Captain

**Captains** are the leaders of their Colonies, advised by their Second and Council.

## Description

Captains act as leaders of their Colony, advised by their Second and Council. If they die or are unable to complete their duties, they are to be succeeded by their Second, whom they have hand-picked among the Colony's envoys. Despite their position, their orders can be collectively overturned by the Council if they believe the orders are not in the best interest of the Colony. This includes leading Rangers into dangerous missions or pointless battles, as well as the Captain's choice of Second.

### Spirits Beyond Ceremony

When a cat becomes Captain of their Colony, they are blessed by the Spirits Beyond. The spirits will pledge their souls to the living cat as a new life, imbuing the Captain with power, wisdom, and durability to lead their colony justly and courageously throughout their extended lives. It has been said that a single Captain can withstand receiving the souls of up to nine Spirits, and that this once happened to a legendary figure, but no cat truly knows how many new lives a Captain carries but the Captain themself. Spirits can also rescind their gift to punish Captains who abuse their power.

This ceremony takes place in their dreams; there is no special location they must travel to in order to go through with the Ceremony. It is more of a personal connection that the Captain has with the spirits when the Captain is ready to lead. The spirits protect Captains from serious injury to an extent, so they can continue to live through dire situations. However, if the spirits disagree with the choice of Captain, they may refrain from pledging in the first place.

Spirits can technically pledge their souls to family; however, favoritism is highly frowned upon. It would lead to chaos if any and every cat had the potential to live multiple lives based on this nepotism alone. The spirits pledge to Captains only because of a combination of tradition, cultural beliefs, and practicality; they pledge to the Captain for the good of the whole Colony.

Upon going through their Spirits Beyond ceremony, they are given a title in relation to their accomplishments and actions that have earned them the position of Captain. They are aware of this title upon waking from their ceremony. The title consists of the Captain's Ranger name, followed by a trait in relation to them, finally followed by "Captain of [their Colony]". For short, they are referred to simply by their former Ranger name, or their Ranger name preceded by "Captain".

### Duties

Captains are to lead their respective Colonies, aided by the Spirits Beyond and advised by their Second and Council. They are also responsible for naming Rangers and cannot forcefully switch a cat's role, but can suggest a change in their career path or early retirement. When their Second dies, they are to choose a new Second among the current envoys; they, alongside the Second, are also responsible for choosing the Colony's envoys.

## Trivia

* The Captain position replaced the leader position of the *Warriors* series (the original framework of Clouded Moon), albeit with significant lore changes.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Revealed in Lore Stuff for Clouded Moon for the General Public