RULES

[S p e c t r a]

Obey the rules and respect your fellow players or you will find yourself banned. It's not hard, honest!

** - new or changed rule! (as of July 13, 2011)

General

• No posting in character until that character has been approved by an admin.
  
• No pestering people to reply to your thread. If they haven't replied in 1 week, you may send a polite PM to remind them. Check the Vacations board first. Everyone gets busy!
  
• No post reserves! That means no posting an OOC note that you will be bringing your character into a thread. It dissuades people who have time to post from posting in that thread, and can be very annoying for the original poster and people who want to get involved but have to wait for you. Either post or don't. It's that simple.
  
• You may curse in character, but try to keep it to a reasonable level. Out of character cursing is okay in moderation for humor but please avoid swearing in anger.
  
• Maximum five characters per account, unless given special permission by an admin. It doesn't hurt to ask, I usually say yes if you've been active.
  
• Posts must be at least 400 words. It sounds like a lot, but it really isn't. I usually post twice this without blinking. Elaborate! Describe the setting, the time of day, scenery, your character's mood, thoughts, flashbacks, anything! The more detail you give the more people will get to know your character and want to interact with them!
  
• No unicorns, pegasi, or zebras. Just ordinary horses and ponies please. Donkeys and mules are possible with admin permission and a really fantastic idea, but it's very unlikely that they'll be approved. Very.
  
• There are no lights, darks or neutrals. Those words mean nothing here, so I don't want to see them used in that clichéd manner.
  
• Make sure that any images in your signature do not exceed 550 pixels wide and 400 pixels high. Our resize codes will handle any images that are wide enough to stretch the board, but your sig might look a bit blurry if resized by the code.
  
• You are responsible for your own characters' aging. You can play your foal as a foal for as long as you like, but they can't stay that young forever. Also, they can't be a yearling in a week either.
  
• No drafts in the south without admin permission. Theseus hates drafts so I don't want to have to deal with 10 drafts trying to prove their loyalty.
  
• No non-drafts in the North. You need feathering not to freeze your fetlocks off.
  
• Don't disrespect the Fates. Your character can curse them, and even not believe in them, but belittling their power just might get you hit by lightning.
  
• Your character's name may be in a large font, but for the body of your posts please keep it to size 3 or less. (Modification codes make sizes 1 and 2 appear the same as size 1 on other Proboards forums. Size 3 will appear as size 2, etc.)
  
• Wandering into a Southern stallion's territory? The courteous thing is to ask the land-owning stallion's roleplayer first. They may be too busy to get forced into an additional thread. If you're planning to challenge for the land, go ahead and barge in; courtesy is kinda useless in that case.

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Stallions

• You may only claim one land per southern stallion. If you have two southern stallions then one of them must be subordinate to another lead, you cannot hold two lands.
  
• Northern stallions don't claim land, so if they're not strong enough they'll have a hard time keeping their mares from being stolen.
  
• To claim a land you must post in there displaying your desire to claim it. This post must be in-character.
  
• You can challenge another stallion for his land, and if he has not replied in three days then the land is yours. Check that the person you're challenging has not made an away post in the Vacations sub-board first (indefinite absences do not protect players from land theft). Notify Spectra via PM when the three days are up.
  
• You can force-claim an unclaimed mare by nipping her, but this practice is most common among the northern stallions.
  

Mares

• You cannot defeat a stallion in battle unless he is already weakened, and even then it could go either way. That's between you and your adversary, and of course the judges. It's not misogyny, it's anatomy.
  
• You go home with the first stallion that nips you. If he asks you nicely it's your choice.
  
• You cannot breed before the age of three.
  
• If you are unhappy with your lead stallion you are stuck with him until another stallion either steals you or fights for you. You may court other stallions and encourage them to place a steal.
  

Foals

• Stats are determined by Spectra. You can wish for certain characteristics, such as color or gender, but there's no guarantee you'll get it.
  
• Fillies cannot be claimed until the age of two.
  
• You cannot breed or claim a terrain until the age of three.
  

Keepers of Hesperides, the Haven

• The Haven is an impenetrable fortress, you cannot enter its walls unless someone on the inside lets you in. Outsiders need to undergo a ritual performed by an Elder to purge them of their negative emotions and vices.
  
• The Keepers are a peaceful band who often spend their entire lives in pursuit of wisdom and enlightenment. Their purpose is to guard the Object, but they do not possess the same greed as other equines and so do not seek to use it themselves. The gods have made it so.
  
• Keepers don't feel all the same emotions as regular equines. They rarely feel negative emotions and are usually very calm.
  
• Keepers can leave the Haven without using the front door, but no one knows how they get out. The Haven is never left unprotected, since Keepers rarely leave it.
  

Fighting

• You can fight over anything, the most typical reasons being land or mares or just annoyance.
  
• No powerplaying/god-moding! Geez! That means that no, your horse can't dodge every single blow. Yes, it will hurt when they get hit. You can't control what happens to the other character, just leave it open like "He shoved the mare aside and aimed a kick at the brute's shoulder" so there is no assumption that every blow has hit.
  
• You can fight anywhere except the Ancient Ruins, but you must PM Spectra when you're ready so Apollo can observe the fight and judge if necessary.
  
• If both players think they ought to win, Apollo will review the fight and declare a winner. (Suggestion: Focus on your character's injuries. Players who neglect to mention any pain their fighter is dealing with lose points for realism.)
  
• If one of the fighters backs down, judging is not necessary.
  
• The password for the joining board is runlikethewind.
  
• Be a good sport.
  

Stealing

• A stallion can barge into another stallion's territory and challenge him to a fight over one of his mares. If the stallion does not respond in three days then the mare is yours. The fight will be judged by Apollo, who will determine who gets the mare. Be careful, if you go around stealing everyone's mares you might find yourself being ganged up on, or perhaps Apollo will grow tired of your games and favor your opponents.
  
• A northern stallion cannot steal a southern mare unless she has left the southern lands. If you try to enter the southern lands you must fight Theseus, (in which case Artemis will be the judge to be fair).
  
• Southern stallions don't steal northern mares either, 'cause Theseus would kick them out. He hates drafts.
  
• Another way to steal is to post a riddle at the Ancient Ruins. If the stallion who owns the mare has not posted a block in three days, the mare is yours. The mare's name must be physically spelled out in your riddle somehow (ie. all capital letters in the riddle read from the bottom up spell the mare's name), with a pattern to it, and you must point it out at the end for the steal to be official. You can block the steal of whoever you think the riddle is about by simply posting "I block the steal of Windrunner (or whatever the mare's name is)". Each stallion gets to block two mares, after that his guesses are up.
  
• You may not steal a mare who has no stallion; that's not a steal because no one can block it.
  
• You may not have multiple mares' names in the riddle. That's cheap.
  
• You may not post a steal or challenge if there has already been a steal or challenge made against that stallion in the same week. Give the poor guy a break.
  

Breeding

• You can RP through the breeding but keep it PG-13! Figurative language was invented for a reason! I'm sure your character is very talented, but focus on the emotional (or hallucinatory) more than the physical, or you'll be breaking Proboards TOS and we will probably laugh at you before erasing the offending sentences.
  
• Establish with the other player what they are comfortable with. You can RP the scenes leading up to the breeding, cut out, and then play the scenes afterwards. Or you could play it right through, being careful not to be too blunt about it.
  
• You may breed wherever you like, just PM me (Spectra) after the breeding has completed (aka after dismount) so I can determine the foal's stats.
  
• Once you are done breeding you must post the stats of both parents (breed, height, color, etc). They will determine the foal's physical characteristics. You don't need to post their personality and history, since that won't affect the foal's physicality.
  
• You must wait at least one week after you finished breeding to have the foal. You can draw out the pregnancy for longer if you'd like.
  
• Force-breeding is only permitted outside the southern lands.
  
• You must foal in your stallion's land, if possible. If your stallion goes missing, you may choose another location.
  

Special Exceptions

• Weaklands mares may be force-bred by any draft stalllion if they are in heat.
  
• Weaklands stallions are allowed to have bands, but if they rebel they can be punished. They cannot have land.
  
• Any rebel Weaklander who tries to usurp authority or who tries to escape to the free land may be captured and punished.
  
• The Fates can KILL you. BAM; and you're dead. They can do much more than this, as well. They can drive you mad, give you a disease, deform or kill your foal, anything. They do not enjoy using their powers pell-mell, but if you go out of your way to anger a Fate, you are in trouble.
  
• The Fates can change form to look like other horses, and they often go under other names when they are out of their homeland, Chaos. So beware, that mare you tried to attack or that stallion you challenged to a duel may just be a Fate in disguise.
  
• If you gain the favor of a Fate, you may be allowed to enter their homeland of Chaos. Any horse setting foot on the turf of Chaos turns immortal, but they aren't allowed to come and go as they please. The Fates will allow them to leave Chaos to visit wherever they came from, but if they come and go too often, the Fates will lock them in one place or the other. Most horses achieving immortality live their lives out in Chaos.
  
• Any character requesting to enter Chaos will lose any favor they have previously gained with the Fates, so request at your own risk. However, if a player asks if their character can enter Chaos out of character, you will get a warning, then a suspension. We do NOT want the boards crowded up with whining and complaining because your horse isn't immortal.
  
• Horses do NOT become immortal often! Perhaps one horse, or two at tops, will even see a Fate around often enough to gain its favor. In short: Chaos is an exception, not a rule.
  
• A Northern Draft may force-breed to any mare located north of Theseus's realm if they can overpower them. They often choose to do so.
  
• They may punish any Weaklander for anything they want, any time. If you don't like this, don't create a Weaklander.
  
• They will often gang up and pick on one horse at a time, so beware.
  
• The Keepers of Hesperides are a peaceful tribe; therefore, any mare within the Haven is safe from force-breeding. No violence occurs there.
  

The gods have made it so. May Artemis and Apollo have mercy upon your soul.

Other reading:
The Story
FAQ

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