::General Lore::

General:

First rule, follow the rules (simple isn�t it?) :P Also, please take time to read them, I�ve tried (and seemingly failed) to shorten them, but I�ve cut down most of the others. Please look over our information sections for further help in understanding deer.

My ideas are my own, don�t steal my work. The idea from this game and a fair amount of material were taken from David Clement-Davies the Firebringer. (Please read it, it helps understand the game) ^^

No racial, religious, sexual or political comments, everyone is entitled to their beliefs and opinions, so don�t go around insulting people, making them feel bad or trying to convert them. If you want to express what you have to say, do it in private or with people who share your same point-of-view. Don�t follow this requirement? Sorry, then you don�t belong here.

No porn or sick images anywhere on this site. You will be banned from this site if this is violated.

Mild cursing is allowed. But no going overboard�it makes you look bad and REALLY immature.

Serious Rule Breaking will result in 1) warning, 2)suspension of characters, playing and/or loss of privileges [such as being banned from certain boards or being excluded from other stuff like plots etc.] 3)Banned from all of LoTH

Be nice to everyone in OOC, I don�t care if you want to kill each other in while RPing, be kind, help and polite in OOC and we�ll all be happier, yes, even to Newbies�we all had to start somewhere. *read my �Pet Peeves� in the OOC section to understand what annoys me :-P*

No advertising except on the Ad�s board. End story.

Be active. If you don�t think you don�t have time to post, don�t join�

RPGing:

This RPG is PG-13 because of mild violence, mild swearing and �nature� *cough, cough* x.x

Powerplaying or Godmodling is not allowed, BUT the �higher� your rank to more you can infringe on this rule, but no going overboard.

HTML is allowed, but close your TAGS. Or I will delete it.

No excessive apostrophes >>�<< in words like this: ~~Th� b�g buck ran �cross th� moors o� Scotia, his great �ooves thund�ring acr�ss th� lithos�.~~ That is a BIG no-no, it�s a pain to read and looks really bad in a post.

Please use the �EDIT POST� option, you can use it to correct TAGS and fix spelling mistakes etc.

I won�t kill you for typos, spelling, punctuation or grammar�but do your best to make sure that it�s right. (it helps to use �edit post.�) ^.-

Put effort and time into your posts, I don�t want you to write a novel (unless you want too O.O), but a paragraph is good (3-5 sentence with a point.) I don�t want �fluff� posts, tons of long, rambling sentences. Better a short, good post that is enjoyable to read and makes sense than a long boring one. I also don�t want 1 sentence posts. Fill space with descriptions etc. And please put SOME spaces between paragraphs, it�s a pain to read a HUGE block of text.

When your character is speaking PLEASE use Italics �Quotes� or Bolds

Faking characters (NPCing) and/or some events is allowed. All that �faking� is is making up charries that don�t exist on the game and not joining as them. Here�s an example.
EX:Player: Fallow:Fallow looked around the herd, nope nothing wrong today. Then he spied Splash and her fawn, Thirsty, his fawn and he smiled to himself, Thirsty was growing up to be a fine young doe. He�d won her at the last rut season and was very pleased indeed that she�d submitted to his harem of 4 hinds: Splash, Wattle, Clay and Misty. He then noticed Captain Red and the Outrider Clyde up on a hill, talking with Roe, a member of the Corps. He ran towards them, they seemed worried about something, bounding and springing up the hillock, his cloven hooves brushing the as he ran towards them, his ears twitching nervously, he smelled fear in the air.
There you go :-D that�s all there is to it! (And there�s an example of a decent post, it could have used more description, but O-WELL! Just don�t powerplay too much ;P

Deer in the Game:

1/2 of this game has a �fantasy� aspect to it, but be realistic, read the events, weather, season and historical year (listed under �Lunar Calendar�) and remember what you are, where and when you are. Don�t worry you can talk.

The game began in 1333, 50 years after Rannoch�s death. So remember what place you are in, this is Scotland, long ago. Not England or Ireland or Wales, or some place along Regent�s Street� O.O

some rules might vary between �groups� between the Great Herd and so-called �Free� Herds so keep that in mind

You may not kill or maim anyone�s character without their permission.

REMEMBER: this game is for RED DEER ONLY (an elk subspecies native to Asia and Europe, also known as the European elk) not Roe or Fallow or Reindeer (which are also found in Scotland in places). I don�t want to see anyother types, no white-tailed, black-tailed, sika, Chinese water, muntjac, wapiti, caribou or moose, clear? No cats, dogs, bears deer-mixes, horses, humans etc. either. *yay! ^.^ General stuff is done*

::Life Cycle::

Yes, your characters will age year-by-year and yes, they will die. Most die at 13 or so, but 15 is a good age to live too. Some live past fifteen to 20+ years, but this is kind of� umm� really rare, but not impossible� You can pick your age of death, but be reasonable, most should �kick-it� between 1-15 (maybe 16-17 or so.)

Fawns BORN INTO the game can die at anytime. Due to disease or predators. Fawns can also be stillborns.

You may choose the way you die, in a fight with antler�s locked so you can get free and starve or wether you get REALLY badly injured and die because of your injuries. Old age, weather, predators, man�. It�s all fair game.

A young hind or stag would be about 2-3 years to about 5 years.

The prime of life for a red deer is between (4?)5-8 years of age.

Well� 9-11 isn�t old, but it�s not young either�

12-13 is old.

13-15 average age of death and is old

15+ is OLD.

17-20+ REALLY OLD! O.O
**See �Breeding & Fawns for further details about the life cycle.

::Stags (Bucks)::

A stag is a male deer and is a more appropriate term to be used for red deer, although buck can be used too.

Stags are stags from the age when they leave their mother at 2-3 years of age and have their 1st head of antlers*(see �Antlers� for further details)

A pricket is a yearling-young buck who has had fewer than 3 heads of antlers and who�s antlers have not begun to branch outwards yet because of young age.

Stag�s mostly stay in lose groups of �bachelors� that skirt around the herd�s lands most of the year and have little or nothing to do with the does until the autumn rut/breeding season.

Stags, like hinds, don�t� have steady mates and don�t interact with their young until they have grown up�or have nothing to do with them, i.e. they take no part in raising young.

Only stags have antlers. You cannot tell a stag�s age by them, but you can get an idea of how old they are, also, the size of the racks have many factors (*see antlers). Bucks are generally faster than does and are strong and heavier and bigger than hinds.

::Corps/Outriders::

All stags MUST enter the Corps; this group is formed as a council and his headed by Lord of the Herd

Corp groups form the �bachelor� groups

Outriders are elite Corps that protects the herd year-round. Outrider�s have their own bachelor groups for each other.

Outrider�s are supposed to be less panicky than the other stags or does and are supposed to be strong. To be an Outrider, a Captain of the Outrider�s must choose you from the Corps (each Captain is allowed to choose no more than 2 stags a year, but can choose fewer or none at all). Outriders must be 5+ and remain that way for life.

Outrider Captains are chosen by the Outrider�s to lead them and give orders. They are voted in for experience, bravery, strength, and popularity (which is a given if they follow the previous 3). Captain�s are in charge of their bachelor groups of 6-7+ but can given orders to others. Captain must be 6+ years old and remains a Captain for life and commend respect.

Lord of the Herd is the highest rank held by the strongest buck in the herd, he is the herd�s leader. But before he makes a decision regarding the herd, the Corps vote on it. The Lord patrols the Herd to make sure things are in order and are going well. He holds his title until he is overthrown in the rut. The Lord can be of any age, but is usually 5+ years old. A LotH has no control over the Outriders, but can give Captains orders (which don�t have to be followed) But they still must be respected. Once a Lord is overthrown, he returns to the Corps.

Stags join the Corps after they leave their mother at the rut, Corps are chosen for Outriders and new Captains elected at the rut.

::Scarrain (Scarrdling/Scarrda)::

The Scarrain are those who serve Lord Nightshade directly. They are made up of the Scarrdling (like the corps) and the elite guard/�army� of L.N., the Scarrda, who are chosen by Nightshade and the Commanders (like Outrider Captains) who are chosen by Lord Nightshade.

The Scarrain are ONLY found in The Great Herd.

Lord Nightshade�s rank cannot be challenged for because he �changed the rules� and because he is the biggest, strongest and certainly the meanest of The Great Herd�s stags. In general, he�s to feared and respected�

Scarrain may raid and spy on the Free Herd�s, but only with Nightshade�s permission or on his orders. Raiding parties may take captives, but only a few. 1/3 of the raiding parties� size is the number of captives allowed.

Only Scarrain can sharpen their antlers.

Disobedience, disrespect etc. can warrant a session in the Training Grounds�and this isn�t for practice�

Scarrda alone may enter the Cleansing Holt to kill other animals for the sake of it, Just to assert their powers amongst them and to keep in practice.

Scarrda and Scarrdling are allowed to test their skills against each other and practice fighting on the Training Grounds.

::Antlers::

Antler�s begin to grow from a yearling buck up until about age 9-11.

Here is a list of important antler vocab--- Points: A prong on a deer antler, Tine: Another name for a prongs; tines help determine �rank� as such, the following are the names of the tines, brow, bay, trey (trez in plural), sur-royal and crown (which could consist of a number of tines at the top), Rack: A pair of antlers, Beam: the long part of the antler that grows outwards, (in red deer, they grow up and inward)

A buck with 12+ tines is called a Royal. The number of tines is decided by the total number on BOTH antlers.

As a stag ages (12+ years), their antler�s size grows back a little.

Antler�s are shed in spring with older stags dropping them first, grow back in the summer, come out of velvet in mid-late summer, then are fully grown in and ready by fall.

A �head� is the rack for that year. A stag with his first head has his first set of truly grown-in antlers. A stag with his 8th head has had seven sets of antlers before his current rack.

The size of a rack is depended on genetics, diet and health, a healthy buck in his prime of life with a nutrient-rich diet is likely to have a better rack than a younger, equally as healthy, deer who�s diet wasn�t a good.

A Hummel or Nott is a buck who�s antler�s have not grown in, and never will.

A Switch or �Killer� is a stag who has antlers that have grown in, with long beams, ending in a fairly sharp point, and no tines except for brow tines. They are called �Killers� because their antlers don�t lock properly with others so they go straight trough the other�s defensive tines and can end up killing the other.

**For additional Antler information, see Red Deer Gen.**

::Breeding::

Every year from early-mid autumn is breeding season.

Red deer don�t have steady mates, they live apart most of the year.

Stag�s try to round up groups of hind�s into a harem to which he�ll breed with. He�ll have to defend them though, because other stag�s can try and challenge for one or steal one from the group.

A stag makes a �stand� for the doe he wants in his harem, she doesn�t have to go with him, but he can keep following he and trying to herd her until she submits. If two stags want the same doe, they can fight for her by locking antler�s and jostling around, try to shove the �weaker� one aside. The hind must go with the winner.

A hind must be 2+ to breed.

A stag must be 2+ and willing to fight to breed. Mostly stronger, older stags win mates.

A hind may try choosing her own mate, but risks being hurt in a fight. (this is REALLY uncommon)

Breeding posts are done on any land belonging to the Herd that they live on. And must be posted between autumn and Early Winter. Calving posts are done the same way, only in mid spring to mid summer.

To get a fawn, both parents must post their stats on the Breeding and Fawning board and must do so during the breeding season. A fawn�s stats will be posted sometime later in time of the calving time of year. Please tell me the name of the fawn and who plays it ASAP on the Breeding and Fawning board.

As said earlier, calves born into the game CAN die.

You can 'fake' or NPC (or whatever you call it) a mate.

::Hinds (Does)::

The word hind refers to a female red deer, the term doe, can also be used too.

Does do not have stead mates, and live in a highly organized herd with the fawns until the rut.

The herd is headed by a �lead hind� who wins her rank by 'boxing' with the others and winning. This fight for lead hind takes place every winter. (Like the hinds Anlach.)

Hinds do not have to submit to a stag�s harem, unless he forces her too, by �herding� her.

The hind�s herd structure is broken at Anlach, and is re-formed after it. Hinds do not compete for mates after they enter a harem. The older, stronger, experienced hind normally holds the head rank.

Hinds are not as strong, big or as fast as bucks. Please try to accept this�

Hinds may �choose� a stag at Anlach, but they can end up getting hurt in this process.

::Calves (Fawns)::

Fawns are born about 8-9 monthes after breeding.

Newborn fawns can stand, walk run in about an hour after birth.

Calves are suckled for about 2-3 hours just after they are born. The time decreases over time.

They lose their white spots two months of birth.

Calves are weaned 7-9 monthes after birth.

Fawns will age appropriately, leaving their mother at about 2-3 years of age, though they will remain close to her for a bit longer, doe fawns often stay close to her longer, even though she became independent a while ago.

Fawns can die at birth or from predators.

In the game, fawns will age like everyone else. But fawns can be born stillborn or die or natural caused like weather etc. at birth if rules are broken by the parents OR it can just happen. Please decide the fawns name and player quickly so I can update the members list.

::Battle::

Stags don�t fight to kill. Antlers are locked and they jostle about, trying to shove the other one out of the way. Hinds don�t fight unless they are under serious threat from predators and don�t have the option to run. Deer will always take run over fight. Hinds don�t fight each other.

Fights are fought where the herd lives.

All fights 7 challenges must be taken, otherwise is a lose-by-default

If a fight is not replied to in 2 days, then it�s a win by default.

Stags fight by locking antlers and pushing each other until one in knocked out of the way or gives up. Although bucking and kicking are used at times when antlers have not grown in yet, or are growing.

Fights are fought 1 on 1 between Garra.

Only Scarrain may sharpen their antlers on rocks and on trees and may gang up to fight.

Hinds (and antler-less) stags can also 'box' or buffeting with their heads and kicking. This is the way hind's fight

You can bite but mainly only Hummel's teeth are sharp enough to do any real damage.

::Powers::

You cannot join with powers.

The power of one�s well� power is ranked on 1-20 scale with tenths place decimals allowed. NOTE THAT POWERS CAN FADE AWAY OR WEAKEN OVER TIME. OR JUST VANISH.

Stroytellers and �healers� have very weak powers.

There are five types of power available (so far ;3) on this game, the following are the named set:
Ell, the ability to speak with other animals outside deer. Kalla, the power to heal. And�Ornware, the power to see past, present or future events in pools of still water, to be connected with a bird of prey (see through their eyes and know their thoughts), and to have some degree on mind-reading or psychic skills.
These are the newer powers which have names, but not really� They are:
The power to �make another deer fall �in-love� with you.� Handy for a problem in the rut-season. This power can only be broken by the caster of it or by someone with a 18.9+ Ornware. This �spell-like� power would make you seem like you�re the strongest/finest buck or the most beautiful hind on earth. Very few know they have this power. Those who do call it Cupere Venus. [Venus, root=Venus, love, desire. Cupid, root=cupido, desire, from, cupere, to desire�there @.@ see�it make more sense now, along with the fact that the Romans had some forces in Scotland long, long ago (but they where long gone by �now�)]
The fifth power and un-nammed power is one of the considered rarest of all abilities and even competes with (20) Ornware for the rarest ability, but it can only be used once. This power allows a deer to revive 1 dead deer, one dead deer once. The dead deer is re-born, and looks the same as they grow up etc. But remembers nothing. (How this is done is up to you, you may fake their re-birth if they are yours or have them bon to one of your charries. If you want to revive someone else�s charrie, talk to them first. I must be asked before this is used. To be re-born, the hind does not need a stag to conceive a fawn.) Just touch the body of the dead on the muzzle with your own and that�s it.

::Helpful::

Stags �roar� during the rut to show off and make challenges.

Hinds �bark� during calving and also as a warning to others.

Most of the time, deer are �quiet� but you guys are allowed to talk , talk and talk away :-D

Red deer eat lichen, rough grasses, low shrubs and heather.

After antlers are shed, other red deer will often lick and chew them to try and get at some calcium.

Salt is liked and sometimes red deer with lick stones to get some.

::All that is Left::

You may not join with powers, if you receive them, I�ll tell you.

All the Garra or Free Herds (Highland Herd & Stone Circle Herd) have Outriders, Corps; believe in Herne, the Forest God and hold Anlach.

The Great Herd is told that Herne and Starbuck etc. don't exsist and are forbidden to speak of them. They don't hold Anlach, the rut.

Events that occur must be followed, events/weather might change even if the sea doesn't; weather and seasons are posted, as is the year. Each season in total is 10 days (includes early, mid and late)

Predators are monitored, as for mini-plots, if you want something, talk top me on OOC.

**Please look over the Lexicon and other pages for info. reguarding the game, thank you very much! for other details about terms and extra info regarding sides!.

After posting on the joining board, please wait to accepted (if you already have an accpeted member, just post on joining & play), the secret word/phrase is:
�Pretty leaves, pretty colors.�

Red Deer Info.
The above link is an excellent source of info. and is where I got most of this data.