Rules and Regulations

[River]

I. IN GENERAL
001. Respect is the most important rule. This means everyone and everything, and there are serious consequences for breaking this rule. We do not tolerate public fighting: if you have a dispute, take it to PMs. Stealing will result in a permanent ban and perhaps legal implications.
002. We are an advanced roleplay, which means that proper spelling and grammar is expected, even (to a lesser degree) in the chatbox.
003. Signatures and avatars should not stretch the boards in any way, and there should not be excessive flickering in regard to our members who may have epilepsy.
004. Icarus Awakening is a one-account-per-member site. Please do not create a new account for every character.
005. ProBoards TOS mandates that you must be at least 13 years old to be on a site. If you are found out to have broken this rule, you will be banned until you turn 13.
006. Activity checks will be held once every six months for a one-month span. All members are responsible for making sure that their account is not deleted; staff may overlook someone very active if they do not post.
007. We do allow deleted members to return to the site, but if you are frequently absent without providing reasonable explanations you may lose certain privileges (e.g. character limits will be imposed, you cannot adopt or breed) until you have proven yourself responsible.

II. CREATING CHARACTERS
008. Please follow our site's application. We allow more information (e.g. immediate relations) to be added, but by no circumstances yes.
009. All characters require flaws, and not ones that are more "quirky" than actually detrimental to character.
010. We here at Icarus Awakening are, at the moment, a realistic feral dog roleplay. This means no wings, antlers, strange colors, or other strange mutations unless something happens in IC (in which case the mutations will often come at a health price).
011. If you want to possess a wild dog character, you must pay for it at the shop using claws (currency). The character's backstory must make sense with the history: there will be more feral dogs running around than wild dogs, but fortunately the zoo provides such things.
012. All images used to represent your character must either be under a Creative Commons license or have adequate permission given.
013. You have one month to finish a biography before it is moved to "Purgatory", or unfinished and forgotten characters. When you finish a biography, fill out the form at the bottom of the page here and it will be accepted. Once it is accepted, feel free to begin roleplaying.
014. Stock of wild dogs cannot be used unless the appropriate wild dog pass has been bought. You do not need to buy a pass if your dog is under 25% wild dog.
015. We allow some leniency with aging as long as your dogs aren't living until 30.

III. IN CHARACTER
015. As with creating characters, we expect realism in posting. No dashing flying leaps over fifty-foot-long chasms, for instance.
016. We expect at least 300 words minimum per post.
017. Liquid time is allowed, and your character may be in as many threads as you wish, but do not take too many liberties (e.g. if your character is sufficiently maimed in one post, you cannot create new posts without the injury because of liquid time.)
018. No posting claims or bumping, only finished posts. The exception is if your computer backfires and posts before you are finished.
019. No powerplaying with breeding or fighting unless consent is given by the roleplayer, but prepare to face the consequences of your actions.

IV. BREEDING AND FIGHTING
020. Graphic breeding is not permitted per ProBoards' TOS; fade to black only.
021. Birthing threads are optional and not encouraged unless something plotwise happens within them.
022. Characters may breed in any season, but females may only have two litters per IC year, and not in the same season.
023. Unless a pass is bought, characters may not breed until the age of two.
025. Forced breeding is only allowed at the consent of both roleplayers, and we have a right to redact this rule if it is abused.
026. Pups are three months of age for the first two IC seasons, then 6, then 9, then a year. (e.g. a pup is born in spring 027. For spring and summer 2030, they are 3 months old. Autumn 2030 they are 6 months, winter 2030 they are 9 months, and spring 2031 they are a year).
028. Official fights are judged by staff under the following rubric: 45% quality (spelling, grammar, clarity), 45% realism (larger, faster, younger, smarter), and 10% adherence to rules (word cap, powerplaying, number of posts, etc.) A more detailed rubric is on the judging page.

V. PACKS AND FAMILIES
029. To create a pack, a dog must have IC evidence of gathering five other canines under them. The exception is for close ties (e.g. children, sibling, best friend) that can be assumed without another thread. This is at the staff's discretion.
030. If a dog wants to challenge for leadership, they must have IC evidence of five other canines willing to support them should they win and then engage in a judged fight with the current leader. If the challenger loses, they may not challenge again for another IC year and may be subject to punishment from the leader.
031. Upon successful creation or challenging, the leader must submit what territory they would like. A sub-board in the "groups" board will be allotted for the leader's purposes (e.g. rankings, laws, missions, etc.)
032. You may choose one full board per every ten members and one sub-board per every five members. Sub-boards within territory boards are not considered territory.
033. Massive, mafia-type families may claim one piece of territory for their family, though they are not a pack or gang and their members may join a pack or gang.
034. Four packs are allowed at any given time, and they must keep to different regions of Wolf Creek.