Culture

## **Names**

Names consist of one word and are given to kits by their parents within the first week of their birth. Parents generally consider physical appearance and early personality when naming their children. Names are extremely important to most cats in this universe as they consider it the "branding" of their individual Soul, and many believe that a name ill-suited to their children can attract bad luck and health. This is why it can take some parents up to a week to decide on the perfect name! (For more on naming rituals, see below in the Rituals section).

An exception to the "one word" rule is when a name describes a single thing, like "Sunbear" or "Sea-moth." Dashes are used only to increase readability and not because these are two-part names following a prefix-suffix rule.

**Note:** Names need to consist of words/items/etc that the characters know of. "Snow" cannot be used, for example, because it doesn't snow in northern Borneo.

### Name Changes

Because names are so important, it's very common for cats to rename themselves if they believe their name no longer suits them. It could occur after an injury, a triumph, or even after a general life change where the cat feels like they should dispose of their old identity to move on into the next stage of their life. Basically, if a cat reunites with another cat after a period of time, they wouldn't be too phased if that cat had a new name!

**Note:** Name changes should still follow the "one word" rule.

## **Roles**

### **The Traveling Family / The Travelers**

**Leader -** the leader of the group. Makes the executive decisions, and conducts naming ceremonies and completion of training ceremonies. Works with the Soul-bridge to host Festivals and Rituals when needed. Chooses their Second-paw (the next Leader) and assigns Mentors to Students.

**Second-paw -** the "second set of paws" for the Leader, and who is usually the next Leader-to-be. Directs menial tasks, such as patrols, hunting parties, and small disputes.

**Soul-bridge -** the head Healer with immense responsibility. They're positioned between the Leader and the Second-paw within the hierarchy. The Soul-bridge not only trains the Healers and student Healers, but they are also how the Travelers communicate with Soul. The Soul-bridge conducts all other rituals and assists with festivals.

**Healer -** one who has extensive knowledge of medicine (healing wounds and identifying plants). They're trained to acknowledge Soul, but do not necessarily have to be proficient in it (unless they want to become a Soul-bridge, of course).

**Warrior -** one who hunts and fights for the Family and has completed their training as a student.

**Mentor -** a warrior that is training a Student.

**Student -** one who is undergoing training. Students must be six months old in order to begin their training.

**Caretaker / Queen / Mother -** one currently nursing kits, or one whose main role is to take care of kits. This is not gender-specific, so any cat can become a Caretaker/Mother if they would like.

**Storyteller -** one who orally tells stories, especially to kits, in order to keep the Family's history. Myths are included in these stories, and Storytellers are usually very inclined to receive Spirit. There is one main Storyteller, but they can have their own students, as well.

#### **Group-specific roles**

**Tunnel guides -** two main guides that lead/guide patrols and make sure that they don't get lost within the tunnel system. This role was started by the first tunnel guides, the siblings Mole and Bat.

### **The Omen Watchers**

The Omen Watchers share the same roles as they did under their previous name; however, due to circumstance, many of the roles are vacant, including that of the Soul-bridge and Second-paw. As a result, the duties of some roles have shifted a bit.

**Leader -** the leader of the group. Keeps same responsibilities as usual, but as of Falcon's reign has taken over the Soul-bridge's responsibilities. Leads all rituals, and is now the main conduit for the "Omen Birds."

**Second-paw -** the "second set of paws" for the Leader, and who is usually the next Leader-to-be. Directs menial tasks, such as patrols, hunting parties, and small disputes. The position has been vacant since the start of Falcon's reign.

**Soul-bridge -** when the groups were separated, the Omen Watchers were left without a Soul-bridge or Healer. As such, no Soul-bridge exists for the Omen Watchers. The Leader is now responsible for trying to communicate with Soul... which ends up as communicating with the Omen Birds. Leaf was supposed to be the Omen Watchers' Soul-bridge, but Falcon has refused to confirm her status for unknown reasons.

**Healer -** one with some knowledge of medicine (healing wounds and identifying plants). The Omen Watchers have limited knowledge of medicine because they were left without a Soul-bridge or Healers, and as such, there really isn't an official Healer role. "Training" consists of trial and error, leading to dosing mishaps and endemics.

**Warrior -** same as previous.

**Mentor -** same as previous.

**Student -** same as previous.

**Caretaker / Queen / Mother -** same as previous.

**Storyteller -** same as previous, although without the strong connection to Soul.

#### **Group-Specific Roles**

**Digger -** one whose main job is burying bodies of the dead.

**Ambassador -** one whose main job is to take daily offerings to the surrounding major spirits.

## **Spirituality**

The beliefs of the Traveling Family boil down to a form of **animism** - that everything has its own Soul. It's not a direct comparison to the general understanding of animism, but it's pretty close.

### **The Traveling Family / The Travelers**

The Travelers believe that Soul is there to help them. It's imperative to respect the surrounding soul-tenders - commonly just called "spirits" - in order to not upset them, of course; but generally, they believe Soul guides and protects them. The Travelers live alongside Soul in peace.

### **The Omen Watchers**

The mindset of the Omen Watchers with regards to Soul is an extreme sense of fear. The Omen Watchers, especially Falcon, believe that spirits are out to kill them. Why else have they encountered so much bad luck? Due to Falcon's paranoia, almost all of the Omen Watchers' duties now revolve around appeasing Soul so that it does not punish them. According to Falcon, anyway.