ThistleClan
North of the former territory of Larch's Advance, the five cats who remained in their old clan travelled north to find a lake surrounded by hills. ThistleClan was founded to continue the legacy of Larch's Advance, and is where new stories shall be told and a new life shall begin.
This clan's territory is quite large, and as such some parts of the territory are vastly different. It takes about a day's travel to go around the borders, so it takes two patrols to search half of the territory each.
The lake, or loch as it is known by local cats, is in the center of the territory, and while it is quite small it is important to the clan. Most fishing is done here and when the lake freezes over, the territory becomes a very different place; the cats of ThistleClan play around on the ice and even if there is little to no fishing to be had when the lake freezes over, the clan takes their mind off of this by having fun on the lake. Willow trees are on the west shore and cats like to fish or relax under these trees in the warmer seasons.
North of the lake is probably the most dangerous territory: north is where the hills around the lake are the rockiest, meaning cats can trip, and it is quite bare moorland with few trees and prickly gorse bushes where dangers including twolegs, dogs, buzzards, badgers and sheep are sighted. However, this land is also quite rewarding for sheep's wool (keeping nests warm), good prey like rabbits and hares, and is an interesting place to explore. Some cats say there is a network of tunnels beneath the north hills, but they are hard to find and cats who do volunteer to navigate and explore the tunnels usually don't return.
East is the safest place for ThistleClan to roam: this territory has less steep hills and heather to hide in, boasts good hunting and has better shelter in the form of more trees and bushes that provides a lot of shade. Things are quite hard to find here though, which may be why ThistleClan's camp is on the east side of the lake. The camp is a grassy dip in the hill surrounded by heather and it has quite good shelter, with burrows right behind it hidden by the heather in case the clan has a need for warmth or to hide, a stream running into the lake nearby, along with the secure walls of heather, brambles and thistles to keep the camp protected.
South boasts the forest of many different types of trees and interesting berries and herbs, and its similarity to Larch's Advance can make some cats sigh as they remember their old home. The forest is interesting to explore, though some get lost in the many pathways it has. Over the large, rocky ridge it is day's journey south leads to the old Larch's Advance territory.
West is the most diverse piece of territory around the lake as the marshes and water meadows make it home to fascinating creatures and herbs grow even better here then they do in the pine forest. ThistleClan doesn't go here often on account of the mud and most prey being frogs, and maybe they have good reason to as there are poisonous herbs a cat might easily mistake for ordinary leaves or berries. But it is an interesting place to travel along, and easy to as well with quite flat land, though it can flood in Newleaf and Leafbare means the marshes are very muddy and cold.
The old camp of Larch's Advance serves as a sacred meeting place of StarClan, and is a day's travel south from the lake. All apprentices go here at least once to talk to StarClan and to learn of the roots of ThistleClan. This place is eerily quiet though, as though life deserted the forest when Larch's Advance did, and the territory is strangely misty. Medicine cats go here often, as it is a stronger place to speak to StarClan than the pine forest. Some of ThistleClan's dead are buried near the old Larch's Advance camp, or at least cats who have their pasts tied to this place.
This clan lives on territory that gets very cold in Leaffall and Leafbare, and as such the cats of the highland generally have long, fluffy fur to cope against this. Pelt length varies though and while some cats are better suited to the colder climate, cats with shorter coats do appear, though not very often. Some cats are more suited to the forest, while others are more suited to running round the hills, and as such due to the varied terrain the cats of this clan can have many differences in pelt length. Cats have darker pelts generally and solid pelts are uncommon.
The cats of the Highlands are very territorial, and groups around the borders are very uncommon as this clan will usually fight to scare them off. After the fall of Larch's Advance, there are special bonds of loyalty tied to this clan and helping it to develop, and as such things that threaten the clan will usually be faced with some kind of battle. Cats who join the clan have to pledge their loyalty to it and the Chief (the leader of the clan), and are expected to help the Clan in anyway they can.
While the clan can appear quite hostile to outsiders, this isn't always the case and they do welcome cats quite often. Cats in the clan are loyal to eachother and are very social, often holding festivals of their own to celebrate events. Rivalries are common among the apprentices and warriors. These cats also have a lot of endurance and determination, which may be one of the reasons they named themself ThistleClan (if not for when they discovered the lake the small clan fell into a patch of thistles)
Apprentices learn Hunting, Battle, Stealth, Running, Climbing and Fishing as the minimum skill set. Mentors aren't limited to just these skills though, and apprentices are encouraged to learn more. If a mentor isn't skilled on a certain skill then both the mentor and the apprentice usually train with another warrior to learn a skill. Every apprentice has to go on at least one patrol for experience for the Assessment.
The Assessment is a very important part in a cats life for them to go from being an apprentice to a warrior, and as such the assessment is unique. The apprentice will have to lead a patrol consisting of their mentor, and a few young warriors or apprentices of a similar age. The apprentice has to lead this patrol and accomplish something with their patrol, mankind decisions for the benefit of every cat in the patrol. These patrols can either be simple, like just marking all the borders or catching two items of prey, but this patrol can also set out to do something important like rid the territory of a problem like a predator, or investigating a mystery like the tunnels to report their findings. The apprentice's mentor is there to judge what they do and then report whether it was a success or a failure, or at least provide the leader with information on what the apprentice has done right or wrong. This patrol helps the Chief to give an apprentice their new name, for example if a cat went to the Marshlands to catch frogs might be called -slip or -fall if they had fallen over, or -leap if they had completed their mission without any mishaps. The Assessment isn't always a patrol, it can just be a personal challenge like showing how they can catch a squirrel by leaping through the trees or finding a cat who might have gone missing. There is only one assessment a moon if it is a patrol, or one assessment patrol and solo assessments if one or more apprentices wish to do their assessment as a solo mission. Apprentices who don't get their turn to do the assessment if it is a patrol do it the next moon and cats who fail the patrol either do a solo assessment or another patrol the next moon.
While the solo assessment is easier and more likely to pass, apprentices who do this are less respected among their clanmates. The solo assessment is the traditional assessment of just testing an apprentices skills to see if they are ready, and is sometimes done in pairs of apprentices. A pair will usually be put against each other to test their skills, or work together.
Apprentices can earn their warrior names without doing a solo assessment or being a participant in another apprentice's patrol. This is quite rare though and to earn their name without doing an assessment means doing a heroic task, especially if they prove they are ready to be a warrior. They can earn their names also though if they are on another apprentice's assessment patrol and steer the patrol away from disaster if it goes wrong, for example if the apprentice's assessment results in being chased by dogs and they are able to chase off or steer away the dogs and help their clanmates. An apprentice who earns their name on someone else's assessment patrol can face ridicule from their clanmates, though usually just the ones close to the one who had the assessment.
Kittypets, loners and rogues who join the clan don't have to do the patrol, instead they are taken on a patrol with the Chief, a deputy or a senior warrior as the patrol leader to see what their skills are. Outsiders can either ask for their chosen warrior name or have it chosen by the leader either through just asking for a name or through having it chosen after their patrol. Cats are allowed to not change their names though if they don't want to.
Please can I take Cherrypaw, Deerkit, Clover, Lacewing and Rainwing from Larch's Advance and have the cats done on the line art? Please don't give me a leader, one of the five cats will fulfill that role.
This will be replacing Larch's Advance as my second clan.
