The Celestial Canopy is located within the stars above the Clans, filled with honourable warriors. It is considered the best ring of the afterlife to end up in. It is a cool, lush forest with many rivers, lakes, and waterfalls, similar to the Lunar Cascades within the Clans. It has never-ending prey, and the stars are always visible. Denizens of this location are often referred to as “Celestials.” In the past, they guided the Clans, giving prophecies to the oracles and bestowing nine lives upon the leaders. There was no strict leadership structure within the Celestial Canopy; instead, they were said to solve their problems through communication and voting. The moth species known to the Clans as Celestial Moths (Actias keralana) were seen as messengers of the Celestials. Their larvae fed exclusively on the moonflowers (Ipomoea alba), that grew within the Saturn Hollow. The flowers remain, but the moths have not been seen in two centuries, and are considered by most to be extinct.

The Endless Plains are not well known to the Clans. They are said to be the place where cats await their judgement from the founders, Ridgestar and Ivorystar, who descend from the Celestial Canopy to cast their verdict. Some say that loners are doomed to wander this realm forever due to their lack of affiliation with the Clans, but this is debated. It is thought the Endless Plains are just as they sound – plain moors with sparse vegetation – but this was never confirmed to the Clans.

The Infernal Forest is where dishonourable and evil cats are banished to. It is considered the worst ring of the afterlife to end up in. It is a sweltering forest with thick branches and leaves that block out the stars. There is only one river flowing through the territory, and prey is scarce. Denizens of this location are referred to as “Infernals.” These cats were once able to reach out to the Clans through visions, just as the Celestials were, but once this became common knowledge to the Clans, communication from them abruptly stopped. A species known to the Clans as the Infernal Bat (Otonycteris hemprichi) were considered to be messengers of the Infernals, and were treated with extreme prejudice by the Ivory Talons. All bat species were – and still are – considered bad omens, but only Infernal Bats were immediately killed by the Ivory Talons when found. The Ridge Fangs do not share this belief, however. Infernal bats were known to feed on a diet of moths, especially Celestial Moths. Similarly to their divine counterpart, this species has seemingly gone extinct. They tended to live near the edges of the desert, which the Ivory Talons used as justification to further demonize the Ridge Fangs.

In the beginning, roughly four hundred cycles ago, there were only loose groups of cats, often competing and fighting amongst themselves for resources. After a particularly cold and prey-scarce leafbare, two cats, Ridge and Ivory, were visited by the spirits of their ancestors – now known as the Celestial Canopy – and told to each create a Clan. They were told that without uniting into two Clans, the cats of the territories would all slowly perish. Were Ridge and Ivory to prove successful, these spirits promised them protection, and that they would receive another sign from the Celestials after they had succeeded. The founders took heed of their ancestor’s words, and began to unite the cats within their swaths of territories. The Clans became known as the Ridge Fangs and the Ivory Talons.

Soon after the Clans were established, two cats – Oasis of the Ridge Fangs and Ambrosia of the Ivory Talons – were given visions from the Celestials, telling them to look for a sign that would lead them and their leader to a meeting spot with the Celestials. The night after these visions, Celestial moths visited the pair. They, along with Ridge and Ivory,followed the insects to the Saturn Hollow. It was there that the Celestials gave Ridge and Ivory their new names: Ridgestar and Ivorystar, along with nine lives each. Similarly, Oasis and Ambrosia were given the names Oasiscaller and Ambrosiagleam, and were proclaimed the first oracles of the Clans – cats who were meant to spiritually guide their Clanmates. This became the basis of the naming tradition within the Clans. Upon urging from the Celestials, the new leaders agreed upon a code of ethics to share between both Clans, and to have their Clans meet every moon under a truce. Clan structure and role ceremonies were also imparted onto the leaders by the Celestials. Using the knowledge given to Ridgestar and Ivorystar by the Celestials, the Clans have thrived in the territories for many years.

As the Celestial Canopy began to grow silent two hundred cycles ago, a loner named Hephaestia arrived in the territories after completing an arduous trek through the northern desert. It is said that she had a pelt reminiscent of jasper, with a stocky build and blunt metal claws on one paw, meant for digging. She was known to be skilled in identifying different stones and crystals, and held a particular interest in the meteor showers that had been striking the surrounding lands. It was Harpystar of the Ridge Fangs who first took an interest in this mysterious loner and her metal. In the face of this curiosity, Hephaestia kindly imparted her knowledge of metalworking, showing Harpystar how to extract important ore from the meteors that had been littering the territories. Not bound to either Clan, Hephaestia trekked into the Ivory Talons’ territory, sharing her knowledge with Sirenstar as well.

Due to her teachings, Hephaestia was allowed to wander the territories freely, and was treated like a Clanmate by all cats. She was known both for her pursuit of knowledge and her pacifism – she only ever shared techniques on how to make tools for digging, fishing, or other non-violent tasks. It was the Clans who eventually forged metal into weapons. After introducing these important techniques to the Clans and supervising their work for a few moons, it is said that Hephaestia left the Clans and crossed the desert once again. She is often portrayed as a saint-like figure within the Clans, with shrines in both Clans being dedicated to her. Some storytellers in the Clans will claim Hephaestia settled down in their respective Clan, but there is no evidence that this ever occurred. It is widely-claimed that Hephaestia resides within the Celestial Canopy, but there has been no evidence of this claim either.

Within the past one hundred and twenty cycles, a new disease suddenly began to spread through the Clans. It became known as Wasting Sickness, and its emergence pushed the Clans as close to war as they have gotten in the past two hundred cycles. This outbreak caused widespread chaos and mass death in both Clans, though it disappeared abruptly just a few moons after the outbreak took hold.

Not much is known about how Wasting Sickness is transmitted between cats or where it came from, but oracles speculate it is related to bodily fluids and meat. The disease can seemingly lay dormant in cats for up to two cycles, with most infections occurring in adult cats. Prognosis is poor, as no cat has survived the infection once symptom onset occurs. Life expectancy for the infected is anywhere between one and twelve moons, but most typically die within five moons. Care by oracles is palliative, rather than curative.

The first symptoms of Wasting Sickness are progressive difficulty moving, typically affecting the hind legs first, and weight loss. Cats infected begin to withdraw socially and become listless, nervous, and weak. Their eyesight generally begins to deteriorate, leading to a vacant stare with dilated pupils. Bruxism, excessive salivation, and an enduring tilt of the head have also been observed among those infected. Grooming behaviours all but disappear, and some cats develop a strange gait. Despite suffering from rapid weight loss, infected individuals display an incessant hunger and thirst. Tremors begin to occur more often as time goes on, and eventually a hacking cough similar to greencough develops. Cats tend to die soon after developing this cough.