#mud worldbuilding

I think they eat a pretty wide variety of things! There's no shortage of prey around Micaclan's current territory, so they've got lots of options. Plus, with their history of having to pick up the whole clan and change territories, i think they wouldn't have been able to afford to be picky eaters. I think that attitude carried over to their descendants, so the clan as a whole will eat just about anything that gets caught (though i imagine they still have favorites)

Living close to water, they have access to frogs and toads, small fish, maybe even the occasional turtle if they can figure out how to get through the shell. Lizards are another option, though those would be more of a quick snack, given their small size. Non-venomous snakes might make their way onto the menu, if a hunter is feeling bold (though they can still be a high-risk target; constrictors are no joke when you're like a foot tall). Small rodents like chipmunks and squirrels. Maybe rabbits, if they get lucky? Plenty of birds, especially smaller songbirds.

These days, i think Micaclan's members like to try to have a "specialty" in hunting; one type of prey they're especially good at catching. It's nothing official, just a point of pride to become The Guy Who's Really Good At Catching [Insert Prey Type].

Basically, the idea is that the original clans (pre-micaclan's formation) each had a patron spirit to like. sponsor the first leaders with their nine lives or whatever. And they have to be old spirits, with deep connections to the grounds the clans make their territory. And this is how starclan kinda forms, with the backing of this Extra Strong Ghost that kinda rallies their spirits in the beginning before finally passing on. Maybe the only ghosts that can be this type of patron spirit are the ones who feel as though they can't pass on without leaving a legacy?? idk yet I'm still Thinking.

So a lack of Strong Ghost Friend is stopping Mica from having a legitimate entry into leadership with the nine lives and such, and no starclan for her and her clan(?? still thinking about this). Maybe a healer from one of the other clans defects/gets kicked out, and they explain this all to Mica after joining her little not-yet-an-actual-clan. So mica is like, where do you even find an old ghost. how am i gonna get one of those. And one of her friends is like "well they say everything further upstream of the river is Super Cursed and my friend's mom's cousin told me it's because of an ancient ghost there that hates everyone and everything" and Mica goes "PERFECT I'll go talk to them!!" ignoring how Healer is like "THAT PLACE IS CURSED FOR A REASON DO NOT GO THERE"

So Mica goes upstream with a couple of her buddies, until she finds the river's source. And there she meets Ancient Angry Ghost, who turns out to be the ghost of a smilodon. It pops up out of the water and it's not saying any words but it's basically radiating 'you're gonna die' energy. And Mica just starts talking to them. Like she's definitely freaking out and terrified but she's SO good at playing cool. And maybe she leaves after they get too angry, but she comes back the next day. And then next. And the next. And she eventually manages to wear down this angry prehistoric ghost into being her friend.

Maybe it turns out they stuck around so long because they were the last of their kind, and they never got closure for the loneliness they felt in life. They come to like Mica for her brash spirit, unwavering courage, and surprisingly sharp cunning. When Mica offers them friendship, offers them a group to carry on their way of life in the present day, they agree to be the clan's patron spirit.

Also can I ask what kind of border threats they faced when establishing their new territory? Were there other groups of cats? Was it mostly predators and dangerous animals? Did dogs or twolegs pose a challenge to their borders?

Sorry I kinda have a lot of questions haha I just really like your story and characters and settings and everything and wanna know all I can about them and get a deeper knowledge of everything

I AM SO HAPPY TO RECEIVE THIS QUESTION

You're right that there were material aspects as to why they chose to settle where they did; the mountain seemed like a good place to avoid any more catastrophic floods with the high elevation, the spring-fed stream that runs through the territory also seemed like a guarantee against any future droughts, and the area had plenty of prey to feed the clan. But the real deciding factor was the soil!

The idea was basically that they found a place where the very ground seemed to be blessed by Starclan. I've written about this on the blog before, but it was wayyy way back and I haven't mentioned it again since then HAHA, but I based Micaclan's territory on a place I used to hike every now and again. The area used to be the location of a mica mine, and the ground there still sparkles with all the tiny shards of minerals in the ground (which is actually why they're called Micaclan; I gave them the name before I'd fully decided on the clan not being from the area originally lol). So they basically were like "if this isn't a sign from Starclan then I don't know what is" and set up camp! It ended up being the right choice in the end, because they found the Moonmirror in the abandoned mine on their territory, which gave them much needed access to Starclan (even if they can't use it outside of emergencies).

For border threats, I imagine them dealing with all sorts of things, especially in the beginning when they were just establishing their borders. I think of micaclan's territory being far enough from human civilization that they don't have to worry about construction or cars or anything, but close enough that they have a human hiking trail acting as one of their borders, or at least having a hiking trail close enough that they have to deal with the occasional stray dog or human. In addition to this, predators like black bears or coyotes would make trouble for the clan, and maybe a mountain lion drifted through the territory at one point (which would have been a harrowing time indeed).

As for rogues or other groups of cats, I think they might've brought that trouble with them! It's hard to conceal a big group of cats traveling in search of a new territory, and I think they drew some unwanted attention on their way up to the mountain. Maybe other groups noted them, and decided to let the strangers do the hard work of staking out a good territory before swooping in to take their place? I don't think there were any other cats living where Micaclan ends up, so they wouldn't be contesting land with any other resident cats. Those that threatened their new borders were usually looking to try to take their place. Basically they were like "so the weirdos you pegged as 'death within the month' 5 moons ago are actually now thriving and looking well-fed and healthy living on the mountain? I guess it can't be THAT dangerous, why don't we live up there instead? they can find somewhere else again, they're obviously good at finding nice territories."

So this isn’t really made clear in the videos on youtube, but one of my little worldbuilding things for Mudpaw’s story is that the clan has a really difficult time meeting with Starclan. Their spiritual place, the Moonmirror, is in an incredibly difficult (and dangerous) place to reach, so it’s reserved for emergencies. A medicine cat apprentice will have only one ‘mandatory’ meeting with starclan, and it’s after they complete their training as a healer. That’s when they become a full healer of the clan and gain their full name!

Instead of meeting with Starclan physically at the Moonmirror, the clan healers will go to Sky Peak, which is a mountaintop in Micaclan’s territory. They go there to symbolically meet with Starclan, because it has the clearest view of the stars out of anywhere on the clan’s territory. That’s where Owlpounce and Birchspeckle meet up each halfmoon, and it’s where Mudpaw had his healer apprentice ceremony with Owlpounce! I imagine it’s also where Owl takes Mud to teach him about the more spiritual aspects of being a clan healer.

It’s basically just a place for stargazing, conversation, and deep meditative thought. If Mudpaw had actually met with Starclan for his apprentice ceremony, we’d be looking at a VERY different story haha

Micaclan Territory Map (this is where Sky Peak is first mentioned)

About the Moonmirror (I gotta update the concept art because my idea of it has changed a lot lol)

I just realized that I should probably make some kind of post to say what the main tags on my blog are lol. apologies if the links for the tags don't work, idk what I'm doing

#mudlore - the main tag for story related details of Mudpaw's story! If something is tagged with #mudlore, it's canon to the story (or to whatever AU is being discussed in the post, which means that the #mudlore tag will be followed up with #not canon mudlore though lol)

#mud worldbuilding - a specific tag for worldbuilding in Mudpaw's story! Details about locations, clan history, etc. are found under this tag

#micaclan - posts about micaclan as a whole, or posts that discuss all the members of micaclan are under this tag!

#mudverse fanart - posts that I either reblogged or were sent to me featuring fanart of mudpaw or other characters in the story!

#rye's art - tag for art made by me!

#rye's refs - tag for reference images of characters/locations!

#rye.txt - my personal text posts are found under this tag :)

#advice - art or worldbuilding advice!

#MaVst - my other OCs, not for warriors but an original story :)

had to do a bit of digging but I found a few posts in the past that talked about this! Wrentail is in starclan at this point in the story, but that’s because of some of the weird quirks I decided to give my version of cat afterlife lol

Afterlife Worldbuilding

More on the Dark Forest (or lack thereof)

Wrentail’s Biased Perspective

Basically, the dark forest isn't a thing in this story, but they do have a Starclan. It's less of “cat heaven” and more of "if you believed in Starclan in life then you go to Starclan in death" type deal. So the good and the bad end up there.

Here's some concept art of the clan's sacred place, the Moonmirror! (is a mirror something the cats would know about? Probably not. Do I care? No.)

The clan's connection to Starclan was tied to the very soil that their ancestors had lived and died on; when the clan had to leave their old territory after the [unspecified disaster], they left that land behind, and their connection with Starclan became stunted. When they moved to the new territory, they eventually found the Moonmirror after long searches and many confusing, disjointed dreams of the clan's healer.

The Moonmirror is the only place where the clan can reliably contact Starclan, but the reverse is also true! It is the only place Starclan can reliably communicate with the living cats in the clan (with the exception of any living cats with remarkable natural connection to Starclan. By this I mean Birchspeckle. Birchspeckle's the only one that can reliably hear and understand Starclan's messages outside the Moonmirror. Too bad she doesn't live with the clan! Hope that doesn't come back to bite them 👀).

Outside of direct contact with the Moonmirror, the only ways Starclan can communicate with the living is through vague dreams and omens. The occasional prophecy may make it through, but those are few and far between (and usually REALLY vague).

So, if someone were to.... oh, I don't know.... murder their mentor by kicking him off a waterfall.... it would be pretty hard for Starclan to let anyone know what really happened!

"But Riley!" you say, "Why wouldn't they just tell them when the medicine cat next comes to share tongues with Starclan, as is tradition each half moon?" And to that I say, when did this become a dialogue? Get out of here lol

But to answer that question; the problem with using the Moonmirror is getting to it. It's inside an abandoned mine, a la The Prophecies Begin, BUT. The mine is also, in many places, underwater. In order to get to the Moonmirror, cats have to swim many small sections completely submerged and completely blind. A cat once died trying to get there, and the only reason there hasn’t been more casualties is because the clan has learned that the Moonmirror is for emergencies and emergencies only.

Ah, but Starclan could send an omen! A way to let the clans know that this particular cat can't be trusted! That this cat KILLED a guy!!