It Almost Got Me On Deviantart, Got Suspicious When They Started Asking For Personal Info And Blocked.

Hell yeah

Warrior Bites: Clan Tools

[Image ID: Reedwhisker, a black RiverClan warrior cat, sits behind two terracotta pots, some strips of willowbark, a traditional wooden pot called a firkin, and a rock. He has a stick in his mouth.]

Warriors of the Clans are shown in-canon to be able to weave, dig tunnels, decorate with shells, and do whatever it is that BloodClan’s got going on with those collars and manicures. Have you considered what other tools a semi-realistic warrior could handle?

A guide to the various tools and methods that the Clans can use to prepare complex dishes, including the equipment needed for smoking, baking, pickling, and so on. Part of the Warrior Bites series for Bonefall’s Clan Culture.

(The art in this guide was once again provided by my partner who hasn’t read a single page of warrior cats in their life but so help me god I’ll drag them down with me)

Tools + Equipment

Fire Starting

Containers: Twine + Baskets + Buckets

Cookware: Smokers, Ovens, “Grillstones“

1. Fire Starting

Flint can be used to start a fire, especially for Clans that lack lumber. Because flint is most easily found around the Mothermouth, it’s associated with StarClan’s glow and considered somewhat divine.

But for those situations without a flint starter, the Clans generally teach their apprentices the paw-drill method using a spindle. But these days, SkyClan uses stolen Glass to start fires quicker and easier than any other Clan…

Except on cloudy days, where some unfortunate apprentice still gets saddled with spindle duty.

[Image ID: Reedclaw, a brown tabby Warrior Cat from SkyClan, sits on his haunches and spins a long stick called a ‘spindle’ with his front paws. Smoke is rising from the board the spindle is spinning against.]

2. Containers: Twine + Baskets + Buckets

RiverClan has the easiest access to twine; Willowbark can be peeled right off the tree and used without any processing for simple string to tie things with. WindClan uses woven grass as twine. ShadowClan, SkyClan, and ThunderClan are able to make cordage from Blackberry brambles.

Once the cat has twine, it can be woven into a simple basket to gather things, like berries, clams, or insects. In order to carry liquids, forested Clans can create firkins– a small wooden bucket that requires some carpentry ability, namely creating wooden nails.

But these tremble before the value of pottery, which is needed to store liquids, ferment and pickle food, and create stew.

Pottery is made from clay, which has to be baked in order to go from wet mud to terracotta. RiverClan is responsible for making the majority of new pottery because of the river, and ShadowClan’s marsh gives them lots of access to low-quality clay.

WindClan was once unmatched in the quality of their pottery thanks to tunneling leading them to the finest clay deposits known to the Clans. Though SkyClan is now rivaling the finest ancient WindClan pottery, due to their willingness to steal buckets from twolegs.

(Leafstar says, “if you cant make a firkin, store-bought is fine”)

[Image ID: Leafstar, the brown tabby-and-cream Warrior cat leader of SkyClan, sits behind a counter in front of an audience presenting a man-made firkin, parodying shopping channels. A speech bubble says, “Meow meow meow meow meow, storebought is meow.”]

3. Cookware: Smokers, Ovens, “Grillstones“

A smoker is very easy to construct, all that’s needed is some straight branches, twine, and fire.

First, a round pit is dug into the ground and filled with soaked woodchips. It is important they’re damp, because wet wood gives off more smoke than dry. Then, three beams are set and tied at the top, like a triangle. From there, a shelf is made inside of the beams. Multiple shelves can be made if a lot of food is being smoked at once.

ThunderClan wraps the smoker in a leather pelt, to keep the smoke in. Their prowess with smoking and seasoning a wide range of meats gives them the title of BBQ champions.

[Image ID: A primitive smoker setup, made of three sticks leaned against each other in a triangular shape and tied at the top. Two shelves are tied into the structure, the top row with minnows and the bottom with hanging strips of meat.]

An oven is a large construction. Capable of cooking several meals at once, each clan would have just one to use communally. Because the communal oven is such a big project, each Clan would have one that looks unique to their environment.

ThunderClan’s, for example, is flat and made of stone, simple in design but very sturdy and capable of cooking a lot of meat at once.

[Image ID: A stone oven made of flat, piled rocks. A fire is lit at the bottom and meat is browning on the top shelf. A stick leans against the side.]

For the quickest and easiest way to make a hot meal, meat is roasted on a spit or loose stick over an open fire. The best sear comes from a large, flat slab of rock propped up over a flame, known to the clans as a grillstone.

[Image ID: Firestar, ginger tabby warrior cat leader of ThunderClan, watches bacon sizzle on a large, flat rock placed over a fire. His daughter, Squirrelkit, sits beside him. A thought bubble above her head contains a waffle, and a question mark.]

(Clan blood be damned that kittypet can work a grill)

DUUUDDEEE your art is insane!! I ADORE the scales you draw and render, and how you make so much of your illustrations look like real work staff from WoF would make! Do you have any tips for scales? Rendering? Drawing them :0?

thank you so much!! for scales, i'd recommend avoiding circle shapes and instead go for a more angular hexagonal shape! it reduces weird gaps in between the scales and makes the texture look a lot more tight-knit and interconnected

as for rendering, i think my best tip would be to start with shadows first. make a shadow layer, fill it in entirely with the base color for the shadows, and carve out the light source by erasing parts of the shadow layer. I've been trying out a new method of rendering which takes a lot less time but gives the same if not better results (using a color layer on multiply above a greyscale render layer with a color overlay to add color to the shadows! i'll go more in depth with this once i have a finished example piece to break down)

and i usually render scales by filling in each individual scale above the lineart to create an alpha mask and i use a clipping group using the mask

scale mask (normal layer mode, 100% opacity)

set to "color dodge" at 40% opacity, additional "shadow" layer (black color layer set to "erase" above the layers in the clipping group) used to create depth!

TBOFS CONTEST TOP THREE WINNERS

this was tough, to say the least. SO MANY beautiful designs (which I’ll be compiling as the voting goes on) and so many tough decisions between them. I chose the three that I could see best with the prompt, but everyone did so so well. Thank you for your submissions.

TOP THREE WINNERS (voting is below them)

@sidyashchiy-na-plakhe

Allseer! I’m in love with the shapes used, and the colors and patterns are wonderful. Overall totally hit the mark with “recognizable but not overloaded”! He looks like he’d fit right in with the gang.

Tumblr

Dumb Dragon Guys

I didn't want to participate in this contest at first, but I made a sketch in the hour I was riding the bus, so here you go. I tried to draw

@longbird47

Naysayer! I loved this one because I didn’t expect a Karen type, but I’m not complaining! Was pleasantly surprised. Very unique wings, and her face is perfect for her personality idea.

Tumblr

Dumb Dragon Guys

Made you a NightWing I call her Naysayer, though that might be too silly, idk. Perhaps that name was given to her in the hopes that she wou

@cowgomoo1123

Brightfuture! I found myself being really drawn to this design. The pink belly is super cute, and I adore the wing patterns. I was really stuck between Brightfuture and a few others, but kept coming back to him.

Tumblr

Dumb Dragon Guys

alright i made you a nightwing!!!!!!!!!! i hope you like him!! :3 i dont really have anything to say abt them that i didnt say in the 2nd

VOTING

Go ahead and pick who you think should win! Each winner will receive a doodle of a character of their choosing, and the top design will be the official character for the story. I want to say I hope there’s no hard feelings, or disappointment to people who weren’t chosen. I love EVERY design submitted, and I encourage you to use the character if you wish :] whether it be making them your own, selling them, etc.

Small fantasy worldbuilding elements you might want to think about:

A currency that isn’t gold-standard/having gold be as valuable as tin

A currency that runs entirely on a perishable resource, like cocoa beans

A clock that isn’t 24-hours

More or less than four seasons/seasons other than the ones we know

Fantastical weather patterns like irregular cloud formations, iridescent rain

Multiple moons/no moon

Planetary rings

A northern lights effect, but near the equator

Roads that aren’t brown or grey/black, like San Juan’s blue bricks

Jewelry beyond precious gems and metals

Marriage signifiers other than wedding bands

The husband taking the wife's name / newlyweds inventing a new surname upon marriage

No concept of virginity or bastardry

More than 2 genders/no concept of gender

Monotheism, but not creationism

Gods that don’t look like people

Domesticated pets that aren’t re-skinned dogs and cats

Some normalized supernatural element that has nothing to do with the plot

Magical communication that isn’t Fantasy Zoom

“Books” that aren’t bound or scrolls

A nonverbal means of communicating, like sign language

A race of people who are obligate carnivores/ vegetarians/ vegans/ pescatarians (not religious, biological imperative)

I’ve done about half of these myself in one WIP or another and a little detail here or there goes a long way in reminding the audience that this isn’t Kansas anymore.

Even anteaters have fun...

These guys! I'm glad to see them again

Random wings of fire surge but did you guys know I had fantribes along with their own continent and society and all that jazz.. highly doubt I'll bring back the entire thing but I still like their designs...

Another food for thought. What if Firestar joined WindClan instead of ThunderClan? Tallstar was close with Jake and would probably see him in Firepaw. They already had an interesting dynamic but it could be explored more. Maybe a father/son or mentor/apprentice relationship. Replace Graystripe with Onewhisker, who Fireheart already knew anyways. And the main antagonist would become Brokenstar instead of Tigerstar. Yellowfang could go to WindClan instead, as it also borders ShadowClan. More conflict would happen about taking her in because ShadowClan drove them out, but she's just a medicine cat so they might let her in. WindClan wouldn't depend on ThunderClan anymore. They'd be the hero clan. Now ThunderClan would need rescuing from Tigerstar or a senile Bluestar. And it would avoid the whole Onestar going crazy to prove his clan's independence from ThunderClan thing. Firestar could still choose Onewhisker as his deputy after Tallstar makes him leader. Firestar could've started off as a barn cat instead of a kittypet for this, he could even know Barley. And the fire alone prophecy could be made by Barkface instead of Spottedleaf. So I'd say that Firestar could've worked as a WindClan cat just as well as a ThunderClan one. And WindClan is just cooler in my opinion. If there's an AU like that out there already that is awesome.

Neutral good with a sprinkle of chaotic evil, as a treat

Reblog and put in the tags which one you see

Where do you store your OC’s info chart made by this person

Tag yourself, I'm rough skinned newt

Just found out there's a group on inaturalist dedicated to showcasing the silliest observations