#blackflood

setting is the Colorado Rockies but obviously I have made up everything here

this is kind of a side view so that you can see mountains better so you can't see a lot of Blizzard's plains. Off to the right is what the cats call a "town" because they haven't seen one, it's really a couple ranches that have cats at them.

A lot of the place names are possessive (e.g. Eagle's Meadow) which means they're named after important members of the Clans' history.

Storm has a bigger territory than Blizzard, mostly due to access - Blizzard has more plains off to the east and is obstructed by mountains to the west, though they're expanding in that direction.

Neither territory is big. I am not good with scale but it's not meant to look like a ton of acreage: this is because the cats face heavy predation, with the woods full of almost every large North American carnivore you could think of. The clans are both small in population.

The unclaimed land from Cloud's Tooth to Sky's Heart will probably remain unclaimed and serves as a sort of political buffer. It's also just not great land. No one wants the freakin' Tempest Drop, and Thunder Ridge is very dangerous too.

You'll notice there is no designated sacred place of worship. StarClan is unlike canon in my story, which I may go into later. StormClan is extremely pious, but BlizzardClan doesn't care all that much because they have a lower rate of clairvoyants. Storm cats travel to the summit of the Cloud's Tooth to prove themselves as a Prophet, because they're extra. And, you know, the Stars will not let you survive the journey if you're not worthy, which can be interpreted however you want! Maybe your Prophet-to-be was just not a good hiker!

Besides the ranch "Human Town" to the east, and the long-abandoned Thunder Ridge, there is no human intervention in the area for many miles. Thunder Ridge, a steep backbone of boulders with not enough switchbacks, proved to be too dangerous (three guesses how) for humans after a tragic accident, and the trail was closed.

Clairvoyants are the cats who would have "a strong connection to StarClan" in canon text. StarClan (usually called the Stars in-universe) are not an explicit thing or confirmed. There is something spiritual going on, but it's a lot more like a Primal Force than it is "My Dead Aunt Says Hello To Me In My Dreams." The technical name for cats who are tuned in to this spirituality is "Clairvoyants", though it's an ambiguous label and not something that ever puts cats into a group. Most cats aren't clairvoyant or are to a very low degree (this works since level of clairvoyance in any universe doesn't affect how much you believe in a higher power).

Prophets, a role found only in StormClan, are kind of like canon Medicine Cats except I separated the role into its composite Prophet and Healer. Some cats are both, in which case they'll call themselves whichever one makes more sense - usually Prophet because it's rarer and so it can feel closer to your identity. A Prophet is sort of like how Ancient Greek Oracles were. They are rare and usually have a medium to extremely high level of Clairvoyance. (ex. Leafpool, Goosefeather.) Their role, like medcats, is to speak as the Stars' voice and share wisdom with the Clan. The Stars do not "give prophecies" in the literal sense that they do in canon - cats interpret things how they will, like we would in real life. It's easy to think of an omen or prophecy if you want to hear one.

Storm cats just take it really seriously because they REALLY love the Stars. They have a higher genetic predisposition of Clairvoyants, so they have become really connected to spirituality and piety. They believe in fate and destiny and will use the Stars to justify any achievement. Naming ceremonies often go like "You are so lucky to be blessed by the Stars with such amazing jumping skills - your new name will be Pigeonleap." (Maybe Pigeonleap just got really good at jumping because he trained for his entire apprenticeship. It doesn't matter. It's the Stars.)

Pilgrimages, which I may start calling something cool (like the Prophet's Ascent maybe?) are taken by aspiring Prophets when they want to prove their connection to the Stars. Prophets are usually apprenticed to someone who is also Clairvoyant/a Prophet or a Healer if there isn't one. When they reach the end of their apprenticeship they are sent to hike Cloud's Tooth via Thunder Ridge/Lightning Point. Usually their mentor will follow them as far as the path from the Ridge up to Lightning Point (I'm thinking this is like a day's hike), but the mentor in most cases has already done the hike and is not interested in doing it again.

Cloud's Tooth is tall (probably around 9-11,000ft???) and not too forgiving. Cats are sent when the weather is predicted to be good, but anyone who's been to the Rockies knows that can change in about five minutes. The Clans are crepuscular in my universe like regular cats, so, in the interest of safety, cats usually just try to hike the mountain during the day. It can be 7-9 hours to the summit. They spend the night at the top and the Stars speak to them (whatever that means for the particular cat.) No one else except Prophets hikes this mountain, not even people - it's rocky, without water in most places, and very windy. And slick when wet. And worse when snowy. And you'll notice all the surrounding landmarks have something to do with storms.