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Post by ~Dappleheart~ on May 18, 2017 0:04:38 GMT -5
Hi! I am super, super sorry if this is the wrong forum for this thread. I looked around, and this was the closest fit. If I've misplaced this thread, I'd really appreciate it if it got moved instead of deleted.
So, on to business! I'm working on a set of Clans that are placed in the Ozarks/Great Plains area of North America. The territories are based on my backyard and various spots around my neighborhood. There's:
Creekclan, who live in a marshy area with lots of streams and waterways.
Oakclan, who live in a forest.
Cavernclan, who live in the caves on the side of this mountain. (...I have no idea where 12-yo me got the idea for that. That one's gonna have to change the most, since there aren't any mountains where I've decided this is set. I don't know how that happened...)
And Sunclan, who live on an abandoned ranch.
My original plans for the setting was to have these four Clans in the same general area as the canon Clans, just in the opposite direction from the Forest Territories as the Lake Territories were. However, as time went on, I decided that wasn't what I wanted to do. This means that the protagonist of the story, Ivy, can't be half Shadowclan and half Riverclan like I first had her. (I kinda prefer that, tbh.)
Now, I can go the route of having ancient Clans who lived in the area in ~vague long-ago times~ and have Ivy and her sister Storm be descended from them. I'm just wondering if that's a little too cliche?
I mean, a much-younger me did write up legendary Clans that lived in the territories beforehand, but I'm wondering if I should even keep them. The whole point of having them was to foreshadow a plot event in an abandoned RP; the tangled mess leading up to said plot event has been scrapped, in favor of new story-seeds.
In short, my two problems are these: "What do I replace Cavernclan with/How do I make them fit?" and "How do I make this tie back to the Clan concepts without it being hamfisted?"
Thank you for your time and help!
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Post by darkforestwarrior on May 18, 2017 1:12:58 GMT -5
For something to replace CavernClan with, perhaps you could have a clan set in either an overgrown field, a different sort of forest that OakClan (different trees?) or perhaps there is a different man-mad structure near the abandoned ranch that this clan could take over (like a bridge or something?)
I don't really understand the other question. Would the ancient clans be something similar to the Tribe? How are the canon clans related?
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Post by ~Dappleheart~ on May 18, 2017 2:38:09 GMT -5
For something to replace CavernClan with, perhaps you could have a clan set in either an overgrown field, a different sort of forest that OakClan (different trees?) or perhaps there is a different man-mad structure near the abandoned ranch that this clan could take over (like a bridge or something?) I don't really understand the other question. Would the ancient clans be something similar to the Tribe? How are the canon clans related? First, I'm sorry I didn't make myself clearer in the original post. I haven't been sleeping well, and I have trouble remembering that folks can't just look inside my head and know what I'm trying to say, heh. The 'ancient clans' wouldn't be similar to the Tribe at all, I don't think. I haven't read any of the prequel works; I was just using the word to keep the two sets of Clans separate. The canon clans wouldn't be related at all, but -- aside from having Ivy having ancestors in the Old Clans and getting direct contact from Starclan -- I have no idea how she would know anything about Clan life and structure. The story I was hoping to tell was about how the four Clans were created. Starting at the beginning, so to speak. Ivy was going to take a bunch of city-born loners and rogues, and shape them into a proper Clan. I'm sort of combining and condensing two old, old, old story ideas here, so I am sorry if things still seem unclear. I'm still working out the kinks myself. |
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Post by phantomstar57 on May 18, 2017 13:36:11 GMT -5
For something to replace CavernClan with, perhaps you could have a clan set in either an overgrown field, a different sort of forest that OakClan (different trees?) or perhaps there is a different man-mad structure near the abandoned ranch that this clan could take over (like a bridge or something?) I don't really understand the other question. Would the ancient clans be something similar to the Tribe? How are the canon clans related? First, I'm sorry I didn't make myself clearer in the original post. I haven't been sleeping well, and I have trouble remembering that folks can't just look inside my head and know what I'm trying to say, heh. The 'ancient clans' wouldn't be similar to the Tribe at all, I don't think. I haven't read any of the prequel works; I was just using the word to keep the two sets of Clans separate. The canon clans wouldn't be related at all, but -- aside from having Ivy having ancestors in the Old Clans and getting direct contact from Starclan -- I have no idea how she would know anything about Clan life and structure. The story I was hoping to tell was about how the four Clans were created. Starting at the beginning, so to speak. Ivy was going to take a bunch of city-born loners and rogues, and shape them into a proper Clan. I'm sort of combining and condensing two old, old, old story ideas here, so I am sorry if things still seem unclear. I'm still working out the kinks myself.
But if you didn't want to use a mountain range, it could be a nearby hilly spot that has a small cave or rocks.
Is this set in the future where Ivy is descended from both Tribe and Clan cats?
The beauty of fanfic is you can bend a lot of rules, but it has to flow straight and make sense. From what I see you have a good base. I gave myself a lot of work because in my fic I involved the actual canon characters in a "what if" type thing and though some things can change because of the OC characters, some things, as Dr Who always says, are fixed points in time and cannot be stopped. But even with that you might change the way the event occurs, ie how a cat dies. For example (SPOILER ALERT HERE) a certain old cat dies a mundane heart gives out death in SHATTERED SKY but in NEW BLOOD, he dies an honorable death by following the warriors to the battle and going out with a bang.
The problem I encountered here was making sure I stuck with the basic timeline, yet certain events are changed or never happen because my OCs are there. It was difficult but I have spent a lifetime world building for my own books. I had a lot of practice LOL
If you have any other questions I'll try my best to answer and I'll be happy to read your fix when its posted! |
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Post by Brownie on May 18, 2017 14:34:47 GMT -5
Underground would be a great place to start if you still want caverns and that uniqueness of territory. It's not uncommon to have caverns near waterways that were once underground rivers that since then were diverted.
and if you're looking for a backstory, you could do the descended from old Clan thing. Although is it really necessary, plotwise, for them to be related to the ancient times, or is it just something to make them different/special? Because if it's the latter, that can be better achieved through their characters themselves, using heritage as a you-are-special card is the easy way out of that (although you can still do it, we all still do it xD)
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Post by darkforestwarrior on May 18, 2017 17:27:00 GMT -5
Aaaah, I understand now. I don't think the whole descended from ancient clans thing is too stereotypical, personally  |
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Post by ~Dappleheart~ on May 18, 2017 21:18:51 GMT -5
Thanks, you guys! I'm absolutely delighted that there's interest already! I've been more or less building these Clans since I joined the fandom several years ago; they've gone through a lot of changes, but that's the nature of long-lived projects.
To answer some questions:
1.) No, Ivy isn't descended from any canon cats or groups. She started as such, as her parents were from Riverclan and Shadowclan in her original concept, but that has since changed.
2.) The point of her being descended from Clan cats was to give Starclan a reason to talk to her/choose her to fight off the cats ruling over the city. The Starclan cats would teach her and the other chosen leaders about the Code and Clan life. I could also go the route of just having her know of these things through nursery tales, and she and the others fill in the gaps as they go along, but that seems like that would make the story a lot more complicated than it has to be.
I don't want to stick a random mountain in here, since that would alter the weather patterns and other things that the Clans would be dealing with. I might, though, go with the 'hills with cave systems in them' idea. There's actually a couple of places like that out here in the edges of the Ozarks. They were used as hideouts for criminals way back when, before they became tourist destinations. Having a place like that, that the humans swear up and down is haunted thanks to a few dark-furred cats in the shadows, could be fun!
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Post by Deleted on May 19, 2017 22:30:07 GMT -5
First off, it's so cool that you're basing your Clan where you live. I am doing the same thing and it helps with lore, names and even writing the story and describing the setting. I think it's really awesome! For your cavern Clan, there areafew options. This is Álfaborg, an elf or 'hidden people' site in Iceland. A rocky outcrop full of holes and entrances that elves (or cats) could live in. Far away from your clans, but you could use something similar. Or a cave that isn't part of a mountain, but bedrock under the earth. Or something low-key like a knoll. Thankfully cats are a lot smaller than humans so they have a lot more options for spelunking. Also your clans sound like they could have some cool myths and legends. When I read CreekClan's description I immediately thought of the Nøkken, who would wait along streams and bogs to lure people into the marsh. |
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Post by ~Dappleheart~ on May 19, 2017 22:46:09 GMT -5
First off, it's so cool that you're basing your Clan where you live. I am doing the same thing and it helps with lore, names and even writing the story and describing the setting. I think it's really awesome! For your cavern Clan, there areafew options. This is Álfaborg, an elf or 'hidden people' site in Iceland. A rocky outcrop full of holes and entrances that elves (or cats) could live in. Far away from your clans, but you could use something similar. Or a cave that isn't part of a mountain, but bedrock under the earth. Or something low-key like a knoll. Thankfully cats are a lot smaller than humans so they have a lot more options for spelunking. Also your clans sound like they could have some cool myths and legends. When I read CreekClan's description I immediately thought of the Nøkken, who would wait along streams and bogs to lure people into the marsh. Oh, wow, these look amazing! Thank you so much. I hope you don't mind me sticking the images in spoiler boxes; they were kinda big for the quote. But thank you so much! As soon as I get the four territories hammered out, lore and legends are definitely the next thing on the list. |
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Post by Deleted on May 19, 2017 23:05:31 GMT -5
No problem! I think your setting will be a lot of fun and I'd love to read more about them if you decide to write a story or anything.
And no, I don't mind the spoilers at all! It reminded me to go out some in my original post so people didn't have to scroll so much!
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