#the moorswept faction

[oldfacesnewdawnoffical]

Ok spotty my friend…tell me the ranks! I need to know what they are what are weavers what are scouts?

Y’know what? Yes, fuck it, RANK MASTERPOST TIME!

•─────⋅ᓚᘏᗢ⋅─────•

Universal Fealty Positions:

Orator: The guiding authority of their faction, acting as the representative and head of their cats; they have the final choice on every faction matter, and are tasked with ensuring that their community and culture are thriving, alongside with naming new wards.

Liaison: The aide who operates as the faction’s primary diplomat (ensuring that ties across the alliance stay stable, and mediate peace amongst their own cats) and an emergency military commander (ensuring that their cats are well-trained in case of threat).

Allay(s): The healer(s) of the faction who tend to the general health - both mental and physical - of all the cats under their care.

Augur: The sole force of primary, bold magic allowed within the faction, tasked with observing their surroundings to receive and interpret signs from their gods, that being primarily of divine approval or disapproval of various proposed actions.

Supporters: Fully-named members of their faction. These are cats who have decided not to pursue a path beyond supporter, or are deciding what they would like to do beyond that point. In that meantime, they offer support to the other roles of their faction, going wherever they are needed.

Guardians: Those who look after and care for the young of the faction (primarily unweaned and ill wards) and typically also take the baseline upkeep of the camp under their care.

The Fenland’s Specific Positions:

Day-Scouts: Those who primarily operate during the hours of daylight, aiding in checking hunting traps, performing routine sweeps of more dangerous sections of the territory, and the like.

Groundskeepers: Those who train specifically to overlook and protect the camp, and fight off any potential aggressors who threaten their home, while also ensuring that the camp stays clean, safe, well-decorated and kept up with.

Legionnaires: Those who train specifically in advanced stealth and combat practices, alongside how to navigate the trickier portions of their territory safely, crafting maps both mental and physical through the swamps.

Trappers: Those who weave elaborate traps to set in the marsh, while also acting as the faction’s primary hunters, able to lie still for long stretches of time to coax prey closer to their claws or traps.

Observers: Those who watch at their borders, keeping track of who (or what) has passed by, honing their bodies to stay completely still for hours on end; those who pass by quickly grow uneasy due to the feeling as though they are being watched.

The Moorswept’s Specific Positions:

Tunnelers: Those who take up meticulous training to learn how to dig out, keep up with, and navigate the elaborate system of tunnels dug out beneath the moors.

Moor-Runners: Those who learn to race across the moors in high-speed pursuit of ground birds, rabbits, and other prey of that sort; trained up solely in speed and hunting.

Keepers: Those who ensure that the two claimed camps are kept up with, clean, and safe, and generally watch over and ensure the health of the kept herds of livestock.

Strategists: Those who excel in strategy and planning- whether it be in battle, hunts, patrols, or life in general.

Couriers: Those who are especially swift and with good memory; used most often to send immediate news between the camps and various outlook points.

The Riverward’s Specific Positions:

Divers: Those who dive into the river’s depths for prey and trinkets, able to hold their breath for extended periods of time and battle against rough currents.

Weavers: Those who are able to navigate the sparse land of their territory to hunt, skimming the surface of the water through traps or other alternative means of fishing.

Minstrels: Those who can string together words as smooth as the rivers at dawn, commonly charming and often found working right alongside the historians to spice up the fealty’s past with music and showmanship.

Observers: Those who train specifically to watch the skies and map out the weather patterns, looking for the telltale signs for storms and in case of flooding; also keep an eye on the population of the river to ensure that overhunting doesn’t occur.

Artisans: Those who tend to and decorate the camp alongside grave and celebration sites, ensuring that everything is clean, pretty, and, above all, safe.

The Woodruff’s Specific Positions:

Architects: Those who take up the task of building, and supervising the building of dens, defenses, etc; they are also responsible for the general upkeep, cleanliness, and decoration of the camp as a whole.

Convoys: Those who typically take up guard duties, who must be alert at all times during their shifts; less traditional “guards” and more “watchmen” - they keep tabs on the comings and goings of their faction members, and sound the alarm should anything threatening arise.

Tacticians: Those who train religiously and excel in the art of combat, studying strategy, battle moves, and the weak points of various predators and foes; they will always make up the front lines of battle.

Pursuers: Those who train specifically (sometimes exclusively) in the art of the hunt; these cats are the most skilled hunters, with notably sharp senses and quick reflexes, and will always make up the secondary lines of battle.

Scouts: Those who are exceptionally fast, usually the first to be out in the mornings to scout out hunting spots and potential dangers early-on within the territory; commonly those who patrol most often, and primarily are found at the back lines of battles in case they need to run for reinforcements or to update the camp.

[oldfacesnewdawnoffical]

The Fourtrees Fealty

An amassment of predominantly mindful cats who claim the Fortress Valley - a lush, fertile space surrounded by a barren wasteland of stone. While technically one entity, the fealty is split into four factions to spread and occupy as much space as possible, ensuring that no one threatens the safety of their continued existence and the preservation of their individual cultures.

The Fealty Factions

The Fenland Faction

The Moorswept Faction

The Riverward Faction

The Woodruff Faction

The Laws of the Fealty

Universal Fealty Law

The Allay Principles

The Code of History

The Code of Honors

Leadership Gallantry

Nursing Rights

Fealty Naming Mechanics

Fenland Prefixes

Moorswept Prefixes

Riverward Prefixes

Woodruff Prefixes

Fealty Suffixes

Forbidden Prefixes + Suffixes

See Also: The #prefix tag!

Fealty Faith

The Star Guide

The Founder of the Fenland

The Founder of the Moorswept

The Founder of the Riverward

The Founder of the Woodruff

The First Augur

The Mother

The Knowledgeable One

The First Allay

The Founder of the Skydrop

A Bit of a Deeper Look Into the Founders

BONUS:

A Deeper Look into the Ranks of each Faction

Age Guide

The Fealty’s Afterlife

[oldfacesnewdawnoffical]

Do any Moorswept falconers build nests for their birds or do they let them do it themselves? Is any cat fur used as a material?

A bit of both!!

Since the Moorsweepers are so close to the crescent of mountains that guards their home, with much of their territory being uphill and rocky, gradually leading into Highstones, they have a lot of sheer faced cliffs that they’ve specifically claimed for their birds. Since their falcons are mindless, they’re driven solely by their instincts, but, as many birds can, have been trained to recognize a very specific cliff to be their nesting grounds - their home base.

The cats carve out specific pockets for their birds, making sure that they’re deep enough to provide shelter from the winds and rain, alongside protection from any other animal that might try to reach in and grab them as leverage to the Moorswept or as a not-so-easy, desperate snack.

So the birds have a set, strict home, but their nests are up to them! They’re provided plenty of materials (only the finest for such valued members of the Moorswept faction!), but they’re made by the falcons themselves. Cat fur isn’t typically included in these nesting materials unless it’s a specific bird that’s formed a bond with a specific cat, in which case their nest will be marked by said cat by bits of their fur or claws on the outsides of their tunnels rather than in the nests themselves. It’s more decoration, really. The cat, in turn, will take bits of their falcon’s feathers (downy feathers specifically are currently very popular with younger Moorsweepers!) to decorate their nests or themselves with.

[oldfacesnewdawnoffical]

Random ass question but I was kinda lost in the sauce

“One of Magpietail’s ear tips was ripped off as a show of his specific bloodline no longer being viable, but he himself could still rule.”

Did you mean that Magpietail himself couldn’t reproduce anymore or did they see his cut ear and go “he’s tainted” and that was it?

I love questions that originate from The Sauce, they’re my favorite type of questions ^^

At the time of his return, Magpietail was very hotly debated. He left his faction to chase after vengeance, abandoned them, which is a super big deal in the Moorswept, where duty and loyalty is held above almost everything else within their culture and everyday lives. Magpietail did the equivalent of holding the middle finger up to his faction when he left in pursuit of revenge for his father’s death, which was just worsened by the fact that he was a descendant of their Founder. For someone with Founder’s blood to abandon the home that their exalted ancestor chose and settled for the future generations is viewed as a massive slight.

By the time that Magpietail returned, made wiser from his journey and having returned with foundlings and an ex-unaligned who were all eager to learn more about fealty culture, that lessened the affects of his slight, but only somewhat. But the biggest thing? He returned, which to his peers, was either placing him in their awe or their disdain. But regardless, there were very few left with Founder’s blood at that time. Heatherstep was growing older, Wheatfeather had betrayed his family, Ploverfoot had denied being made the Moorswept’s heir twice in his absence, Garterwhisker had long since renounced her familial ties to their Founder, and at that point, the next generation (Willowbreeze, Mudclaw, Warrenheart, Hopfoot and Pounceflight) were all far too young to take on the role and be expected to lead with experience and grace.

So, when asked, he accepted the mantle. It caused a ton of drama for a while, but it ultimately settled when he also accepted a “punishment”: that his line would end with him, any young that he had or claimed wouldn’t be able to ascend to the role of orator. His adopted children wouldn’t have had any claim, anyway, but when he did ultimately have blood children of his own (Asphodel), they wouldn’t be considered as having viable Founder’s blood.

This is all before the Moorswept Massacre, though, of course… Desperate times can very easily sway cats into changing their minds…

[oldfacesnewdawnoffical]

How was the reaction when the moorswept finally returned? Did no one send out search parties to try to find them or was it declared a lost case?

They were declared pretty much a lost cause, especially by the Fenland, since most of them were literally there to witness the brutality of it. And if they, as the aggressors, still had nightmares about it, what would the effects be on the surviving victims?

Plus, the Moorswept’s orator had been killed. More than half the faction had fallen. Nobody thought they’d be able to pick themselves up again.

It was quite a shock: not only because next to no one expected them to return, but also because they were led back into the forest by Laurelstorm, who had adorned herself with a smear of red across her eyes, that every Moorsweeper confirmed as the blood of Dreamtongue…

[oldfacesnewdawnoffical]

Trials huh? Even if you can't describe one can we learn a bit about the Moorswept hiring process? Is it only one trial or three or more? Are the trials events decided by anyone or are the trials predetermined?

I took a lot of inspiration from the work of (primarily) @tennelleflowers’s Clouded Moon when it comes to the trials and outward functions of the Moorswept specifically. And yes, I’m aware of the whole controversy that went on within it, but I’m standing firm in my own bubble when I say I don’t support nor NOT support the series; from a creative standpoint, I just enjoyed their lore, so I took inspiration from it :)

Primarily, it’s a case-by-case basis… The Moorswept, though, is notorious for being closed-off and tight-knit; they are a unit, a well-oiled machine, with every survival need filled with those who are honed to skilled perfection within their craft. So, within a society that has all its needs already met, where would someone new fit in?

That’s up to the newcomer to decide. They’re given a nondescript “trial”, which is essentially the orator and historians going: “yeah, you’re here now, show us what you can do and why you’re valuable”. The newcomer in question gets a full day and night cycle to think of what they can provide the faction, and then execute it in front of the orator, allays, and historians. The entirety of that council must be unanimous in accepting the newcomer; if even one of them is unimpressed by their displayed skills, the newcomer is turned away and driven off.

It’s even more difficult for full outsiders to the fealty to get into the faction through these trials, as they typically don’t have any idea on what the Moorswept’s primary values are and what they look for in their community and individual members. Other former-faction members (so long as they don’t have the mark of exile) have a bit of an easier time getting in, but how they adjust afterward (and how their new faction reacts to them) is a throw of the dice.

[oldfacesnewdawnoffical]

What do the Moorswept think of letting outsiders join?

Unless you’re a foundling brought in very, very young, there’s almost no outsiders allowed within their midst.

They’re a very small, closed-off group based on trust and loyalty and faith. If they don’t think they can trust you, even for a second? You’re gone. There’s a reason the Moorswept is the smallest of the fealty factions, after all… they have the highest number of exileds out of any of their neighbors.

It is incredibly difficult to join their ranks. You’ll get a very liminal amount of slack if you’re fealtyborn and transferring into the faction from another, but even then you’ll get a favorable nod from your peers for choosing “the superior faction” only AFTER you pass several harrowing, grueling trials to prove your worth and loyalty.

If y’all ask for Cotton or Emberbelly character cards, you should ask them about it ;)

[oldfacesnewdawnoffical]

We’ve heard it before but can we get a more in-depth jnfo on the succession for the moorswept orator? Like just the founder and no exceptions ever?

Absolutely!

Across the fealty, the Moorswept’s orator succession is probably the simplest: One can only become orator if they have the blood of the Moorswept’s Founder within them. It’s just that. If you hold even an ounce of her blood within your body, you’re good to go! There’s the matter of being appointed to the position by your predecessor of course, the current reigning orator specifically debating with their faction to decide with one of the Founder’s descendants acts as liaison to one day succeed them, but it’s a pretty simplistic system.

I’ll probably make a full family tree later on if y’all are interested, stretching from the Founder herself all the way down to Magpietail and Hopfoot!!

An easy way to see who is viable for the position is an interesting dominant trait: tri-frayed ears.

Any cat who harbors this very specific trait, a three-way split of the tip of the ear, can be traced back to the Moorswept’s Founder. This goes back to how and why the Moorsweepers track bloodlines and keep a calendar; it’s to affirm bloodlines.

Fun fact about Magpietail?: He was, at first, an incredibly controversial choice for orator. He violated the faction’s loyalty by leaving, but upon his return, he was the only option for Heatherstep’s heir. Her own littermates were unable to succeed her (Hawkheart was an allay and Garterwhisker had recently suffered an accident that cost her a leg and her partner; she wasn’t in the right mind for the position), Wheatwhisker couldn’t succeed due to him breaking an uninvolvement treaty with the Riverward, Ploverfoot held no interest in the position, and Ploverfoot’s second litter was far too young to act as successors. One of Magpietail’s ear tips was ripped off as a show of his specific bloodline no longer being viable, but he himself could still rule. Everyone had settled under his reign, and are happy and content under his paw, but there are still plenty of Moorsweepers who look forward to the day that Hopfoot rises to the orator title as a “proper Founder’s descendant”.

[oldfacesnewdawnoffical]

oh PLEASE tell why it's a mutual scorning

i am so interested in the inter-personal drama

HSIFHJF EVERYBODY’S SO INTERESTED ABOUT THEM I LOVE IT AAHHHH

Born as vagabonds, the two littermates (then known as Rigel and Betelgeuse) were given to the Moorswept shortly after their birth, willingly offered to them by a newly widowed vagabond whose mate had died in childbirth. Initially claimed by the former orator, Rhema Heatherstep, the entire faction was left reeling when she lost her last life almost immediately afterward. The faction labeled the duo as cursed immediately, and they were left to the (very hesitant) paws of the head guardian - barely a moon old.

As such, they grew up very close. Eventually named Runner and Jumper, the two quickly made a name for themselves, even amongst the faction that regarded them with a wary eye (even with Magpietail’s best efforts). Runner was bold and brash, skilled with his paws in a way that many of his faction envied. Meanwhile, Jumper was far less noteworthy, especially on his own; he was somewhat cowardly, always looking for the easier path to take, but still a warm and kind cat that many grew to enjoy the company of. Together, they were the life of the party, and gained a name across the fealty for being as such. Until, one Gathering, in which Runner met Mottle.

It took a significant amount of time for the two to become close, but with Runner’s natural inclination towards making friends with every cat he met, he wouldn’t leave Mottle be until they finally began to grow close - and as soon as they hit that point, they crossed the line and their relationship ran. The two began sneaking away to meet as often as possible, with Runner beginning to neglect his duties more and more; he had never felt as though he fit within the Moorswept anyway, and Mottle’s descriptions of life in the Woodruff thrilled and entranced him, along with the tempting addition of being at one another’s sides all the time. Enraged by his brother’s lack of thought towards him, as Jumper had a tendency to allow his temper to blind his judgment, they ultimately had a heated confrontation, one that Jumper dragged out into the public eye of their faction, and straight to Magpietail.

Horrified and anxious by his brother’s actions, Runner was coaxed into the orator’s den to speak alone. When he came back out, after many many hours, he wouldn’t speak to Jumper - or anyone, for that matter. He stayed reserved, withdrawn, and his newfound personality lingered for the rest of that moon - up until the next Gathering, in which Magpietail and Songfall announced Runner’s acceptance into the Woodruff. Jumper was horrified, and desperately tried to stop his brother, but Runner snapped back at him, laying out his grievances with his brother: how he needed to stop hanging in Runner’s shadow, how he desperately wanted to feel accepted by more than just one cat in a whole faction, how he wished to stand and serve at the side of the cat he had fallen in love with. And how obviously, that wasn’t with Jumper.

Jumper replied by publicly scorning him and severing ties. Runner echoed the sentiment. Both toms cried themselves to sleep that night - with Runner close to Mottle’s side, and Jumper alone.

Upon receiving their full names, moons later, Runningflight requested to keep the prefix of his original faction. Even if he had found a new life, a better life, within the Woodruff, he still held pride in the name he had been given, and thus, wished to keep it. Meanwhile, Onewhisker asked for an entirely new name, one to symbolize that he was alone now, and how he would grow into something great alone, too.

[oldfacesnewdawnoffical]

Now I’m imagining these cats dancing like puss in boots and kitty softpaws

It wouldn’t be entirely out of the realm of possibility for a Moorsweeper to do so 👀

[oldfacesnewdawnoffical]

The Moorswept Faction - Character List

Blood in the Water — [20]

ORATOR: Hopfoot

LIAISON: Aroges Doespring

ALLAY: Purrheale Voleface

Training: Maize

HISTORIANS:

Smoketongue

SUPPORTERS:

Onewhisker

Training: Cotton

Myrtlewing (Thrushwing)

TUNNELERS:

Warrenheart

MOOR-RUNNERS:

Rabbitear

KEEPERS:

Darkfoot

STRATEGISTS:

Mudclaw

Training: Gravel

COURIERS:

Adderdance

GUARDIANS:

Morningwhistle

Ashfoot

WARDS:

Cotton

Gravel

Maize (Muddyclaw)

Twice (Runningbrook)

Double (Rushtail)

UNWEANED:

Asphodel (Gorsepaw) [Magpietail + Emberbelly]

Calluna (Hillkit) [Ashfoot + Hopfoot]

[oldfacesnewdawnoffical]

Why is hawkthorntail and fallowtoe 9.5 liaison

They’re a case of “conjoined twins”; one body, two heads, two cats.

They both served as orator at the same time :) Two different cats, but technically their faction and history considers their time as orator to be the same. It’s a highly debated point between Moorsweeper historians.

(I messed up the order of canon’s leaders and scrambled for a reason that might fit with OFND’s narrative rather than go back and redo a whole branch of the tree because it’s 1am and college is kicking down my door two days in,, so! Conjoined orator twins :))

[oldfacesnewdawnoffical]

The Moorswept Faction - Character List

A Dream of Destiny — [36]

ORATOR: Rhema Magpietail (Tallstar)

LIAISON: Aroges Hopfoot (Deadfoot)

ALLAY: Purrheale Voleface (Barkface)

HISTORIANS:

Wheatfeather (Reedfeather)

Ploverfoot (Palebird)

Crowfur

Heathclaw (Plumclaw)

Smoketongue (Smoke/Ruby)

Training: Myrtle

SUPPORTERS:

Emberbelly (Jake)

Darkfoot

Onewhisker

TUNNELERS:

Harebelly (Wrenflight)

Scorchstep (Socks)

Warrenheart (Tornear)

MOOR-RUNNERS:

Cloudrunner

Training: Cotton

Woolytail

Doespring

Rabbitear

Training: Sedge

KEEPERS:

Pounceflight (Pigeonflight/Sorrelshine)

STRATEGISTS:

Garterwhisker (Lilywhisker)

Ashfoot

Mudclaw

Training: Gravel

COURIERS:

Adderdance (Appledawn)

Larksplash

GUARDIANS:

Quincloud (No Canon Counterpart)

Leveretleap (Flytail/Bristlebark)

Morningwhistle (Morningflower)

WARDS:

Sedge (Stoneclaw)

Myrtle (Thrushwing)

Cotton (Whitetail)

Gravel (Webfoot)

UNWEANED:

Cornflower (Runningbrook) [Quincloud]

Cowslip (Snowbird) [Quincloud]

Bluet (Ratscar) [Quincloud]

Chicory (Rushtail) [Quincloud]

Trillium (Tawnyfur) [Leveretleap]

Asphodel (Gorsepaw) [Magpietail + Emberbelly]

[oldfacesnewdawnoffical]

Moorswept Prefixes

As with all faction-specific prefixes, the Moorsweepers name their members after their general surroundings first and foremost.

For the Moorswept faction specifically, their prefixes generally relate to the moorlands, heathlands, meadows and fields, grasslands, highlands and farmlands that they claim within their territory, alongside the things commonly found there, such as moorland animals - moorland birds and raptors, snakes (specifically), hoofed animals, lagomorphs, etc -, moorland plants, common crops, and the like.

Alongside these, Moorsweepers are also known to name those of their factions after fire, as it is held in very close regard within their culture. They are also the only faction to actively keep a calendar, and as such they can commonly count much higher than the average member of another faction, and thus they tend to take names that reflect a number notable to their specific lives. Actions as prefixes are also incredibly popular and highly contended for for litter names, and prefixes after the earth are equally as popular.

More specific examples:

[Actions] Hopfoot (Deadfoot), Pounceflight (Pigeonflight/Sorrelshine)

[Moorland Birds] Magpietail (Talltail), Ploverfoot (Palebird), Crowfur

[Snakes] Adderdawn (Appledawn)

[Hoofed Animals] Doespring

[Moorland Plants] Sedge (Stoneclaw), Myrtle (Thrushwing)

[Crops] Wheatfeather (Reedfeather), Cotton (Whitetail)

[Fire-Related] Ashfoot, Smoketongue (Smoke/Ruby), Scorchstep (Socks)

[Earth] Mudclaw, Warrenheart (Tornear)

[Lagomorphs] Rabbitear, Harebelly (Wrenflight), Leveretleap (Flytail/Bristlebark)

[Numbers] Onewhisker, Quincloud (NCC)

[oldfacesnewdawnoffical]

Note:

The “guilds” are no longer known as guilds. Instead, they are called factions!

The Fourtrees Fealty consists of four factions, each stretching out across and claiming the Fortress Valley.

The Fenland Faction, of the forested swamps; the Moorswept Faction, of the rocky fields; the Riverward Faction, of the non-tidal marshes; and the Woodruff Faction, of the lush forestlands.

[oldfacesnewdawnoffical]

Even if the other factions don’t practice falconry, do they still train birds? (e.g mindless pigeons used as couriers)

Nah… For the other factions, birds are either food (the Woodruff), foes (the Riverward (coughcoughgeesecough)) or friends (the Fenland).

The Moorsweepers use their birds (specifically the red-tailed hawk) in a manner of ways that can’t be incorporated into any of the other faction’s lifestyles. They use their birds for hunting, for reporting, and for contacting their members that are commonly spread out and posted throughout the territory.

Due to the nature of their homes, none of the other factions can accomplish this. Plus, they just… don’t want to. With the lax nature of the Riverwardens, the hands-on mentality of the Woodruffians, and the busy schedules of the Fenlanders, they don’t have the time nor energy to spend training mindless birds to do tasks for them. They don’t have the same struggles as their moor-dwelling brethren, in which the hawks are needed to catch food during times in which they cannot, or to send messages throughout the vast territory when cats are unable to leave their posts.