The Blinding Twilight Clan

The Blinding Twilight Clan is a clan of Tabaxi that live in Chult, near the Mistcliff Mountains. They fled their homeland of Maztica right before the Spellplague struck over a century ago, and have been living here ever since.

Creation
The Blinding Twilight Clan was formed in the year 1384 DR when a small group of tabaxi shamans in the continent of Maztica were given a vision supposedly from the god of knowledge Kukul. Kukul had foreseen a terrible tragedy coming to Maztica, one that would shake all of tabaxi civilization to its core. While neither the shamans nor Kukul knew the details of the tragedy, they knew that it was a great danger to the entire continent. Fearing for their lives, the shamans gathered their families and traveled to the nearby continent of Faerûn, eventually arriving in the jungle region of Chult, a place similar but still vastly different from their homeland of Maztica.

In Chult, the tabaxi came across an area near the Mistcliff Mountains that they decided would be the perfect place to make a new home. Before they could do that though, the shamans began a ritual to summon the most powerful fey overlooking the area. A fey named Orianna appeared to them, asking why they summoned her. They explained that they wished to settle in the area, but desired the blessing of the spirits around them before they did anything. Orianna was touched by their respect for the world around them, and granted them her blessing, as long as the tabaxi continued to respect their environment and offered her thanks once a year.

Soon, the clan truly took formation, making a village of ramadas (huts with grass roofs held by wooden poles, without walls) in their lair. Their shamans, using powerful magic, made a wall of intertwined trees around their home to keep it safe from danger. They would begin raising Zaïre and N'dama for wool and food, and would grow crops like yams, cassavas, plantains, corn, and so on. They would form hunts, groups of hunters, and find prey in the jungle that they would bring home for food and for sacrifices. Rarely, they would trade with other settlements for things they needed, but never for gold. Eventually they would come to call themselves the Blinding Twilight Clan, in honor of Kukul's wisdom that saved them.

The Spellplague
Eventually, the tragedy that the shamans foresaw would indeed come to pass. The Spellplague, the result of the death of the goddess Mystra, would ravage the entire planet of Toril. The continent of Maztica would vanish into another world at this time, causing a great number of the tabaxi population to vanish seemingly overnight. The Blinding Twilight Clan was fortunate enough to survive this disaster, but wouldn't be so lucky against the rest.

The clan weathered the worst of the Spellplague, lacking the defenses of the great human cities. They lost their magic in the chaos, like many mages across the world, and they had to prepare against the unstoppable magical flames that ravaged the planet. Food became scarce and illness abundant. The clan only survived by reorganizing itself to suit the times. A council of leaders emerged, made up of the clan elders, the shamans, and a chief hunter who led the clan's military forces. These leaders worked in conjunction to keep the clan alive. Although the Spellplague would decimate their numbers, they still survived to tell the tale once the Spellplague ended.

Post-Spellplague
After the Spellplague, the clan tried to go back to life the way it was before everything fell apart, but it was difficult. Their numbers, once great, fell to only several dozen. Spiritualism rose to prominence as the clan struggled to hold on to their Maztican identity in a new place. The role of shaman began to become healer, mage (once magic was restored to the world), and priest. Shamans would become the lifeblood of the clan, responsible for the daily ceremonies of their society as well as keeping spirits high.

In 1462 DR, the current shamans were Nimble Paw and Ancient Dream, the latter of whom was seen as the most powerful druid in the clan's history. They had two apprentices, the twins known as Vibrant Clover and Secret Tome. Vibrant Clover was apprenticed to Nimble Paw, whereas Secret Tome was taught by Ancient Dream. For a time, the clan was at peace and safe.

Unfortunately, all was not well. The clan had been in a state of constant near-death ever since the Spellplague hit, and Secret Tome knew this well. It was when a terrible disease went through the clan that he had an idea to save it. When he was a kitten, he had been infected with a mild illness, which rendered him immune to the clan's current epidemic. Seeing that, he became fascinated with the power of diseases, and went on to study it in-depth...using his clanmates to learn more.

Secret Tome would infect other tabaxi with various diseases, curing them immediately after studying the symptoms and how they work. Several of his clan had their lives threatened by his studies, but he also learned more about Chultan illness than anyone in the clan did before him. For a time, his studies went well.

One day, however, Ancient Dream caught on to his scheme. She admonished him for what he did, claiming that he was being cruel by purposely infecting people who trusted him. He responded that the clan needed real help, not blind faith in the gods to keep them safe. Seeing that he wouldn't listen to reason, Ancient Dream banished Secret Tome from the clan, telling him never to return to Chult.

Secret Tome left, hateful towards his old mentor and his clan. But Ancient Dream felt concerned nonetheless. Despite his methods, there was truth to his words. The clan needed to evolve past their current way of life. Ancient Dream would spend the next twenty years thinking about how to do this, until she eventually came upon an idea.

One day, Ancient Dream decided that she would plead to the gods themselves. After a month of fasting and praying, she had a vision of how she could curry the gods' favor. On the 11th of Eleasis, 1474 DR, she gathered her fellow shamans Nimble Paw and Vibrant Clover and climbed to a summit on top of the Mistcliff Mountains. There, they performed a ritual calling upon each and every god of the clan's pantheon. Offerings were made in the name of every god and their praises were sung at the top of their lungs. This ritual continued for a full twenty-four hours, until midnight the next day.

The ritual reached its peak with a sacrifice in the name of the gods. Ancient Dream offered herself to them, in return that the gods protected her clan. She sacrificed herself, with the other shamans as her witness, and died that very night. The gods, honored by her piety and devotion to her clan, granted her dying wish. They took an amulet worn by Ancient Dream and imbued it with divine power. They claimed that as long as the amulet was a symbol of their pact with Ancient Dream, and that as long as it stayed in the clan’s possession, the gods would watch over them.

Nimble Paw and Vibrant Clover returned to the lair with the amulet, now known as the Talisman of Maztica in honor of their ancestral homeland. Once back with the clan, the Talisman was given a place of honor among the clan as their sacred artifact. The next day, a funeral was held for Ancient Dream, honoring her sacrifice and her wisdom. In the eyes of the clan, she was the greatest hero they ever knew.

The next several years were peaceful times for the clan. Some said it was mere luck, others said it was the gods upholding their end of the bargain. Regardless, it was a time of prosperity for the Blinding Twilight Clan. While it did hit some rough spots, it was overall the safest the clan had ever been. The Talisman of Maztica found itself a place of great respect in the clan since then.

The Lost Vigil
Unfortunately, things didn't stay peaceful forever. Even with the gods' blessing, the clan had its fair share of troubles. They still had to hunt for their own food, provide themselves with clean water, survive the attacks of the jungle's denizens, and keep themselves safe from Chult's everyday threats. The gods gave them luck, but they had to stay standing on their own two paws for it to mean anything.

This problem came to a head in the year 1482 DR, when the clan found themselves facing a sudden food shortage right when they were preparing to fast for Zaltec's Vigil, a holiday where they must starve themselves for a week before partaking in a great battle. With how little food the clan had, fasting at this time was a dangerous idea that could have hurt many of the clan. As such, the leaders, led by then-chief hunter Serene Heather, decided that there was to be no Vigil until they were in a safe place to do so.

This decision, however, came at a great cost. The rules of the Talisman's protection demanded that the clan follow their rituals exactly as they were meant to be done. By holding off on the Vigil, the gods' protection was suddenly null and void. All at once, a great illness previously held back by the Talisman's power struck the clan and infected many of their people. Several tabaxi died from this illness, prompting the clan to find a cure before it wiped out too many of them.

The search for a cure was spearheaded by Swift Wing, one of the hunt leaders and the clan's local paladin. Swift Wing took his hunt and searched for a special herb that could be used to make a medicine capable of healing this illness. Eventually, the hunt found the herb, but at a great cost. Swift Wing and his second-in-command, Snow on the Mountain, died trying to retrieve the herb. The hunt came back with the herb and used it to heal the clan. For her part in convincing the clan to give up the Vigil, Serene Heather retired and became an elder, appointing Mountain Jewel as her replacement.

Trivia
...?