Welcome to Gaia! ::

Click on the heart ( heart ) to go directly there (automatic new window).

1. heart Welcome & Announcements
2. heart Index/Contents & News
3. heart Rules & FAQ
4. heart Story
5. heart The RainBerries
6. heart Availability
7. heart Pet Trades
8. heart Breeding
9. heart Items
10. heart Familiars
11. heart Events
12. heart Owner’s List
13. heart Staff
14. heart Color Lists
15. heart Affiliates
16. heart Pet Pick Up 1
17. heart Pet Pick Up 2
18. heart Pet Pick Up 3
19. heart Fan Art & Commissions
20. heart Trelweny’s Pets
21. heart Role Play Timeline & Links
22. Reserved
23. Reserved
24. Reserved
25. Reserved
26. Reserved
27. Reserved
28. Reserved
29. Reserved
30. Reserved

September 2004
Trelweny was taking TheronDeVon for a walk in the woods of Gaia for peace of mind as well as a change of pace. The young infant giggled & grabbed at leaves as they passed from his perch on Trelweny’s back carrier. Intentionally she strayed from the appointed path, wishing to avoid other Gaians on this day. What she was looking for, even she could not say. Perhaps it was merely to find a purpose.

Far from the set path Trelweny noticed that there were patches that looked like they had been burned on the forest floor. Tiny spots that were far too small to have been from campfires, too big to be from a falling ember that had drifted away. Still pondering the strange phenomenon, she pushed aside a swath of lush foliage to step into a lovely little woodland clearing. There was a small spot of light filtering through the otherwise dense treetops overhead, but perhaps even more interesting was what looked to be a grape vine clinging to an old, dead tree in the center of the grove. More peculiar still was the single cluster of grapes growing from it. Unlike ordinary grapes, these were quite large and not one was the same color as another.

"Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet!" Trelweny exclaimed as she named the grapes' colors, TheronDeVon pulling his mother's hair happily at hearing her speak. "Pink, white, & black too… how odd…" Leaning in to take a closer look Trelweny was startled to have something zip between her and the grape cluster. A rather large flying something.

"Don’t touch them!" A little voice admonished her.

Shocked, Trelweny took a step back staring wide-eyed at the creature. "I'm sorry, I only wanted a closer look."

The creature fluttered her butterfly wings in agitation, little fox face bunching up in consternation. "Will you promise, mother to mother, not to hurt them?"

Confused, Trelweny tilted her head. "Hurt what? The grapes? I promise I won't hurt them."

"They're not just grapes," the fox informed her. "They're the last of our species. The last of the Rainberries."

“Rainberries?”

"Yes, Rainberries. I let myself be a little lax in guarding our young, seeing as you had a young one yourself." The winged fox let herself flutter near TheronDeVon's outstretched fingers, smiling as he giggled & waved at her trying to give "pettins". "Usually I deter anything in the vicinity with a breath of flame."

"Flame? That would explain the scorch marks alright."

Beaming, the little vixen nearly preened with pride. "Yes. I'm a fairly good shot. Most are deterred quite effectively." Getting back to business she looked the human in the eyes. "I am called Narwen. You are…?"

Flustering a bit, the young woman replied. "Trelweny. This is my son, Theron DeVon." Accepting the introduction with little more than a nod, Narwen fluttered behind the arbor, obviously expecting to be followed. Readjusting Theron's weight Trelweny hurried to do so. What she saw made her gasp. What she had thought were many trees clumped together just out of sight was really one large tree. There were many large openings spaced around it for what she could only guess would be for entering within. "Come in! Hurry up!"

Scurrying inside the largest opening as best as she could with Theron on her back & being careful of his little head, Trelweny followed the sound of the fiery vixen's voice through the center of the tree. It reminded her of her favorite comic ElfQuest and the forest elves home in the way rooms & passages seemed to be shaped as if by magic. "It’s like the Father Tree…" Trelweny mused to herself.

"Only our cluster has no fathers..." The she-fox retailed sadly. "We've not seen males of our kind since we came through." Trelweny tilted her head to look tearfully at Theron, who also would never know his father Timex. But at least he had a father at one time.

"A Mother Tree then, bigger on the inside than without." For indeed they had already traveled further inside the tree than seemed possible upon seeing it from the outside. "You said you came though... Came through what?" The vixen fluttered to an odd looking dead-end. Unlike the rest of the tree the wood here seemed dead. A true dead, dead-end. "Why it’s dead here!" Stating the obvious, Trelweny still had to touch it to be sure.

"This is where we came through. It closed up after our party went through to investigate. When we returned it was as you see it now, dead."

"But how is the rest of the tree still alive then?"

Narwen sighed warily. "We could only guess it was the innate magic of the tree. There are other doorways always showing up. Some lead to rooms, some I do not know. We were simply glad for the Arbor outside when we discovered we could not return home. Perhaps home is destroyed, I cannot know. The rest of my party had been scouting this world you call Gaia. They said many Gaians care for creatures like surrogate families. If the others of my scouting party had returned I would not care, but since they have not..." Her voice trailed off, choking on her pride. "Do you think you could help me foster them? Would you help me find good surrogate families for our young? I cannot care for so many young on my own."

Trelweny would have been moved to help without the teary entreaty, much less the sudden change of demeanor in Narwen from aloof & distant to worried mother.
"Of course I'll help. What else could a mother do?"

Smiling a soft reassurance, Trelweny' waited to see her new friend's reaction. She was rewarded with the first smile she had ever seen on the vixen's face. "Then we begin."

Nothing seemed to be happening to the berries. Trelweny turned to the guardian worriedly. "What is wrong with them, Narwen?"

"I don't know." The phoenix-fire vixen replied in despair. "I've never actually bred before... Only guarded. Now that you mention it though, I think other things were needed. If only I could remember what!!"

The young woman patted the Rainberry mother, hugging her gently when Narwen snuggled in for an embrace. "Don't worry, my friend. We'll find a way."

Trelweny asked all of her family to keep an eye & an ear out for anything that could be a clue. Though all did what they could, nothing was found. It was not until months later, when Spring had come around, that any progress was made.

It was May & Trelweny was taking the now one year old Theron for a walk once more. At the hard anniversaries to bear, a walk alone with her son had proven most beneficial. She sang as she walked; her child listening intently.

A breeze stirred as her song ended & she found her feet had taken her to the arbor. Theron's squeal of delight drew her eyes from the arbor's strange unchanging cluster to a sight she would have expected only in her dreams. A shoe -old & brown & likely made out of leather- sailed blissfully on the breeze complete with sail. Inside, a proud and dignified bullfrog stood.

Just like the song... Trelweny thought to herself as he came closer into view showing red vest, top hat, & perfectly sized silver cane.

(more to be written later)

None at this Time

Flat Sale cost of a RainBerry will be 2000 gold. A new thread will be linked from this post before the stated time of the flatsale. I ask that 10 minutes before the scheduled time of a flatsale all posting in the flatsale thread be stopped (except for time countdowns by RainBerries, the shop mule). Please state which Rainberry you would like to have, if there is a difference in them. If you are buying for a friend, please say so in your post (ie "I would like #3 for [friend's name] please" wink . Most bunches are random; the berry color in no way signifying the color of the RainBerry inside. That is why berry clusters stay on the arbors until ripe enough to form into Oysters. Once the Oysters are harvested, pictures of them will go up & the Flat Sale will be forthcoming. There will be no less than 24 hours notice before a Flat Sale.

Wait for the green GO! from RainBerries to post.

I may do random RP related flatsales or play-pets for those who participate avidly in the thread. This does not mean I want you to "bump" this thread! I’d much rather people at least attempt to talk.

I may also change out what needs to be said to secure an Oyster. Watch for the 5 minute pre-sale warning post & follow it's directions! wink Probably nothing difficult, & it would only be added onto the usual thing to say.

none at this time

last raffle winner: page 85

Auctions for Cosplays, Customs, &/or Special Editions will be in their own threads. Starting bid will be 4000 gold. Autobid is an Angelic Halo or June 2003 Letter (ha ha! I jest! wink ), unless otherwise noted. Auctions will run for at least 24 hours. Avoid snipe bids when possible please. Only Shop Items accepted are Fairy Wings for 35k and Bao for 25k. Letters and their items will be accepted at average Marketplace value (which I think can be checked on TekTek). Please tally your own bids. Inaccurate tallying on purpose will drop you out of that auction.
Do not bid what you do not have! Have your bid ready, please. If the auction winner does not send RainBerries a trade for the full amount of their bid within 24 hours they will lose their chance, unless previously stating that they may be gone for a few days from Gaia. The Auctioned RainBerry will then either be re-auctioned or offered to the next highest bidder at that time (depending on our moods & if we want to deal with another Auction so close together).

Customs will be available for 250k a piece. Major lineart changes or entirely new poses may cost more depending on difficulty. Custom prices may be subject to change or become more specified as needed.

I will be listing all times as Eastern (from Ohio, USA) to make it easier for me. Here is a Timezone Converter you can use to figure out the time for you.

Not Yet Available. Keep Watching.

When an arbor is in bloom, RainBerries interested in making young flock to the arbor. There they perform the Dance of Renewal in which the blossoms will derive genetic substance from the dancing RainBerries. There is no necessity for hetero coupling. Actually, there is no need for any coupling. A solitary RainBerry is as welcome to the dance as couples are. Couples wishing to have their specific traits shared by their young must partake of the dance as a pair. Singles will randomly share genetic traits of their young with others who danced. There is a benefit to hetero coupling, and that is a higher chance of multiple young. When RainBerries reproduce there is a guarantee of one young per adult dancer. In the case of a male-female dancing pair there will be at least 2 young per parent, or 4 young all together. No one is quite certain why this is, but it is speculated that the arbors do this to keep a reason for having both genders. It stands to reason that without this feature all RainBerries would eventually become genderless.

Rainberries can mate for life but do not always do so. However a life-mated pair can be expected to bear more young than a non-life-mated pair. It has been noted that full clusters have come from life-mated pairs in the past. To become a mated pair the Rainberries must show their interests in each other continually through RP. When it becomes clear that the Rainberries are only interested in each other you may ask that they be life-mated. At that time their certs will be adjusted to show their new life-mated status. If you have a life-mated rainberry & are planning to leave Gaia please be considerate & talk to the owner of your rainberry’s mate so that they are not necessarily left alone. Only Hetero couples may life mate.

Love-mating is also allowed, both to hetero & non-hetero couples. This may result in 1-2 extra berries in a mating flight. Again, this must be role-played before being bestowed, and must be on the certs before it will count towards a breeding.

At this time there is no cross-species breeding. If at such a time the story (aka RP) lends a couple to surpass the bonds & restrictions of race (& I feel like attempting to draw a mixed breed) there might be exceptions to this rule.

There is to be no parent-child or true sibling pairings. Children of the same parents are siblings, even if they are from different clusters. Similarily, Rainberries of the same cluster do not always have the same parents. The first cluster is a good example of this, each Rainberry being the daughter of a different mother.

To secure your RainBerry a place in the dance, please post "Sign [name of RainBerry] up for the Dance of Renewal" when there is an Arbor in bloom. To secure a couple's spot, please post "Sign [name of RainBerry 1 & name of RainBerry 2] up for the Dance of Renewal" by both owners if the RainBerries are separately owned. Make all posts here in this thread unless otherwise stated.

Cost is 1000 gold per dancing RainBerry, payable by their owner. Please send all breeding costs to with the Subject "Breeding Fee for [RainBerry’s name]" to Rainberries.

If you choose to sell, raffle, or auction off your young, we request that 10% of all proceeds be returned to the shop. They may also be given as gifts to friends, nothing due to the shop. Every third offspring however shall be for the shop to sell. This is to ensure fairness to artist & colorists so that they do not tire of breedings or feel they are doing a lot of work for little gain.

The way this would work is if a rainberry had 3 young, 1 would go to the shop. The owners would choose which they would keep & which to let the shop keep. In the case of single rainberries having single young, the owner can offer the offspring to the shop after either of the first 2 breedings or wait & automatically give the shop the third. This will be discussed more between owners of breeding rainberries & the shop once breedings commence. This is to be figured out after my mind stops reeling from trying to figure out what I meant to begin with. wink

This is subject to change if the shop finds this system ineffective

@_@ Did I say familiars? Keep checking back for news on these creatures!
Ideas: bees, crickets, butterflies & other insects.

Peoples we luvs!

treading on thin ice…
none yet… smile

Not Welcome back. :*frowns*
none yet… Let’s keep it that way!

heart All the wonderful people who have donated to the shop. heart