⸙ Seasonal Surveys ⸙ Neverending Night ⸙ SPRING PROMPT

[SkyWishes21]

Username + ID || SkyWishes21 + 603852
Sign-up Post Link || boop!
Word Count || 263
Prompt ||
While Helena herself isn't terribly fond of celebrations (too many of them in her youth), she's seen a lot of different sorts of parties throughout her years traveling the lands. Barring her mother's circle and any excuse they'll take to have a gala, she'd have to say the most interesting comes from the cats living at Overlook Station.

You see, Overlook Station is less an established culture group and more a bunch of eccentrics from various smaller clowders who've somehow managed to come together into something resembling a functional society. This means that to accommodate the various cultural celebrations, they have multiple.

At the beginning of Fall, they have a massive feast. A percentage of summer's abundance is set aside so every cat can gorge themselves and revel in all they have. The origins of this feast comes from Seaside Clan traditions, which are often more solemn than Overlook Station's. This party tends to get a bit wild thanks to influence from the Highland Tribes, who will take any excuse to throw a blow-out party.

However, this isn't the only event that happens during the season. As winter's chill approaches, cats from the Old Growth Clans and the Cavern Tribes have developed a week-long rite to honor the dead. Every cat that has passed on that year is honored, from those unfortunately killed in wartime battles to the smallest kit who died before they were ever truly alive. Only essential work continues for that week and even those stuck with essential tasks are regularly relieved to join in the group mourning.

[lichenfeather]

Username + ID || lichenfeather | 93968
Sign-up Post Link || [x]
Word Count || 250+
Prompt ||

Peppertooth narrowed his eyes in mistrust as the frenetic pale tabby pushed the bark towards him, his golden claws digging into the soil as his own flexed beneath them. “The Seasonal Lords, hm… never heard of ‘em. Surely they can't be that important.” The black tom lashed his dark tail making to turn away, before pausing, staring intently at the other cat. “Although… it can't hurt to spread the glory of The Last Bastion and The Contessa, I suppose. Even in this strange place!” He let out a laugh that contained anything but humour, before hooking the paper bark over with one golden talon, and, using said claw, inscribed their traditions.

During the transition between greenleaf and leaf-bare, known to us as leaf-fall, the cats of The Last Bastion find themselves energized and constantly busy. There is no time for celebration - we must prepare for the scarcity to come.

Although our land is plentiful, leaf-bare can also be harsh. Prey is less plentiful, and the ocean becomes so cold it's said that cats have fallen in and instantly sank, frozen forevermore. Our patrols add additional members of The Cure, so they can collect and dry whatever remaining herbs they need to help us survive the cold months of leaf-bare. Any cats still needing to sit their vigils in The Star Place try and complete it during leaf-fall, for access becomes even more treacherous during leaf-bare. We are abundant with activity, ensuring our prey stores are as full as possible, while members of The Strike must defend our patrols and camp from other creatures as they too prepare for the incoming change.

It's uncommon for The Paw of the Future to allow kits to be born during the latter half of leaf-fall, so those who feel drawn to the younglings will often enjoy time around the nursery - when they're not busy that is! In some ways, nothing changes. Life goes on, with Starclan and The Shine ever watchful of our lives.

Deciding he'd shared enough secrets for one day, Peppertooth skewered his paper with his claw, unceremoniously dumping it into the basket, before heading off without a goodbye.

[harvestberry]

Username + ID || harvestberry + 1022572
Sign-up Post Link || <3
Word Count || 262 Words
Prompt ||

Being a melting pot of every other society on the continent, The Alliance has no real fall festival of its own culture; rather, cats often host their own small parties and celebrations of the changing season. There is, however, one official festival celebrated annually; The Trader's Night Market. Hosted every year on Market Street during the last week of Leaffall, cats from all over the continent flock to The Alliance in their own celebration of the harvest. At this market, everything is sold from the last produce of the season to warm garments ready to protect their wearers from Leafbare's brutal cold. The most distinct thing about The Trader's Night Market, however, is its atmosphere; a far cry from how The Alliance used to view the shifting weather.

Before Falling Star took leadership, leaves freeing themselves from their perches upon the branches was the worst omen imaginable. Leafbare meant cold weather and no food, which meant illness and starvation - weakness, in every sense of The Alliance's unique definition for that word. There was no joy in Leaffall, no sense of satisfaction or excitement with the descending leaves. The Dome was the home of every cat in The Alliance, and the mood within it was heavy with dread and mourning.

Following Falling Star becoming The Alliance's leader, Leaffall was no longer a sign of bad things to come. As more traders began adding The Alliance to their route, what was once the scariest week of any Alliance cat's year - the last week of Leaffall - had become a time of warmth, companionship, and prosperity.

[mahogany]

Username + ID || mahogany + 1097594
Sign-up Post Link || bing
Word Count || 264
Prompt || Jovial has always heralded fall as a celebration of life and peace, the beginning of the yearly wintertime that's usually taken to wind down from the vicious summer battles and the illnesses of spring. It is for precisely this reason that the ever-increasing shortages of autumnal resources dampens the mood as of recent seasons. The mushrooms -- Jovial's main autumnal food source as they stock up on winter prey -- have fallen dormant with the death of Taro, so cats have been needing to catch more prey and go hungrier. This leaves little time for festivals, especially in the large AngelClan which is full of hungry mouths and greedy paws.
Many of the older Jovial cats feel the absence of these festivities and attempt to recreate them for the younger cats, albeit with many mishaps and difficulties -- so much so that it seems as though cats born after the death of Taro are cursed to be unable to enjoy the changing seasons of autumn. Lead speakers go missing the day of a festival, the royal palace issues a quarantine for an outbreak of contagious spatterlung, the traveling musicians break their instruments, or all the food turns rotten the night before... all of it seems too unlucky to be real, but it happens at every celebration around autumn. Every celebration without young cats, that is! Older cats still party and have festivals all day and all night long, often scaring away prey and tiring out the group's best hunters. All in all, autumnal celebrations in Jovial do more harm than good, so it's wisest to ignore them.

[Baobabel]

Username + ID || Baobabel + 39277
Sign-up Post Link || Here
Word Count || 407
Prompt || ((StoryGlimmer-SG-he/him; Tupí-he/she))
StoryGlimmer reaches out a paw to grab the paper being handed to him. He then hands it over to Tupí to read. It takes a minute to get through the questions as Tupí interjects his own thoughts while reading. After she's done, SG sits for a minute thinking. "I've only been around for one Fall, this year will be my second. I'm not totally sure what happens every year." I'll just do my best, he thought. He begins to dictate for Tupí to write. His response comes out as causal thoughts, not neatly and clearly written explanations but he hopes he gets the point across well enough.

The clan does have a fall celebration. That celebration usually involves a feast. The feast is held in the evening. The morning of is spent hunting and gathering. The midday is time for rest before the afternoon games and competitions begin. In the fall, it's usually a time a plenty. A time to stock up before the harsher winter. The cats know it's good to pack on calories while you can. Those reserves will help in harder times. That being said, they also aren't wasteful. It isn't huge or excessively extravagant. They make sure to use anything that will go bad. Things that will last are kept for the winter emergency cache. They hunt a little extra but not enough to deplete resources before winter. The chef gets creative and serves dishes that stretch while also incorporating seasonally fresh ingredients. It is celebration of balance.

The feast is to honor and give thanks for the food they have. For having members healthy and skilled enough to catch it (or collect it) and well as gratitude for a system that provides. They never take their environment for granted. After the feast, the second main feature of the celebration is storytelling. Storytelling is also a huge part of the winter fest but they have different themes. For fall, the focus is on stories centered around fun and creativity. It's a time for ghost stories, histories, and tall tales. Everyone, content and full from the feast, enjoys one-upping each other.

SG considers for a minute but decides it good enough. He could go into more detail but he got the gist of it. He nods and Tupí places it in the basket. "I wonder what other clans do" she thinks out loud as she takes a peek while dropping the paper on top.

[Vivika]

Username + ID || vivika + 966947
Sign-up Post Link || ✦✦✦

Word Count || 290 words
Prompt || he remembers the fall festivities, not of his home province, but of one further south. a province rich in not the black steel skyscrapers and flashing neon lights, but a province lush with green and gold.

he remembers the twin harvest moons in full bloom, their faces radiant as they gazed upon the still growing, still dancing fields. he remembers the smoked fish dashed with spices and fresh herbs, the tangerine-gold oils sizzling as they leapt drop-by-drop into the fire. the stews that bubbled with veggies plucked from the garden—frilly carrot tops, plump russet potatoes, sweet onions stirred into a gamey broth; the pastries glazed with sugars and overflowing with blackberries and lemon zest; the aromatic rice wrapped in banana leaves and spooned generously with red and yellow curries. the fragrance to this day still lingers at the tip of his tongue, a ghost of a memory that stirs the beast in his belly.

he remembers the vivid sweep of colors across a rose-lit sky, the twirl and dip and spiral of shimmering ribbons and soft, translucent silks from the flag dancers. he remembers the free weave of chatter and laughter through the marketplace, the clap of hands, the slap of backs, the sound of family by the fireside, knitting together histories and present bonds and futures all in one moment. he remembers the music, the strum of strings, the swooping lilt of a pipe, and most of all, the low earthbound thrum of the drums.

it was the drums that was the heartbeat of the festivities.

the thud-thud-thud that seemed to seep through the earth with his every step. a change in the rhythm meant something new, a feast, a toast, a dance, a beginning or an end.

[Whovian5EVA]

Username + ID || Whovian5eva 328762
Sign-up Post Link || here!
Word Count || 144 words
Prompt || Sootfang sighed as he thought about the way that autumn leaves decorated the forest floor, “I suppose they are quite pretty aren't they…” he thought of how the houses of the kittypets often had much more leftovers to rummage through…
His heart yearned to celebrate amongst other feline friends feasting on the last of the food before winter took hold. However he couldn't shake the feeling that a brilliant colourful autumn was said to be a warning for a harsh cold winter… perhaps their Autumns would be better spent sitting with Starclan and begging for a kinder winter…
“I guess we don't have a celebration right now but I wish we did, maybe I'll start one when I return home! I could gather all the cats of my clan, and we can maybe do both! Feast and pray to Starclan for a gentle winter!” He purred.

[Plushbunny]

Username + ID || Plushbunny + 858001
Sign-up Post Link || here
Word Count || 188 words
Prompt || Winter is cold and harsh in BlizzardClan, so the clan prefers to stay optimistic, while also taking it seriously. So BlizzardClan holds a festival in the autumn, both to celebrate the year they've had, and to prepare for the winter.

They host multiple activities, such as pumpkin carving with their claws or tools, and finding fallen leaves to use as decor. They also host multiple competitions, such as who can catch the most prey, or the most fish before the river gets too cold for the year, which is both for fun and for gathering resources to prepare for the winter.

There is a feast, but a smaller one, to conserve food for the winter. Prey eaten for the feast may use extra herbs such as honey and huckleberries for flavor. Aside from the feast and activities, more herbs are gathered, including the last of the herbs from the clan's small garden, and any fish caught are dried for storage, to be eaten in the winter. Dens have been filled with extra bedding for warmth. The clan's allies, the ranch cats, are invited to the festival as well.

[faelyn]

Username + ID || faelyn #967122
Sign-up Post Link || click
Word Count || 254
Prompt || the rice paddies are a very important to the bugger villagers! :D and especially so during the end of the growth season (during the fall season)! first, the rice paddies are drained of all the water and after, the buggers work all day and night with various machinery manufactured by those who work in the grido!

lio, the resident old man who has been running the rice paddy production for a long time, loves this time of year! while all the buggers slave away at their work, lio sits in his hammock, exclaiming at all the rice that has been harvested. while he does not work, he is the number one hypeman for all the workers! he hoots and hollers and snickers at what he considers to be bad rice gathering techniques. when hes not lazing around in a hammock, he is curating special flavours for his noodle shop, from tomato and tamarind noodle bowls to especially spicy varieties! he serves them to the workers who seem especially piqued by his endless critiques on their rice gathering technique... apparently he knows lots about that kind of stuff despite not doing any work.

usually once harvest time is done, the rice gathered is divided evenly among the bugger community! but lio thinks this is just unfair! he runs a successful noodle and rice cracker bussiness, of course he deserves more rice! so when no one is looking, he sneaks extra handfuls of rice... no one will notice anyway.... or at least thats what he thinks.

[Zentropy]

Username + ID || Zentropy + 75749
Sign-up Post Link || ✧ Sign-Up Link ✧
Word Count || 328 Words
Prompt ||

Zephyrpad graciously looks over the letter of questions, and settles down with a quill and ink pot of their own. Hmmm, autumnal festivities? They dip their quill delicately into the pot and begin to scratch their answer on the parchment The Assistant provided.

"SableClan is not one to dwell too long on negative thoughts. The idea that Autumn is a harbinger of death, darkness, and scarcity isn't entirely wrong, but seems to be a bit dreary of a thought. Instead, our fearless leader, Jaguarstar, very adamantly believes that just as the sun dips towards the horizon to sleep, so must us cats during the Winter moons.

I don't believe we have any particular celebrations, but I would be interested in learn about what others partake in. In fact, mayhaps I will come up with a new annual ritual and propose it to her. It will be called...'The Feast of the Autumn Moon'

The Shadows seem to recede ever so slightly in the Winter, so perhaps we can use that extra time usually spent patrolling with additional hunting groups. Though of course, the future hunts need to be considered; and so a large portion of the feast will be made with products from our livestock and our dedicated farmers tending to the pumpkin and sweet potato fields.

All members start the day with preparing for the evening's first activities; cooking, building, and decorating the camp with symbols of harvest and bounty. Once the sun sets, the warrior's put on a performance for the Kits and Paws, showcasing where Shadows came from and the oath that the Guild of the Ashen Moon has taken on to protect the realm. After the show, the feast is enjoyed by all. I might even try to convince Jaguarstar to give a short speech beforehand.

Just thinking about the possibilities is so exciting! I hope this gives you, Eir Liegeship Ceres, an clearer picture of SableClan's culture.

Best Regards,
Zephyrpad, Wizard of the Guild"