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Post by Urban Warriors on Jan 22, 2016 17:32:54 GMT -5
"Keep The Old Ways." The Guardians are the oldest of all the Gangs, claiming to be formed from the last descendants of the Clans of old. They take great pride in this fact, and their motto “Keep The Old Ways” reflects that. They take the Warrior Code even more seriously than the Clans who originally followed it, and believing themselves destined to keep it alive and pass it on to future generations, they have named themselves after their self-assigned role as guardians of the Code. They are incredibly strict and loyalty to the Code comes before everything else in their lives. They take the Code to an extreme, and it has made them incredibly superstitious.
They are very much isolationists, living on the edge of the city, as far from humans as they can get without risking life in the wilds. They are removed from the other Gangs as well, which suits them just fine since the other Gangs refuse to accept the Warrior Code. They guard their bountiful territory jealously, patrolling and marking their borders often, and leave their territories only for their Warrior Tests and to travel to occasional Trade Meetings. They pride themselves on their independence and self-sufficiency.
The natural world is sacred to them, while anything made by humans is seen as a defilement. Guardians shun the use of human items for tools, weapons, or shelter, seeing such things as a step toward becoming a kittypet and breaking the part of the Code that says “a warrior rejects the soft life of a kittypet”. They even avoid roads, or attempt to step on weeds growing from cracks if they cannot avoid them completely, fearing that contact with the human paths will taint their souls. When cats are born with disabilities, it is seen as a punishment for the parents breaking the Code somehow, and the whole family is sent into the wilds for a Purification Quest.
Favored Stat: Instinct Tradable ResourcesHerbs - During the Spring, Summer, and Autumn, the Guardians have easy access to the most herbs that can be found in the city. Even most of their warriors know what many herbs look like so they can bring extras back from patrols to use in future trades. Their Herbs are by far their most plentiful and valuable resource.
Prey - The Guardians also boast the largest variety of prey in the city. While pigeons, crows, rats, mice, and lizards can be found commonly throughout the city, the Guardians' territory also houses squirrels, rabbits, voles, and many different birds, including ducks and geese that flock to their pond during migration. Along with these animals, which are rare in the rest of the city, they sometimes hunt exotic prey animals that live only around the old Zoo and can't be found anywhere else in the city. Prey is far more plentiful in their territory than in many other parts of the city, and they are often able to catch more than they need, which they use for trade.
DiplomacyMarauders
Common Stereotype: “Savage thieves with backwards beliefs, they seem to delight in seeing just how many parts of the Code they can trample on and are constantly at odds with us. At least they have courage and loyalty to their own, and are not afraid to fight for what they believe in, even if it is wrong. They have respectable traits, but their insistence on stealing whatever they wish, whenever they wish, is deplorable."
Current Status: Guarded
Scavengers
Common Stereotype: “The Marauders are thieves, but at least they seem to have some sense of honor. The Scavengers, on the other paw, have not a shred of honor to their names. They skulk about in the shadows and tunnels of the city like rats and flee at the first sign of danger like frightened mice. If any cat needed the Code to better their lives, it would be a Scavenger. We pity them and their lack of faith."
Current Status: Neutral
Renegades
Common Stereotype: “The most disgusting of the other Gangs we have the displeasure of interacting with. They are hardly more than kittypets and the fact that they call themselves a Gang is insulting. Unfortunately, come winter, they have access to herbs and prey that we do not, and they become a valuable trade partner. They are a necessary evil for our survival."
Current Status: Neutral
Rogues, Loners, & Kittypets
Common Stereotype: “We are always looking to spread the Code to those outside the Gangs so that they might become enlightened, especially kittypets, in the hopes that they might repent this greatest of sins on their spirits and be cleansed of the presence of humans. Those who refuse to accept the Code are nothing but a nuisance to be swiftly dealt with."
Current Status: Neutral |
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Post by Urban Warriors on Jan 22, 2016 17:33:16 GMT -5
Traditions Warrior Code1. Defend your Gang, even at the cost of your life. You may have friendships with cats from other Gangs, but your loyalty must remain to your Gang, as one day you may meet them in battle.
2. Do not hunt or trespass on another Gang's territory.
3. Elders and Kits must be fed before Apprentices and Warriors. Unless they have permission, Apprentices may not eat until they have hunted to feed the Elders.
4. Prey is killed only to be eaten. Give thanks for its life.
5. A Kit must be at least 6 moons old to become an Apprentice.
6. Newly appointed Warriors will keep silent vigil for one night after receiving their Warrior Name.
7. A cat cannot be made General without having mentored at least one apprentice.
8. The General will become Gang Boss when the Boss dies or retires.
9. After the death or retirement of the General, the new General must be chosen before moonhigh.
10. Boundaries must be checked and marked daily. Challenge all trespassing cats.
11. No Warrior may neglect a Kit in pain or in danger, even if that kit is from a different Gang.
12. The word of the Gang Boss is the warrior code.
13. An honorable warrior does not need to kill other cats to win his battles, unless they are outside the warrior code or it is necessary for self-defense.
14. A warrior rejects the soft life of a kittypet. Kit NamingGuardians are given names in the tradition of the ancient Clans. Their mothers (and fathers) name them something natural that seems to suit them (Black, Spotted, Night, etc), or instills the mother’s hopes for her kits in it somehow (Brave, Noble, Strong, etc), and are given the suffix -kit (Bravekit, Nightkit, etc). Kits become apprentices at 6 moons, as the Warrior Code states, and receive the suffix -paw to indicate the new path their paws are on, replacing the suffix -kit (Bravepaw, Nightpaw, etc). Warrior Test and NameIn order to become a warrior in the Guardians, an apprentice must take the Test of Conviction. This involves the apprentice leaving the Gang for a full moon to live on their own in the city. This is meant to test the skills they were taught, their ability to survive as a warrior, and their conviction to the Warrior Code, for there are many temptations in the city that might turn a cat away from the Code. The apprentice must leave the Gang the day after the new moon, and may either go alone or with other apprentices that are ready to take the Test. They must return on the night of the next new moon, no earlier and certainly no later, or they will be banished from the Gang forever, regardless of the circumstances of their delay (though if they return early they will simply be turned away until the new moon comes). While they are away on their test, they are referred to as Seekers.
Anything the Seeker may have done during their Test that would be against the Warrior Code is freely forgiven if they return and accept the Warrior Code fully into their lives. To prove this resolution, they must take a sacred oath to never stray from its path again. Seekers are encouraged to spread the Code to any cat they meet during their Test, to teach others of it, and Seekers who bring prospective new members back with them are celebrated for their devotion to the Code. However, if a Seeker chooses not to return, the parents and mentor of the lost cat are often shunned to an extent for several moons, and their loyalty and devotion to the Code are called into question until these qualities are proven again.
Upon successfully returning, the Seeker will receive their full name from the Boss and become a warrior. They will be given a new suffix replacing -paw, which is generally a representation of either a strong skill or trait an apprentice has displayed, or has to do with the new warrior’s appearance (Braveheart, Nighthawk, Blackfur, etc). For many generations, true belief in StarClan has existed only as a fact of the past, and any remaining knowledge is vague. Now, perhaps the closest the Guardians get to the old clans’ worship of StarClan is their respectful deference toward the Gang’s ancestors; however, even that is not entirely the same, for they believe that the spirit remains close by after a cat dies. As a result, ‘star’ has become a normal suffix for the Guardians to use as they would any other suffix. There are no special suffixes beyond those assigned to kits and apprentices. Leadership SuccessionAs stated in the Warrior Code, the General will become Boss if the previous Boss dies or retires. A new Boss chooses their General by the moonhigh following their ascension to the position of Boss. Should a Boss and General both die before any successor can be named, the Senior Warriors and Healers will meet to choose the next Boss. No cat can become General or Boss without having mentored at least one apprentice.
Purification QuestThe Purification Quest is a returning to nature, a forgiveness of sins through hardship and suffering. Cats who take on the Purification Quest must venture out into the Wilds for one whole moon, surviving all the many dangers they find there. They must return exactly one moon after the start of their Quest, or it is seen as a sign that they are not forgiven for their sins and are forever tainted. These cats are banished from the Guardians forever and will be attacked on sight should they ever return.
Cats that wish to join the Guardians who are born outside the Gang, as loners, rogues, kittypets, or in other Gangs, must go on a Purification Quest in order to be accepted. Guardians who allow themselves to be touched by humans directly must also go on a Purification Quest (even if it was an accident or they fought the whole time). Sometimes, mentors or parents of apprentices that do not return from their Warrior Test choose to take on the Purification Quest to prove their devotion to the Code, though it is not required. Death RitualThe Guardians hold a vigil over the bodies of their dead, much like the warriors of old. Cats quietly honor the dead cat. Those closest to the deceased spend all night with the body. Come dawn, the Elders of the Gang bury the body and normal life resumes.
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Post by Urban Warriors on Jan 22, 2016 17:33:32 GMT -5
History FoundersStarheart & Moonfur
Notable AncestorsStarheart
Moonfur (the very first General)
Wildcall
Silverlight
Iceclaw
LoreThe Founding
Starheart was named for the stars her ancestors so loved. She truly was one of the last descendants of the Clans of old to be taught anything of their ways and traditions. By the time Starheart was born, the Clans had been gone for generations, but that didn't stop her mother and father from teaching her and her sister everything they knew about them. As a kit, she and her sister were simply Star and Moon, a reminder of how their ancestors had looked to the stars for guidance. Growing up hearing stories about the Clans, Star and Moon grew to love them and became determined to bring them back. Their parents often told them it was impossible and that the Clans had no place in this new world, but the sisters refused to let go of their dream.
When they became adults and struck out on their own, they became more realistic about their goal. The more they learned of the world, the more they saw that their parents were right. The Clans could never survive in the world they lived in. However, that didn't mean their noble Code and traditions had to die out completely. The sisters worked tirelessly to teach other cats about the Code, to find other descendants of the Clans, like themselves, and bring them together again. What they formed together, they could not bring themselves to call a Clan, for the Clans were dead and gone, and so they called themselves a Gang: the Guardians of the Past, with Starheart as Boss and Moonfur as her General, taking names like the warriors of so long ago that they remembered from all the stories they had been told.
Starheart and Moonfur were incredibly proud of their ancestry, the blood they shared with the Clans, and they allowed no cat to join their Gang that did not share Clan blood. They claimed a large territory and mercilessly chased off any trespasser, just as the Warrior Code said to do if a cat was outside of the Code. Over time they became known by outsiders simply as 'the Guardians', who simply thought it stood for 'guarding food and water so no other cat can have it', and they adopted it as their proper Gang name only a generation later. Many prosperous generations followed and the Guardian's ranks swelled.
The Massacre
Wildcall was ambitious, and ruthlessly devoted to the Warrior Code. He believed even living on the outskirts of the city was a sin against the Code, and when he attained the rank of Boss, he moved the entire Gang out of the city and into the wilds. He wished to return to the times of the Clans, when cats truly lived wild and free from humans. Charismatic and righteous in his path, his Gang followed him unquestioningly as he led them from the relative safety of the city outskirts and into the untold dangers lurking in the wilds. Hunted constantly by monstrous predators, the Guardians lasted only a few moons. Some tried to convince their Gang to return to the city where it was safe, but Wildcall quickly put an end to the idea, banishing the last cat to bring it up, a young warrior named Buzzardclaw. Some cats lost all faith in Wildcall after that and a few left on their own, fearful of being made prey. Shortly after the banishment of Buzzardclaw, Wildcall himself became prey and left the broken Gang in the care of his General, Silverlight.
The Recovery
Silverlight quickly gathered what remained of her decimated Gang, tenuously keeping them together through the panic and sorrow of losing so many of their Gangmates to the wilds, including their beloved Boss Wildcall. She managed to lead them back to the city, though more cats were lost on the way. A mere seven cats remained of the Guardians when they finally found their way home. Though it had previously been law that only cats with Clan blood could be a Guardian, Silverlight knew that rebuilding her Gang would be impossible without letting outsiders join them and that without the Guardians the Warrior Code would be lost forever.
She abolished the law, and though her Gangmates were reluctant, they saw the sense in it. They worked together to spread the word of the Code, to fix what the Guardians had broken so long ago with their ruthless attempts to keep everyone without Clan blood out. A new, more merciful Gang rose from their ashes, and their ranks slowly grew. Silverlight became known as one of the greatest Bosses the Guardians ever had, leading the Gang from the brink of destruction into an age of hope and peace. However, she was too lax on the outsiders she allowed to join, and it led to her early death when a cat with a grudge against the Guardians joined them to get close to her and kill her.
The Purification Quest
Iceclaw, Silverlight's General, created the Purification Quest as a test for any cats who wished to join the Guardians in the future. This would prove their loyalty and devotion to joining the Gang and following the Code and would help prevent another tragedy like Silverlight's murder. As one of the seven cats who had returned from the Wilds after Wildcall's folly, he knew very well how dangerous these lands were, so he set a time limit of only one moon. He thought that this would allow enough time to prove one’s skill and devotion, but it would also be short enough that the Guardians would not be kept waiting in vain for a cat's return should they fail to survive or simply decide that joining the Gang was not worth braving the danger. It was Iceclaw's opinion that every Guardian should be willing to risk their life for the Gang, and more importantly, for the Warrior Code. Cats who could not prove that they were willing to take that risk were not welcome in the Gang. *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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