Far From Home | A Clan Creation Guide

Name & Territory

Creating a Clan name is probably the first thing most people do when creating a Clan. After all, the name is what defines the cats within the Clan and makes them the family they are.

What I would like to propose is an inverted view of name and territory. Creating the name first leaves limited options for what the Clan's territory might look like and might not always reflect it. Let me try to illustrate this with both canon and non-canon examples:

ThunderClan lives near the thunderpath. WindClan lives on the moors, where the wind is constantly blowing. RiverClan lives by the river. ShadowClan lives in a shadowed pine forest.

See what I mean? The name of the Clan often references its territory. While it could also reference the names of the founders, linking the name to the territory makes more sense, as it provides a sense of ownership for the Clan and gives the other Clans a clear message: stay away.

Now, for some non-canon Clans:
RockClan lives in a red rock canyon. MoorClan lives on the moor. SeaClan lives by the sea.
FireClan lives in a forest. IceClan lives near the river. AirClan lives on the plains. EarthClan lives in a swampy area.

While all the Clan names provide framework, the first three directly reference their territory, giving readers a good idea of the Clan's territory before they even start reading. The Clans named after elements, while providing a nice theme, could have their territories easily confused by readers and writers alike. This can be remedied by adding specific characteristics to each one, which will be discussed in a later chapter.

In the case where Clans are named after their founders or these specific characteristics, names like FireClan or SparrowClan could work, but only if other aspects of the Clan are meticulously planned out to ensure they don't get confused with similar Clans (like EarthClan or RavenClan).

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Now, onto territory:
A territory defines much of what the Clan is like. Their home can influence their physical appearances, skills, and hunting and training techniques. The nice thing about Warriors is that you can place your Clan virtually anywhere you'd like.

The obvious examples are forest, moors, riverland and marsh, as they are used in the canon books. But, have you ever thought of situating a Clan in the jungle? In the desert? In the badlands?

There are so many different places a Clan can take up residence, with varying degrees of difficulty and adaptation, but enough to survive in their climate. The only setback with more exotic locations is combining them in a believable way if there are multiple Clans in the area. For example, you wouldn't have a Clan living in the tundra next to one in a tropical forest - geography doesn't work that way.

What I would suggest when creating your Clan territory is looking up real, geographical locations, and finding out what sorts of climates work together. You could, for example, have a Clan living in a tropical forest combined with one that lives near the sea, as South America provides plenty of places where that might work. If your Clans reside in a fictional location, the territories should still work together - like a forest, a marsh, hills and mountains, for example.

Once you have a general idea of the territory and have not yet picked out a name, it's time to find one!

ForestClan, MarshClan, HillClan and MountainClan might sound a little bland to some people - which is perfectly alright! It is your Clan, after all, so why not try brainstorming some different ones? Maybe the forest is made up of primarily of oaks or birches - OakClan and BirchClan are both great names for a Clan. Mountains often have many cliffs in them, so CliffClan might work just as well.

If all else fails, naming the Clans after the obvious features of their territory might be simple, but is quite effective.

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Some examples of territories:
- forest : deciduous, coniferous, or mixed
- moors/plains : long grasses, short grasses, lots of wind
- riverland : rather marshy terrain with rivers making up much of the territory
- marsh : similar to riverland, but without the criss-crossing rivers
- scrubland : a mixture of shrubs, short grasses and sand (think Australia)
- gorge/canyon : usually all stone, that some smaller plants grow there
- badlands : rock built up by layers over the ages; hoodoos
- desert : lots of sand; best if the Clan lives near an oasis
- mountains : tall rock formations and lots of cliffs and caves
- valley : most likely found amidst hills or mountains; lots of greenery
- ocean/island : probably has some sort of land bridge connecting it to the main land
- near a lake/sea : could be sea-side cliffs or a beach or similar to the riverlands
- jungle : tropical climate, lots of dangerous predators
- savanna : hot climate; best if the Clan lives near an oasis
- tundra : barren landscape, little to no plants

Whatever territory you end up choosing, remember that it must have three basic things: water, prey and shelter. Since cats can drink both freshwater and saltwater (their kidneys process the salt out), living near the sea or ocean is entirely possible. Prey is a must for obvious reasons, though different locations will provide different options for the Clan's freshkill pile. Shelter, meaning a place where the Clan can set up their camp, will be discussed more thoroughly in the next chapter.

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Once you've picked your territory - and only once you've picked your territory - it's time to find some landmarks for your cats to refer to - think Sandy Hollow or Sunningrocks - and figure out what their camp looks like.

The next chapter provides a starting point for creating these.