mint tea lady wrote:Hi Arcaii! I am improving my fic and since your 'Let's Read: The Warriors Series' made me aware of the cat's nocturnality, I want you to take a peek at a Clan-activity schedule I made. I'll be adding in new traditions and ceremonies as well, I want to know what you think of them.
The Moonwatcher/Stargazer: Older kits and apprentices volunteer to take up this side-rank. They are compelled to listen to Clan folklore and history from the elders, and count the days. When the previous Moonwatcher passes away or no longer want to be in the position, the younger one takes over. Moonwatchers educate kittens, entertain cats with legends and myths, and remind the leader to apprentice kits when they're six months old. Besides that they are very regular warriors. Moonwatchers are required to have a good memory, and are treated with respect. A Moonwatcher may advise cats who want to hear their opinions.
The Mentor: My fic is set about a decade after the Dark Forest was defeated. They leaders have grown anxious and decided to choose mentors more carefully, not experience-wise, but personality-wise. They wouldn't assign a molly who hates kits to a shy, runty tom or something. They try to match the cats up, and justify their choice during the ceremony. Ex.
'Your mentor will be Patchflower. She shares your energy and enthusiasm, and I belive she will develop your talent for balance well,' says the leader to a kit who has shown great tree-climbing potential, and who can't wait to go outside.
The 'May We Remember This For Moons To Come' Ceremony: Basically, the antagonists are caught, and are waiting for a special 'trial' Gathering, with all four Clans participating. A leader gives his elderly medicine cat the honor of creating a new ceremony. It goes along the lines of:
'Today we learned that - (teamwork, courage, loyalty, helps us to something, ect.). These cats/This cat, - of -Clan did/discovered/something. We honor their - (faith, determination, ect.) and may we share their - (synonym of trait named earlier). Let us/May we remember him/ her/ them for Moons to come.'
Now, the shedule.
Dawn/Morning-Sunhigh: I think each Clan has at least one early bird. It's their job to wake the Clan. Activity is limited, a patrol is sent out, and a hunting party may depart. That night's camp sentries go to sleep. Most cats groom and chat and eat in camp. Apprentices may practice stalking or fighting outside camp if they whish, but mostly hang out inside it. The medicine cat goes out for herbs.
Sunhigh-Dusk: The first patrol returns and another one sets out. Up to three hunting parties may be sent in between the listed times. Sharing tongues is practiced in camp. Apprentices will be given chores and some moves to practice.
Dusk-Early Into the Night: Apprentices will train at dusk or before dusk. They have energy for that because they rested for most of the day, with the exception of some practice and chores. Two patrols are sent out, expected to cover the whole territory and mark all borders. Kits are especially active and playful, having slep for most of the day, just like elders who only sunned themselves at sunhigh or late morning. Warriors go out to practice battle techniques if they feel rusty, or climb trees, for that matter. Cats may try to hunt individually, and a last hunting party may be sent out.
Warriors will take catnaps in between late morning and dusk.
What do you think? Is the shedule mildly accurate? I did't really research, but I'm assuming this is how it would go, since cats frequently sleep during daytime. What about the ceremonies? What do you think?
[sorry for the long post!]
Don't worry about the length. I am the
queen of running my mouth for hours. Long posts are my jam.
I recommend that you read up about cats some, because there's a lot of things Erin Hunter gets wrong about them - for example, they can't taste sweetness, or see the color red, and some toms will actually kill kits that don't belong to them. Granted, if
Warriors was written realistically, it would not be a children's series, but still.
Given the ranking of Moonwatcher, I would think that the Clan is like Athens - intellectual and lore-driven. This rank does seem to take away some of the pressure of being a leader or medicine cat, and you do say that it's a side-rank, so I don't have a problem with it. I do suggest that you change the name - ranks aren't two works like names are. Perhaps raconteur or fabler, or sommat. This rank doesn't exactly watch the moon or stars.
I should note here that the mentor business isn't a necessary addition - a leader in any Clan has the job of assigning mentors to apprentices who are compatible, personality-wise. That actually has a lot to do with the leader's reputation, if you think about it - if Blackstar keeps assigning headstrong apprentices to doormat warriors, that's going to reflect on him (especially with the implication that he doesn't interact with his Clan enough to understand what's best for them) and, in the long run, have a negative effect on the Clan's ability to take care of itself. But Sootstar always makes good match-ups, the opposite will happen to her.
Good mentor/apprentice pairs are an extremely important part of the Clan, because the relationship ostensibly symbolizes the harmony and unity of the Clan. If a mentor doesn't get along well with their apprentice, then they need to change the apprentice if they can.
The ceremony doesn't seem entirely necessary either, but with the addition of the storyteller above, I can imagine that important events would be a big deal, and be recorded in a spectacular fashion, so go ahead and keep it.
I think the schedule is just fine, as long as the vast majority of their activity is at night. This would technically make the cats diurnal (meaning that they're active during all parts of the day), but in the wild, it's probably good to sleep light.