Ferryclan Info

[Dreamer]

Curiosity by Ian Scott, on Flickr

Ferryclan

The last of the clans to form so far, they are also the least clan-like.
Ferryclan has had to learn how to survive in their environment, and as a result have often taken on a mentality which astonishes other clans, in that they have far more open contact with humans, to the point where human words and knowledge have bled into their vocabulary. They are practical and no-nonsense cats who seek joy in the little things in life despite the grueling and dangerous lifestyle they live. By far the biggest and most fluid clan, they follow a more lax version of the code, but certain lines cannot be crossed, and if they are, it leads to exile.

Culture

Generally Ferryclan cats prefer independence and individuality more than other clans, and encourage these traits in their offspring. As a result, they have more free-thinking cats, but also more cats who are lazy and don't have a personal belief in the warrior code.

They have an odd custom, where many cats collect certain items and form little collections of their own. They are usually very particular about what item they collect, or what colors they prefer, but often cats will trade with others for items for their own collections.

Because of the territory in which Ferryclan lives, they come into contact with many diverse and unique scents, which can make familiarity with the territory difficult. As such, apprentices are trained to recognize a map of the territory, not through scent, but by sight, which can be very difficult for cats. Scout apprentices for their assessment are dropped at a random location in the territory and expected to find their way home.

Due to their proximity to humans, their cycle of seasons and holidays closely mirrors that of humans. They celebrate the Egg Festival in the Spring, the Night of Sky Lights in Summer, and the Star Pine Gathering in the Winter. More information on holidays is found here. They follow the human names for the seasons, Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter.

Ferryclan is the most open to outsiders of the clans, which is why many of them are mixed blood at best, if not completely non-clanborn. They have cordial relations with Waveclan, Barn cats, Rogues and Kittypets, although the last two they feel very much superior to. In recent generations, a slow growing hatred for Rootclan and their pompous ways has influenced the clan, so that they have a bitter rivalry with their western neighbor.

Religiously they are an interesting mix. Since there are cats who may not have grown up in the clan, during the last month of an apprenticeship, cats are expected to take a night journey to the burial grounds, alone, and stand vigil beneath the Skullstone. The guardians will allow them to do so, with the understanding that they must be silent, alert, and contemplative. This is to encourage a personal stake in the belief in Starclan, as well as to mimic the first journey made by Ferryclan cats to bury their founder. Unfortunately, not everyone takes this seriously, and guardians will often discreetly tell the Ferryclan leader if they believe the cat has no future in the clan. They are often correct, and so the leader will watch these cats more carefully to be sure they are contributing to the clan and not taking advantage of it.

[Dreamer]

Ranks

Ferryclan includes all of the traditional ranks, as well as some new ones, but the way they function is slightly different than the other clans. None of these ranks are gender/sex specific.

-Leader-
The clan leader takes on the -star suffix, and focuses greatly on coordinating patrols of the different sections of warriors, as well as maintaining camp morale. It is also their place to be informed of the goings on of the town and other clans through the scouts, and stand in as the deciding vote in clan assemblies. They use their nine lives as a way not to prolong their own life to better rule their clan, but to ensure that situations which normally be more dangerous for other cats, can be taken on by someone who has more than one life to lose.

-Deputy-
Selected by a clan vote, the Deputy is the eye on the ground for the leader. They deal with smaller inner-clan disputes, ensure apprentices are being trained well, and make sure that food, supplies, and herbs are distributed appropriately. They are essentially a leader in training, learning the ways cats interact with humans, learning all the necessary supply lines and allies, and building rapport and trust within the clan so that their decisions and oversight as leader will be accepted. The clan has a right to impeach their deputy, should they decide they are not worthy to become the next leader, but this must be done before the bond with starclan is established.

-Medicine cat-
Ferryclan, being the largest clan, often has the most medicine cats. They tend to favor an approach of two full medicine cats and two apprentices at a single moment in time, to better care for the abundance of cats in their ranks. Due to their contact with humans, they have access to several rarer herbs, and catnip is nearly as common as grass in their territory, leading to medicine cats having to police the patches in order to ensure no apprentices are up to any mischief. Ferryclan medicine cats specialize in rare disorders having to do with internal body breaking down, such as heart problems, liver problems, and cancer, which are more common in Ferryclan due to human contact.

-Head Queen-
This position is held by a cat of high esteem within the clan, and is essentially the head of camp care, from kits who need watching and education, to apprentices and warriors doing chores to keep up the camp, to elders and queens who need rest but also something to do so not to become bored or feel useless. The Head Queen ensures that there is no rotten prey, and delivers messages to the deputy on required materials of resources for warriors to gather out on patrol. They also ensure that the elders pass on their knowledge of clan code and law, as well as the stories and traditions so that Ferryclan's future in ensured.

-Elder-
Cats who have reached the age of 85 moons or more, or have had severe injuries, and who have retired from their warrior duties. These cats often function as secondary caregivers and the main educators of the clan, passing on knowledge and experience, and forming support for clan cats who need advice and someone to confide in.

-Caretaker-
These are cats who are either nursing mothers, other kit wranglers, or cats who have decided their talents are best used by keeping up the camp. They help watch over the kits, give the medicine cats breaks on long vigils, make sure the camp is still weather-proof and comfortable, search for and arrange bedding, and help prepare for any major events in the clan (deaths, births, holidays, etc). This is usually the smallest group of cats, and often has rotating members of nursing mothers and cats who may be recovering from illnesses or under strict punishment to remain in camp under the Leader's and Head Queen's eyes.

-Warrior-
Unlike the other two clans, Ferryclan's warriors function differently. While they have three moons of common training in all areas of warrior skills, their second three moons of training are in a specialized area based on their skill set.

Ferryclan has three divisions of its warriors:

• Guard: These usually consist of the bigger bulkier cats, or ones who are good at intimidating. They are the ones that ensure that the territory is kept free of any hostile freeloaders and communicate with friendly kittypets and outside sources. They are trained to fight, but also to be convincing, either through intimidation or other ways, to make sure the territory is as safe as can be.
• Hunter/Gatherer: These cats do the brunt of the work when it comes to getting food. Some are actual hunters, which hunt rats, mice, and birds that are common to the territory. Others are gatherers, as in they interact with humans until the humans give them what they want. They tend to stick around places that serve primarily meat, like hot dog stands or cheeseburger joints, but in the summer they focus primarily on the pier, playing on tourists' sensibilities to get food.
• Scout: These cats function as several things, sometimes they runners, taking messages between the different patrols of the clan and back to camp. Sometimes they are the eyes and ears of the leader, exploring the territory and sometimes outside the territory, and gathering information on the goings on of other clans. During high season, they function as lookouts, warning their gatherer clanmates in the case of dangerous humans, or the presence of animal control personnel.

-Apprentices-
Apprentices start training at 6 moons of age, and train on average for 6-10 moons. Usually the first three or four moons are general training, so that each apprentice understand the duties of the different types of warriors in the clan, and so that they can begin to develop their skill sets. After that, they are trained by the warriors in their specialization, usually in a one on one typical mentor-apprentice set up.

-Kit-
These bundles of fur are the future of the clan, and can be very energetic and excited. They are usually very curious, but a strict rule is enforced where no kit may go outside camp without a caretaker present. To do so could end in their apprenticeship being delayed for their immaturity. However, they are not left unentertained. Caretakers engage them with educational games which mimic skills and training that will happen as an apprentice. Elders take the time to tell kits the stories of the past, of heroes and monsters and myths. And laws and codes too, whether the kits like it or not. Older kits near their apprenticeships might be asked to help watching younger kits, or be given small chores to see whether they are mature enough to be given the responsibility of an apprenticeship.

[Dreamer]

Appearance

Ferryclan is the most hodge-podge of the clans, with cats of every shape and size, and most color spectrums. That said, certain traits are more predominant. Most cats have an intermediate or semi-cobby build, useful for the endurance required in such a gritty place. Of the pelt traits that are most prized for beauty and aesthetic purposes, white is considered the most useful, as humans are attracted by it. However other traits also run in the clan, such as colorpoints of various types, and a variation on the bobtail. The most common tabbies are mackerel tabbies, although ticked tabbies are on the rise.

Naming

Unlike the other two clans, Ferryclan includes identifiable human objects as part of their prefixes. This is because they have less contact with many plants and animals which the other clans do in the wild, and therefore have had to substitute their own from items and things present around them.

Parents name their kits at their naming ceremony, but don't really have any specific habits or trends when it comes to naming. The naming ceremony is very simple, a mother will present them to the clan as whole once their eyes have opened, saying their names before the clans. The clan will chant their names and cats will offer small gifts of bedding or trinkets for the kits when they grow up.

This is a list of currently accepted prefixes within Ferryclan beyond the global prefix list.

• Brick- For the rich reddish stone used to build houses
  Red tabby
• Bronze- From the great bronze statue in the town center
  Cinnamon, Red tabbies, and Ruddy ticked tabbies
• Cocoa- From the poisonously sweet beverage humans have during the cold months
  Primarily a winter prefix, brown or chocolate tabbies with or without low white.
• Coffee- From the dark brown, almost black drink the humans have all the time, especially the morning
  Dark brown tabbies with black stripes
• Glass- From the clear material which seems like forever frozen ice
  Light grey solid or tabby, silver, or light cream tabbies
• Gravel- From the small loose stones which cover human paths
  gray spotted tabby
• Metal- From the cold sharp objects used by humans
  Gray cat, solid or tabby, any shade
• Oil- From the viscous fluid that cars sometimes leave behind
  a black, dark gray, or black smoke
• Pepper- From the pungent black or gray powder
  Black ticked tabby, black smoke, black silver spotted tabby
• Rust- From the reddish coating on metal
  A reddish/ginger cat.
• Salt- White powder with distinct taste
  Predominantly white cats
• Tar- The road covering
  Black

Since this is a work in progress, members are allowed to contribute suggestions, or request a specific prefix for their cat. However they must have a very specific and clear color connotation, and be something instantly recognizable to the Ferryclan cats, either for scent, for taste, or for appearance. If the prefix fulfills all of these, it will be added to the list.

[Dreamer]

Laws

Ferryclan cycles through members more often than one might think, but once a cat leaves Ferryclan, especially if it is to become a kittypet, those cats are never welcomed back and are shunned by the clan. Instead outsiders are welcomed as new members, as Ferryclan believes that since Starclan did not turn their back on them, they could never turn their back on willing outsiders. Those who leave the clan, however, are considered to have turned their backs on Starclan's generosity and therefore no longer deserve their place on the clan.

Since most cats are of mixed blood, there is ideal when it comes to romances outside the clan. However, the clan does emphasize loyalty, in that clan-blood cats must be raised in the clan and under clan law. If a warriors relationship outside the clan leads to shirking duties or breach of loyalty, it is deatl with. First offense, confined to camp for a moon to contemplate the choices which led to a problem with the clan. Second offense, exile.

The kittypet clause of the warrior code was created essentially to spite Ferryclan, but they fought back by outlining a very specific clause of their own clan law. Kittypets became classified as cats who: Went and lived inside a human home, accepted a collar from a human, ate kittypet food to excess in times when the clan had other available prey. If a Ferryclan cat was classified as kittypet, they would be exiled from the clan.

Violent crime: such as abuse, murder, or violation of another cat, results in Ferry clan forcing the cat into animal control traps. Where they go after that no cat knows, but no cat has ever returned from them.