DawnClan/General Information

## Clan Hierarchy

Each Clan shares the basic ranking system, consisting of nine distinct ranks. Following as:
**Elder**

An Elder is a retired Clan cat who has served their Clan and has now grown too old or can no longer due their duties due to their injuries. They aid in helping the queens in caring for their kits as well as caring for the camp's well being. They are given high respect upon having served their time, they also aid in burying any deceased Clan cat's body outside of camp.
**Leader**

The Clan leader is highest and most respected position in the Clan. They care for the Clan cats as if they were the leader's own children as well as maintaining discipline and order among their Clan. The Clan cat is the only cat out of the Clans to receive nine lives, however they may not receive nine lives if a previous leader that has nine lives is still alive and has not revoked those lives.
**Deputy**

The deputy is the second-in-command to the leader, as well as the leader's successor upon their death. The deputy acts as the leader if the leader is ever away. In order to become deputy, a cat must have trained at least one apprentice. If a deputy dies, the successor to the deputy must have been appointed before moonhigh.
**Medicine Cat**

The medicine cat is known as both the spiritual leader and healer of the Clan. They are the cat that is said to be closely connected to StarClan even more so than the leaders. They have a large knowledge when it comes to healing. They interpret omens and prophecies that StarClan gives them however, there have been periods of time where StarClan has refusedto speakwith even their mostlotal medicine cats.
**Queen**

A queen is a she-cat that is currently expectingnor nursing, sometimes even one who is too old for the life as a warrior and has chosen to instead help out in the nursery. Their duties involve caring and protecting the young.
**Warrior**

A warrior is a well-trained cat and one of the Clan's most elite fighters and hunters. Normally, a cat is made a warrior around the year mark of their life as long as their mentor and the Clan's higher ranking cats agree that he/she is ready. From there, they will recieve their warrior name and must sit vigil the first night. If a cat breaks the rules of not following a vigil, he/she are punished accordingly to the leader's decision. A warrior may have the choice to work in that rank until their death or choose their retirement and become an elder. This normally happens around the seven to nine year marks.
**Apprentice**

An apprentice is the trainee rank of the Clan, an apprentice is given their mentor upon them turning six moons of age and they begin their training upon the mentor's choice. Although, throughout time and leaderships, some leaders have deemed the apprentice age being as young as three moons. However, that age has been said to be frowned upon by their ancestors.
**Medicine Cat Apprentice**

A medicine cat apprentice is the apprentice of the medicine cat. They are given the knowledge of the medicine cat training them and every other medicine cat before them. Some are even given omens upon becoming an apprentice. However, it is rare for StarClan to trust such a young cat. A medicine cat apprentice may remain as so for as long as the medicine cat is alive or believe they still need to learn. Upon either the deathbed of their mentor or deemed worthy enough by StarClan then may they earn their name.
**Kit**

A kit is the offspring of warriors, sometimes leaders and deputies as well. They remain in the nursery gathering their strength until they reach the mark of six moons. Although, it has been rold that some have been apprenticed as early as three moons although it is highly frowned upon.
## The Warrior Code

1. Defend your Clan, even with your life. You may habe friendships with cats from other Clans, but your loyalty must remain to your Clan.

*It's hard to imagine a time when cats were allowed to have friendships with cats in other Clans. As every cat must learn, the stength of the entire Clan depends onnthe loyalty of its members.*
2. Do not hunt or trespass on another Clan's territory.

*We take it for granted now that each Clan lives innthe territory best suited to provide food for its particular hunting skills. You will see that this code was needed, because if anything is likely to cause trouble, it's theft of precious fresh-kill.*
*Not all cats obey the code all the time. For where there are young cats and a set of rules to break, there is always mischief brewing.*
3. Elders and kits must be feed before apprentice and warriors.

*Caring for the weaker members of the Clans lies at the heart of the way we live. We are taught to respect elders who have fought for the Clan in the past and kits who can't yet hunt for themselves. If you have asked a warrior what he or she fought for, the warlike answer would shock you.*
*As you have seen, Clan cats are a part of something bigger than ourselves, and that ensures we are as strong as our strongest warrior when trouble comes.*
4. Prey is killed only to be eaten. Give thanks to StarClan for its life.

*When you eat, whom do you thank for your food? It is to our ancestors that taught us to respect our prey and helped us to see how much we owe to our warrior ancestors for training us and bringing us to a place where we can live as we do.*
5. A kit must be at least six moons old to become an apprentice.

*It seems so obvious now that kits should not be allowed to fight until they are properly trained and strong enough to take on full-grown warriors. But it was, and is, not always like this. It took the love of a mother cat to put a stop to the destruction of fragile lives.*
*Only a leader that walks the blackest of paths would break the code that protects kits.*
5. Newly appointed warriors will keep a silent vigil for one night after receiving their warrior name.

*Being a warrior isn't just about catching prey and fighting other Clans, you know. It's about being part of a tradition that stretches back longer than any cat can remember, and one that will last for all the moons to come.*
7. A cat cannot be made deputy without having mentored at least one apprentice.

*Our skills and knowledge will live forever, thanks to our mentors, who teach the next generation of Clan cata the way of the warriors. But it took a great leader to see thag it was not only an apprentice that gains valuable knowledge from the mentor. Being entrusted with an apprentice teaches the mentor how to lead and gain loyalty and respect. For what is a deputy or leader if not a mentor to the whole Clan?*
8. The deputy will become Clan leader when the leader dies or retires.

*At the dawn of the Clans, new Clan leaders were chosen from the kin of the previous leader: often their kits, but sometimes theor littermates or their kits' kits. Leaders were well respected enough that their kin were respected, too, by the whole Clan, and it seemed the easiest way tk choose a new head of the Clan. But not all cats follow their kin in skills and temperament.*
*In StarClan there is plenty of time for fallen leaders to think over the decisions they made when they ruled their living Clanmates, and there is no escaping judgement as they watch over the consequences.*
9. After the death or retirement of the deputy, the new deputy must be chosen before moonhigh.

*It may seem callous to cats like you that a new deputy is names over the body of the old one. Would you prefer to grieve for one cat before passing your loyalties to another? Dwelling in the past is not a luxury warrior cats have; we must face the future. The time for mourning will come.*
10. A gathering of all Clans is held at the full moon during a truce that last for the night. There shall be no fighting among the Clans at this time.

*Even though the Gatherings started with the very beginning of the warrior code, the full-moon truce did not become part of the code until much later. Now the truce is respected by every cat, whether it is because they value the chance to exchange news in peace with their close neighbors, or because they are afraid of what their warrior ancestors might do if they break the code.*
11. Boundaries must be checked and marked daily. Challenge all trespassing cats.

*Not all parts of the warrior code come from tragedy and conflict. Some, like this one, were needed to clear up a long-running misunderstanding ans avoid the need for blood to be spilled.*
*Once the borders were fixed, cats of neighbouring Clans started to meet frequently across their borders when on patrol. It became apparent that cats of all Clans must know how to handle disputes.*
12. No warrior may neglect a kit in pain or in danger, even if that kit is from a different Clan.

*The stength of a Clan does not depend only on the stength of its warriors. We also need to raise healthy kits to follow in the paw steps of their Clanmates. For this reaaon, kits are protected by all the cats in the forest, wherever their Clan loyalties lie. But it was not always so.*
*No cat doubts that cats of all Clans must protect kits. But we know from bitter experience that not all kits grow up to honor the warrior code that once protected them. Every full-grown tyrant or murderer was once a tiny bundle of fluff that swelled a mother's heart with pride. If we could see into the future, would we protect each and every kit the same?*
13. The word of the Clan leader is the warrior code.

*Not every article of the warrior code is born out of wisdom, and it might seem that this one came from a dangerous lapse of judgement in all Clan leaders. Even so, this piece of code has survived unchallenged all these moons. Why? In reality, leaders take advice from their medicine cat and senior warriors, one cat alone rarely makes a decision. And the best warriors have never been afraid to challenge their leader, even at the risk of breaking this code. But come what may, the leader has to bear responsibility for what happens, and such a heavy burden deserves our respect. The code guarantees it.*
14. An honorable warrior does not need to kill other cata to win his or her battles, unless they are outside the warrior code or it is necassary for self-defense.

*I know you kittypets thinm we are fierce, bloodthirsty crratures who line our nests with the fur of our enemies, but we are not. Battles with cats who do not live in Clans is far more likely tk result in death, because those cats often have no sense of the honor in victory without bloodshed. Now you are aboutnto learn that the way of the warrior does not have to be steeped in blood.*
15. A warrior rejects the soft life of a kittypet.

*The life of the Clans is far from the life of a kittypet as you could imagine. We hunt for our food, choose our own boundaries and fight to defend them, and raise our kits to follow traditions laid dosn by cats long since faded from our memories. Many Clan cats would say this mskes us bettee than you; I would not necessarily claim that. There are good and bad cats everything, and good and bad within every cat. If every Clan cat was pure of heart and unfailingly loyal,we wouldn't need the warrior code at all.*
### Additional Rules

1. Medicine cats may cannot have a mate or kits, as they must be able to care for the whole Clan without a biases choice.
2. Kits must stay in camp until they apprenticed.
3. The Clans cannot unute to drive out another Clan.
4. If a Clan is in peril, the other Clans must help that Clan.