First things first, NO pornography, and I mean it. If there is even a single mention, your band. I have IPs remember, and I will use them if necessary.

NO prejudice of any kind will be tolerated at all. No deliberate, offensive racial, religious, politic or sexual prejudice. Also, avoid political and/or religious matters in the OOC boards - you never know if the person on the other side of the screen will get offended, you'll never know the reaction of other player. This is supposed to be a world apart from reality, made for fun. Everyone has the right to their opinions, its just a matter of knowing when to voice it or not.

Penumbra is a horse role-playing game only, I don't want to see any unicorns or anything of the sort.

Intermediate to Advanced role players are who I expect, I understand what it's like to be a beginner, I will direct you toward a rpg that is more your level as a place to grow if I feel you are not up to par when you join. When you join, you'll be judged, if your accepted we'll send you to one of the realms, however, if you wish you may request a realm. After you've been accepted once, or if we know who you are, you will not have to put an entrance post when you join a new character. In you're joining post I will ask for your alias, email or messenger contacts, and a short summery of yourself for the record of players I will be keeping; you, however, will be in charge of keeping track of charictors on the members board.

I would like to keep OOC arguments and disagreements within IM's and e-mails, that way, we keep it out of Penumbra. And even in private conversations outside of Penumbra, keep it mature, this is supposed to be fun, remember?

Cursing is allowed but not favored. Keep it to a reasonable amount please. Remember, people will not find it respectable if you're horse curses like a rapper.

A strange new twist to Penumbra is that it is to be a game of completely new charicters, meaning you are a complete equal to the next horse. You may have limeage back to whoever, but that makes you no different to the next horse. Why, you may ask? Because Penumbra is a new game, a new beginning, and so all it's occupents will be new as well. The secondary reason is that all your beloved characters have already risen to greatness, they cannot rise any higher, and if you attempt to have it so you will only tarnish the nobility that you ended with. I recomend that the horses you have at Penumbra don't leave Penumbra, though that is not something that is in my controll, and I don't wish it to be. That decition is entirely up to you.

Like Hyla had been, and yes, I did get this idea from them, there will be a limit of one character per person. This is for the reason that you will get into that character completely, and you won't counter play, meaning if there is a raid, you can be completely true, and not be playing both sides. It means that you'll know this character to a T, and can fucus completely upon it. If you have a foal, you may play it along with your main character. Same goes for twins, though they are quite rare. This means the most characters that you could possibly play is three.

Charictors

In Penumbra, horses can talk, have friends, emotions, family, plot things, it's basically a nonrealistic rpg. They'll remember their parents and acknowledge their relatives. They're gifted with human reasoning, speech and sentiments, that's all.
However, just like humans, horses have physic limitations typical of theirs, exactly like real-horses have. A horse can't fly or climb trees. Keep up with your horse's physique; for example, no horse can shred flesh, since their teeth are blunt. They have limits. Respect them.
Don't exaggerate, though. Not because your horse can talk, that you'll make a whole post only of incessant ramblings. Explore the nuances of real horses’ gestures and poses. For example, a horse's equivalent to human handshake is a slight touch of muzzles. Think human soul (or better!) in a horse's body. You can also explore the thoughts and stuff.

In Penumbra there will be no claiming or anything of the sort, here, mares and stallions alike are equals. Both mares and stallions alike will be assigned to a herd upon arrival. Mares and stallions can find a single mate and be faithful for the rest of their lives, or if it doesn't work, they can separate. Each of a mare's foals can be out of a different father, as well as a stallion can go impregnating a dozen different mares without keeping loyal, be a complete Casanova, if you want. Have fun here. You're completely free on this matter. Mares can go in season and breed whenever you want and have the foal after the period of pregnancy you want. The foal is created by whoever will play it, with status defined by the player or by the mother of the foal. You do not have to join a foal, but it would be much appreciated if you put it on the Taken Names board. Just remember, mares aren't breeding machines. Make sure you keep things under control and realistic.

The Beginning

To start playing in Penumbra, you must join your character in the Shores Of Resurrection. There you will find two other boards - Name Reservation and Taken Names. If you are accepted, one of the Birdies will assign you to a realm after your post is looked over. When you're accepted, is up to you to put your characters name in the Taken Names board, please keep up with this so we can keep a record. Put your horses name under the correct letter, and the other information I ask for in your post. Before you post anywhere else please put your horse on this board, it helps us so much with records and such. When your horse dies or leaves, post that under its name. Before you join, I recommend to check both Name Reservation and Taken Names boards to see if your character's name is used or will be used. If you don't, I have no responsibility in this matter, you have to work it out on your own.
That understood, you must wait for your acceptance reply. It shouldn't take long. When you receive it, you can get your horse to the assigned realm and start playing with us.

Your acceptance is not guaranteed. Put passion behind your words, use your talent! You must also work to be a part of your realm, your work will pay off greatly in the future. Keep a verity of personalities as well, I don't want to see all angels or all villains, keep a balance and find the in-between.

Wars, Raids, Mutinies, and Stealing

Please keep in mind I don't like wars, I'm not a violent person. However, the role-playing world is a world apart from reality, and in the role-playing world war is fun. I do not encourage any form of physical violence in real-life, but in the land of Penumbra, it is a completely different thing, because in real life, I am one of the most against-war people you'll meet. War may be called when a whole realm embarks into action against another, with no objective but proving fight superiority, especially if there's some sort of misunderstanding or animosity between the herds. A raid, on the other hand, has the objective of stealing individuals from one realm and transporting them to another. Fights in wars and raids need judgment from a neutral party, meaning you can contact me (Holly) or Mellow and ask for a judge, or we'll judge it. Unless you or your opponent assumes defeat, in that case, no judges are necessary.
In a war/raid, there can be double-teaming but nothing bigger than that. Three on one isn't fair. Keep wars and raids relatively short, please, because if it runs over a week I'll call it a draw.
Eventually, Penumbra will have three realms, and when that happens an alliance between two realms can be made. If this happens and both realms want to raid or put war upon the third realm, they may do so. False alliance's may not be made, so you cannot raid an allied realm. If a realm is in war, they may call for help upon he other realm, allied or not.
The winner in a war or raid is the realm with a bigger score. The score is based on fights won. Wars and raids take place in the attacked cadre's territory. If there is any OOC arguments during the war, it'll result in punishment. Your realm might even be considered the loser of the war if it gets bad enough. You will be granted 2 posts and 3 attacks per post in your battle. All posts must be complete before a neutral person or one of us (Holly or Mellow) will judge it.
If you believe there was something wrong in the posts or in the judgment consult one of us. If it is proved right, we'll ask for correction. If not, its also ok. But don't try to trick us. It won't work. You are granted 5 days to respond to a challenge (excluding noted absence). If there is no response, you loose automatically. When a battle is rolling and you do not reply within a 5-day period of time without acceptable reason you will lose.

If your horse looses a fight during a raid, it automatically becomes a hostage of its adversary's realm, unless of course another horse comes to your aid.
The hostages can be traded for other hostages that the realm might have lost. We've seen that the raid's objective is to capture opposite realm's members. Those not used for trade must remain in the realm that captured them, as prisoners and future realm members. If a lead or second in command wishes to rescue a hostage, they can either attempt to steal them back, compromise with the other realm, or simply challenge for them back. If the challenge is won by the hostage's original leader, the opposing realm cannot challenge for them back. Leaders and second-in-commands cannot be taken as hostages. They can, however, be killed, if you get the other player's permission. If the horse you've stolen resists you completely and hates your guts, it's probably best to let them go, only because the point of a raid is not to torture the persons character. Remember, the purpose of a raid is to strengthen your realm by gaining new and loyal horses, if it's obvious they're not going to be loyal, what's the point?
Remember, all raids and wars must be approved by us, otherwise, your in deep trouble

You can plan mutinies as you like for the fall of a ruler, for any reasons that come from your mind. Or no reason at all, as long as at least 60% of the realm is on your side. You must get permission from me and Mellow first though, and if you attempt to create a mutiny without our permission you will fail and be exiled from your realm, there may also be worse consequences, depending on the situation.
When you plot a mutiny upon the leaders, you must take care. You can be intercepted and exiled before you put your plan on action. Remember, a conspirer is on thin ice. The conspirers, though, can get the support from another realm against their current leaders. Anything goes here. Just take care. Some leaders might not be as easy to be overthrown than you think.

Stealing can be done on the stealing board, you may have a nice stealing post in slight riddle, but nothing undoable. If no one replies in four days, the horse is now forced to go to the realm that stole it, if the horse you've stolen resists you completely and hates your guts, it's probably best to let them go, as I stated in the raid section, because the whole purpose is to make your realm stronger by getting another realm's horse and making it loyal to the other realm, and that point is deflated it the horse obviously won't ever be loyal.

Remember, don't overdo any of these things, it can ruin a game. Don't go calling war, raiding, stealing, or plotting mutinies without good reason and planning.

Fighting

Powerplaying is highly discouraged, obviously, and if there if powerplaying in one of your attacks, you will loose all the points from that attack. Powerplaying is when a character dodges excessively and completely, refuses to accept reasonable and realistic damage, when a role-player gives his character abilities that are impossible for any horse, regardless of age or skill, such as to rip out the jugular with his or her teeth, or to play the other person's horse, such as stating how bad the damage to the other horse was, or how the other horse reacted to your attack or whatever. You guys should know this, as powerplaying is forbidden at just about every advanced horse rpg. A role-player has little choice when writing a post of good quality than to assume that to an extent their attacks have been effective, particularly when strategy is involved. There is a difference between writing a good post and insisting that it would be very difficult evade, then powerplaying and saying this damage did happen. Defense and powerplaying are different things. By defense, you understand moving away from an attack or blocking, so it reaches the horse elsewhere, as less lethal, with less strength, or less painfully, and rarely, if the attack was ridiculously stupid, you can dodge. For example, if the horse tried to kick your cannon bone with their hind legs, you could simply rear and evade that completely because whoever thought up that attack was idiotic to believe that a horse would just stand still when hooves were flying at them. You can also counterattack while defending, this is not one of the 3 attacks. In the end, we (Holly and Mellow) will be the judges of powerplaying. To summarize this paragraph: keep dodging and powerplaying to the bare minimum.
Remember, however, that teeth and hooves are not to be underestimated either, as they often are. Think realistically, guys! Think about when you bring a horse in from it's field, and it has a bad cut that is quite deep, and possibly needs stitches! What do you think that's from? It's from a bite or kick! Remember, hooves are not like claws, and teeth are not like fangs, they aren't sharp, but it's the force that breaks bones and cuts flesh, think physics!

Knowledge of a horse's anatomy and motion is vital if you are to succeed in battle. Horses carry about sixty-five percent of their weight on their forelimbs. The hindlimbs act as the propulsion, they push the horse forward during motion - especially on quick motion. Ponies lift their feet and have a higher knee action because they are adapted to life on rough terrain, while light horses hardly bend their knees and thus cover more ground. Chances are your opponent will be moving (if they have enough brains to fill a teacup), so it may be important to know exactly how, if they do not specify. The skeleton is made of about 250 bones, with the skull having 34, and a horse has muscles in every part of its body. It is advisable to buy a book or find a site on the Internet with a labeled picture of a horse's body, and maybe one of the skeleton and muscles as well. Once again, we are the judges, and we will know if your character's attack is virtually impossible. However, keep in mind not everyone knows everything. Make your attacks and defense clear enough to the other person to understand. Also, you've no need of specifying bones and muscles names, or if you do, tell where it is. Nobody is obligated to know every single muscle and bone by name.

Although we are generally a nonrealistic RPG, we do not allow any horse to have magical or supernatural abilities of any sort. Insults and trashtalk are extremely discouraged, because it's mockery and it's stupid. Most likely, the judges take points off for it. Remember, this is about displaying strength, not the ability to swear or insult your opponent.

Activity

Stay active! I cannot stress that enough. Think about it. This is a game. We want it to be fun. What's the fun of sitting and doing nothing? Make friendships and alliances, interact with other characters. Let the ball roll, start intrigues, play around, pursue someone, know who you're dealing with. Activity depends on each one of us, not only of the leaders. If our game picks up and the activity rises, it will get more and more fun. We'll make stories, make friends. Our characters will suddenly become alive. Can that happen if you don't post enough to know your realm mates? Of course not. If you're not immediately responded, don't give up. Put your finger in others matters. Poke them until they notice you. If your inspiration is low, take a deep breath, listen to a nice music, pay attention to the lyrics ... at least, it works with me. Go read a book. Then come back ... you'll see. It'll pay the efforts. But remember: this is a game. No matter what, keep within reason. I don't wanna see people whining against players ... keep all controversy in character. But on the other hand, I don't want this game to become your life. Set a time aside for roll playing, but don't allow it to take over your life. Get a hobby, read, listen to music, roll playing is great, but not nearly as great as living.

I'd like to see quality over quantity. Penumbra is a game that will sooner or later demand your attention. There is no reason it should become your life, however, so this is a poor excuse for inactivity. Remember what I said above, don't let roll playing rule your life, but give it some time in the and let your creativity soar. We encourage posting daily, preferably posts of relevance and not a single short post just to increase the size of a thread. Fortunately for you, we will not impose a suffocating word limit. If you have the choice between three eloquent posts and six posts that you would be ashamed to call your own, go with three eloquent posts. And if you post something fairly good, but it's short, don't feel like you need to blabber on and on, if you feel you got everything said, and made it flow as nicely as you could, don't stress yourself to lengthen it, it's not always a bad thing to have a short post. This is not a valid excuse for appearing once a week with a ten-paragraph post, however. Use your common sense to determine how many posts and of what length you'll post. And, as a last bit of advice, instead of exhausting yourself with a ten post thread one day and finding yourself suddenly unable to post anything for the next two days, spread things out; be consistent.