The clan overall is a primarily nocturnal group. Hunting is done at night, lasting all the way up until dawn. This allows them to harbor cats with lighter pelts safely as they avoid the risk of sunburn. This, of course, does not however protect them from harsh winds and dropping temperatures at night.

When cats go out to hunt and gather materials in the dead of night, they are set to do so in duos. These are known as soul pairs, and are assigned upon graduating.

Kittypets and outsiders are highly interrogated before accepted into the clan. All newcomers, in order to truly be accepted as part of the clan, must partake in the soulstone ritual.

Because of the soulstone ritual, when a cat wants to court another, it is common courtesy to provide a gift to your beloved of a special stone. Some cats struggle finding stones, and some even make light of the situation, instead bartering stones for prey. 

When a cat has passed their assessment and is ready to earn their new name, they are sent to venture into the mines and discover their soulstone. Deep within the mines, there is a stone that speaks to every cat- it is the apprentices duty to find their stone and return with it. Once the stone is brought back to camp, it is placed by their dens, or in small nooks in areas they frequent while they are alive. It is integral not to loose ones soulstone, but also quite impossible to do so- most cats claim their soulstone will call them back should they depart from it. To break another's soulstone is a sin of sorts- while not in the forefather's oath, it is nevertheless seen as taboo and shunned. 

When a courtship is successful, and two cats wish to be recognized as mates before the forefathers, a soul-bond ceremony is performed. Essentially, the cats will bare the soul stone of the other, pressing their nose to it and vowing to serve each other though even the darkest of nights. The cats are then welcome to keep the soulstones at their dens, but typically return them after a week after the soul-bond to the chamber of souls.

When a cat wishes to adopt another into their family, an adoption ceremony is performed, involving the current shepherd verbally acknowledging the adoption, and the adoptee placing their soul stone alongside their family member's soul stone. 

During the peak of summer, GrottoClan members will experience a week in which every night they will see a meteor shower for the first three hours before dawn. It is said that each shooting star is a soul of a loved one, or even a forefather watching over us. During these times, occasionally even Poet may show up to come and join the festivities. Tales of certain constellations are told, such as which one belongs to what historic figure, and what their story was. It's a challenge for younger cats to see how long they can stay awake, but most of them typically fall asleep just before dawn.

Another festival, though not unique to GrottoClan, is that of the first rains in the early spring. During this day, a courier will have delivered the message between both clans the day prior, and they will meet in ArchClan camp or GrottoClan camp (depending on who is to host as it alternates) to celebrate and share stories. Prey and goods are exchanged and shared between clans, and a sparring ring as well. The winner typically gets some hard to find prey and accessories to bring back to their den.

When a cat passes on due to natural causes, illness, or old age, their life is celebrated by GrottoClan first and foremost, with tales of their adventures and their life spread by either relatives or family, and if neither are available the shepherd themselves will speak instead. Once the ceremony of honoring the dead is finished, the body is taken to the GrottoClan graveyard, where it is left for the vultures to feed and return back to the earth. The soulstone of this cat is placed within the chamber of souls and left inside a small nook carved out to remember them by. Generally the nooks will have large collections of stones near them, typically signifying an entire familial lineage. These lineages also include adopted family and friends if they have no relatives in GrottoClan.

When a shepherd dies, it is the duty of the deputy to carry their body to be laid to rest upon the top of one of the hamburger rocks. There, the clan will discuss their shepherds life, before taking it to the graveyard and placing their soulstone in the highest of nooks in the chamber of souls.

When an apprentice or a kitten passes away, a false soulstone is made in place. This is done through the use of clay and pressing the paw of the deceased into it, to form what is known as a "pawstone." These are small, but grieved all the same when placed in the chamber of souls.

RECIPES 

• jerky [a staple across both clans for long journeys]

• sausage/salami [made from prey offal lining, soaking in salt harvested from the salt lake and then smoking or air drying]

• pemmican [dried meat, prey fat, and some berries]

• yeasted breads [made through using either pine needles or rotten berries to have yeast for the bread to rise]

• flatbreads [made through indian ricegrass and some prey fat as a binding ingredient]

• marrow buns [specific to archclan]

• archclan's cowboy stew [specific to archclan, a stew made of a hodgepodge of pieces of prey everyone catches during the day to then share right before dusk]

• cave cakes [specific to grottoclan]

•  grub pie [specific to grottoclan]

• dumplings [made with prey offal typically for the dumpling wrapper]

• barbecued meats

• butter [made from marrow often and lots of prey fat]

• stews, soups, etc [great source of food and water as cats don't drink a lot]

• teas [made from brewing long-gone herbs with prey blood for flavor, helpful to wake up with. can have honey added to them]

• berry-based drinks, juices 

• WINTER ONLY

  •  iron pops [preyblood spread onto snow and rolled up onto a stick to eat]

During the rebuilding renaissance, both GrottoClan and ArchClan flourished, and as such developed a variety of textiles, tools, and even methods of cooking food. Due to whisker fatigue, using prey bones and prey skulls as bowls and the like are not ideal. Instead, the clan cats discovered methods of harvesting the clay within the soil, baking it, and forming it into bowls and pots for storage. The clan cats also utilize dried out plant matter and discovered a tedious, but reliable form of weaving to make baskets and netting. These help to keep Grottoclan warm in the intense cold of the moon, and protect them from frostbite,  hypothermia, and blistered pawpads. Not all clothes are made simply for use, and some are to flaunt one's abilities. In the winter especially, preypelts are woven and worn to combat the snowy temperatures, as well as used to line ones den during the cold desert nights.

Water is an incredible resource to the clan, but as a result of the camp location GrottoClan is incredibly lucky to have nearby sources of it. While both the wishlight well and the skyfall serve as water sources, generally it is more accepted to drink from skyfall than wishlight because of how the water there tends to be stagnant and has a bit of an off-putting smell. In times of peace, it is common practice to bring offerings of water to ArchClan during sunset round-ups- it is believed such behavior promotes goodwill between the clans. During peak summer, it is often that these water sources may dwindle or dry up, and only then is water transport necessary. The cacti that grow around camp are an additional source of water, though some may find the taste unpleasant. Additionally, rockhounds have been trained on how to find small springs through the power of their nose to bring closer, but smaller amounts of water back to camp.

With all the developments in cooking, water storage, and temperature regulation came the development of writing and the written language known as cat scratch, or "scratch" for short. Most cats all know a primal version of this, regardless of their origins- it is the method of which catscratch is understood that varies. While most loners and kittypets may know of dirt-bound scratch, the clan's scratch is one that is used primarily for record keeping. GrottoClan differs from its counterpart with how scratch can be found near the entrance of every cave, but not carved. Instead, the scratch is formed with dried pieces of clay as to provide a system of touch reading- these serve as guides for those who are visually impaired or simply cannot see well enough within the darkness of the caves.

During the rebuilding renaissance, both GrottoClan and ArchClan flourished, and as such developed a variety of musical instruments along with their other inventions in this era. GrottoClan is notably different from ArchClan with how their instruments tend to be more woodwinds and strings based. Instruments are made of wood, woven plant matter, and animal bones as needed. Things such as harps, sambucas, aulos, ocarinas, exist aplenty. One special instrument is a makeshift-organ that sits within the Chamber of Souls. It's not quite a proper keyboard the way a human would recognize it- instead, there are several spots for one to rest their paws to trigger a small stick with a rock at it's tip to produce a haunting, but beautiful sound. This instrument is generally off limits except for times of festivals such as during the first rains festival or during funerals of shepherds.

Another instrument, though not necessarily unique to GrottoClan, is the use of voice. In general, music is something often heard within the caves- even the smallest drops of water from a stalactite can unleash the clan to indulge in some hymns or specific folk songs. These songs include stories about the clans history, with favorites including Grottomoon and Archsun's love letters turned into a song, the dramatic tale of Coyotemoon's death, and other various moments. Some are more fictional, being that of the tales of forefather's conquests and the like. Song is not limited to a role- most if not all cats in GrottoClan are taught hymns and folk songs throughout their kithood and apprenticeship. GrottoClan music as a whole tends to be more higher in range than ArchClan music, typically resting from soprano to falsetto.