Post by Silentstar on Jan 5, 2011 22:15:55 GMT -7
1. Defend your Clan, even with your life. You may have friendships with cats from other Clans, but your loyalty must remain to your Clan.
2. Do not hunt or trespass on another Clan's territory.
3. Elders, Queens, and kits must be fed before apprentices and warriors. Unless they have permission, apprentices may not eat until they have hunted to feed the elders.
Clarification: Cats who are on border patrol may eat anything they happen to catch, but those who are on a hunting patrol must bring everything they catch back to be distributed to the Clan before they can eat any of it.
4. Prey is killed only to be eaten. Give thanks to StarClan for its life.
Note: Clan cats give thanks with a quick, often mental, thank you to StarClan whenever they make a catch.
5. A kit must be at least six moons old to become an apprentice.
Note: Some kits have to wait just a bit longer if the leader or their mother doesn't feel they're ready.
6. Newly appointed warriors will keep a silent vigil for one night after receiving their warrior name.
7. A cat cannot be made deputy without having mentored at least one apprentice.
8. The deputy will become Clan leader when the leader dies or retires.
Note: It seems to be extremely rare for a leader to retire - usually they remain leader until they die even if they reach a very old age.
9. After the death or retirement of the deputy, the new deputy must be chosen before moonhigh.
10. A Gathering of all Clans is held at the full moon during a truce that lasts for the night. There shall be no fighting among Clans at this time.
Note: If the night of a full moon is overcast and the moon can't be seen, the Clans interpret this to mean that StarClan doesn't want them to meet. StarClan is known to indicate its displeasure with the proceedings at a Gathering by causing clouds to cover the moon, even if the sky was clear before. This effectively ends the meeting.
11. Boundaries must be checked and marked daily. Challenge all trespassing cats.
12. No warrior can neglect a kit in pain or danger, even if the kit is from a different Clan.
13. The word of the Clan leader is law.
14. An honorable warrior does not need to kill other cats to win his battles, unless they are outside the warrior code or it is necessary for self-defense.
Note: It's considered perfectly honorable for a warrior to give up and flee if a fight is useless or if they're severely injured, though a cat who does so too easily is considered a coward.
15. A warrior rejects the soft life of a kittypet.
Additional Rules and notes:
All of the above rules seem to be made to be broken, as in literally all of them have been broken at some point in the books, some of them very frequently. A cat who is caught breaking the warrior code is generally punished by their leader, usually by giving them apprentice duties. In more extreme cases the leader may banish the cat. Depending on the situation, StarClan may punish a cat, a Clan, or all the Clans in various ways. They do tend to be more indulgent of cats who break the code because they're following their heart or doing what they think is best for their Clan, especially if they're torn up about it on the inside. It's the Clan cats who brazenly ignore the warrior code that get really punished: instead of joining them in StarClan when they die or being allowed to wander in other skies, they are confined to the Place of No Stars.
2. Do not hunt or trespass on another Clan's territory.
3. Elders, Queens, and kits must be fed before apprentices and warriors. Unless they have permission, apprentices may not eat until they have hunted to feed the elders.
Clarification: Cats who are on border patrol may eat anything they happen to catch, but those who are on a hunting patrol must bring everything they catch back to be distributed to the Clan before they can eat any of it.
4. Prey is killed only to be eaten. Give thanks to StarClan for its life.
Note: Clan cats give thanks with a quick, often mental, thank you to StarClan whenever they make a catch.
5. A kit must be at least six moons old to become an apprentice.
Note: Some kits have to wait just a bit longer if the leader or their mother doesn't feel they're ready.
6. Newly appointed warriors will keep a silent vigil for one night after receiving their warrior name.
7. A cat cannot be made deputy without having mentored at least one apprentice.
8. The deputy will become Clan leader when the leader dies or retires.
Note: It seems to be extremely rare for a leader to retire - usually they remain leader until they die even if they reach a very old age.
9. After the death or retirement of the deputy, the new deputy must be chosen before moonhigh.
10. A Gathering of all Clans is held at the full moon during a truce that lasts for the night. There shall be no fighting among Clans at this time.
Note: If the night of a full moon is overcast and the moon can't be seen, the Clans interpret this to mean that StarClan doesn't want them to meet. StarClan is known to indicate its displeasure with the proceedings at a Gathering by causing clouds to cover the moon, even if the sky was clear before. This effectively ends the meeting.
11. Boundaries must be checked and marked daily. Challenge all trespassing cats.
12. No warrior can neglect a kit in pain or danger, even if the kit is from a different Clan.
13. The word of the Clan leader is law.
14. An honorable warrior does not need to kill other cats to win his battles, unless they are outside the warrior code or it is necessary for self-defense.
Note: It's considered perfectly honorable for a warrior to give up and flee if a fight is useless or if they're severely injured, though a cat who does so too easily is considered a coward.
15. A warrior rejects the soft life of a kittypet.
Additional Rules and notes:
- Medicine cats are forbidden from having a mate and kits.
- It's generally recognized that a female deputy is too busy to do both that job and care for kits. Therefore, queens do not become deputies and deputies that become pregnant resign.
- While female leaders don't normally have kits so they can concentrate on their duties, there's no rule against it.
All of the above rules seem to be made to be broken, as in literally all of them have been broken at some point in the books, some of them very frequently. A cat who is caught breaking the warrior code is generally punished by their leader, usually by giving them apprentice duties. In more extreme cases the leader may banish the cat. Depending on the situation, StarClan may punish a cat, a Clan, or all the Clans in various ways. They do tend to be more indulgent of cats who break the code because they're following their heart or doing what they think is best for their Clan, especially if they're torn up about it on the inside. It's the Clan cats who brazenly ignore the warrior code that get really punished: instead of joining them in StarClan when they die or being allowed to wander in other skies, they are confined to the Place of No Stars.