#wbcd is so chill in worldbuilding

[warriors-but-cats-die]

Hi! I see that you have different lore and rules in your au, (ie. elders choosing names, seers changing clans which I think is SO interesting omg, clans not speaking the dead's name) would you ever go more in depth with those changes? I'd be very interested to see your take on the clans cultures!! Love this blog so much!! ♡

aww thanks for the curiosity!

wbcd is actually pretty tame in terms of worldbuilding stuff for me, because. bookkeeping. that's -- almost always the answer lmao. i'll do links first and then ramble broadly about clan culture below the cut.

my (warriors) main, @mallowstep, is where most of the relevant content is contained, although i'm ngl for the past few weeks we've just been Experiencing this web of riverclan aus so. this morning i debated the existence of the original sin in warriors. "debated" more like -- talked through? i don't know.

anyway.

i have two worldbuilding related series, the elders' den (folklore) and five clans alike in dignity (worldbuilding essays). it's been a while since i've added anything to either of them because "poetry. hymns. language." has been kicking my ass way more than i expected, but they are living series.

and if you want some proper seers switching clans (i.e., as a thing that's part of the culture, rather than something that happens in an emergency), saccharine tithes of love and glory is currently at 6/8 works and explores that idea starting with yellowstorm (yellowfang), and i just posted squirrelflight.

but for some broad notes:

riverclan

there's...a lot. riverclan is easily one of my most developed clans. i'm trying to keep this stuff to bullet points, because i will literally not stop talking if i don't (see: one of the first things i did this morning was read through the wikipedia page for the doctrine of original sin to talk about how that was compatible in riverclan's belief system.)

core belief: all riverclan cats carry the divine in them (literal descendants of the river)

core values: patience, pride, flexibility, creativity

unique practices: building shrines for the dead and having water burials; bone divination; weaving; raiding the twoleg place; keeping trinkets

main spiritual practices: holidays; veneration of the moon; looking for river spirits

social structure: fairly nuclear

meta-thoughts: they're a proud clan, but because of that, they're the most accepting. it's sort of, "you're one of us, so it doesn't matter -- you have value."

shadowclan

probably the least developed clan. i'm always trying.

core belief: heritage matters, birthright does not (i.e., a focus not on who your parents are, but a respect for the past)

core values: cunning, respect, loyalty, community

unique practices: a large and long list of prayers that seers need to memorize with very specific purposes; prefixes are associated with the last cat to hold them, something which then reflects on the next cat to get the prefix; deep mourning traditions

main spiritual practices: group prayer, led by the leader in the morning and the seer in the evening; serious holy days (vs. riverclan's holidays); limited belief in the ability of a "normal" cat t connect with starclan

social structure: large focus on extended kin

meta-thoughts: i'm always trying to add on to shadowclan, but i've yet to find a story to tell in shadowclan that makes me want to sink my teeth into their culture. there's also -- a problem with them being a diaspora culture, and i'm trying to describe an "ideal" form that hasn't existed since...cedarstar, probably

skyclan

my beloved. i'm not much interested in old skyclan, so:

core belief: loyalty to the clan (really, a focus on being a community, rebuilding, etc.)

core values: adaptability, cunning, loyalty, resilience

unique practices: asking kits if they want to be part of skyclan; having clan meetings on the new moon; naming cats after the very recently deceased

main spiritual practices: nothing has really set hold, yet, other than group prayer/gathering on the new moon

social structure: the whole clan is one family, although they lean towards nuclear

meta-thoughts: they're a new clan, and that's really what this is about. everything about them is about surviving, and so they're very pragmatic. results oriented. etc.

thunderclan

aka, i refuse to accept thunderclan is boring

core belief: a deep focus on commitment to the clan (very communalist)

core values: decisiveness, loyalty, respect, community

unique practices: telling stories with repeated lines; not speaking the name of the dead; deeply valuing skill in battle

main spiritual practices: a deep focus on individual prayer; belief in invoking the names of specific cats; believing the journey to starclan takes several moons; limited spiritual weight in the position of seer

social structure: focused around maara/denmates, often over maach/bloodkin

meta-thoughts: while i haven't done terribly much with thunderclan, it's because i think thunderclan as-presented is pretty good. it's not that they're the default, it's just you're mostly familiar with them. they have a really, really big cultural thing around stories though, more than any of the other clans. while all the clans use stories to explain things, thunderclan takes telling stories very seriously. they're learned nearly word for word.

windclan

aka someone decided windclan should have hymns and i think we all latched on to that

core belief: a focus on commitment through sacrifice

core values: patience; respect; flexibility; mediation

unique practices: calls for casting of stones fairly often (all clans have conflict resolution, windclan is just most likely to use them); requiring the seer to confirm the name of each kit as not being ill-omened; pack hunting which has three roles; a commitment to ecology; sentry duty

main spiritual practices: the hymn, which is split into main sections and sung through, in part or whole, about once a season; holy days (fasts and singing days) have no fixed occurrence but are announced by the seer as little as the morning of; leaving the dead on the open moor so they can run to starclan

social structure: broadly communal, a deep sense of ties between mentors and apprentices, an expectation that mates will be well-integrated with both families

meta-thoughts: much like thunderclan has a lot of sayings derived from stories, windclan has sayings derived from hymns. while i've removed tunnelling from windclan, i've replaced it with a new way to categorize warriors. the three running positions are flusher, chaser, and catcher, and while all cats can run all positions, flusher is the most highly specialized because they're responsible for land management.

alright! i always have more to say about this, but. that's a start.