Ancestors discussion

[jacob w.c.]

Yup! So this is going to be a discussion about Snowbound's religion, which is going to revolve around ancestors that used to live on the same land they have and held many of the same practices. These ancestors will be introducing Snowbound's traditions, such as how they'll do their titles and different festivals they hold, as well as how and when and where they move when Snowbound starts taking on more nomadic practices. That being said, feel free to put forth any ideas that you have for these ancestors!

Personally, an idea I had was to have a sort of mix of ancestors, with darker and lighter ancestors because Snowbound is a passive (or neutral) clan. So I was thinking one ancestor might be more revenge oriented/more violent, another might be violent but for the sake of justice, another one might embody grace and forgiveness, and so on.

[jacob w.c.]

okay so i decided to type up a quick lil thing that could possibly be used for different ancestors?? so i took the animals that we might use as charms for titles and then gave them different traits and names that better describe why they have that particular form/why that form is associated with the particular title. keep in mind we can use other things as well but i just wanted to spitball some ideas while i had them fresh in my brain haha

animal: name - traits - title description

Duckling: Ond - Ond represents potential and change and is therefore the ancestor most likely to push for new territories and to push Snowbound to explore new areas in their nomadic lifestyle. While this ancestor is generally peaceful, he may push for Snowbound to go to war if it means discovering new areas and making their home in a new place - This would be given to new members who show promise. A duckling is given to them because, like ducklings, they are new to the clan and have much potential but it's not clear how they'll grow.

Bear: Medve - Medve represents the completely war-like side of Snowbound. She seeks harsh environments to better protect the clan and is most concerned with training and battling. She can be somewhat impulsive and relies mostly on strength rather than complex strategy. - The bear is given to members who have shown great bravery and prowess in battle.

Rabbit: Kanina - Kanina is a warm, bubbly ancestor that often appears in the form of a child. While unknown, it's suspected she's a child of an ancient chief. Kanina appears most frequently but often has nothing particularly important to say. While she can sometimes offer insight into new ways to draw members in, she's extremely flighty and may not fully explain an idea, leaving it up to Snowbound to determine what her 'perfect' ideas were. Getting a full idea from the ancestor is considered a sort of blessing, as it means she found that individual interesting enough to hold a full conversation with them. - Given to members who are exceptionally outgoing and go out of their way to make others feel welcome.

Raven: Hollo - Hollo is the second war-like ancestor, although he relies heavily on strategy and thoughtfulness. He also advocates for thinking through a conflict before engaging and offers insightful advice on what situations and threats should be acted upon. However, sometimes he can be too slow to act and unintentionally put Snowbound in danger - Given to members who have proven to be skilled strategists. Whether it comes to battles, gathering information, or infiltrating an enemy camp, these are the ones who devise the plans.

Bee: Pipi - While most would expect Pipi to be one of the ultimately 'good', this is not at all the case. While Pipi is the ancestor of healing, that isn't all her title involves. She's also the ancestor of poisons and plants in general. Her doble sided nature has lead to her being one of the more deceptive ancestors, often causing disputes between the others over simply misunderstanding. When visiting, she often gives advice that has a large chance of both hurting and helping Snowbound, sometimes at the same time. - Given to members who have shown skills in healing, whether or not they have a rank for it.

Dolphin: Lumba - This ancestor usually pushes for positive relationships both within the clan and between foreign groups. Lumba wants Snowbound to be on good terms with everyone at all times and often can give insight into what may be unintentionally upsetting another group or a sect within Snowbound itself. However, because of his openness to new relationships, this leads Lumba to give advice that could leave Snowbound vulnerable should someone decide to take advantage of them. -  Given to members who frequently present new ideas and help with various events in the clan.

Tortoise: Teknos - Teknos is best described as a grumpy old man. He's constantly pushing for change but seems upset when it happens. While it isn't intentional, his wishy-washy nature can often lead to conflict in Snowbound due to wavering advice and his general disagreement with the other ancestors - Given to members who have been actively involved in Snowbound for six months.

Dragon: Draki - Draki is a wise old woman who seems to remember every detail of Snowbound's history. She has an intimate understanding of the inner workings of the clan and how it's evolved over time. She's often seen as a good ancestor for chief's to go to when making important clan decisions, such as major alliance changes or filling important ranks, such as the snowseeker. They may even travel to what's rumored as her resting place should a matter trouble them enough. However, they'll have to get through many metaphors and layers of meanings before her words can be truly understood - Given to member who have been actively involved in Snowbound for one year.

Lion: Agu - Agu is the most balanced of all the ancestors and is considered the leader among them. Agu is the least likely to contact anyone, even the frosthealer or chief. She's mostly concerned with the balance between all the other ancestors and therefore only comes to Snowbound during great times of chaos when the future seems completely uncertain or in times of complete peace, to wish them a job well done. - Given to members who have gotten all the other charms.

[Ivylee]

okay... i really freaking love all these ideas.

there's honestly not even much i would change?
maybe we could add an additional ancestor + title though that has to do with creativity... maybe have a chameleon or something along those lines be the animal for it. and as for earning the title, it could be given to those who often think outside the box or show interest in art?

that's really the only idea i have to add. everything sounds so cool !!

[jacob w.c.]

ooo i like that!! we could also possibly combine creativity with the rabbit or the dolphin? because idk if it'd get confusing with too many? but i'm also up for adding one!

[Ivylee]

ah, i'd be good with any of those options!
whatever everyone thinks is best is good with me c:

[Leigh]

Loving these ideas so far!! I do agree that we should limit the ancestor count since having too many to keep track of would not be fun. I also was thinking that since they could be actual ancestors, that a few could be linked almost biologically to a different member or something? Unless that would also be too confusing. I figured since we were calling them that and not necessarily Gods.

[jacob w.c.]

I think that’d be interesting because it could cause issues in the future (such as someone claiming a right to be chief or something) but I also think we’d have to limit those kinds of characters so they aren’t just being randomly created on a constant basis (maybe having an adoption/application and allowing one biological descendent at the time?). If they have families and whatnot that’d obviously fine and they could grow and everything but as far as initial creation I think we should limit it a little.

[Ivylee]

oooh i love that idea :0

I personally think we should make it like a lineage thing? make up last names for the ancestors and their descendants? maybe to keep it at a limit there’d only be one family line per ancestor? (i’m probably not explaining this right so i’ll just give an example. so, just for the sake of the example let’s say that leigh is a descendant of medve. only the characters related to leigh would be descendants of medve, and people can’t just say that their character is a descendant of medve unless they’re born/adopted into that family line).

if a descendant of an ancestor were to go inactive/killed off without having anyone related to them then we could just choose a new character to become that descendant in their place or hold adoptions for it or something? sorry if this is a super long and confusing explanation lol

[jacob w.c.]

No, I think that makes sense! Yeah, that’s kind of what I thought, where we might adopt out/offer for characters to be descendants and then they can continue that family line if they’d like to.

[Leigh]

It would cause for some good plots for sure. I love it.