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strelles-universe · 6 months

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i also CANNOT be the first person to throw out an au like this but i love the idea of hollyleaf & dovewing as a doomed pair. like dove becoming aware of a presence underground very early on because she can hear it, and quickly becoming obsessed with the idea of finding out who's living beneath thunderclan territory. wandering into the tunnels & instantly hearing a whole new world -- the river, fallen leaves, even rock, and especially holly. suddenly it's not just one cat living under the ground, it's a whole universe.

at some point dove tries to tell lionblaze & jayfeather what she knows, but neither of them want to hear it & won't tell her why (but it's because they still think holly died down there). jay tells dove that if she ever goes down into the tunnels, she'll regret it. she decides to keep her mouth shut from there on out -- her little secret. and once she finds out the cat who's behind all this, then they'll see.

anyway, holly obviously finds out really quickly that someone is exploring the tunnels, and they keep finding a way in even after she collapses a bunch of the more obvious entrances. so she starts stalking dove across thunderclan territory to try and figure out who she even is & how she's doing this. dove of course is aware she's being followed & becomes convinced that whatever is living (or not) in the tunnels is trying to communicate with her.

like. the mutual obsession of never seeing but always knowing vs. not always knowing but almost always seeing. of searching vs. following. of hearing vs. speaking. & this takes over both of their lives to the point where dove is losing sleep trying to listen to the ground & holly is sneaking out of the tunnels when she shouldn't just to see where dove is going.

also love the idea of this turning into a worship kind of thing for dove. since she never sees holly all she knows is this force that somehow manages to stay hidden from her & does not have the capacity to communicate with her as a normal creature would is following her around literally all the time. her being in love with the idea of this like. almost eldritch entity that somehow embodies the tunnels to her. eventually it goes from trying to find out who's living in the tunnels to trying to understand & get to know the tunnels themselves & the entity she sees as personifying them (i.e. holly). holly as the watcher & dove as the devout, never fulfilled follower.

& of course all of this with the added layer of dove being obsessed w the one person who she was literally born to replace. placing holly on a pedestal so high above herself that it is almost unthinkable to her once she finally learns who holly is that SHE could be the one replacing holly in the trio. she's like no that's my best friend the ceaseless watcher. what

#I love cryptid holly so much you have no idea #i couldve read an entire series of hollyleaf secretly helping thunderclan and confusing tf out of them #it wouldve been great if she accidentally became a patron spirit off of it #not quite strelles related #i want this for strelles (cryptid!holly) but have zero idea of how im making this work lol

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strelles-universe · 6 months

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Greenwood Faction Cards - The Stormborn

The Stormborn have always been regarded as the most unusual and strangest looking creatures of the forest with their long, plush tails and short but feathery ears. Compared to the other factions, it wouldn’t be hard to mistake them for being near completely defenseless with their fluffy tails and thick coats without horns or fins. The enemy who makes this mistake however will come to immensely regret it - for mixed within their long coats, sukeme of the Stormborn have long barbed quills that lay calmly against their skin. When feeling threatened, it’s not just their hackles that raise but these pointy, painful defenses.

These long quills start just before their hindlegs forming a sort of cloak over their rump, blanketing the top of their tails. Speaking of their tails, though plush and fluff; the underside of around half-way down is also laced in sharp quills and woe-betide any attacker who makes the mistake of trying to grab them by it. It’s recommended that if you are speared by their quills that you wait until a trained mender can attend to you and the subsequent bleeding.

Quills aside, the Stormborn tend to be various kinds of tabbies that hide them well in their dense forest homes. Tortoiseshells are equally common, finding their best luck when the leaves drop from the trees - their dappled pelts matching the fallen leaves sprinkling the forest floor. They sport powerful, muscular builds, large paws and broad faces - there are often whispers that due their founder showing the most repentance for The Spilling, the Souls were kinder to the Stormborn and left some of their Ancient power within them giving them more lion-like features.

Common Patterns - Mackerel/Ticked Tabbies, Tortoiseshells

Common Colors - Red, Brown, Black, Gold

Uncommon Patterns - Spotted/Classic Tabby, Torbie

Uncommon Colors - White, Silver, Ruddy

Rare Patterns - Colorpoint

Rare Colors - Cream, Blue (Cool Gray)

OVERALL TERRITORY

The Stormborn are settled in the primarily deciduous part of the Greenwood Canopy - while there are evergreen trees scattered throughout the forest, they are primarily found further north-west than the others. They are unanimously agreed to have the most frustrating territory for a newcomer to navigate - the ground level is completely covered with brackens and bushes, thick layers of moss coating the barks of trees and the twisting roots of their oaks. The branches are mostly interlocking, ensuring the ground is dappled with sunlight throughout the day; enhancing the camouflage provided by tortoiseshell pelts.

Though visitors complain about the confusion turning them in circles, the Stormborn themselves can easily navigate their territory. From early training, cadets are brought through a series of routes to different important locations in their territory that escalates into leaving the cadet in specific locations with orders to get as quickly to a different location as possible. By the time a legionary earns their true name, they’ve mastered and memorized every leaf and bramble in their forest.

They proudly boast that their territory always looks gorgeous - in makiim (summer), the branches are a vibrant green with beautiful blossoming flowers and juicy fruits; in ahaliim (autumn) the ground is dappled in leaves of many colors - gold, red, orange and brown; in ilkiim (spring) the buds wave in the wind as freshly born animals scamper about their territory, little puddles of water twinkling in the sunlight. Even dahiim is beautiful - the ground sparking with white snow, icicles dangling from branches and frozen bonds providing windows into the waters.

Notable Landmarks:

The Old Basin - An old hollow full of soft, warm pink-ish red sand that used to be filled with water once upon a time when the river was wider. Eventually the water drained away leaving the smoothed sand and silt from the river. The Stormborn have many theories about the Old Basin - some say that Sunsoul dried up half of the river and Treesoul took what remained and used it to nurture the surrounding trees given how rich and tall the trees around the Basin are. Others say Riversoul reached down and rerouted the river like he did with the part around the Suncairn.

The Neutral Stretch - A large stretch of fertile territory popular with prey of all kind. Politically the land belongs to the Shining Sun - lost during The Raids started by The Mad Storm - and is frequently used to train squires and as a dumping ground for excess seed. The scarred trees mark the divide between the Stretch and solid Shining Sun Territory. This little bit of land has saved the Stormborn many times over during hard times as the dumping of seeds keeps prey animals coming back even during the snow-season.

The Suncairn - A massive collecting of rock outcroppings that are surrounded by a well-drained patch of land on the edge of the deciduous forest that led out to the main river. It seems like the rocks were once large buried deep beneath the river and for whatever reason, were pushed to the surface before being smoothed down by the river’s current. For a long time, the river flowed around the Suncairn preventing anyone but the swimming Shorerisen from accessing it but then slowly, over-time the river-rerouted. The Suncairn has been a place of bloodshed, outrage and conflict ever since as the Stormborn and the Shorerisen fight over the valuable land.

The Boa’s Sarsen - A large collection of somewhat jagged rocks slated together in a way that resembles a coiled snake, creating a series of nooks and hidey-holes that are inhabited by largest collection of blackwhips. The Sarsen is religously significant to the Fennyield, though because it was a Storm cat that was their goddess Hakassebera’s friend; the Storms retain the territory on their own land. Occasionally there have been conversations about officially handing the location over but it remains a popular spot for Fenns and Storms to speak with each other peacefully, especially as cadets.

The Deer Trail - A long since trotted down section of territory that marks the border between the Fennyield and the Stormborn. Deer and wild-boar and even wild horses have long-since trampled the grasses down into a firm trail of dirt, pressing the pebbles and stones deeper into the earth. Almost nothing grows on the trail anymore both because of how long it’s been used but also because the Storms and the Fenns both made dedicated efforts to maintain the easily seen border. The Deer Trail is a dangerous place in ilkiim (when the wild boar return and hae their piglets, becoming hostile to everything with a pulse) and in ahaliim (when stags are in rut and begin fighting each other).

Temekur’s Oak - The tallest stretching oak-tree in the Storm’s territory that hosts a permanent owl’s nest. Generation after generation of owl has been raised in and buried around that tree all stemming from the first, very intelligent owl to scamper from its branches. Said to be the home of Temekur, the owl who saved the Stormborn from a truly terrible famine and the place where the fallen owl was buried and made a god. The Stormborn occasionally leave offerings of prey at the base of the tree that the owls have come to accept, and the hunters are all taught a special tune to use in dahiim that signals to the owls that their cat friends need their help once more.

The Prisoner’s Barracks - An open clearing in Stormborn territory that brushes against firmly packed and dense soil guarded very heavily by the thickest thorns and brambles the forest has to offer. It’s a well-defended and hard to access place - which of course is exactly why the Storms have turned it into a prison. Proponents of mercy and firmly against executions, the Stormborn are the only faction to regularly keep prisoners enclosed within their territory and are the only faction period to have a set of regulations dedicated to managing them. Even those who’ve been imprisoned in the barracks don’t know where it is in Stormborn territory as they are usually blindfolded in some way when they’re led out. To the outside, it appears to be the average tangle of plants, brackens and vines.

Treesoul’s Ravine - A sloped valley sort of area surrounded by some of the strongest, healthiest looking trees in the forest that opens out into a little meadow type area. The largest stream in Stormborn territory runs through the Ravine, creating a little pond against a hilly-edge; the area littered with brilliant green brush and a variety of berries. Treesoul’s Ravine is the most popular burial location for the Stormborn, a vast majority of the faction have requests to specifically be buried in special locations of the Ravine. A series of totems line the Ravine - one made to honor each of the Souls where Storms can leave offerings of flowers, prey-bones and even trophies for the Souls to judge.

PREY, PREDATORS AND HERBS

Common Prey - Gray squirrel, cottontails, deer mouse, red squirrel, chipmunk, woodrats, mourning dove, chickadee, bluejay, robin, sparrow, wrens, waxwings

Uncommon - wild turkey, opossums, porcupine, pine vole, common garter, cormorant, tern, sandpipers, wood frog, minnow

Rare - White-Tail yearlings, trout, carp

Forbidden - Cardinals

Common Herbs -

Uncommon Herbs -

Rare Herbs -

Minor Dangers - Striped skunk

Medium Dangers - Short-Tailed Weasel, copperheads

Severe Dangers - Black bears, wild boar, White-Tailed Stag, Blackwhips, Timber Rattlesnake

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BATTLE TACTICS

Contrary to what many will say, they don’t love battle nor are they battle-hungry, their warnings and cautions are just that - warnings though the other factions have been known to take them as challenges.

The Stormborn prefer to end battles as quickly as possible, minimizing the amount of suffering either side goes through and as such, typically target who they deem to be battle-leaders and second in commands. Demoralizing the enemy is plays along well with this trait of theirs - a signature tactic of theirs are Brush Rushes. The thick, dense brush of their territory can safely hide even the largest of their legionaries well enough that a patrol of Stormborn cats can follow invaders for hours without the invaders themselves noticing.

Naturally this has been worked into a battle advantage. When the Stormborn feel that a patrol has overstayed their welcome, they rush from the bushes and attack hard and fast with the goal of disorienting their enemy before retreating as quickly as they arrived. The break in attack is an offering - telling the enemy to return to where they came from. If this offerring is not respected, they will be rushed again - this time with the intent of dealing painful, lasting injuries. The rushes will continue until the enemy retreats or until the Storms declare an outright battle and summon reinforcements.

Recognizable Tactics:

Tail Tucking - The Stormborn have sharp, painful barbed quills lining their hindquarters and tails. When an enemy attempts to attack them from behind, they tuck the soft underside of their tails to their bellies and bristle their spines; impaling those who would attempt an ambush

Land Grapple - It’s rare that someone wants to keep their enemy close-by hence this being a very recognizable Stormborn tactic. Grasping the opponent by their shoulders either from above or below, hold tight; forcing them to either rip their fur free or stay for a pummeling. They will snap at their enemy’s face and ears while using their hindlegs to shred them. The enemy is only released when they express surrender.

CULTURAL VALUES

> The Maternal Bond should always be respected and harshly punished if ever abused

> There is incredible bravery in honesty - a legionary should always be confident in their actions; regardless of the consequences

> Though there are four factions, there is only one Empire and when one is in need; the other three should be honor-bound to assist

HOLIDAYS

The Last Snow -

QUIRKS

A legionary having relations within another faction will say they’re ‘patrolling’ as a way of being discreet about their relationship. It’s more noticeable if the reasoning is claimed after high-sun, when the Storms are mostly at rest

Though barracks tasks are common punishments for misbehaving cubs, any of them can be picked up by anyone. Cubs who take a liking to a specific task are encouraged to keep at it.

Temekur’s Oak has a series of increasingly higher notches from cadets challenging each other to climb. Legionaries will brag moons after promotions about taking the highest marks

The Stormborn tend to come out during rainstorms to let a few drops of water hit them. It’s said that you can receive omens from the blurry vision granted when rain hits your face

The Storms are the closest to omnivorous as you get in the Empire, it’s not uncommon to catch them snacking on berries of all sorts throughout the day; preserving prey for actual meals

#strelles universe #strelles the greenwood empire #strelles the stormborn

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strelles-universe · 6 months

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testing

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strelles-universe · 6 months

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Yea the link has expired but I would definitely be interested in joining the discord! Terminology in the USA is indeed confusing TOT I was actually born in the USA, more specifically California, but I moved to NZ when I was three years old and I've been here ever since. Somehow I retained the accent though XD On another note, you can definitely find plenty of interesting gemstones in the Midwest! The Great Lakes are known for being the agate capital of the world in fact! Here's a list of gemstones you can find without having to go digging, specifically those you can find in rivers or other bodies of water; Amethyst, Quartz, Jasper, Agate, Chert, Flint, Fossils (Coral, Crinoid, Trilobite, etc), Yooperlite, Feldspar, etc. I would definitely do your own research though! This is just my prior knowledge being a gemstone fanatic hehe. I know that personally I've incorporated gemstones as a healing and metaphysical tool in my Xenomoggy, but I'd love to see other Xenomoggy/Warriors AU writers use it :)

Petition to make The Midwest refer to something slightly more intuitive/j XD Geography terminology for our silly country is so dated sometimes (interesting tho ngl).

Accents will follow you everywhere you go XD Doesn't matter where you go or what you try, childhood accents'll stalk you

Yeah that matches up with what I've seen so far - agates and quartz everywhere. Although I have to decide if the crystals are more intangible healing or if I should break the rest of the way from my pokemon powers system and make a series of Magic Gemstones. I like the idea tbh, I can give them to the skulks and have loners trading them around.

#strelles meta #thecatspirits #answering asks

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strelles-universe · 6 months

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You can definitely work with the Midwest, but that's entirely up to you! The only issue you might come across is the lack of forest biomes down the center of the USA, so if your looking for herbs/plants that would grow in forest you need to look more to the states close to the Great Lakes or the Rocky Mountains. Basically, I would avoid using states like North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, etc, as inspiration as those are pretty much all Great Plains. Here's a map of the forests in the USA;

I also found a resource with a list of indigenous plants to the Eastern portion of the central USA, so basically the area surrounding the Great Lakes (Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota); https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/midwest-region-indigenous-wild-plant-list.pdf There's not many plants on that list though so I kept looking for you and I found this site, which only lists a few plants but links to multiple resources for different states; https://www.finegardening.com/article/your-guide-to-native-plants-in-the-midwest Some of those might not even be consumable for us though, so I'd also definitely look into native trees. Elderberry is a good one for instance and Sugar Maples have a range that extends from Maine to Missouri! The seeds and inner bark of the tree are edible and this particular tree is most notable for producing the largest quantity of sap/syrup of any maple species. Any edible plant/tree/flower tends to have effects of the body, some may be more potent than others however. Just doing a quick Google search about Elderberry tells you they are great for fighting sickness such as a cold or flu! Not to mention the fact that your cats, depending on how creative you want to get, might not consider plants to be the only medicinal things in nature. Many real world cultures use gemstones for healing the mind and body for example. Sorry if I'm rambling lol, I hope I could at least provide a bit of help :)

Yeah - the "The Midwest" when talking about the states is actually that group of states right around the Great Lakes - everything else is "central" or strictly "the west" (which I wont deny is confusing af nowadays). Though I still might decide to push them a bit further east anyway just to actually have touch with costal creatures :p

still it was very nice of you go on this herb hunt! I've been genuinely wondering if I should cave and bring humans in and extinct them just so have like the basic handful of herbs XD so far haven't had to resort to that.

Gemstone healing could be very interesting - the catch is finding more of them that don't require heavy mining or machinery. I've got a handful that kinda Show Up in rivers and creeks but that's one that requires further exploration.

Anyway it was really cool of you to go on this hunt :) I should invite you to the discord so you could've seen that herb hunt for yourself - do many herbs are 'naturalized' from European colonizers T-T

#answering asks #strelles meta #thecatspirits #im being serious about the discord thing btw - i think the link on masterpost expired a while ago

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HAHA!!! What part of North America is Strelles based on? I've done lots of research on the British Columbia area so I have a knowledge of native and invasive plants in the area. It's generally not to hard to find resources if you know what area your based on and what plants would be found in each environment :)

I've made the critical mistake of making them Midwest based because of the great lakes. The way I'm suffering though, I'm about to push strelles to the northeast.

The northern half of the west continent is like... Canada-adjacent

(Although Strelles is broken into two - the west continent is Midwest north America, the right content is like... central Africa I believe - just bc of how many herbs and flowers come from there. idk though, the east continent might end up just being my beloved east-cost)

#strelles meta #answering asks #thecatspirits #i spent literally all of today doing plant sorting instead of writing rip

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strelles-universe · 6 months

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Be advised that if you fuck around and make your xenomoggy non-europe based without humans, herbs are gonna kick your butt

#strelles meta #this hurt

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strelles-universe · 6 months

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I'm so happy I get to express how flirty Ahasra is this time around

#strelles universe #spark the light spoilers

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strelles-universe · 6 months

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Need to come up with more landmarks for the Shorerisen. Thus far I only have The Linn and The Crossing Stones :p

#strelles meta

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strelles-universe · 6 months

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World update y'all!

Kind of, mostly dropping the europe influence from most of the world. I'm sure a few will still sneak in but for the most part, I'm updating the plants and fauna right now! Instead, the continents will be based more on North America

#strelles meta #and some of africa bc I am very predictable

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strelles-universe · 6 months

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The Greenwood Empire - The Search

The final step to becoming a leader in the Empire is to put their spirits in the paws of their Ancestors and the Souls that guide them. Though rumors of nine lives are often waved off by others as a Queen’s Tale, the sukeme of the Empire know good and well that they’re all true. Escorted by their starmender to the Moon’s Fang, potential leaders touch their nose to the sacred stone and find themselves placed in a fairly vulnerable state as their spirits are transported to the Starlands.

When they awaken in the Starlands, they will be in what is called The Three Borders - a somewhat uncreative name for where all three territories in the Starlands touch each other. Sitting around them will be nine, small creatures - the sacred animals of the Great Souls and the Spirits ready to lead them deeper.

Lives have to be volunteered by the ones donated.

The Spirits known to the Empire through their myths and tales are known to touch down within the Starlands at times, taking the forms of their parents’ sacred animals to visit a cat they believe deserving of their blessings and knowledge before seeming to vanish among the stars once more. On the mortal side of things, nine of the anima that were closest to the potential leader or can make a good case as to why they should be brought into the drawing step forward to offer a life. Once they’ve chosen, they scatter throughout the Starlands; waiting for the life-reciever to begin their Search.

The cats often start with their Spirit Lives as they’re usually considered the most important. Spirits are fickle, powerful beings that are quick to wander away once they’ve lost interest. The factions tend to place high value on attaining spirit lives as they’re considered great blessings; granting strength to the cat in vein of their domains. Some spirits are more likely to offer lives than others - Hanimu the Orphan and Siyeyim the Planner being the most prolific while hardly any leader has truthfully ever seen Huyewa the Dreamer or Haanuki, the Harbinger. These spirits often set up a test of some sort that would challenge the cat, forcing them through a scenario of their making in an attempt to see if there’s still a spark of what drew the spirit to them in the first place. They tend to hold timed events, should a leader not complete a scenario in enough time it will fade and the Spirit will leave without granting a life.

On the mortal side, things are a bit more… emotionally taxing. Though Spirit lives require a lot of mental energy for imagined scenarios, mortal spirits often bring up a key memory or moment. The anima will hide in a created location of significance they need to the life-reciever to understand. It could be witnessing again the death of someone dearly loved or a critical mistake that cost the receiver a lot - mortal challenges are what makes it so taboo to attempt to force a leader to speak about their Search.

With timed events and draining encounters, it’s not surprising to discover that it’s fairly rare for a leader to collect a full set of nine lives. Often the ceremony is so draining and exhausting that a leader will wake up early from the sheer stress that weighs on their minds, ending the ceremony and preventing them from gaining any further lives - there are some who manage to press on, forcing themselves through the pain and remaining in status but it leaves them incredibly weak when they reawaken. Ultimately however, waking early is the better of the option. Some anima will set a short limit to how long the receiver can spend on their life while others will easily give them the rest of the night - and those that linger for too long risk a terrible fate.

For when the sun rises, no longer does Moonsoul’s Fang work as necessary - the sunlight severs the tether from the living and the dead and then the Mother Maw awaken; devouring the remaining spirit from the leader’s body leaving nothing but a crystallized skeleton in its place.

Should a leader survive their ceremony however they will receive a sigil marking them for whichever Soul had left the largest impression upon their Soul - determined by the number of lives gained in their honor. These marks are branded upon their foreheads for all to see - though starmenders are capable of sensing and reading the remaining energy in the sigil which conveys the number of lives a leader has left.

Most leaders keep their list of lives and what happened to them strictly between themselves, their starmender and perhaps a mate or a best-friend.

#strelles universe #strelles nine lives ceremony #strelles the greenwood empire #strelles worldbuilding #xenomoggy

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