Welcome to The Boreal! We are a Warriors roleplay set in a cooler climate based on taiga, boreal forests, and surrounding areas, with four original and unique clans inhabiting the territory. To read more about our setting and to join in on the fun, get started here!
Site News
1/3/21 - Happy New Year! Check out the most recent announcement here!
12/21/20 - Congratulations to our new MudClan leader, Mignightstar (played by blue)!
12/19/20 - High rank auditions for MudClan leader closing on December 21st!
In-Character News
High ranks are open! Post in the audition thread to apply.
Seasonal
It is currently early leafbare, so the weather is starting to get cold and the few deciduous trees are losing their leaves.
So you want to play a high-ranking character? Well, you've come to the right place. Before applying, be aware that high-ranking characters should be posting at least three times a month. This quota is in place to ensure that everything runs smoothly plot-wise.
Because the site is so new, feel free to include in your character's history any relevant plot points that might involve events with other clans as long as they do not contradict the current site plot.
To apply, reply to this thread with the following:
A link to your character's bio (should be completed prior to the audition but will not be reviewed until your entire audition is reviewed)
Your character's age (should be older than 30 moons if leader/deputy)
The position you are applying for (both clan and rank)
A roleplay sample demonstrating how your character would act in their role
Keep in mind that your audition will not be reviewed immediately to allow for others to apply as well. Deadlines will be announced at a later point.
The sun had risen above ThornClan. A new day had begun.
Stoneheart gave a small nod to himself, satisfied upon seeing his clanmates moving about to begin the duties he had assigned for the day. Creating patrols was a simple task, but the tom took care to ensure that it was done right: putting companions together, keeping enemies apart, and accommodating for apprentices working with mentors were key components of guarding the territory. He could only imagine the lack of progress made had he ever been put in patrols with his siblings...
The large tom suddenly felt the presence of others behind him, and was (thankfully) prevented from pondering his brother and sister for much longer. He looked over his shoulder, yellow eyes asserting the two that were joining him on border patrol. Mousewing, a brown she-cat, and Brambletail, a tabby tom. They were both younger warriors but had considerably more control over their actions compared to their more rambunctious peers. They were reliable. Giving a sharp nod, Stoneheart lead the way out of the tangle of tree roots the Clan called home.
The air was starting to get colder, and combined with the vast canopy of firs and pines, it was a chilly day. Puffing out his fur, the silver tabby was silent. Even his large paws managed to stay quiet. Similarly, Brambletail and Mousewing didn't utter a word. They all knew that the forest could be hiding anything, and having conversations would only be a distraction.
But more importantly than whatever creatures may stalking them in the dark, was StormClan border.
Patrolling around the border was still a tense process. Border skirmishes were not uncommon and, even though Bearstar and the new StormClan leader had lessened the amount of fighting, there was always a lingering fear of new battles. Today would be no different. Stoneheart was certainly confident in the small patrol -- Brambletail and Mousewing were clearly competent and he knew them to be solid fighters -- but he wasn't eager to risk a skirmish. With Leafbare on the horizons, herbs and prey would quickly diminish. There was no point in wasting resources to heal unnecessary scratches.
After a few more moments of silence and paw steps, the group arrived at the StormClan border. The scent of the other clan was of average potency, so Stoneheart hoped that an opposing patrol wouldn't arrive to remark the area. The large tom looked around and smelled the air for a few quick moments before giving his trademark nod, signaling the two other warriors to begin marking the area as he stood guard.
All was quiet. Everything went smoothly, until they were just about to finish. Stoneheart's gaze suddenly caught a lone StormClan apprentice, emerging from behind a slope and running toward the border. At first he wondered if there was some sort of emergency, but quickly saw the apprentice was running with glee rather than urgency. Mousewing and Brambletail sharply looked up at the young cat, and their fur bristled slightly.
Stoneheart stood stifly. Was the little one a distraction? His ears twitched as he glanced around. No, not that he could tell. Penetrating the silence, he mumbled, "A little cloud is drifting toward us... allow the wind to change its direction, nothing more." Brambletail swiftly whispered back, "Are you certain?" Stoneheart said nothing, his eyes locked on the running cat. The two warriors seemed to understand the riddle he spoke -- or at least respected his authority enough to follow his lead -- and glared intensely at the apprentice, though they did not move. Eventually, the little she-cat noticed the big group of cats. Her eyes widening in horror, she freezed.
Yet again, Stoneheart gave a small nod--this time to the unknown cat. The apprentice seemed to discern the movement, and slowly backed away before running in a different direction. The group did not move until the apprentice was completely out of view. Stone let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. There was no argument. No attack. His decision was the right one to make. If they had threatened her, it would have only made StormClan more agitated when she told them the tale. But, he had been ready to attack if needed. Glancing at his clanmates, Mousewing and Brambletail held looks of relief in their eyes. He couldn't blame them.
Mask still held in place, the large silvery tabby flicked his tail. The trio was ready to head home and Stoneheart mentally prepared his information to share with Bearstar. It seemed like the kinship between Clans was becoming ever so slightly better. The interaction may have scared the StormClan apprentice, but it was also a glimmer of hope. She hadn't run home to start a battle, and the ThornClan patrol lived to go home.
Everything was improving, and he would do anything to make it so.
“Care if I join you?” a small but audible voice sounded behind the patrol of cats. A scrawny brown and white she-cat appeared from the entrance of the camp. Despite the strange appearance, brown sleeves and skinny ribs told them she was none other than their leader. Pearstar had been itching to get out of the camp since sunrise. Whatever her duties were in the camp, she still wished for the feeling of wind on her pelt as she stood on the moorland. Besides, she wanted nothing more than to get away from the dissenting voice of her Clan.
“Of course not,” a gray and white tabby named Yewflower answered levelly. As the patrol took off along the border, Yewflower dropped behind them and gave Pearstar a friendly nudge. “Something up? Not like you to walk around so early.”
“Yea, just feels like I put thistles in every cat’s nest,” Pearstar rolled her eyes. The Clan had been restless, and her Clanmates constantly worried about ThornClan stealing their prey. Pearstar herself was hesitant to believe their accusations. She was unsure whether the Clan was simply hungry and scrapegoating their neighbors. However, she wouldn’t put prey-stealing past the sneaky ThornClan group either. Amid her hesitation to act, the loudest voices in the Clan constantly called for battle. Of course, Pearstar herself would give anything to rip out the throats of their obnoxious enemies, but she knew better than to incite battle on the basis of hearsay. Sunstar had once warned her against the overuse of warfare, and time and time again, she was reminded of it.
“Oh, those belligerent mouse-brains will come around. We’re all grumpy and hungry, don’t put so much thought to it.” Yewflower purred, but Pearstar could not help but notice the ribs showing under Yewflower’s thick pelt. The Clan was hungry.
Almost on cue, startled by their movements, a rabbit bolted out of grass. Pearstar wasted no time bounding after it. It was certainly not the optimal way to hunt, blindly chasing prey after it had already spotted you, but this was a meal the Clan could not afford to miss. And after all, this was what her StormClan build was made for. Her small and lithe body met little resistance from the wind, weaving easily between brambles and gorse bushes. Little by little, she gained on the creature, praying to StarClan that it would not find a hole or burrow to evade her.
But just as she came within pouncing distance, another cat dashed in front of her, snapping the rabbit’s neck cleanly and leaving it hanging from vicious jaws. Pearstar skidded to a stop, her patrol behind her. In an instant, her fur was on end and ears folded back against her head. ThornClan.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Pearstar gave a low growl and without hesitation, leaped at the intruder. To her surprise, the ThornClan cat was bowled over easily. Her claws dragged through his fur and was met with little resistance. The intruder was small and rather inexperienced, buckling and mewling under her claws.
“I-It was our rabbit. It just ran over the border.” A terrified ThornClan apprentice shrieked and struggled in Pearstar’s grip. Clearly, it had been an accident, but Pearstar was not in the mood to let the incident go.
“Nonsense,” Yewflower panted as she caught up to the scene. “We chased it here from deeper in StormClan territory.”
“Our apologies, Pearstar,” another ThornClan warrior, supposedly a mentor, stepped forward to greet her. “We will leave immediately. My apprentice is very young, and not good with scent markers yet.”
“Nor is the rest of your Clan, it seems like.” Pearstar replied coolly and stepped off the poor apprentice, who scurried hastily back to his mentor’s side. “Tell Bearstar and the rest of your crow-food eating Clan to get off our territory and stay off.”
Anger flashed in the ThornClan warrior’s eyes, but Pearfrost saw that he clearly knew better than to attack. Her patrol stood ready, easily outnumbering the ThornClan patrol, and for a moment, she felt proud to have their support. The ThornClan cats turned to leave toward the border.
“Wait,” Pearstar eyed the small apprentice. She snarled. “Where do you think you’re taking that rabbit?”
The ThornClan cats stared her for a second longer. More resentment passed between their gazes, but with a huff, the apprentice dropped the rabbit at Pearstar’s feet and disappeared into the undergrowth.
With that, Pearstar scooped up the dead rabbit and whipped around, heading straight for home. Tension crackled at her every step. She couldn’t help but think about how ironic the timing had been. She had been careless, had not visited the border enough to notice the mixing of ThornClan and StormClan scent markers. Moreover, she had not trusted her Clanmates until she herself had encountered an incident. What a leader she was, Pearstar scolded herself silently.
She dropped the dead rabbit at her feet rather than at the fresh-kill pile as she entered the camp. Dozens of eyes turned to her, all understanding in a flash what the ThornClan-scented rabbit meant. Pearstar lashed her tail, glanced at the rabbit, and forced her voice above the murmurs and chatters, “I have seen it myself now. I should not have doubted my Clanmate’s reports. We attack ThornClan at dawn.”
Yowls of approval sounded form every corner of the camp. Small knots of doubt formed in Pearstar's belly. Her Clan was hungry and cold. It was not the time for an attack, but the spirit and animosity that hard formed about ThornClan felt unavoidable. She could only hope that their anger would give them the strength that their bellies did not. By StarClan, Pearstar raised her eyes to meet the stars overhead. Please don’t let me have made another mistake.
The position you are applying for: ThornClan medicine cat
A roleplay sample demonstrating how your character would act in their role: Silverstorm raced back to the camp with his paws aching from urgency. His peaceful walk had been interrupted by the news of a kitting queen. The apprentice that had brought him the news could barely keep up with him, but there was no time to wait. Silverstorm crashed clumsily into his den and began to pile leaves into his mouth. Fennel... borage... burnet... maybe poppy seeds for pain. By StarClan, he swore under his breath, can the Clan not function for a second without me?
With a mouth full of herbs, he ran toward the nursery. The sweaty air and a mild tang of blood told him the kits were already well on their way. The queen, Lynxfang, lay panting while the other queens struggled to keep their kits from getting too curious.
"Silverstorm is here, just hold on!" the queen's mate called from outside. Silverstorm pressed a paw against Lynxfang's belly. The contractions were normal, but Lynxfang was getting tired. She would need to keep her strength up. While most cats can chew the herb themselves, Silverstorm doubted Lynxfang would be able to. He chewed the burnet leaves quickly and pressed it against her mouth. He had been waiting for this kitting for a long time. It had just occurred at an untimely moment. Lynxfang's belly had been huge later in her pregnancy, and Silverstorm worried if her strength would sustain her.
Every kitting scared Silverstorm just a little, but he did his best to remain calm. Ever since the day he lost Cloudsong, he could not bear to lose another, even if they were not his own mate. He could feel Lynxfang's claws digging into his leg, as if to hold on because of the pain.
After what felt like moons, a small wet bundle slid into the moss. With a quick nip, Silverstorm released the kit and began licking it. The mewl of the first kit seemed to encourage Lynxfang. A sibling followed quickly, and Silverstorm worked busily to lick each one for warmth.
"You have four healthy sons and a daughter," Silverstorm finally sat up after the kitting was over. He laid the kits against the exhausted queen's belly and called in her mate. His leg ached from Lynxfang scratching at it. What a big litter this was, he thought to himself. The nursery will be so busy.
"Five?" The mate's eyes went wide with delight.
"Lynxfang's a fighter," Silverstorm purred. "And so were these kittens."
"They are perfect," the tomcat licked Lynxfang between the ears and settled down next to his family.
"Lynxfang, have some poppy seeds. They'll help you sleep and forget the pain. Not too many though, they're not the greatest for the kits' milk," Silverstorm gave a last word of advice before letting the pair enjoy their kittens first moments in the nursery. He stepped out into the camp to see a crowd of anxious faces. It was already dusk, and the entire Clan had been anxious listening to Lynxfang's yowls.
"Lynxfang did great!" He announced with what tired enthusiasm he could muster. "And we have five new healthy Clanmates."
The Clan exploded in yowls of congratulations and excitement. Silverstorm looked at their overjoyed faces as the stars began to shine overhead. He felt a strange pride and joy after being able to guide cats through their sick or vulnerable moments. And if StarClan doubts I can be a great medicine cat, he looked up defiantly at the stars, then they just don't know how wrong they are.
kelpfin was early. too early. her labored breathing filled the eerily silent medicine cat's den. "what's wrong?" she cried out, wide eyes at littlesnail. the she-cat looked back at the queen, shoving down the pity and worry she felt in the moment, in exchange for an emotionless expression. she was having contractions, but was more than a half-moon early.
"i need you to listen carefully," she meowed, getting eye-level with the queen. she blinked, looking for the right words. but in this situation, she feared nothing she could say would make this any better. use your eyes. loonroot's gentle voice coaxed her from her anxiety. they are your greatest weapon. tranquil pools of green. a reminder of the calm that'll be waiting for them once it's over.
sucking in a deep breath, the copper-scented blood filled her senses. "the kits are coming early, littesnail continued, seeing the panic enter kelpfin's eyes. "can you save th---" she queen began, but was cut off by a contraction, and yowled in pain. "we need to worry about you first," littlesnail kept her composure. the queen cried out, knowing very well what that meant. her kits were lost, and she was next.
"i'm going to need you to chew these leaves," she said, then quickly crossed the den to get the raspberry leaves. "then i'm going to--- the medicine cat continued, but was cut off from a voice at the entrance of her den.
"i need to be with her!" jackalclaw growled, shoving his way through her brothers that she had placed there to keep others out of her den. littlesnail's lips parted. she knew she needed to keep him out of the den, incase kelpfin's bleeding wouldn't stop, but something stopped her.
littlesnail's brothers stood in the entryway, awaiting her order. the she-cat flicked her tail, dismissing them. if kelpfin was losing her kits, she shouldn't be alone with a semi-unfamiliar cat.
"eat these now, and we'll need to start pushing," she ordered, pushing the leaves towards the queen's muzzle. as she padded towards the back of her den, she glanced back to see jackalclaw squeeze himself as close as possible to his mate, licking her forehead as she chewed the leaves.
"you will need this," littlesnail's voice was muffled around the bark that she carried. dropping it at the queen's paws, she offered her a smile. "now for the hard part."
Infection was all too common. The only way to keep wounds clean is to keep said injured cat confined to camp- and of course the mousebrain'd apprentice in question couldn't stay put to save their life. Puddlepaw had somehow convinced their mentor to let them train as normal just a day after injury, and a couple days later, the cut had become a nasty infection.
Starclan, can't they just listen once. Fleahop thought grumpily, examining the apprentice's wound- it'd just been a scrape on the lower leg, would healed up nice and quick- had Puddlepaw not gone and blatantly ignored their order to stay in camp until the wound had mostly healed. Now it was an inflamed, swollen thing. The apprentice in question avoided their gaze the entire time, staring intently at a corner of the den. Fleahop let out a deep sigh, not in the mood to reprimand Puddlepaw for something they clearly already realized was a mistake.
"Hold still." They mumbled around a wad of moss- they had to clean up the wound before they did anything else, lest the infection just return. Methodically, they cleaned the cut the best they could with the clean ball of moss. Puddlepaw winced, squirming slightly, drawing a sympathetic grimace from the medicine cat. Apprentices often learn things the hard way- and oh what a hard lesson this is to learn.
"This next part might sting a little, but it'll help in the long run." They said, preparing a poultice of Horsetail, stinging nettle, and dock leaves- something to fight off the infection and soothe the inflammation. The apprentice nodded in response, though Fleahop could see by the way they tensed up slightly they weren't exactly looking forward to it.
Puddlepaw let out a little squeak as Fleahop began to spread the herb-paste over the wound- evidently not as prepared for the sting as they thought they'd been. Fleahop continued to apply the herb mixture until satisfied with the coverage. Then they covered it all with a thick layer of cobwebs, secured with burrs. "So it won't rub off, this time." They told the apprentice as they worked, who just nodded somewhat awkwardly.
"You're staying in the medicine cat's den tonight." Fleahop meowed, and when Puddlepaw opened their mouth to argue, they just cut them off. "Might be even longer if you argue. Clearly, you need supervision- if you'd just listened to my advice in the first place, this wouldn't have happened." The apprentice nodded with a quietly murmured okay, resolutely settling back down into the nest while Fleahop began to clean up.
"Well?" Midnightstar demanded as he crouched above the Stoneglade, the furs on his black slowly standing up as he bristled at the FloodClan leader. The moon against his back, Midnightstar's black fur appeared nearly silver, each hair outlined against the pale light.
"A moon ago, one of our naive apprentices accidentally strayed over the border and was reprimanded. Perhaps that was the cause of FloodClan scent on your territory," the FloodClan leader replied levelly. "This instance, you witnessed yourself. But I assure you, no other trespassing has occurred since."
Midnightstar's yellow eyes narrowed into slits, and he gave a low growl. He took a step toward the FloodClan leader. "You will take this as a warning. If I smell even a whiff of FloodClan's dirt on our territory, you will have trouble. Until the day you FloodClan fish-eaters learn a little respect, we will be adding patrols to the FloodClan border!"
Anger and a hint of fear could be seen in the FloodClan leader's eyes, so Midnightstar did not back down. The two gave each other a hard stare. Finally, another Clan leader cleared his throat and stepped forward to speak, ending the crackling tension between the two cats.
Midnightstar shook himself out of his rage and gazed at his Clan, gathered at the Stoneglade. He let his eyes wander a little as the other Clan leaders spoke, drifting over to the young cat, Falconpaw, sitting with blazing eyes among the FloodClan crowd. A pang of regret made him clench his jaws. How was his life going, in the floodplains across the marsh? Midnightstar would never know, and the young cat would never know his father.
A shadow of hesitation crossed his mind. Would Midnightstar really attack FloodClan, come to it? He did not want to, but for so long, he had held the other Clans at bay with his aggression. How could he change such a notion now?
"You going to sit up there all day daydreaming?" a voice called him back to his senses. He blinked. His deputy had called out to him. The other leaders were beginning to lead their Clans back home. The Gathering was over. Midnightstar fluffed up his pelt and bounded down to do the same. His tall black figure stood out like a flag, garnering hisses and snarls from the FloodClan cats he passed by. Holding his cool, he made it to the ranks of his own Clan, feeling a strange sense of relief to be among them.
"Are we really going to attack FloodClan if they cross the border again?" his deputy asked, eyes shadowed with question at Midnightstar's seemingly re-emerging aggression. Midnightstar swallowed, but he would not let his Clan know he was hesitating.
"No," he grunted with one last glance at Falconpaw leaving the Stoneglade with the rest of FloodClan. Then he met his deputy's eyes levelly and raised his voice so that the rest of MudClan could hear. "They know their place. And you heard their leader, it was just a stupid apprentice."
With that, he headed back toward his home with a quickening pace. No matter how brief the Gatherings might seem in the grand scheme of things, even such a brief trip made him miss the humidity and wetness of the bog. He hated feeling so crusty and naked out in the open area of the Stoneglade. Waving his tail, he plunged back into the misty woods of MudClan territory.
