VI. THE FOREST

[starclan]

Quick Overview

The forest is a rich territory nestled amoung the mountains. Along one side of it runs a deep, blue-tinted lake. The land closest to the clan's side of the lake is steep, but laden with fallen trees and foliage.

As the land begins to level out a bit more, the trees space out a bit more, finally stopping. There reaches a series of wide fields of wheat, each surrounded by trees once more.

Touching both the grass territory and the steep lake-territory is a third expanse. Here the trees grow thick and close, and pine needles litter the forest floor. Fallen trees make excellent hiding places. Here, abandoned twoleg roads go in circles for what was formerly a campsite. The pavement is cracked badly and weeds sprout from beneath it.

The rest of the territory around and in the forest is most similar to this last territory, with patches of more space-out trees and gently rolling hills.

Green = forest; Dark green = deep forest; Gold = Wheat fields; Gray = Abandoned Twoleg build/road; Purple = Camps; Red = Borders; White = Shared lands/paths

The Druids

All of their land is forested, with only a think strip of a deeply-wooded area. A single stream runs through the middle of their territory, their only water access. It's a thick, well-watered stream, and supplies them all well.

Near the center of their territory is a long-abandoned Twoleg den. The area around it is cleared of most undergrowth. Some of the Druids find it an excellent place to make their dens, while others of their number dislike how open it feels. The place is called "Horseplace" because many, many generations ago, Twolegs used to come there with smelly giant-cats called horses. While no scent of the Twolegs still remains, their den does, as well as various stone blocks that are long-covered in moss.

CherryClan

Several wide fields of wheat cover a good amount of CherryClan's territory. The rest is well-forested, but not nearly so deeply as RavineClan's territory. They have two sources of water: one a small stream that runs through the middle of their territory, and the other a larger stream that works as a border between CherryClan, RavineClan and the Druids.

Their camp is beneath the branches of a small bush-tree copse out in the middle of one of the wheat fields. The nursery and leader's den were once foxholes, but have been abandoned for a long time. All of the other dens have been made by weaving twigs between the branches of the copse to make make-shift walls. Even during winter when the leaves are gone from the copse, little light makes it down into the camp.

TealClan

Half of this clan's territory is taken up by a steep hill where the land slants down to the lake's surface. They have a good-sized triangle of land above the hill and a strip of flat land down along the lake's shore. The shore itself is rather rocky, most places covered in boulders and smaller rocks. Floating logs often get stuck together and form closed-in areas where the queens can go to teach the kits to swim.

TealClan's camp is about half-way up the steep hill. The ground in the camp is flatter, but not without a slight downward slant. The walls of the camp are made up of three huge boulders, each nearly fifteen foxlengths tall. The bottom of each boulder has been dug out a little so that nests can be made under a small lip whee the rock works as a ceiling. The nursery and leader's den are the only dens that are actually dug out of the ground. The medicine cat's nest is made under the biggest lip, where there is an alcove for herb-storing.

RavineClan

This particular territory is almost entirely made up of a very-thick forest. To an untrained cat, it can seem impenetrable. RavineClanners are taught to move easily and silently through the thick trees. A single stream runs through the center of their territory and meets up with the large stream that is their border with CherryClan.

Their camp is made in a dry stream bed. Soft rocks line the ground in it. Most of the dens are drug into the ground or made under a bramble bush. The elder's den is behind a fallen log and the medicine den is dug-out den halfway up the stream bed's wall.

The Great-tree

Out on the edge of TealClan's territory is a very large tree. It's trunk is short, but it's branches tall and long. The clan leaders sit on a flat spot where all of the largest branches meet. The rest of the clans climb up into the wide branches and find a good spot. The branches are never far off the ground, so only on the rarest occasion does a fall actually hurt a cat.

The Far Shore

Past the edge of TealClan's territory is a thin and winding path. It leads up a hill and around the edge of the lake. Follow it far enough and you will come to a series of rocky cliffs. At the top is a flat clearing where a cat can see out over the tops of the trees and, just barely, the lake in the distance. It is here cats go to speak to StarClan. The journey to it takes a full day and a half for all clans besides TealClan, for whom it only takes a day.