#sparkylore

The structure of my cruel reign clans is very interesting. Often I use different names for ranks. Since SparkyClan was my first cruel reign clan, I hadn't decided that yet, but the normal ranks aren't mentioned in the moons anyway so I'll just use them.

Ranks: Monarch - the leader of the clan, will be succeeded by their firstborn child. The monarch will have the title of King/Queen or Monarch. The monarch is supposed to always have a mate and will break up mate pairings to get a new mate if they so choose.

Consort - the mate of the monarch, takes on the title of King/Queen/Monarch Consort. Has absolutely no power.

Heir Apparent - usually the monarch's firstborn, but may sometimes be a sibling if the monarch doesn't have kits yet. Just the cat who is next in line if the monarch dies.

Heirs - kits of the monarch, takes on the title of Prince/Princess/Princex. Given preferential treatment, and will always be first choice for mate selections. Can not be a border sweeper, will gain suffix 'heir' if without mate. Their mates will have the title of Prince/Princess/Princex Consort.

In Line - every cat in line for the monarch position. The monarch's kits will be first, in order of birth, then their niblings, then their siblings, and then their aunts and uncles, and so on. If the entire family has died out, a consort may end up taking over the throne.

Healers - basically just medicine cats. they can and should have a mate.

Knights - cats who have a mate. They will have their full name, and are treated much better than those without them. They mainly hunt for the clan.

Squires - cats between 7 and 12 moons, who are learning to hunt and fight. Can only be trained by Knights. They will always enter their mate grace period at 12 moons old, no matter their skill level. Will have the suffix 'paw'.

Courting/Grace Period - cats between 12 and 20 moons, who are mateless but excused from border sweeping until they can find a mate, or age out of the period. Will have the suffix 'paws'. Often go on border patrols to try and bring back cats who have potential to be their mate, but are able to flee when in danger, unlike border sweepers.

Border Sweepers - cats 21 moons and older, who do not have a mate. Do not get a suffix, and forced to 'sweep the border' every moon. They must always proceed in-game.

Seniors/Retirees - older cats who have served their clan long enough to be able to retire. A cat cannot retire until they have had kits. Border sweepers can retire, as long as they have had kits in their lifetime.

Also, if you're still doing the ask game, 🏞️ How did your clan start? and 👑 Your leader and deputy disappear into thin air, who takes over?

Aw thank you so much! The art for the moons I've been posting so far are almost two years old, so it's nice to hear that people can still enjoy my older art.

For the ask game, I've never really thought about how the clan started before.

The clan probably started multiple generations before now. Cats naturally grouped together to stay safe from the beasts, and over time the ranks naturally evolved, with one family being the main cats in charge, and the rank of leader being passed down the family line.

The clan was probably much bigger before Dewstar's reign, but something must have happened before she became monarch, to get the clan to the smaller size it is now.

With the second question, SparkyClan doesn't really have a 'deputy' per say, the closest thing would be the head doctor or the monarch's mate (the consort). Currently, Needlechill is both the doctor and consort, so I'd say she'd count as the 'deputy' in this scenario!

If both the Monarch and Consort disappeared, I'm not sure if the clan would actually get another Monarch. He hasn't been shown much (if at all) in the old moon updates, but I think at this time, Kestrel would step up if the high ranks disappeared.

-Definitely not from the creator of this blog, what are you on about, dear reader.

Thank you for the ask, valued reader (who is definitely not me). SparkyClan has a very interesting way of doing things, and I'd be glad to share more about them.

SparkyClan, and by extension all the other clans in the area, are structured differently to how most warrior cats clans. Because the world that SparkyClan lives in doesn't have traditional warrior clans, instead every clan works this same way.

Putting it under the cut because I yap.

Read about the ranks & structure here!

With SparkyClan, and a bunch of other clans I've made, I used a challenge on perchance called the cruel reign challenge, although I followed the rules very vaigely.

Will be going in depth in other posts, but here's the gist of it.

When a cat reaches adulthood, they'll be assigned a mate, if possible. They'll only get their full name once they have a mate. There's a 'grace period' for young cats to find a mate, and they'll have the suffix 'paws' during it. If they still don't have a mate once they hit 20 moons, then they'll be stripped of their suffix and become a border sweeper, meaning they have to do a solo border patrol every single moon.

Cats who reach 6 moons must spend a whole moon walking the entire clan's borders (a solo border patrol) before becoming an apprentice, referred to as an 'apprentice journey'. Kits look forward to their journey, and it's seen as something to be excited about. If the kit dies, well, they wouldn't have made a good clanmate, would they?