now we're { lost } - planning page

Toriel posted:
Rain that could work with the wild cats. Honestly I see it as less of a gathering and more of a peace meeting. In other words a way to ensure that the relationship between the clan and the wild cats are still intact and a way to update them about what is going on. Also your first statement Rain gives me an idea! While I don't have anything for the territory yet as Rain mention why not we combine both the tribal and monarchy ranks? So one of the ideas I had as a result of this was the leader could be called a Chief. I was thinking that for one there is no deputy, but so far there are two ranks I had an idea for that are consider the Chief's advisors. These guys are normally recognized as the leads in their respected division and that is the Oracle (who acts a lead medicine cat, but also has other purposes) and the Warlord (who acts as a lead warrior). The rank that would usually act as a deputy role is a bit different as it basically combines the general ideas of a deputy, heir, and apprentice combined. Of course these are just suggestions so free feel to change or do whatever you want with them. The names are not official just something gives me a base to work with, but they can become official if we use them.

The Chief's apprentice is a rank where a young cat is chosen. This cat could be related or completely unrelated to the Chief, but the bottom line this young cat will be put in training to become the next Chief. For the most part being a Chief's apprentice is not easy. For one the young cat tends to be treated differently from the other cats due to the fact that they are the next Chief. So those in this role tend to feel isolated and usually found themselves absorbed in their studies. They must learn to fight, hunt, and to be a jack of all trades because the Chief must understand all of their members including the roles they play. Usually the Chief is chosen because of a sign. It could be interesting if the sign was whatever the Chief deem to be a sign. That means this could lead to bias so for example if the Chief wants to the sign to be a rainstorm then they could easily say "This cat is chosen because they were born in a rainstorm." Usually the Chief's apprentice ranges from kit to apprentice age so they can be chosen anywhere around that time. They are only replace once they become Chief or something happens to them.

Another rank could be called the Oracle. To me I could see the Oracle always being blind because it is believe that the blind can see the supernatural and spiritual worlds. The Oracle can be chosen at anytime, but it is common practice for kits that were born blind to become the next Oracle. There is always one and they will only be replace when something has happen to them. Oracles are not allowed to retired for those that try to in the past it is seen as omen and disrespectful because you are choosing not to serve your ancestors anymore. Due to the fact that Oracles can be chosen at anytime some cats have purposely made themsleves blind in order to become the next. It is consider an honorable rank and one that is fought over when it is available. The main job of the Oracle is to communicate with their ancestors, receive prophecies and omens, and act as the Chief's advisor and leader of the Shamans as they are trained in herb knowledge and healing as well.

Shamans are the clan's medicine cats. There is a max of two full-fledged Shamans and two trainees. As one would expect these guys are experts on herbs and help heal the clan.

Warlord is the name for the lead Warrior of the clan. These guys are in charge of coming up with strategies and acts as an Chief's advisor. They can lead patrols and are in charge of hosting training sessions to all Warriors. In wars they are normally the ones in charge, but of course can take orders from the Chief. Becoming a Warlord is not an easy task and naturally another rank commonly fought over. In order to become one the cat must show survival and battling prowess and usually the best among the Warriors. They must also show leadership and dedication as this requires it. I think it would be interesting if there was a competition among the best Warriors or at least ones that show great potential and whoever wins is the one that is chosen to become the Warlord.

This rank is a bit strange. Also known Jesters these cats are the clan's entertainment. They are normally called upon to help boost the clan's morale and they are the ones that normally plan out ceremonies and fun events for the clan to do. They can also serve as the clan's unofficial babysitters as their high energy makes them good for entertaining kits. Aside from their humorous nature the clan has recognize them as the clan's peacekeepers. While they may not handle clan affairs these guys can be good at helping resolve disputes within the clan. Their social nature tends to have others gravitating towards them and gives others someone to speak to especially when they need to rant and let things off their chest. When they are not busy entertaining they tend to fill in odd jobs whether it is filling in a spot for a patrol to doing chores or gathering things. Their most common role tends to be lookout as having an extra pair of eyes is quite useful and these guys are normally not the best of fighters.

Now I am curious to know you guys' opinions on having hunters meaning that the Warriors would be the ones that guard and fight for the clan. I have seen this both work and fail. For one when I typically see hunters as much as I love the rank it seems a lot of other people do to. Hunters tend to fill in the most spots meaning that warriors are normally less in numbers. There is also the concern that there may not be enough for the Warriors to do as all they are doing is patrolling and hoping to have to fight something. In my opinion while I would love to see hunters in the ranks I think it is best to keep the Warriors job like how it is in the books unless we can figure out ways to give Warriors some love as well.

~Sandclaw~ posted:
chief & chief's apprentice - this is perfect, Tori. I have no problem with it at all + it ties in the monarchy side easily.

Oracle - really really awesome! *•*

Shamans - ^^^;

Warlords - to tie them in, we could have a force they would battle against as a constant-- more as it wouldn't be a forever enemy or threat, but someone they would have trouble with. I'm not sure who it would be. We could also have them do exploring?

Hunters - I like this as a separate rank, actually. If we do warlords/warriors & hunters as separate ranks, joiners would have to create one of each rank or two warriors & one hunter to even it out.

Jesters - these are so cute! We'd have lots of events & traditions, seeing that the clan would be tightly knit and welcoming with each other.

Toriel posted:
Yay I am glad you like them! Focusing on the Warlord part I could see that resolving part of the issue about the Warriors having no threat to worry about. This kind of leads me to an interesting idea and possible plot. To the clan this Island is going to be their new home especially since they don't exactly have a choice. As mention earlier their wild counterparts, the wild cats are natives to this land and some of them were kind enough to lead a paw, which lead to the unlikely alliance made between the two. Of course there are still wild cats that wish to give them problems. There could be more to this Island than meets the eye. There could be a mysterious puppetmaster known as the Guardian. These islands have been protected for moons by them and let's just say cats wild or not are not a fan favorite of theirs. It is believed that cats of any kind in general are omens that cause a great misfortune and the fact that this clan came as a result of a shipwrecked does not make it any better. The fact that they almost brought human life (I am assuming that no humans survive that) only fuels this farther. Now the animals that they protect are in danger and the Guardian does not want them here so they keep sending different animals to attack them. This leads to the Warriors having to defend their clan against all of these different threats unaware that there is a bigger force pulling the strings. This could also mean that the reason the wild cats did decide to help them have a larger scale plan in mind and hope that when the time comes they can help them because they are being affected and have been for a long time. What do you think of this possibility? It could give more light on the whole wild cat situation from earlier and possibly tie in the constant threat that the Warriors would have to deal with and a plot to help resolve that.

Moving onto the second part with the Warriors that actually a good idea. It gives the Warriors a secondary job, which is exploring. This means they could be sent out to explore new areas, gather new items, and pick up new information. This makes me a bit more comfortable with having hunters.

Speaking of hunters if everyone else is okay with having them that is a good solution. It would help prevent having so many hunters like my original concerns. I think for now if a person makes a hunter then they would need to make one warrior. It could end up being like how it is for apprentices. If you make an apprentice it is recommended that you make a warrior so we don't have so many apprentices running around.

~Sandclaw~ posted:
That's an interesting idea! When they hold the meeting with the wild cats, they could ask for a favor to have them intimidate the threat that the Guardian is sending to them in case it gets out of hand. Other than that, I feel like the warlords should be able to handle it on their own unless they are desperate.

I agree as long as our number of hunters isn't too low-- we'll need enough to provide food for the clan, so keeping an even number would be best.

Pᴇʀɪᴡɪɴᴋʟᴇ ❀ posted:
@rie :
Chief & chief's apprentice : Yes, I like this a lot! Like Sand said, it sort of ties in some of the monarchy elements Rain suggested. I think it would be excellent if the Chief could dictate a sign that proves a certain cat was destined to be the chief's apprentice. Since our roleplay is starting with the first generation after the shipwreck, the ranks would still be a little unstable and it would only be natural if there was some bias. This bias could also cause jealousy or distrust among other young cats, which could stir up some inter-clan drama. There could even be some competition or trickery among the possible candidates in the event there is no chief's apprentice (for example, if a chief's apprentice dies or becomes the new chief and has not yet chosen a new apprentice). After all, the reality is, these cats, even if they had been traveling together prior to boarding the ship, have now all been thrown together in dangerous, unfamiliar surroundings, so tensions are going to be high as they grow and discover and test each other out. Anyway, enough rambling, I like the potential that this has. I hope we can keep this!
Oracle : I don't have much to say about this one, but in Sand's words, "I really, really like it!" Especially the whole part about them being blind or even blinding themselves in order to be Oracle. If some cat blinded him or herself intentionally out of pure want of the position, there is a possibility they could be corrupt because they would be chosen for being blind, not necessarily for possessing any special healing or interpretive powers. That being said, would that mean the Oracle would be a position of considerable power, if it was that greatly desired? Food for thought...
Shamans : I like this one too *v* nothing to babble about on this one, I just like it.
Warlord : Everything you said about this one is perfect. I sort of based my feedback on the other ranks off of your description of this one. I think there would naturally be a lot of competition surrounding higher ranks in the Clan. Sort of goes along with some of the "survival of the fittest" that might still be present at this early stage in the clan's existence.
Jesters : Ooo, this is a unique one! Plenty of opportunity for fun lil traditions n stuff. I like this one too. (I like pretty much everything you suggest. You are seriously too good at brainstorming/planning roleplays, Rie!)
Hunters & Guardians : I do agree with you on this one that hunters tend to be more popular, but I think it can be resolved if we have joiners join with one of each, and likewise for warriors and apprentices, just as we would do to keep the gender ratio even. Although, in keeping with the monarchy-tribal mix we have going here (which, admittedly, is kind of odd, but unique and fun nonetheless), maybe we could call the Guardians Soldiers instead? Since their primary job would be to fight, protect, defend, etc.? This could also avoid confusion between the clan cats and your Puppetmaster/Guardian thing, if we decide to go with that.

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Speaking of which, I like the idea of the Puppetmaster/Guardian thing. xD This could become a plot in the roleplay, something that the cats gradually become aware of as they continue to explore and discover new things about the island. This is part of why I love that we're doing this with the first generation; there are still so many things that can be uncovered about the island, and it frees up our roleplayers to make some suggestions and create smaller, miniplots as the cats discover more. It would be little stuff, y'know, like new predators, which plants are healing and which are poisonous, areas of the island that are safe and areas to stay away from, etc. Anyway, I'm digressing here - back to the Guardian thing. I agree with Sand that the Warlords & the rest of the clan could probably handle it on their own at first, and only bring in the wild cats when the going gets tough, as a way of "bringing out the big guns," so to speak. I still think that, just as with any other clan, the wild cats would still attack the clan cats or steal their prey on occasion. Like you said, with the Gathering, I see that as being more of a monthly meeting to enforce the alliance between the two groups for their mutual benefit.

Toriel posted:
Aw thank you seriously, but you guys are coming up with great ideas too! I agree everything you two are saying and now I feel it's fine having hunters since we will have a way of managing them. I think Soldiers are fine as another alternative to Warriors. It sounds like it flows well with the Warlord. Since it sounds most of us are fine with having hunters I have been pondering about having a lead hunter rank. The name I have for now is called Falconer. This cat is consider an expert in their field. They are the lead hunter and acts as the final Chief's advisor. They tend to keep track of the food supply, understands the layout of the land, and can lead hunting patrols. They can host hunting training.

Usually the best hunters compete in a hunting contest. They have until dusk (or some other time) to return. Whoever brings the most prey is the chosen one. Since there is no supervising over the contest cheating can happen such as cats stealing from their opponents to add to their food piles. If someone or the group doesn't return by the required time a search party will look for them. If they can't find them after some time they are pronounced dead.

I think my life is getting a bit too busy. So for now I will say I will be gone until Monday. I have tests coming up this week so I will need some time to study. I will return to plan with you all soon! Until then can't wait to see what you plan out!