Warriors in Other Settings

[Spellmaster]

consider: clans in different locations, either forests in other parts of the world or entirely non-forest areas. I think that changing where the clans/tribes/whatever live could make for a lot of cool adaptations to the canon clan system!

for example, what different prefixes and suffixes might they use for their names? would there be any substantial differences in how territories are laid out, or a warrior's duties? what else might be used as a moonstone or moonpool, or a gathering place? what "specialties" might the clans have in different territories, in terms of battle or hunting skills?

for reference, the canon clans are supposed to be loosely based on a place in southern england. they don't really stick to reality, but I presume most of the plants and animals mentioned in the series are local to that area.

so what would warriors be like where you live? are there any different animals or plants in your neck of the woods that would make for cool names? different prey or predators or enemies, or other challenges that a clan might face? (weather, for example, or threats from twolegs, etc.)

or are there any other particular areas (general habitats or specific places) that you think would make interesting homes for clans? anyone have any fanclans set in territories unlike the canon forest?

talk to me about catgroups in fun new territories

[MarcoPolo]

Warriors on the moon 

[Darkstar]

I've always loved the thought of Clans in the Rocky Mountains, and based a couple roleplays in the Vail, Colorado area. It's so pretty there, and I've been to visit a few times. The idea of cats living in Clans out in the mountains and the Twolegplaces being resorts is fun. I also like the North American names you can give to cats, branching out into things that aren't really good names for English cats... There's a good blog I saw on the names you can use for Clans set in North America. It's this one. :)

[Neon Skylite]

I don't have any reference for what would happen if the Clans lived in Australia (I believe I speak for all Australians when I say we're often left to our own devices) and since I live in an urban place, I'll try placing some Clans in my head into a place that is so big it stretches across not one, not two, but FOUR states -- the Murray-Darling River Basin! But mainly the space around NSW, because Neon is mainly familiar with the NSW part of the Murray-Darling River Basin. (NSW IS Neon's state, after all!)
"But Neon!"
"What the hell is this Morray-Durrlin Winner Base-if?"
The Murray-Darling River Basin is a joint of three longest rivers in Australia, the order I'm listing them starting from longest -- the Murray, the Darling (obviously) and the...
Murrumbidgee. Ma-rrum-bid-gie?
Murrum-budgie?
?
???
It is also called Australia's "food-bowl" because a little bit under half of our agriculture grows there. There HAS been a bit of enviromental problems, mainly surrounding the way how irrigation and dams and locks and barrages and weirs are made to keep in water.
Geography lesson over, class dismissed.
However, one place that I found through research would be very good for a settling Clan, or maybe more; Barmah-Millewa forest, a forest in the Murray-Darling River Basin.
There's a bunch of animals there, but I don't think most could be hunted. A) They could easily kill a feral cat in a few blows and B) they are way too big. The only animals that I think the cats could stand at least a CHANCE against is fish or maybe mammals. so they'll probably mainly be a RiverClan thing and a ThunderClan X SkyClan Clan. For the RiverClan, I bet it'd probably be called BayClan. Or something like that. And they'd act much like RiverClan.
The ThunderClan X SkyClan thing might be in the more planty areas of Barmah-Millewa forest. The cats would be skilled in climbing trees to catch squirrels, possums etc. Maybe a name like BranchClan?
Names would be really different. Many of the exclusive Australian fauna would replace the English names, and we'd get names like Possumwhisker or Spoonbillwing. Perchfoot or Codtail may also exist.
Kangaroos and the like could replace pesky badgers and foxes, in terms of attacks. (they're herbivores, preferring the grass than meat) Tourists could damage the place, too.
I'm going on way too much, so I better wrap this up. This is what I've written, enjoy your geography and ideas, boom.

[Frosty (Frosty)]

I also like the idea of the cats living in the Rocky Mountain area, but for me, it's more north of Colorado. Mainly the Jackson Hole(WY) to Pacific Northwest Rocky Mountains.

Also desert cats.

[Darkforestwarrior]

Okay what I'm interested in warriors in a Sonoran Desert setting. edit: frosty ninja'd my desert cats but anyways

They would have to be positioned near some sort of water source, otherwise drought could be a problem. Other interesting area related problems: sandstorms (yes actual sandstorms, not the character sandstorm), extremely cold nights. Interesting enemies could include coyotes, eagles, scorpions, and maybe even javelinas.

Common names for these Arizonian clans might include prefixes like lizard-, prickle-, cactus-, runner- (like roadrunner), dusty-, copper-, and so on.

Finally some theoretical clan names: Rockyclan - These cats lives in a series of somewhat mountainous tunnels in an especially rocky part of the territory. Springclan - These cats camp nearest to the spring that provides water for the territories, among some of the foliage that the desert provides. Fireclan - These cats live in the flat area, where the sands are the hottest, and camp in some abandoned twoleg structures, which provides them shade. These three clans patrol a vast amount of territory, and though prey can run scarce, border fights are generally low in numbers, as it is often seen to merely waste energy, as the clans live pretty far apart from each other, with only the springs as a common centerpoint. Clan Gatherings happen much less frequently: only four times of year, once with each season change. Medicine cats stay much more in touch with each other too: a special patch near the springs serves as the main source of herb gathering, and after many disagreements and a few battles over the area, it was finally agreed to be neutral territory, to serve all the clans. The medicine cats thus converse and exchange tips when they go to gather their herbs. Finally, the highest point in the territories is called Flatstone, and it is where spiritual connections with StarClan take place, as the cats believe being highest puts them closest to StarClan.

Well this was meant to be short but then I accidentally some words.

[Neon Skylite]

While reading Doodle Alley, I remembered I forgot to write about different customs. Let's see...
I think because there are many plants in the forest that are valued for medicine, (the aborigines often used a lot of the many plants they found, maybe a story the Clans co-existed with one another until colonies and stuff came so they copied the plants aborigines used?) a warrior would be taught a bit about basic medicine. (Like how you can teach someone about what medicine in a cupboard they should take when they have a headache, but other illnesses should be left to your doctor.) Also, it'd be common for warriors to follow their medicine cats to collect herbs. Maybe there'd be different parts of apprenticeship. Say, the first few moons of regular warrior stuff, but maybe 2 or 3 moons to learn about basic herbs? Or they could be spread out.
Like
Newleaf, First Moon
Quarter Moon 1:
Stuff Stuff Help {Medcat} Learn from {Medcat} Stuff Stuff Learn from {Medcat}
that.
The Moon(thing) might be a Moontree? I dunno. Maybe scratch it or rub against it or be near it and you fall asleep.

[Darkforestwarrior]

I like the idea of some sort of Moontree! Maybe it is a veryyy very old tree and has some sort of interesting feature like smooth bark or something idk.

[Spellmaster]

I'm all for warriors on the moon. full-earth gatherings, low-gravity hunting techniques, eating rocks. it'll be great

australian warriors sound really cool... I didn't get to see a whole ton of nature when I visited australia years ago but with all the different plants and animals it seems like it could be pretty different from north american/european settings

forested mountains were my first thought too though, because I live close to a national park like that. I think there are mountain lions and wild goats and possibly coyotes up there, which would make for some different names and different threats to cats. also as far as human threats go, there used to be a pretty big dam near here that was recently removed, and I can only imagine the kind of havoc that would wreak on a clan with territory by the river. that, and earthquakes, since they're not uncommon here

and ooh desert cats, I used to be in a desert clan rp but it never really went anywhere so I can't remember if it was different than canon. there's a lot you could do with that, though...
(I know you said mountainous tunnels but I started imagining them building some big tunnel network underground like an ant colony... then they could divide their labor between tunnelers and hunters/fighters like ants in fact ancient windclan!)

[Darkforestwarrior]

What if the warrior cats that lived on the moon called themselves.....StarClan?

dundunDUNN

[Frosty (Frosty)]

Regarding the Moontree thing ('cause that idea is amazing) what if it had really pale bark (like a birch)? and due to it's pale-ness it seemed to glow during the full moon? It'd be along the same line as the moonstone in the first arc, but a tree. Or a grove of dead birches (are birches the one that are technically one tree?) Since we're on the topic of trees in the Warriors universe, I used to have a headcannon that the cats also gave kits some types of sap (like maple) to help them take herbs (but this was when I was younger and thought that maple sap and maple syrup were the same thing).  I just like to think about subsitutes that they could do if something wasn't available to them.

[Neon Skylite]

Regarding the Moontree thing ('cause that idea is amazing) what if it had really pale bark (like a birch)? and due to it's pale-ness it seemed to glow during the full moon? It'd be along the same line as the moonstone in the first arc, but a tree. Or a grove of dead birches (are birches the one that are technically one tree?) Since we're on the topic of trees in the Warriors universe, I used to have a headcannon that the cats also gave kits some types of sap (like maple) to help them take herbs (but this was when I was younger and thought that maple sap and maple syrup were the same thing).  I just like to think about subsitutes that they could do if something wasn't available to them.

That COULD happen. Eucalyptus/gum trees have pale bark, some have smooth bark (as DFW suggested), and they're almost everywhere in Australia, let alone NSW! It'd have to be a special tree though. Maybe really big or old? Maybe the Clans have history about it? Hmmmmm...

[Darkforestwarrior]

Perhaps it is huge and old and there are no other ones around that really look like it?

[Spellmaster]

maybe if the clans lived in a very flat area, they might consider a particularly tall tree special because climbing it brings them "closer to starclan"? if it was big and sturdy enough they could sleep in the branches, or if that wasn't safe/possible, just touch their noses to the trunk and think of it as some sort of conduit to silverpelt

Since we're on the topic of trees in the Warriors universe, I used to have a headcannon that the cats also gave kits some types of sap (like maple) to help them take herbs (but this was when I was younger and thought that maple sap and maple syrup were the same thing).  I just like to think about subsitutes that they could do if something wasn't available to them.

ooh that reminded me, herbs and remedies would be an interesting topic for other settings too, because I imagine the plants they use in canon aren't found everywhere in the world. so warriors in different places might have some very different medicines, and maybe different plant-based threats as well - not only things like deathberries that are toxic to ingest, but maybe some that are dangerous to touch? (at least if they come in contact with the skin or something.) and then same with animals, like poisonous frogs or venomous snakes that aren't fit to be eaten raw

basically, imagine mentors in hazardous environments having to teach their apprentices what they can and can't ingest, what they shouldn't touch with their paws or mouths, what prey not to hunt... even the non-medicine cats might need some really rigorous courses in identifying the plants and stuff around them