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1. Obviously, no roleplay that goes beyond PG13.

2. No sex or heavy petting.

3. Gory, bloody scenes are allowed, but in moderation and with a purpose.

4. Fighting scenes must be conducted under strict rules, and I will interrupt if these rules are broken.

5. Fights take place like this:

Lion tries to bite Hyena. Hyena responds with whether or not he was hit, and how badly. Hyena may then attempt to strike back. Lion responds in a similar fashion.

Good: Hyena lunges at Antelope and snaps at his shoulder.

Bad: Hyena sinks his fangs into Antelope's shoulder.

The second example is controlling the other person's character. I will not tolerate powerplay like that.

6. You may not kill each others' characters without discussing it with me and everyone involved first.

7. Swearing is fine if it suits the time and the character's personality. Again, in moderation.

8. No short-hand typing. You, not u -- are, not r -- be, not b. You get the idea.

9. Please remember to capitalize the first word of any sentence, I, and characters' names.

10. Narrative style roleplay is preferred to *s and -s.

11. Out of character posts must be in ((double brackets)), but keep OOC to a bare minimum!

12. After you sign up, you will do an introductory scene with one of the GMs, after which you may begin roleplaying with other characters.

13. If your character becomes idle (you don't post) for two months, they will not continue to change until you become active again for at least a month.

14. Make your roleplay posts to three lines long, bare minimum, please.

15. As a policy I will not be accepting any animals not found in Continental Africa or any animals capable of flight or long-distance swimming.

16. No unheard of interspecies romance. Friendship, to a degree, is fine. But I don't want to hear the Aardvark and Elephant version of Romeo and Juliet. The only exception is for animals for which there is evidence of interbreeding - like servals and caracals. Even then, it should be exceptionally rare.

17. The names of the animals will be what the animals call themselves, not how the researchers refer to them, so they should be African names. For ideas, try messing around with an online translator or a baby name website. This means there shouldn't be any giraffes named Bob or cheetahs named Rose running around.

18. Only five animals of one species may live on the island at once, up to three of which can be one gender. That means, for example, there can only be five lions on the island at once, and no more than three males or three females. The only exception is breeding. Once the five-limit is reached, that species will be closed during writing contests and flatsales.

Are these pets roleplay required?
Yes.

What if I become inactive?
You will be sent a warning PM after a few months, and after several months your character will be ICly considered 'taken to the Facility' and OOCly will stop changing.

What if I become inactive for a really good reason?
If you're swamped by work or seriously sick, send me a quick PM explaining why, and I can invent a situation where your character will ICly be temporarily removed from the environment, and will be re-introduced upon your return.

Can I have crazy, unnatural colours, or piercings, or wings, or glowing eyes?
No.

Can my character be wearing a chain or collar or other clothing?
All characters will have either a tag or a tracking collar. For things other than tracking devices, you should have a good reason ICly and you discuss it with the artist.

Can I have more than one?
When you've had your character for three months and you've been active, you may obtain a new character from a breeding or an auction, but not a contest or raffle. You have to play both of them though, or else one will be taken away.

Will you be doing cosplays? (Like from the Lion King?)
No.

Can they die?
Yes. But only if you want them to. This could be due to age (so that you have more time to play new characters, or simply because it's realistic) or because of a very serious fight / attack, or by being taking into the Facility and euthanised. But, it's completely up to the owner/roleplayer.

Can they breed??
Yes. But only among animals of the same species, and they have to roleplay out being in love or having a romantic encounter (PG13!) of some sort before you can request that they have cubs/pups/foals/kits/whathaveyou. Keeping in mind that you must talk to us before you go around saying that your lovely young baboon lady Kula has a bun in the oven - you need permission first, because it involves producing new artwork. We'll generally only deny you cubs for a good reason.

What is likely to happen is that your character will have a litter and two or three will survive to cubhood, at which point you can request to play one of them, vouch for someone else who should play them, or have them made available through a writing contest. They could even all die, if that's what you want to happen for the sake of roleplay / character development.

If you choose to 'keep' one of the offspring as your own, you will have to pay 10k. Otherwise they will go for 20k in a contest, and upwards of 10k in an auction. You cannot give the pup away to a friend for free. The players of the parents (you!) will, however, be judging the competition alongside me, so they get a strong say in who does or doesn't end up playing their character's children.

This section is constantly updated.