#toct

Beloved elder sibling and mentor of the Uplifted, the Watcher disappeared for four months after His Mother’s victimization by the lesser beasts, to wreak vengeance upon the hordes. He killed their most beautiful, their most intelligent, and their most strong, and so the Uplifted will always triumph in the end against them. As He returned and saw His Mother in Heaven, black blood coating the sky, He swore that His little siblings would never be hurt as She was.

He taught the Forty the ways of Civilization. He gave them their Names, each perfectly reflecting them, and he gave them the territory, teaching them to defend it viciously, though it would be many generations before their descendants divided it up. He gave them the first Laws, and though the Mother’s fire had burned out, He tore out His fur to give a shadow of it to them. He gave them the first spears, His own shed claw-tips, and taught them to make approximations from branches and stone. Still, His Mother’s creations were just shy of perfect, so He tore His burning heart from His chest, and bade the Forty to eat it. Thus they received His insatiable lust for blood, that they might never forget their ferocity, though the largest portions by far went to Claw and Flower.

Without His heart, He had no strength left, and He, too, had to be carried to Heaven, though not before promising the Forty that He would always be there for them, and for their progeny. He need not be healed like the Mother- His heart burns in every Clowder Uplifted’s chest, and their bloodlust strengthens Him. He can be seen by day, for He is the sun, watching His siblings just as promised.

Felis catus sapiens, commonly self-described as “Uplifted,” are carnivorous mammals native to North America. They are descended from feral domestic cats. They retain many characteristics of their ancestors, including uniquely flexible bodies, quick reflexes, diverse coat colors and patterns, strong senses of hearing and smell, and sensitive whiskers.

However, these specimens differ greatly from their ancestors in notable ways. Perhaps the most obvious is their increased intelligence. Their skull is proportionately unchanged, but the folds of the brain are greater in number and significantly more pronounced, dramatically increasing the surface area of the cortex. The diet has shifted in multiple ways to meet the fuel requirements of this brain, most notably shifting from hypercarnivorism to mesocarnivorism, with meat making up 70% of F. sapiens’ diet on average. The 30% consists of insects and grubs, edible fungi, and fruits. Other plant material, such as roots or greens, may be consumed as ‘folk medicine,’ but there is little to no nutritional benefit to eating them. The teeth have not yet adapted to this changed diet, but have adapted to other pressures- they are notably stronger, more deeply rooted, and harder to break. The jaw has increased in size proportionately with the rooting, and the muscles in the neck are stronger. In accordance with their changed diet, they now have the ability to taste sweetness. F. sapiens eats significantly more than its ancestors; an active male of average size typically requires around 600 kcal per day.

Oddly, F. sapiens, despite its much heavier reliance on scent and sound than vision, has evolved a wider range of color vision. They now possess the ability to perceive red and green, although to a much more limited extent than H. sapiens. Their ability to pick out particular shades is limited; many shades of green, for example, are perceived as shades of yellow or blue. However, a given specimen will claim that a healthy summer leaf is a distinct color from yellow or blue, and likewise that blood is not yellow, brown, or blue.

Other notable developments include the specimens’ paws. The front paw pad has shifted downward, as has the dewclaw, which is now part of the paw proper, and is as large as the other digits. The claws of the dewclaw and ‘index claw’ cannot be retracted, and are notably longer than the claws of other digits. The wrist is now capable of supination and pronation, though not to the degree of a human’s wrist. In these ways, F. sapiens’ paws resemble the hands of their ancestors’ keepers, although their digits have only two knuckles. F. sapiens displays very limited bipedalism; a specimen may rest on its hindlegs when manipulating objects, or, rarely, when surveying its surroundings, although specimens prefer to climb objects for a better view when possible. F. catus was already notorious for its flexible tail, but social pressures have impacted the tail of F. sapiens to the point where its flexibility more resembles that of a New World monkey.

F. sapiens’ lifespan has increased dramatically, as has its growth time. The species’ childhood and adolescent periods are significantly longer, with sexual development beginning around 1 year and full maturity being reached at around 2 years of age on average, with specific specimens ceasing growth at times ranging from 1.75 years to 2.5 years. Average lifespan varies significantly between populations, but death by ‘natural causes’ can be expected to occur between 25 and 30 years of age. It is unclear how long a specimen could last if a population had access to advanced medicine, though it is estimated that they could live upwards of 40 years. The species has shifted towards K-strategism, with litter sizes decreasing significantly, with a corresponding increase in parental investment. A healthy, well-nourished, unstressed queen will, on average, have 2 to 3 kittens in a litter, and will typically care for them until around 1 year (although this varies between populations.) Larger litters are possible, but rare.

F. sapiens’ social behavior differs dramatically from its ancestors. F. catus naturally formed clowders when resources allowed, with queens alloparenting and hunting for themselves, their children, and sometimes each other, and toms, who were less social, fighting over territory and the queens. Selection pressure favored the social specimens, and so these clowders became more common and more complex over time; toms couldn’t exist without queens, and their sociality increased alongside their female peers. These social specimens hunted and reproduced more effectively, and in F. sapiens’ current form, the hunting behavior more closely resembles that of lions than that of their ancestors, depending on the target prey. They exhibit strong territoriality between populations, with F. sapiens’ fights over territory and resources being significantly more lethal than the fights of F. catus. They still exhibit redirected aggression, though it is typically directed toward outsider cats, objects, and other animals, rather than members of the specimen’s in-group. The relationship between toms and queens varies heavily between populations, though tolerance from a distance is most common, and violent hostility most rare. With this sociality came complex language; a combination of “spoken” language and sign language is standard, with a heavy emphasis on signing, though specimens can typically communicate with one or the other to an extent. An inability to comprehend or communicate the signed part of the language is generally much more of a social disability for a specimen than the inverse; a specimen born deaf may obtain much more social acceptance than one born without a tail, for example. F. sapiens is absurdly playful as a kitten, essentially playing every second they aren’t eating and sleeping, and remains playful as an adult, with playfighting serving an important social role species-wide, and many populations frequently engaging in more complex games. Allogrooming remains a crucial social activity.

The typically-nomadic species tends to hunt in a given area until prey is depleted, then move on; the rare settled populations tend to display a limited understanding of ecological management, hunting specific areas of their vast territories and targeting specific creatures. Four particular populations of settled F. sapiens seem to be in the process of domesticating some of their food sources.

Because of course I had to make one of these. Other clowders coming at some point in the future.

Treethorn Watcher

Morning Heart the Water’s Wolf: A grey tortoiseshell queen with a tiny white dash on her chest and bright hazel eyes

Second

Night Fang of the Drying Stream: A small black queen with white toes, locket, and tail-tip, and amber eyes

Third

Dead Eye Rainbow Claw: A tall, thin, grey calico tabby molly with one yellow eye and one sightless white eye

Treethorn Mother

Torn Chest Rose Flower the Fox Father: A massive light ginger tom with white paws, a badly scarred chest, and yellow eyes

Priest

Sedge Pelt: A tiny, sharp-boned, short-haired black queen with white toes and locket, large ears, and amber eyes

Elders

Azure Face: A once-pretty pale grey tabby tom with dull green eyes

Crow Fur: A scruffy black queen with bright orange eyes

Duck Pelt: A portly, short-haired brown and white patched queen with yellow eyes

Bat Throat the Willow Twine: A small, sleek, dark brown and silver queen with a short tail and yellow eyes

Oak Claw the Turtle Shell: A warm brown tabby tom with a white dash on his chest and copper eyes

First Hunter

Spotted Fang of the Thousand Deer: A silver molly with dark brown spots, a white throat and belly, and amber eyes

First Builder

Maple Paw the Spider Spinner: A bright ginger queen with a pale belly and light yellow eyes

First Homekeeper

Missing Foot Plum Fur: A black tom with white paws and chest, a missing back right foot, and amber eyes

First Speaker

Fire Fur: A fluffy, bright ginger tabby molly with pale yellow eyes

Lifebringers

Stone Face: A beautiful grey tabby queen with white paws and bright green eyes

Pale Tuft: A white queen with a kinked tail and yellow eyes

Badger Flower the Wolf Slayer: A large black, white, and silver queen with green eyes

Night Fang

Citizens

Lost Ear Squirrel Stripes: A dark grey torbie queen with a destroyed right ear and orange eyes

Russet Blaze: A sturdy short-haired red tabby tom with dark stripes and yellow eyes

Raven Path: A small, black molly with white toes and yellow eyes

Smoke Shadow: A starkly-striped grey tabby tom with a flat nose and bright yellow eyes

Ragged Pelt Sorrel Shine the Greater Blaze: A small, golden torbie queen covered in burn scars, with bright yellow eyes

Spider Stripes: A dark brown tabby queen with white paws and throat and orange eyes

Patched Foot the Wind Runner: A thin ginger and white patched tom with yellow and blue eyes

Fawn Tail: A wiry, light brown tom with bright green eyes

Lark Whisker: A brown tabby tom with white paws and belly and copper eyes

Snake Fur: A light brown torbie gib with white markings and green eyes

Shade Cloud: A solid, dark grey tom with yellow eyes

Briar Whisker: A dark brown, faintly spotted tom with white markings and orange eyes

Sparrow Belly: A large, brown tabby queen with white markings and orange eyes

Sycamore Face: A tall, pretty cream tortoiseshell queen with white paws and dark green eyes

Sulphur Storm: A large ginger tabby tom with white paws and bright green eyes

Robin Heart: A huge brown tortoiseshell-and-white tom with amber eyes

Mangled Leg Columbine Flower: A large pale ginger queen with a badly scarred leg and orange eyes

Lightning Fall of the Red Creek: A smallish white tom with blue eyes and scarred throat and back

Adolescents

Honey: A sturdy golden tabby queen with yellow eyes, student of Spotted Fang

Tawny: A light, tawny brown tabby tom with green eyes, student of Smoke Shadow

Dust: A light brown tabby molly with bright green eyes, student of Fire Fur

Owl: A brown tabby queen with white paws and throat, a flat nose, and yellow eyes

Apple: A pretty dark ginger tom with white marking and pale orange eyes

Kittens

Stone Face and Patched Foot’s litter

Different-eyes: A tiny, pale grey tabby calico queen with yellow and blue eyes White-muzzle: A grey tabby tom with white muzzle, feet, and tail-tip, and yellow eyes Black-flecks: A dark ginger queen with small black spots, white feet, and pale yellow eyes

Pale Tuft’s litter

Long-tail: A large white tom with green eyes Black-whiskers: A large, deaf white queen with blue eyes

Badger Flower and Shade Cloud’s litter

Black-and-silver: A black and silver queen with pale green eyes

Night Fang and Russet Blaze’s litter

Before any mortal of true importance roamed the Earth, so the Clowders say, there was The Mother (“Shahmirr,”) alone in Her greatness. She built Heaven for a home, but grew bored there, and roamed the mortal realm. She found the Seasons, and They were companions that equaled Her, though She longed to create, for it was in Her nature to do so. She saw creatures that resembled Her, loosely- the marten, the mink, the fox, and the weasel, and She decided that She would make a creature that truly reflected Her glorious image. Her first creations, She tried to sculpt from mud and clay and wood and moss, and She only created Devils, for even She never did anything perfectly the first time. These Devils, though unwise, were not without cunning, and as She turned Her head they escaped into the world. Then, She took fire, shaping it in Her image, and the Watcher was created, Her precious son. Still, She wanted more creations, but She burned Her paws terribly in His making, and couldn’t replicate Him. So next, She took Her own shed fur, and from it She made the bobcats- dull, ugly creatures, a hideous reflection of Her beauty, and however She tried there was no getting them to see sense, so She turned them loose into the world. Finally She tore fresh fur from Her own shining, prismatic pelt, and from it She made the Uplifted, the greatest creatures to roam the mortal realm. They were alone in their beauty, their intelligence, and their agility, though they were without strength. The Watcher and the Uplifted basked in Her glory and her love, and all was well.

But the other denizens of the mortal realm grew discontent, for the Devils whispered to them of the great blessings the Uplifted were keeping to themselves. At last the hogs, the raccoons, the corvids, the coyotes, and the wolves decided that they would take from Her what the Uplifted had been rightfully gifted. They attacked the Mother one day as She walked alone, shredding Her pelt, tearing out one of Her eyes, and finally bashing Her head against a stone. They lapped up the wisdom that spilled from Her wounds, and left Her for dead. Her beloved creations found Her, then, blackened with Her own blood- and denounced Her. A true Mother, they said, would not be so weak, so foolish, and so they spat at her and turned tail, walking to the sixteen corners of the world in search of other Gods.

Except for the last forty, the most loyal Uplifted, who would not forsake their Mother. The Forty cried out for help, for they were but nameless kittens, and the Seasons and the Watcher heard them. The Watcher yowled in anguish at the sight of His mother’s suffering, and ran away to exact His wrath upon the beasts who had harmed Her. The Seasons staunched Her bleeding, tending to Her wounds as best They could, but in the end Winter had to carry Her to Heaven, that She might have any chance at recovery. Her blood-darkened pelt became the night sky, the stars Her scabs, and Her remaining eye the moon. As She drifts in and out of sleep, Her eye opens and closes, and any abnormalities are surely grave omens.

"What am I looking at?"

A totally original cat tale, of course!

Hello, I’m Lamb (they/them), and I’m trying to do the ten billionth cat story.

Do you want to read about distant-post-apocalyptic future-cats having a neolithic revolution, with political and religious conflict? If so, you’ve found the right blog!

The lore masterpost is here! (WIP)

The CW is here!

If anything is improperly tagged, LMK and I’ll update ASAP. Please mind the CW, and if this content would upset you, block me.

Ask me anything! If you have suggestions for anything, send them! (Especially names. OMG my names are so bad.) I want to make this project as good as possible, so please don't hesitate to give me criticism! Sorry in advance if my responses take a bit of time.

Content and Asks are 13+ (subject to change; tell me if the rating seems wrong), but DMs are 18+.

Huge thanks to @redux-iterum, @bonefall, and @tribbetherium. They’re all massive inspirations for this project, and their work is all incredible. Please go read them!

Specific thanks to @aberrationwarriors-wcrw for letting me use elements of their naming system.