ThunderClan's camp by the lake, used for Twilight! (and, later on, Sunset)
I decided to keep it pretty close to canon, though I put the fallen tree in there from the start - I imagine that a lot of trees probably fell into this old quarry and decayed over time, but this is one that the cats can't move, so they built around it.
Plus the stories never really mention the fallen tree again after OotS? They forget there's an entire tree just in the middle of the ThunderClan camp??
I also wanted to lean into the quarry aspect of the camp - the secret exit is a failed extension, and the medicine cat's den is actually a very small mineshaft, which likely contained whatever the Twolegs were digging for to begin with. There are a lot of little crevices and caves, too.
It also feeds into my changes to ThunderClan's territory type overall - their lands are a lot steeper now, with sharp inclines and cliffs. It's not quite what ThunderClan is used to (in fact it could be argued to be more fitting for SkyClan - but if SkyClan were to join the Clans in this AU, their home is in the Deep Woods behind ShadowClan territory) but it's theirs.
I just wanted to write more varied landscapes, honestly!
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Nope, the concept of pets is extremely rare and only a very niche group actually have pet insects or fish. The whole concept of keeping a creature just for display is very disturbing in many people’s eyes. Moreover, whenever anyone uses the word “pet” about *people* they are either using the word as an insult, or they are a slave owner.
Since The Broken Code arc is done, and it's elaborations on the nature of the Dark Forest and StarClan are now canon (for now :P), I thought perhaps it was time to do a little talking on the Dark Forest in the TB AU!
I'll try to be as vague as possible for now; Like Fire, Bluestar's Super Edition that I have cooking in the deep, deep background, will deal with these topics more directly and elaborately, along with the third arc, which is still some ways away.*
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*Topics discussed here may change over time. For now, they are still considered canon in the TB AU
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The Dark Forest is not quite the place it is in canon - in the beginning, as the Clans were first forming, there was only StarClan.
Sometime along the way, however, it became clear that some cats harbored evil in their hearts in death as well as in life. The catalyst for this event is unclear, and a closely-kept secret in StarClan, but it is believed that these dark spirits attempted a coup, to wrest the stars away from their brethren and control the Clans below.
These dark cats did not succeed - as they were captured and contained, a new place had to be formed to put them until they faded from living memory. The Dark Forest came to be upon the underbelly of StarClan; a dark, twisting, starless reflection of the otherwise paradisiacal afterlife: Where StarClan's groves were evergreen, the Dark Forest was in constant leafbare. Where prey and water was plentiful in StarClan, in the Dark Forest such resources were scarce and frequently battled over.
And so they remained. StarClan passes judgment on no cat but those who show a great, deep darkness in their hearts - all are welcome otherwise.
The Dark Forest's paths are influenced by those who walk within it. Trapped as they are, these dark spirits often have little choice but to look inward, and thus their paws often wander the same trails again and again... The less introspective, however, might find themselves searching for others - living or dead - and, maybe, finding them.
Yet the Dark Forest cats are not without hope.
Somewhere along the way a deal was struck. The cats of the Dark Forest, though arguably the worst warriorkind had to offer, still had something of value - through training cats from the living world to put their skills to use for the good of their Clans, these dark spirits might find a place in StarClan by turning deadly ambitions into a tool for prosperity.
None of the dark spirits are sure when this accord happened, and some believe it never happened at all. But it was enough to bring together a group willing to try - something unheard of in this forsaken place.
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I took a bit more time to do this one, so my wrist doesn't hurt nearly as much as it did after the old forest map :D Like the one that came before, this map is subject to retroactive changes as things develop going forward - though I don't think the landscape will really change much.
This map is far larger than it appears - each Clan has a lot of territory, though ThunderClan and RiverClan arguably have the least. These lines are drawn with the initial territory borders in mind, but they might change!
I also ensured that there would be enough space for SkyClan - should they rejoin the Clans, the Deep Woods + land around the Sky Oak and down to the lakeshore would be there (a boot-shaped land, like they have in the current series). They'd also get the Greenleaf Twolegplace, which I'm sure ShadowClan would be pretty happy about, though it would cause some issues with RiverClan...
Speaking of ShadowClan territory, one of the things I wanted to account for was the fact that ShadowClan in canon loses their swamp when they move to the lake. I added Dusk Swamp (named for Duskflower, who died on the journey) to the map to let ShadowClan keep that part of their Clan identity intact. I also added Longleaf Wood, which gives RiverClan more territory variety.
As the canon lake territory unfortunately doesn't have a lot of defined landmarks, I tried to include a few more to help flesh out the area.
I think, barring a few more locations to fill out the map retroactively, that this is probably where I'll leave it for now.
Other than the lines destroying my wrist, I really did enjoy making this map! I'm definitely going to take my time with the lake territories though :`)
I think, according to this, that ThunderClan and WindClan have the least amount of territory? On the original map, RiverClan and WindClan were suffering in terms of space, so that's why I gave them both some land in the Outskirts. The lake map is definitely going to be a lot more spacious, as I'm recreating it with SkyClan's return in mind, even if I don't write it.
This was a fun project - my next diagram/map/concept work will be ShadowClan's camp, since ShadowClan is the focus of Dawn!
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A concept for RiverClan's camp in the TB AU, used for Moonrise and Leopardstar's Lie.
The three willows have existed since before RiverClan, the small glade having been discovered by RiverClan's first leader, Riverstar - he was the first cat to lay his claws upon the Clan Root, an upraised root from which leaders address their Clan.
Like in canon, RiverClan's dens are basically floating huts, made from dried out reeds and river mud. They'll float easily when the river floods!
RiverClan cats also moved rocks in order to redirect the waters around the camp. They try to keep floods from destroying the camp, but there's only so much a cat can do :`) The sunning-rock in camp is left over from that effort - a smooth, flat stone that medicine cats use for drying herbs and elders like lying on (without the risk of fighting ThunderClan).
I want to try doing these for all the Clan camps, both forest and lake. I'll probably do them as I get to developing their relevant books.
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So! I've thought about the Sisters some... and how they would work in the TB AU! Here we go:
The Family -- The Sisters are now called the Family! This change makes sense with regards to the changes I've made to their society.
Society -- Originally, the Sisters are a group of only she-cats who send their toms out on "wanders" so that they can... do... something?? It's not specific, and they can never return, and their attitude towards toms in general is... ehhhhh.
Instead of removing the female hierarchy in the TB AU, however, I've decided to keep it - but I'm altering how they treat their toms.
The Family is, as the name implies, one big family (consisting of multiple families related through the main she-cats) of cats. They wander from place to place, settling down for summer or winter, or when one of the she-cats is expecting. They're still very large, very formidable, and all descend from one family of kittypets long ago.
While she-cats stay with the group to lead and rear their kits, toms at a certain age take themselves on what they call a Wander -- a journey to find themselves, and their own place in the world, often solo, sometimes together. Though all toms take this journey, they aren't expelled from the Family - some toms, even, find themselves Wandering back to the Family, and take up very similar roles to the she-cats, using their experiences to aid the Family.
Toms on a Wander can choose to go wherever their heart (or the earth) desire, and some often take up residence on their own or start their own groups. Some even become kittypets! One notable Family kittypet we'll be meeting in Dawn is Branch!
These cats value family above all else, believing firmly that home is where your family is, not where your borders are, and that your family could be anyone.
Their Powers -- How they got these powers is largely unknown, but ALL the Family (toms AND she-cats) possess a remarkable connection to the earth and the souls of those that departed. They can summon and commune with these spirits at will, through their own effort or a ritual, and often try to solve their lingering regrets and problems so that they can rest. Their connection to the earth makes the Family very difficult to sneak up on, as they are often warned of danger before it approaches, but it's largely unchanged from the original series (other than she-cats having this ability too).
Generally, the she-cats are better at sensing spirits, while the toms have a better connection to the earth, but this isn't always true.
One Family legend states that their powers came from a blessing received at a pool of water that seemed to glow like the moon...
While I don’t really have plans to rewrite Dawn of the Clans, I do have little alterations I’d like to make...
Moth Flight’s Vision ends just the same way as in canon - Micah dies, Moth Flight has her kits alone, and, as she separates her kittens into every Clan, she declares that no medicine cats should ever have kits. Reluctantly, the first medicine cats of every Clan agree.
However, Moth Flight doesn’t just make this rule out of her own panic and fear, she makes this rule because the Clans are still new, and growing, and learning - a medicine cat can’t afford to have a family right now. They, and medicine cats some generations after them, have to set the precedent for the future care of their Clans. She never intended for it to become so firmly baked into the medicine cat code.
Moth Flight realizes her mistake far too late - generations have passed and her name is barely known by any living cat. She, like the first leaders of the Clans, lives on via concept alone. So long as her part of the medicine cat code exists, is thought of, is followed... she exists. Moth Flight (and other cats that created fundamental parts of the Clans) will persist indefinitely because of this.
If the code were changed... Moth Flight knows she might die for good.
She fights this stubbornly for some time, holding up her code as law - eventually, though, she sees time and time again how much pain her rule causes. She begins to wonder whether if her code had faded away like intended, perhaps cats like Brokenstar would have turned out differently. She realizes that the code needs to change... but has no idea how to change it.
Until an opportunity comes...
She sees her chance and plants the seed - the Clans are changing the warrior code, after all, even if it’s just in fits and starts. If all goes well, Moth Flight thinks, she might not have to see the darkness coming for the Clans...
