrible rat problem.

Cats outside of the Clan cat afterlife cannot bestow lives, as they only have a normal soul, not a pulsar.

A leader's pulsar can be sent to the Dark Forest while they're still alive. This results in nightmares and dreams of the Place of no Stars.

MIRACLES

StarClan's power is directly tied to its collective emotion. It's known best for its devastating fury with lightning-strike smites and covering the moon with clouds, but they can also perform acts of great love or sorrow.

One example of that was the resurrection of tigerHeartstar, after seeing her father announce to the heavens that his daughter is his deputy before plunging into the Moonpool with her body. As his lives drowned away, sinking further and further, StarClan was so inspired that it restarted the dead deputy's heart, using Rowanstar's last life to do so.

The most significant difference is between SkyClan and Forest Four worship. Between the four, it's mostly superficial ritual differences.

Traditional Forest Four religion is centralized. Clerics are both healers and religious leaders. There is a stricter concept of both blasphemy and dark magic that discourages personal worship of StarClan, so when you're given a strange dream or omen, you are supposed to bring it to your Cleric to interpret it.

By contrast, SkyClan has lived several generations on the lam. The closest thing to a Cleric they had was the Hub like Skywatcher, who was more of an "official networking expert" than anything. The Leader is the strongest spiritual authority and a Cleric is more of a doctor than a priest, so SkyClan cats nurture a more personal connection to Skypelt than Forest Four do with Silverpelt.

SkyClan's practices do not sit well with Forest Four. It's no wonder they have a demon like Brokenstar in their pantheon. Heretics, the lot of them.

As for Forest Four...

ShadowClan will surprise you with how pious they are. They have a deep connection to the Dark Forest with Ripplestar, Brokenstar, and Tigerstar in their recent past, so they fear the influence of demons more than other Clans.

So, their warding rituals also tend to be the best, and they're the most vocal about blasphemy. Clan cat AU of The Exorcist would have the priest come from ShadowClan.

WindClan is loud. The wind howls and so do they. They sing songs, chant as groups, and act notably performative about their piety. Visiting the Cleric regularly is a social expectation-- else you must be hiding something!

They have this practice of "counting their blessings," (Clanmew: "Pos shayu shai Laalha; For starlight I-lather") which basically means they like to point out the blessings StarClan has given WindClan. Usually this has to do with glowworms, an abundance of snails or rain, shiny things in general, a bountiful hunting week, etc.

ThunderClan does a lot of honoring. Sacrifices, dances, feasts. They have the most productive territory and make use of that. You'd think they'd get along with WindClan best, but they both find the other insufferable lmao

Leaftail: "bunch of shineless tailtasters over there-- they think they can just EAT FOOD and that means they're devoted to StarClan? I do that ANYWAY."

Shellfur: "maybe if they ate some more food over there they wouldn't have to visit their Cleric every 3 days. Your stomach growling isn't an omen bitch you just don't partake in StarClan's earthly delights."

Leaftail: "RICH coming from a TUNNELBUN BITER"

Shellfur: "MAAAAAAD that I eat YOUR food BETTER THAN YOU"

"SHUT UP"

"AND IM DATING YOUR COUSIN AND THERES NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT"

And, lastly, RiverClan.

They take things slow and try to recognize the blessings present in their world. When something is acknowledged as having "personhood" in Clanmew, it's given a warrior name. RiverClan gives a lot of things warrior names.

[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.

Sadly there are downsides to being dead. They can still eat and cook the prey in StarClan offerings, but they can't taste of the mortal plane any longer.

There is ONE exception. Sacrificial offerings can be tasted. Tasting these offerings as a spirit can sometimes have... unintended effects.

Nothing magical, but suddenly, it hits you again that the afterlife isn't the same as being alive. There's flavors you haven't experienced in years. Mass returns to your lips and paws. You realize that you aren't breathing, and for a twinge of a second, your chest surges with the warmth of a beating heart.

There's a lot of them! I don't think there could ever be a "comprehensive list" without just listing most of StarClan. See, most cats will typically value their own family over others, leading to the patrons "waxing and waning" in popularity over the generations.

But here's some of the ones who are pretty consistently popular!

Thunderstar = Justice Comeuppance, fair judgement, and mercy are also things he can be invoked for. Remember that a Patron gains its power from belief. Much like how Saint Michael was once a patron of healing as well as war, associations for BB!StarClan cats can shift over time.

Bumblemumble = Speech, Diplomacy She became less popular in the Chivalric Period, but was a favored patron for Pinestar to invoke. She never totally went away, even though her name has become "Bombolmlemlaan," 'Sentence-Tonguetwister,' over time. (Her name is also used in reference to "being tongue-tied." Fitting that she's a bit hard to translate into English!)

Acorn Swoop = Prra A Clan culture-specific value. Perfect timing, promptness, coincidences of good planning. Arriving in the nick of time. Acorn Swoop is a good example of how cats can wax and wane as well; when Hallowflight dies (he is alive to the current arc in BB), RiverClan will probably prefer invoking him over Acorn for a while.

Sparrow Heart = Loyalty and Fidelity. This BURNS her a new one, btw. Many of the other spirits as old as her have begun to lost touch with their mortal lives, but she didn't join Clear Sky because she loves him. She didn't serve him for his own ends. She wanted his power, and in death she's been reduced to his eternal stooge. She craves his throne. (And I have to leave it there until we find out what the next few arcs have in store :3)

Speckletail = Protection Against Natural Disaster Storms, deforestation, pollution, whatever. Speckletail is invoked to defend Clans against oncoming doom, because girlie took out a bulldozer and the battle culture is obsessed with that

Stonefur = Winning the War/Losing the Battle An important god for lost causes. When you aren't able to win, he is invoked to make your death mean something. Needletail, for the first time in a long time, requested for StarClan to call down his strength.

Blackstar = Redemption And change in a better direction. Said to be reflected in frogs in particular, how they go from tadpoles to full creatures, associated with wetland health thanks to his ambitious Bog Project.

Sundrown Patrol = Directions Most of them are not dead yet. Feathertail is currently the only one in the role and protects travelers generally, but eventually her and her Cohorts will comfortably divide up the cardinal directions. Feathertail is South (Towards the Mountain), Tawny is West (Towards the Ocean), Bramble is North (Towards the Lake) and Crowfeather is East (Into the Wilderness).

Leafpool = Clarity Leafpool Moonpool is one of the most popular young spirits. In difficult situations, she is invoked for StarClan to see your sins and understand that you are trying to find the holiest way through them. The Firekin family is going to be a very strong pantheon eventually.

Palefoot = Bodies that Can't Be Recovered/Closure Anon suggestion that is canon now. Palefoot was murdered by Batear for killing Fenneldust and shoved into a bog where his family would never find him, because Batear was not allowed to go to ThunderClan to sit vigil for his best friend. When someone is lost and can't be buried, Palefoot is often invoked for comfort. He is actually sort of displacing Turtle Heart, who used to function in a similar way. She is being pushed into a more specific role for Lost Parents, not bodies or closure in general.

In addition, Dark Forest Spirits are also powerful... and thanks to the fact you have to use a direct line to get to them, quite capable of granting strength without holding back. They have no StarClan to answer to if they blessed the plans of the wrong cat.

So they can do curses for you, if THAT is what you're seeking. A whole lot of these cats tend to provide various types of revenge lmao... "We serve Vengeance here, sir."

Batear and Fenneldust = Retribution Evolved from a mix of how Batear's target went BEYOND his victim to deny closure to the family, and also the Fepfr which he was named for, Long-Eared Bat, which in Clan culture is said to have a modest song of mourning for every bat wrongfully killed. Fenneldust actually LOVED that he was willing to be so spiteful for her, and followed him to the Dark Forest. So if you want, you can call for them to cause pain to people who wronged you. If your case is bad though, they'll fuck with you instead. They aren't MALICIOUS spirits though... just mischievous.

Mapleshade = Revenge If you want your target to DIE, you give her a call. She is ACTIVELY malicious. She will stop at nothing to kill someone she agrees should go, even going as far as to fight a Fetcher to drag the target down with her. If you're just miffed at someone and want them to get karma, you talk to Batsy and Fenfen. If you want BLOOD, you talk to Mapleshade. But be prepared, because she is just as dangerous as that implies.

Shoooott, I didn't consider that. She's going to have a BAD time with all the Thistle Law supporters up there

Here's how the situation would go;

REMEMBER: StarClan can famously be influenced by the lawyer who is chosen to represent you

The lawyer is always someone you knew-- and it CAN be someone you've harmed. StarClan trials are not fair.

So that in mind, the most likely Lawyer here is probably her uncle, the infamous himbo himself, Oakheart.

That would be VERY bad if Oakheart was on his own. He's a good deputy, very responsible, friendly, and connected... but he isn't a rhetorician. Thistleclaw and his supporters would have verbally torn him and his niece apart.

But Oak's not alone. He's got Lizardstripe.

I could absolutely use this for Bluestar's Flowers, with Oakheart insisting that she's going to be fine because Lizardstripe saved Silverstream from the Dark Forest by helping him.

("helping" = she was behind everything and Oakheart was a big beautiful fluffy teddy bear that StarClan can't get enough of)

Silverstream would have to work with Lizi though, which might have been a bit of an issue. Like you mentioned, she is stubbornly adamant of her convictions.

But if she shut her trap when Lizi tells her to and acts the part, she can do this.

Lizi's strategy is simple; play up the apologetic angle. Silverstream received her punishment in her death. She was a young but loyal warrior who served her Clan through a hard season.

Though she had lapsed in her loyalty, it had never impacted her ability to fight for RiverClan, and she had acted with honor towards all.

Additionally, she's missed in the living world and will surely be invoked to foresee the consequences of such terrible choices. To lose such a spirit to the Dark Forest when she's *KICKS HER ANKLE UNDER THE DESK* VERY. SORRY. would be a great loss.

Oakheart: "And she's VERY sorry!"

Silverstream: -_- "very sorry."

It would take finesse but I could use this as a bit of hope for Bluestar at the beginning of her Trial, especially to contrast how she learns that Featherwhisker went to the Dark Forest in spite of being such a good person.

But she would NEED to not offend StarClan. She would need to listen to her uncle and his weird friend. It all depends on her ability to put on a sob story-- and it would be the basis for how Lizardstripe realizes that, next time, she NEEDS to discredit these Thistle Law-leaning spirits and go for the throat.