Starclan

Starclan is a Clan made up of the deceased, former members of the Clans who live on in a spiritual form of themselves after passing away. They watch over the living cats, no matter where they may end up, as long as they believe in Starclan, or have a cat who believes in them. There is no set leader of Starclan, though there is a system of leadership, lead by former Prophets and Leaders. They are responsible for sending signs, omens, and prophecies to the living cats.

Description
Starclan are the deceased ancestors, descendants, and Clanmates of the Clan cats. Cats are only allowed to join Starclan when they die if they have lived an honorable life and followed the warrior code, and or believed they'd been doing so, in some exceptional cases. If a cat doesn't live an honorable life, then that cat will end up in The Dark Forest. Starclan cats don't have to be in a Clan at the time of their death to be welcomed to Starclan, though it is necessary that they believed in Starclan at some point in their lives to be welcome.

When a Clan cat dies, they will be guided to Starclan by a deceased cat who played an important part in their life, such as a mentor or a cherished family member. When a cat dies and goes to join Starclan, they merely close their eyes and reopen them. When a leader loses a life, that life appears in Starclan as a very faint copy of the leader, though no cat is able to interact with this spiritual version of said cat until they've lost their final life, and the spirit is unable to interact with others until this.

Starclan cats leave starry paw prints, their eyes shine like stars, and their pelts glow with a strange light that makes them look like they have stars in their fur. Frost sparkles at their paws and glitters in their eyes. Their pelts shine like ice and carry all the scents of the seasons: the tang of leaf-bare, the green scent of greenleaf, the musk of leaf-fall, and the sweet blossom of newleaf. The cats' spirits remain in Starclan until they are forgotten by all living and dead cats over a long time and earned their own peace, causing them to fade away to little more than ghost-like images of themselves. It is possible for a Starclan cat to be killed again, but they vanish forever; going elsewhere.

Starclan has the power to control the weather, cats believe. Cats will also thank their great ancestors after catching prey. Cats believe no battle blessed by Starclan would occur during a storm, and they are generally seen as a bad omen. When Starclan disapproves of something, they will cover the moon with clouds.

Cats who join Starclan have the ability to remove or keep any scar left on their body. Scars can appear as they did when the cat was alive, or as a bundle of stars around the area, though much fainter than the death wound. Death wounds that are not open wounds on a cat's body, such as a heart attack, greencough death, or frostbite for example, will cause different areas of the body to be more abundant with stars than the other areas. If they had a disability when they lived, such as a loss of the ability to walk or a broken leg, they have the option to return their ability to walk like every other cat in Starclan. Deaf or mute cats can gain the ability to hear and speak respectively, in the cases of Minnowkit and Littlekit, etc.

For a cat who passed away from a heart attack, such as Ford, a collection of stars will appear around their heart, causing the inside of their body to glow brighter than the outside.

For a cat who passed away from cancer, such as Littlebird, a collection of stars appears where her tumor and the spread of the tumor had been, lighting her belly and causing her inside to glow brighter than the rest of her.

For cats who died from open wounds such as cut throats, a bundle of stars will appear on their throat, making the outside of their body glow brighter than the rest of them, etc. The effected area that caused their death will also glow brightest. Lungs for greencough, open wounds for death from battle, etc.

In Relation to the Living
Starclan act somewhat like guardians to the living Clan cats, often warning them of dangers ahead or to guide them in times of need. Ancestors usually watch over the living cats of their former Clan, and especially over cats who were close to them in their lifetime; for example, Widowstar visiting Lucidcharm to warn of possible danger to her clan, though mostly to send a sign for her daughter, Sirenstar. Living cats visit StarClan in their dreams, although StarClan cats are able to appear even in the waking world, but such appearances are rare, and should be limited.

Prophets are specially bonded with Starclan, and they are the cats who are usually contacted by their ancestors. They will send signs to the leader and healers, warning of possible dangers or interpreting signs for their clanmates.

Ceremonies
All Clan ceremonies are believed to be supervised by Starclan. The Clan leader performing a ceremony calls upon the warrior ancestors, and promotes a cat to their new rank by the powers of Starclan. The leader asks that Starclan welcome them by a new name, such as when a kit is named an apprentice.

Starclan has the greatest role during leadership ceremonies, giving the new leader their nine lives and new name. Each of the lives are granted by a single ancestor, usually a cat the new leader had cherished when the cat was alive such as a loved family member or mentor. When a life is granted to a leader, they are given a special gift or attribute to make them a good leader, such as endurance, courage or strength. There is times during a leadership ceremony as well that a warning will be served to the future leader of the clan, giving information of possible dangers that the new leader may have to face. They are accompanied by a Prophet during this ceremony. This takes place in a wide open starry field, where nine cats maximum will give a leader her lives, while others may crowd around to watch, including possible passed kits or friends of the leader, to congratulate them and wish them a strong, and lengthy reign.

Reincarnation
Reincarnation is a mostly unknown and unspecified ceremony. Cats have been reincarnated for reasons cats are unsure of, and when questioned, Starclan gives them no answer. Cats have speculated Starclan will give cats a second chance who died too young, or were never truly happy in life. Cats who died before they lived their full life out include Damian and Fallenhollow, after the pregnant queen and her mate fell into a ravine and passed. Starclan revived Fallenhollow, where she was able to give birth to her kits and return to her clan.

Reincarnated cats will receive the memories of their past self, with a strong example being Littlekit reborn as Littlebird. Born to Minkpaw after her untimely demise, she keeps her exact appearance she had while living, though her former inability to speak had been reverted. While she grew, it became clear she preferred her former adoptive fathers, Hiddenflame and Crowdusk, over her birth parents. She remained unaware of her differences until she was 4 months old.

Recalling this, she remembered her death and even found her past grave. She was horrified and upset by this, and for the rest of her life cursed Starclan for returning her only for her to live with the trauma she hadn't even lived in this life in her next.

Sacrifice of the Stars
The Sacrifice of the Stars is a mostly unused concept in the roleplay, and is somewhat unfleshed out. This is when a Starclan cat chooses to give up their life force to revive a passed cat. Depending on how old either spirit may be, more than one cat may need to volunteer to send the cat back to Starclan. This is a permanent death for the sacrificed cat, and they would never return under any circumstances.

Much like Reincarnation, this cat will hold memories of the cat that had given up their life in Starclan for them. In the series, this has only been done twice so far.

The first appearance of the concept is when Crowdusk and Minnowkit pass away from greencough. Minnowkit is initially unchalant about Starclan, and very disinterested in anything but seeing his siblings again. He is now no longer deaf when he joins Starclan. Crowdusk expresses a desire to return, and the Starclan cats offer him the option to return with a Sacrifice of the Stars. A cat will die in Starclan to give up their life force to revive the body of a passed on Starclan cat. Minnowkit offers himself for the ceremony, and though Crowdusk is hesitant, Minnowkit promises he wants to go through with it. The ceremony is begun, and the words are spoken by Minnowkit to send him home; "And by the power of Starclan, I send you home."

Crowdusk revived with the memories of his deceased adopted son, and he would never join Starclan after that, causing Crowdusk's spirit to also be just as weak. He still would require recovery time for his body to become used to life returning to it.

A sacrifice of the stars can also create a new body for a cat who had been long dead, such as Ravenstar. When Hiddenstar lost his final life and requested to be sent back to Starclan, Ravenstar was enraged. She stepped up and requested herself to be sent back, and it is referenced she must've asked in that past to no avail. She requests that she and Hiddenstar are sent back together. Her to save her dying clan, and Hiddenstar to return to his family, who still needed him. All of Coveclan bands together to sacrifice themselves to rebuild a new body for Ravenstar, giving her the ability to return to her clan and revive what she could of Rippling Streams after the famine that destroyed her home. Her new body is created, and she is sent back, though completely weak. She would never grow old, and she was unable to bear kits with her new body, or it would kill her. She regained her strength and later reformed her clan, naming them Desolate Tundras after they merged with the Tribe that inhabited the mountains above the Clan of Falling Skies' territory. She has the memories of her great ancestors, and feels all the more connected to them than she had in the past.

Nine Lives Ceremony
Once a leader passes, the leadership will pass down a line of succession, beginning with the leader's heir. If no heir has been chosen, is fit for the position, or is present/alive, the leader's deputy will take up the role. They will travel to share tongues with Starclan, receiving ...

Life in Starclan
Once a cat reaches Starclan, they learn all about the territories, including the stories from the past clan, since faded, Gurgling Waters, Coveclan, Carnivalclan, and Horrorclan. Cats in Starclan are restored to the age in which they were happiest; for example Stan and Ford are old, as they were happiest at the end of their lives, with their kin in Falling Skies, and Littlebird is young, as she was happiest when she first became deputy. They also do not age in Starclan. Cats who die keep their name they had at death, unless they passed as a kit or apprentice, and choose to be ranked up. They can choose their own final name in Starclan, or have a Starclan cat grant them with a name.

There is always plenty of prey, so hunting is easy, and cats have no defined tasks (such as hunting, training, etc). They are free to do as they please, so they are mostly content, Though it is common to see cats doing such tasks either way, as they prefer it this way. Cats such as Littlebird choose to hunt in Starclan whenever possible, and healers may choose to pick herbs in Starclan to keep a storage like they'd been alive, to keep some sort of routine.

In Starclan, cats usually stay mates until they've faded. There are many areas to have tranquility with your mate. Starclan cats cannot have kits, but may become mates with other cats, or choose to pick a mate in Starclan. Queens who pass away and go to Starclan while pregnant will have her kits there, though they will stay young kittens, not aging.

Starclan cats do not usually feel pain. They do not grow hungry if they do not eat, and they do not feel pain. Until recently, when cats have begun to fade away early, receiving wounds like living cats do. Because of this, Starclan is more distant than ever to their living clanmates. They are unsure of why this has begun to happen, and they are fearful of Starclan being lost because of it.

Once a Starclan cat ceases to be remembered by any living or dead cats, they will slowly seem to appear as the faintest star and will live their life in Starclan peacefully and alone. Usually, they do not send dreams to any living cats except on special occasions.

Territory
StarClan's hunting grounds are described as a moonlit night landscape in greenleaf, a land of mist and shadows. It resembles the landscape of the forest, and several locations exist in both the waking world and in StarClan.

For the living cats, StarClan's territory appears as a large, cloudy-looking swath of stars, which has been confirmed to be the Milky Way. Clan cats believe that, upon dying and joining StarClan, a new star appears in Silverpelt.

When the Clans travel to a new territory after the destruction of their last territories, Starclan follows them in the sky so they can continue watching over them.

There are various named hunting grounds known in Starclan.

Known Residents
Below is a list of every cat in Starclan, including limited information about them. Cats from the Great Ancestors are not going to be included here.

Starclan Residents

Trivia

 * The Sacrifice of the Stars concept is created by Cove, also known as Simbalvr123 in the Discord. Go give her some props!

Mistakes

 * There is plenty of confusion with The Sacrifice of the Stars concept. There has been plenty of controversy surrounding it, with others unsure if the spirits of the cats entirely fade, come back half faded, or are unaffected. Minnowkit is said to have lived in Starclan after his death, an obvious retcon to the sacrifice he made for Crowdusk after he'd been transferred to a new roleplayer.