Post by Tearstar on May 30, 2011 0:16:32 GMT -5
Specialties: RainClan is similar to the RiverClan of old that has become myth to the Clans of today. Their main diet of fish makes their fur sleek with a special oil that sheds water easily. They are strong and confident swimmers and take great pride in their swimming and fishing abilities. At four moons mothers begin to teach their kits how to swim in the shallows near the camp entrance and by the time they are apprenticed kits are already confident in and around the water.
Weaknesses: RainClan cats' main hunting skills are patience and the ability to remain motionless for long periods of time. Such skills are needed with fishing, after all. However, these skills are not as useful when hunting other prey and RainClan cats are rarely able to move quick enough or jump high enough to catch birds. Climbing is a bane to RainClan cats and unless they are in grave danger they are unlikely to be found in the trees. Squirrels, therefore, most often evade them, for a RainClan cat will never pursue a squirrel up a tree, why waste the effort when you could fish? Because fishing requires so little movement and fish are so readily available, RainClan can often be seen as lazy to the other two Clans.
Territory Preferences: RainClan's territory is more heavily wooded than LeafClan's, but not nearly as much so as DawnClan's and has a wide variety of types of trees. The territory holds the most water of the three Clans and in lower land areas it is generally marshy and wet. Unlike most cats, RainClan cats actually enjoy the water so this isn't much of an issue. They are most at home with the sound of water flowing nearby and the quiet of the deep, closed to the sky, forest of DawnClan or the open, comparably empty northern LeafClan can be a bit unnerving.
Camp: RainClan's camp has a natural mote which generally keeps their younger kits safely in camp for they cannot yet swim and get into trouble wandering the territory and keeps most cats from the other Clans out for few would choose to flounder across the river in order to mount an attack. However it has been known to flood in newleaf, sometimes bad enough that the camp need be evacuated, and in droughts it is easily reached when the water is lower. Also the river can freeze over in colder leafbares providing easy access for the other Clans.
Diet: Although fish is the main course, RainClan's diet also consists of frog, water vole, duck, the occasional rabbit or mouse, and rarely birds (other than ducks) or squirrels.
Paleleaf's Solution
RainClan has long held a position of 'power' over the other Clans, DawnClan especially, since the easiest route to the Moonstone for DawnClan is to cross the stepping stones and Herb Island, otherwise they would have a much longer trip downstream to shallow waters. Besides that, the Herb Island is a resource that both of the other Clans would fight RainClan for the right to use in the past for its plentiful herbs when times were hard.
It was only recently, shortly after Tearstar became leader, that Herb Island became free for the other Clans to use without penalty, without owing anything in return, and without fighting for it. The RainClan medicine cat at that time, Paleleaf, is the cat to thank. Having heard many stories of past battles over the island, and treating the wounds of cats who fought over it herself, she approached Tearstar with the suggestion that all Clans should be able to freely use the island in order to prevent needless bloodshed.
Being a new leader, Tearstar was unsure, but was definitely sure the rest of her Clan would not approve of allowing the other Clans to freely roam part of their territory whenever they liked. However, she also wished to avoid future bloodshed over the island. Paleleaf suggested that only Medicine Cats would be able to come and go on the island as they pleased, and Leaders and Medicine Cats traveling to the moonstone should of course never be turned away.
Although her Clan was not entirely for it, Tearstar agreed that this small act would prevent many injuries and deaths in the future and announced at the next Gathering what she and Paleleaf had discussed, saying that as long as the other Clans adhered to sending only their Medicine Cats to island then they could freely use it and promised that they would owe RainClan nothing for it, and also opened the island and the stepping stones as a permanent path for the other Clans to the moonstone.
Paleleaf passed on to StarClan only a few short moons after the agreement was made, considering it her greatest accomplishment as a medicine cat for it would go on to save countless lives, not only through the battles that would not be fought, but also through the herbs that would be shared.
Weaknesses: RainClan cats' main hunting skills are patience and the ability to remain motionless for long periods of time. Such skills are needed with fishing, after all. However, these skills are not as useful when hunting other prey and RainClan cats are rarely able to move quick enough or jump high enough to catch birds. Climbing is a bane to RainClan cats and unless they are in grave danger they are unlikely to be found in the trees. Squirrels, therefore, most often evade them, for a RainClan cat will never pursue a squirrel up a tree, why waste the effort when you could fish? Because fishing requires so little movement and fish are so readily available, RainClan can often be seen as lazy to the other two Clans.
Territory Preferences: RainClan's territory is more heavily wooded than LeafClan's, but not nearly as much so as DawnClan's and has a wide variety of types of trees. The territory holds the most water of the three Clans and in lower land areas it is generally marshy and wet. Unlike most cats, RainClan cats actually enjoy the water so this isn't much of an issue. They are most at home with the sound of water flowing nearby and the quiet of the deep, closed to the sky, forest of DawnClan or the open, comparably empty northern LeafClan can be a bit unnerving.
Camp: RainClan's camp has a natural mote which generally keeps their younger kits safely in camp for they cannot yet swim and get into trouble wandering the territory and keeps most cats from the other Clans out for few would choose to flounder across the river in order to mount an attack. However it has been known to flood in newleaf, sometimes bad enough that the camp need be evacuated, and in droughts it is easily reached when the water is lower. Also the river can freeze over in colder leafbares providing easy access for the other Clans.
Diet: Although fish is the main course, RainClan's diet also consists of frog, water vole, duck, the occasional rabbit or mouse, and rarely birds (other than ducks) or squirrels.
Paleleaf's Solution
RainClan has long held a position of 'power' over the other Clans, DawnClan especially, since the easiest route to the Moonstone for DawnClan is to cross the stepping stones and Herb Island, otherwise they would have a much longer trip downstream to shallow waters. Besides that, the Herb Island is a resource that both of the other Clans would fight RainClan for the right to use in the past for its plentiful herbs when times were hard.
It was only recently, shortly after Tearstar became leader, that Herb Island became free for the other Clans to use without penalty, without owing anything in return, and without fighting for it. The RainClan medicine cat at that time, Paleleaf, is the cat to thank. Having heard many stories of past battles over the island, and treating the wounds of cats who fought over it herself, she approached Tearstar with the suggestion that all Clans should be able to freely use the island in order to prevent needless bloodshed.
Being a new leader, Tearstar was unsure, but was definitely sure the rest of her Clan would not approve of allowing the other Clans to freely roam part of their territory whenever they liked. However, she also wished to avoid future bloodshed over the island. Paleleaf suggested that only Medicine Cats would be able to come and go on the island as they pleased, and Leaders and Medicine Cats traveling to the moonstone should of course never be turned away.
Although her Clan was not entirely for it, Tearstar agreed that this small act would prevent many injuries and deaths in the future and announced at the next Gathering what she and Paleleaf had discussed, saying that as long as the other Clans adhered to sending only their Medicine Cats to island then they could freely use it and promised that they would owe RainClan nothing for it, and also opened the island and the stepping stones as a permanent path for the other Clans to the moonstone.
Paleleaf passed on to StarClan only a few short moons after the agreement was made, considering it her greatest accomplishment as a medicine cat for it would go on to save countless lives, not only through the battles that would not be fought, but also through the herbs that would be shared.