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Post by Urban Warriors on Jan 22, 2016 17:29:08 GMT -5
"Waste Nothing." Their motto, “Waste Nothing”, is taken quite literally. Even words are not often wasted amongst the Scavengers. Those who waste food or herbs are punished severely, often times with execution if the offense is bad enough, or recurring. Everything that can be used to the Gang's greatest advantage will be, which includes not only basic necessities but also knowledge, relationships, and even kits. Practical to a fault, Scavengers do not allow any room in their Gang for any cat that does not contribute (or have the potential to contribute) more than it consumes.
Scavengers as a whole are a rather paranoid group. Their loyalties are to themselves first, and they stay together perhaps only because there is strength and safety in numbers. They value intelligence as the highest form of strength and only unsheathe their claws as a last resort, more often than not talking, trading, and sneaking their way out of trouble. Although most often seen by the other Gangs as weak and cowardly for their apparent dedication to finding peaceful solutions to disputes, they are actually among the most ruthless cats in the city, especially when it comes to their own.
Unlike other Gangs, Scavengers do not mark their territory, and they place no value or respect in such borders. To cats who like to travel where they please, the constraints of claiming a large piece of land are too limiting. However, while they have no qualms about cats from outside their Gang entering and traveling through the areas that they often frequent themselves, they do not welcome outsiders into their camp. Since they have no land to guard and no borders to mark, they are the most mobile of the Gangs, and its members use the subway tunnels to travel all over the city unhindered.
Favored Stat: Agility Tradable ResourcesInformation - The Scavengers are the largest information gatherers in the city. The knowledge they collect varies greatly, but with a large network of non-Gang allies all over the city, they have ears everywhere, listening for anything that could be used as a bribe, blackmail, or trade.
Tools - The Scavengers are known to make various items from the things they collect in the city; many of their inventions are useful as weapons or even for healing wounds. While the other Gangs have as much capability to make such things as the Scavengers, they seem not to care to try, and certainly don't have the resources (in the form of the Scavengers' Hoards and their mobility in not being tied to a territory with borders) or the experience that the Scavengers have in doing so.
Mobility - If a cat needs to get somewhere quickly, or needs a place to run and hide, the Scavengers are often willing to help for a price. They will hire themselves out to guide a cat from one place to another in their tunnels, which are the fastest and most discreet way to get around the city. This is largely the payment they offer loners and rogues for their help gathering information, but they would not be against offering the service to another Gang under the right circumstances.
DiplomacyGuardians
Common Stereotype: “Superstitious fools that do nothing but prattle on about their precious 'code'. It is our greatest misfortune that the Guardians are the ones who have claimed perhaps the best piece of territory in the entire city, for we have very little to trade that they will accept due their nonsensical beliefs.”
Current Status: Neutral
Marauders
Common Stereotype: “While their battle prowess cannot be denied, in all else they seem to have less sense than a kit. They subscribe to the most ancient and simplistic of philosophies, which makes working with them a nearly impossible task, but at least they are easy to predict.”
Current Status: Neutral
Renegades
Common Stereotype: “They seem to be the most reasonable of the other Gangs even if their ways are unorthodox, and they have much to trade us. However, they depend too much on humans for survival and it makes them seem weak... but perhaps that is only what they wish us to think.”
Current Status: Friendly
Rogues, Loners, & Kittypets
Common Stereotype: “Our greatest allies are those unaffiliated with both ourselves and other Gangs. They have no allegiance to anyone but themselves, which makes them easy to manipulate for our own gains, and they can be found throughout the city. They can cross borders to retrieve both items and information for us without ever implicating our presence. They are perhaps our greatest resource.”
Current Status: Friendly |
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Post by Urban Warriors on Jan 22, 2016 17:29:37 GMT -5
Traditions Laws1. Always facilitate friendship with cats outside the Gang. The enemy's sympathy is a powerful weapon.
2. Mark no borders. Leave no trace.
3. Queens and Kits must be fed before Apprentices and Warriors. Unless they have permission, Senior Apprentices may not eat until they have hunted to feed the Queens and Kits.
4. Do not consume more than you can provide. If a cat can no longer provide service to the Gang, they have become wasteful and must be disposed of.
5. A Kit must be at least 4 moons old to become an Apprentice. An Apprentice must be at least 6 moons old to leave the tunnels.
6. No Scavenger may neglect a Kit in pain or in danger, even if that kit is from a different Gang. Kits are valuable leverage.
7. A Scavenger rejects the soft life of a kittypet.
8. A Challenge may not be issued during Winter. The Gang must be united during the harshest season, not divided by politics and drawn into chaos by infighting and new leadership. Kit NamingMothers (and fathers, if the mother allows it) simply name their kits whatever they like, usually short and simple names. There is no real ceremony to it, and the most practical mothers don't even put much thought into it, since their kits will either be changing their names upon becoming warriors or be traded away to another Gang (where their name is likely to change as well). Kits are normally named within a day of their birth since there's no reason to put much thought into it.
Warrior Test and NameIn order to become a warrior in the Scavengers, an apprentice must travel to the Amusement Park, navigating the tunnels the whole way there and never coming above ground to orient themselves. Apprentices do this with only the Underboss to accompany them (unless the Underboss is their mentor, in which case the Boss will accompany the apprentice instead). The Underboss is there only to make sure they stay in the tunnels until they reach their destination and will offer no help in navigating, simply following the apprentice whichever way they choose to go. After reaching the Amusement Park, the apprentice must retrieve an item of their choice to start their own personal Hoard. They must then navigate back to camp. If they cannot do this within a day, they do not earn their warrior name and must train for another moon before they may try again. If the apprentice cannot complete the test the second time within a day, they will be exiled from the Gang for their incompetence.
If the apprentice succeeds, they will be allowed to choose their own name and become a Warrior. Cats of the Scavengers tend to choose simple names for themselves, generally only one or two syllables. The choosing of one's own name upon becoming a Warrior is perhaps the only symbolic thing the Scavengers do. It is meant to represent a cat's newfound independence and a true shift from kithood, giving up the name that their mothers gave them, to adulthood, with a new name they choose for themselves. Though allowed, it is looked down on as immature and overly emotional for a new warrior to keep their original name for their Warrior Name.
Leadership SuccessionUnder normal circumstances, when the Boss dies, the Underboss becomes the next Boss, names the next Underboss, and the cycle continues. However, succession rarely works out so neatly in the Scavengers. As a Gang that values cunning and practicality above all else, they will not abide for any cat but the best suited to lead them, and the best suited to lead has to prove - often multiple times - that they are capable and worthy of respect and obedience. When it comes to determining leadership, the Scavengers are ruthless and political.
Any cat is welcome to issue a Challenge to the current Boss and attempt to replace them, but great care must be taken in this process, and it is often a moons long process. First, any cat wishing to issue a Challenge must keep their plans quiet until they are complete. They must carefully assess the rest of their Gangmates and attempt to gather supporters to their side while escaping the notice of any supporters of the current Boss, and the Boss themselves. If they trust the wrong cats, or are too open about their intentions, word might reach the Boss before they are ready. If it does, the Boss will confront them and force an early issue of Challenge. If too few supporters step forward for the Challenger, the Challenger will either be exiled or executed, depending on the current Boss.
It is important that the Challenger try to get as many supporters on their side as possible before they issue their Challenge. If they are unable to turn at least half the Gang to their side, they have no hope of deposing the current Boss. If they are able to gather around half the Gang to their side, the Challenger and the Boss will face off in a 1 on 1 battle to the death, the winner claiming the title of Boss. Both sides agree that only the Boss and Challenger will fight in order to avoid massive casualties which will cripple the Gang's ability to survive, and if any supporter from either side attempts to intervene, the rest of the supporters from both sides will generally stop them before they get very far, and they may face execution after the fight is over.
If the Challenger is able to turn the majority of the Gang to their side, the current Boss normally steps down without a fight and accepts exile from the Gang, but a more ruthless Challenger may choose to kill them instead (though it will be a quick death, in honor of their time spent serving the Gang and their wise decision to step down peacefully). However, some Bosses may choose to fight rather than step down peacefully, knowing there is a chance they might be killed anyway, but such actions are scornful in the eyes of most Scavengers as an immature delaying of the inevitable. Doing so only ensures their death (and not necessarily a quick one either), as any number of the Challenger's supporters may leap in to help, and they will likely lose the support of any cats that were still loyal to them, leaving them on their own to face the wrath of the Gang and its new Boss. HoardingEach cat who has chosen their own name keeps their own private hoard of random assorted items. Maintaining the privacy and security of these individual stockpiles is the one aspect of Gang life that the Scavengers honor and respect above all else. No Scavenger would ever think to steal something from a Gangmate's Hoard, though they may offer a number of things in trade if there is some item they truly desire. Along with their own Hoards, there is a Gang Hoard which can be used by any cat in the Gang. Until they choose their own names, kits and apprentices are encouraged to take from the Gang Hoard to experiment and tinker to try to create something new. Every Warrior and Senior Apprentice must bring back at least one item each day to add to the Gang Hoard. TinkeringUsing items from both their personal Hoards and the Gang Hoard, Scavengers often work in their spare time to create new things that can be used in various ways, mostly as weapons or defense. Traps made from the fruits of their labor line the tunnels the Scavengers occupy, especially close to the camp. Death RitualThe Scavengers have no death ritual or ceremony. After a cat dies, it is part of the Healers' duties to dispose of the body away from camp to help prevent the spread of any sickness. Bodies are usually just dumped outside the tunnels.
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Post by Urban Warriors on Jan 22, 2016 17:30:01 GMT -5
History FounderBuzzard Notable AncestorsBuzzard
Snake
Magpie
Mole
LoreThe Founding
Buzzard began his life in the Guardians. He lived their ways and earned his Warrior Name, Buzzardclaw. However, he found parts of the Code impractical and many of the Guardians' beliefs to be foolish. He tried to change things from within, to convince his Gangmates to leave behind outdated traditions and beliefs to better their lives, and for it he was exiled. On his own, he began to live how he thought a cat ought to live by doing that which made survival easier. He met other cats, loners and rogues, and learned how the Guardians were hated by Gangless cats, selfishly keeping so much to themselves while other cats starved and grew ill and died. He learned quickly that introducing himself as Buzzardclaw immediately set other cats' hearts against him. So he became Buzzard, leaving behind the name his Boss had given him; that which he had once thought of as an honor had become a shameful burden. Over the course of many moons he gathered followers, convincing them that survival was easier in a group, working with those first few members to create laws to live by which everyone could agree on. First and foremost was that there would be no borders strictly guarded, no cat attacked simply for stepping paw over a scentline. The laws of today's Scavengers have been changed somewhat, as Buzzard was born and raised a Guardian and had a more merciful heart than modern Scavengers, but the founding principles of practicality for survival endure. Unfortunately for Buzzard, his Guardian-learned ways became his downfall, and he is remembered most in the Scavengers for being unworthy of leadership.
The First Challenge
Snake was Buzzard's Underboss, a cat he considered a good friend, intelligent and skilled in battle. However, as the Scavengers grew, Snake began to disagree with Buzzard more and more. Buzzard didn't seem to think much of it, of course cats would have differing opinions, but Snake began to meet with other Scavengers, planning to overthrow Buzzard. He may have started the Scavengers, but now that they were larger he had grown lax, allowing waste, and had even broken the agreement to mark no borders, sending out border patrols to waste their time with scent marking and attacking innocent cats for no reason, apparently unable to leave behind his Guardian upbringing and ideals completely. When Snake stood before Buzzard, denouncing him, hackles raised and claws unsheathed, only three or four cats stood beside the founder, defending him and his decisions. Buzzard refused to back down, and Snake killed him, setting his followers on those cats that had stood beside him as well. After the battle was over, he turned to his cats to tell them that should he ever become an ineffective leader, he would want to know of it, and would step down immediately if a better cat presented themselves, with the backing of the Gang. And thus the Challenge was made. Snake is remembered as one of the greatest Bosses the Scavengers ever had, as he was never deposed and kept his leadership until his death of greencough many seasons later.
"Waste Nothing"
Magpie was Snake's Underboss when he died, and also his daughter. As a kit she was always fascinated by the random items her father would bring back for her to play with and was known to keep every single thing he gave her. As she got older, she even kept the bones of prey. She began to put things together, trying to make something new with all of the many items in her collection. As an apprentice she managed to make a weapon of a sturdy stick, bone, wire, and glass, which she used to kill many enemies, luring them in to leap on her and using it as a spear to impale them when they laughed at her 'silly stick'. When Magpie became Boss, she made it a law that every Warrior should keep their own Hoard and that they should all try to make new items to be of use to the Gang, decreeing that wasting anything at all was the greatest sin a cat could commit. Unfortunately, Magpie was more concerned with hoarding and tinkering than anything else, and her own brother Challenged her and killed her only two seasons into her rule.
The Tunnels
Magpie's brother, Mole, was the first cat to venture into the subway tunnels and really explore them. Most cats refused to go near them as they were a gathering place of humans and giant monsters lived down there. Slowly Mole explored further and further, discovering how the tunnels led all over the city, and he was beside himself with excitement over how the Scavengers could use them. He managed to convince a few friends to enter with him, showed them around, and over time he convinced more and more cats to explore with him. After he killed his sister and became Boss, he led the Scavengers down into the tunnels and to their current camp. Exploration continued, and the tunnels became an important part of the Scavenger way of life.
*This is not an extensive telling of the entire history of the Marauders, only the notable tales. All of these stories took place some 50 years ago, so no cat alive could have known these characters personally. |
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