--] SIGNO AMISSO [--

Machines or Plants? What say the masses?

Machines obviously.	21.7%	[ 20 ]
Plants for life.	35.9%	[ 33 ]
I just can't choose!	29.3%	[ 27 ]
non-opinion/gold	13.0%	[ 12 ]
Total Votes:			[ 92 ]

[Signo Amisso]

CLICK THE BANNER TO GO TO THE GUILD

[Signo Amisso]

CURRENT NEWS
❧ 9//25//12 === We have launched. Mission build a B/C is a go.




OLD NEWS
❧ 9-//-24-//-12 OFFICIAL MINIPET ARTIST CHOSEN. Say hello to Patmos!
❧ 4-//-24-//-12 NEW THREAD LAYOUT STARTED. A new color scheme has been chosen to reflect new graphics.
❧ 10-//-25-//-11 FIRST POLL CLOSED. The growth recs are fair according to the majority.
❧ 9-//-03-//-11 OFFICIAL IT POSTED UP. YAY.

[Signo Amisso]

GENERAL SHOP RULES
❧ PLEASE use some common sense. Be courteous, don't suck up or beg for pets, if you do not win an event
XXXXdo so with grace. There are always other chances. Keep the shop cool bros.
❧ For basic functioning in this thread it's recommended that you read all of the first page, and the information
XXXXsection of the guild.
❧ Try not to bump/double post. It may not be the "most active" B&C in the world, but we don't need the clutter.
❧ This is an RP required thread, meaning you need some sort of activity. While I myself am not the most active,
XXXXwe will send a notice after about 3 months of inactivity, another after two more weeks, the final after another
XXXXweek. If you haven't sent word or shown activity in the thread, we will seize your pet. We don't expect RP posts
XXXXat each of these time points, (although it would be nice) we simply ask to be kept informed.
❧ There is no Co-Ownership. This applies to all pets, no exceptions.

RP RULES and GUIDELINES
❧ For the moment all RP, except for the growth-missions, take place on the main island. As more people
XXXXprogress and complete a pilgrimage, the more places will be unlocked.
❧ First and foremost, this B&C, like everything else on Gaia, is meant to stay in the realms of PG13 or
XXXXPG16 content at most. Take anything else out of the forums. You may wish to RP a more mature
XXXXthread, but we do not wish to read it.
❧ ALL pets are named after deities (Thor, Hera, Horus etc.) or mythological figures (death, war, etc.).
XXXXUsers can be named whatever you like. This has no bearing on the story, it's just to keep pets with
XXXXmythical names, instead of names like "Steven."

[Signo Amisso]

❧ A NEW WORLD IS CRAWLING OUT OF THE RUBBLE. AN OLD EVIL HAS BEEN UNLEASHED.

There were two factions: One of engineering and clockwork magic, the other of alchemy and the nature of things.
What had begun as petty disputes about the way their world should be headed turned to war. It lasted for centuries.
It lasted until no one could remember a world that wasn't ruled by fighting. Once Guardians were introduced both
factions were caught in a bloody stalemate, neither giving any ground. The beasts of war eventually grew and evolved
on their own, taking on new forms. Gaia was the first. A child of the Alchemic Faction, the magics used to create her
grew and changed over her short life until all at once she bloomed, taking on a human form. She would not be the last.


A century or two more, Gaia and a younger Guardian, War, and their partners rose to lead their respective Factions.
The battle still raged, people still died. But their reign would not end quietly. Both Factions were at fault for the inevitable
cataclysm that befell their world. Oceans took entire cities into their depths, mountains crumbled, fires raged, and a
storm fell over the land -- the lightning did not stop for years. When the skies cleared, the earth's shaking quelled, there
stood only MISTWICK. Every engineer in the Machine Faction had given all they had, even some of their lives, to keep
the shields up over the city. To protect their people. Twenty-four men and woman gave their lives to save thousands over
the course of the storm. Each now has a statue in the Hall of History. The Alchemists were not so lucky. They came,
broken and sickly, weak from surviving, their home forest finally falling in the last few months. They sought safe haven,
they sought a home. And in an unusual show of kindness, one that none of the previous Machine leaders had ever shown,
War and her User made a deal. Peace would reign between the two Factions, Machinery and Nature would exist in harmony,
in exchange for every surviving tome of knowledge being collected and added into the Grand Tower. All secrets would
be gone between the Factions.

The deal was accepted. The two factions became one.

It has been half a century since the Sundering, and refugees aren't coming as often anymore. The city is adjusting to
the sudden addition of trees and pools and gardens, but the people are making amends. There is honest peace. But
how long can it last?

[Signo Amisso]

❧ GENERAL INFORMATION
Here at SIGNO AMISSO there are two types of Guardians. Machines and Homunculi. While there are various names for each depending on who you ask in the the city, the main thread will refer to each as such to make things easier on everyone. Both of these types have their own key features, and their own "Essences." But all Guardians start in an animal form. Originally, before they gained human forms, they were war constructs. Battle-field dogs, carrier pigeons, spy beetles, beasts of burden like horses, etc. etc. While there is no longer a war to fight, there is still the rare enemy to protect the city from, missions to complete, and jobs that only Guardians can accomplish. Each Guardian is also assigned to a User, an owner-created character. They're magic users, hence why they get a Guardian assigned to them. Each Guardian has 4 stages, both factions having the same basic changes, but different features between each faction, and each individual.

All flatsales are priced at 25k. All semicustoms are 600k. All customs are priced depending on the artist.

❧ STAGE ONE:

The first stage of any Guardian's life is that of an animal. While built like their real-life counterpart their essence makes them very different. Machine Guardian essences include metals and precious gems or crystals. Homunculi essences are based in nature, ferns, pieces of trees, flowers, and even fruits. Each Guardian is born knowing how to use a type of magic, whether or not it's complementary to their User's magic is often a coin toss.

GROWTH REQUIREMENTS

Create and Complete a journal.
3 solos or journal entries.
4 PRP/Event RP/ or ORPs
1 Growth mission

❧ STAGE TWO:

The second stage is when a Guardian takes a human form. The retain some traits of their previous form, be it tails, animal-like ears, eyes, etc. and it's common for piece of their body still reflect their essences. Be it a metal arm, or plant material instead of skin. They're still mostly human, but it often very obvious that they aren't. At this stage their magical growth has grown and they now have the ability to use both their own magic, and their User's magic.

GROWTH REQUIREMENTS

4 solos or journal entries.
6 PRP/Event RP/ or ORPs
4 Missions*
1 Story Mission

❧ STAGE THREE:

Your Guardian has fully matured and reached their full potential. They're less human than they used to be and some even sport extra limbs. Their appearances vary as wildly between individuals as they do between actual people. Rarely ever has any Guardian surpassed this level of growth.

❧ STAGE FOUR:

This is much like an "elder" stage in many other shops, and will probably never be reached by an "owned" Guardian. Currently
War and Gaia are the only stage 4's to have survived the Sundering.

[Signo Amisso]

❧ SETTING

The main setting for this shop is a singular island chain. All together it's about the size of the United Kingdom of our world, pretty small in the grand scheme of things, but large enough to hold a fair amount of people. The main island is shaped like a bowl with a chunk missing, the sides curling up into peaks and mountains, shear cliffs along nearly all sides. Aside from Mistwick, the central city and hub of daily life, there are only small settlements in the rolling hills. Mostly agricultural, tending massive greenhouses or keeping herds of livestock grazing across in the interior of the island. There is the larger settlement to the northern side, perched atop the cliffs with the Observatory.

The Southern Archipelago was ravaged in the storms, but with the arrival of the Homunculi and their faction, life has bloomed there in force. Along with the addition of a city the spreads almost as far as the roots it's built upon, there are several port settlements along the other smaller islands. While far from rebuilt, the Islands are getting to there, life is returning to as normal as it can under the circumstances. Rubble and empty skeletons of homes and buildings still litter some area, a veritable graveyard of ships line the cliff walls, hidden just deep enough to keep from dragging more down with them, more being raised almost daily by talented Users, the hulls being salvaged and used for material in building up new settlements.

❧ NPCs and FACTIONS






The MACHINE faction has always been home to people who wish to further the use of magitech and those who seek knowledge above all else. But even with this seemingly peaceful goal, they've been known since the beginning of the war as monsters on the battlefields. Bloodthirsty and ready to take everything from an enemy just to see victory. Their leaders, Yomer and his Guardian, War, are the most peaceful leaders of the faction to date. With a gentle hand they've led their faction to peace and prosperity, even uniting both factions when the Alchemists showed up, battered and broken, at their doorstep. Most members of this faction see War as their leader, Yomer the advisory, regardless of their being equal in terms of power. This has been a very carefully pieced together ruse. War has a voice you listen to, a certain power to her tone and body language that makes someone pay attention and take notes, making her a perfect figure head. (Having a metal mask on nearly permanently and having a body made partially of actual fire helps.) In reality Yomer is in control of much of their people's dealings and the reason behind the war even turning slightly in their favor before the Sundering.


In the workings of the shop War is the one to give out first time missions, wanting to test her people personally. Yomer often watches over political matters and attends the births of new Guardians in War's stead. The Citadel is where they are always found, being the last and strongest line of defense against invasion, should the threats of a ruin world finally fall down upon their walls. A pet owner who wishes to interact directly with either of these NPCs should first speak to either Static or one of the Faction Mods. (Platy or Pisto) We do not mind you mentioning them in passing in your solos, since they are important figures and if you're spending much of your time at the Citadel, then you're going to see them around if nothing else.









The ALCHEMIST faction has always been slightly more "peaceful' at a casual glance than the Machines were in the war. In reality both sides had their share of heroes and horrors. Gaia has always had a place in history, whether she wants it or not. She and her user, while both look in their mid to late thirties, are actually perhaps the oldest surviving User and Guardian team. Both live a bit of Gaia's nature magic, giving her the lifespan of even the oldest of trees. Despite what people may think of her, or the appearance she may give in important talks, she's a strong leader, her User Hallai taking an actively backseat role to let Gaia's strong personality flourish, but really they're both a couple of jokers. They take their role very seriously, but they're far more approachable than many would think.


In the workings of the shop Gaia protects 'Tree Home' and the magical tree her people's Guardians are born from. She has less interaction with the younger or just Accessed Users, but many healers and scholars often seek her out for their missions. A lot more of the Alchemist's knowledge was lost than that of the Machines, Gaia often giving out missions when she receives leads on stashes of knowledge of refugees. being the eldest surviving creature around she's also the one who knows most about the world's make-up before the Sundering. Scouts will often report directly to her when traveling her faction's old homelands. Hallai oversees new births from the tree, making sure new Guardians respond well than that they don't have any complications, as the tree they have is still very new. As with War, a pet owner who wishes to interact directly with either of these NPCs should first speak to either Static or one of the Faction Mods. (Platy or Pisto) We do not mind you mentioning them in passing in your solos, since they are important figures and if you're spending much of your time in Tree Home, then you're going to see them around if nothing else.

[Signo Amisso]

❧ CURRENT MACHINES

❧ CURRENT HOMUNCULI

[Signo Amisso]

❧ CLICK THE HOUSE DRAKE TO CONTINUE ON TO THE BESTIARY AND LEARN ABOUT THE VARIOUS MINIPETS.

Our bestiary is still being worked on, it should be ready for view by the time the actual grand opening even kicks off. Do bare with us.

[Signo Amisso]

Missions are given to each team of Guardian and User. Missions aren't always the same either.
The most common type of mission is either one sent out into the ruined world to find knowledge
or to find survivors to bring back. Sometimes there are reports of strange lights or sights from
refugees and teams are sent out to investigate. The rarest of missions is those of rediscovery.
A Guardian and their User are sent out to find old leaders and important people. There were
other stage 4 Guardians before the Sundering. But after it only War and Gaia remained. When
one of these missions is successful enough, or several are sent to the same place, it may trigger
a meta-event. These usually result in the opening of pet types that were previously locked and
the introduction of new NPCs.

❧ GROWTH MISSIONS
A growth mission is the one that involves a stage 1 Guardian and their User being sent out into the world to find either, depending on your Faction, a tome or scroll of knowledge. Or a relic of old magic. So many books, and so much knowledge was lost during the Sundering that the Machine Faction has made it a tradition to seek out these texts and return them into the half-empty shelves of the Great Tower. The Alchemic Faction strives for advances in magic, which has grown harder with their old spells often lost with their owners. So they've begun sending their new recruits out in search of lost artifacts. These artifacts range from crystal orbs, enchanted necklaces, to even Guardians who have lost their User's to the Sundering, yet somehow remained alive. They are lost souls who need to be put to rest, their hearts recovered for the magic.

❧ META-TRIGGER MISSIONS
Often when teams are sen to the same areas often enough they bring with them something far more valuable than knowledge or magic. They bring with them one of the Lost Masters. A Lost Master is a stage 4 that had been lost in the Sundering. Much like War and Gaia they are far more powerful than any regular Guardian, and their Users are far more seasoned, like those of the Faction Leaders. With a Lost Master comes a meta-event. They can be small, like just opening a new area on the map, to large, like introducing new types of pets that were locked until now, and adding new home-locations to the island chain. It can even totally change the make-up of the world again. Say, if an ancient evil were to rear his ugly face. Don't expect these too often.

[Signo Amisso]

[Signo Amisso]

[Signo Amisso]

❧ WHITE LIST ❧

THE PD CREW -- For being awesome encouraging people. Without several of
these wonderful folks this shop would never have even started.

❧ BLACK LIST ❧

NOBODY. YAY!

[Signo Amisso]

❧ SHOP MULE

❧ SHOP OWNER / ADMINISTRATOR / LEAD ARTIST
staticsleeper

❧ HEAD MODERATOR / FACTION MOD / FACTION MOD / MINPET ARTIST
ex o ex snoof, pistolsys, X Purple--Platypus X, Patmos of Endtimes

[Signo Amisso]

❧ LINKS IN

[url=][img]http://i1104.photobucket.com/albums/h334/staticSLEEPER/Signo Amisso/ADVERTone.png[/img][/url]

❧ LINKS OUT

[Signo Amisso]

PET ART © staticSLEEPER (and various guest artists)
MINIPET ART © Patmos of Endtimes
SHOP LAYOUT © staticSLEEPER (inspired by countless others)
STORY IDEA © staticSLEEPER (with help from awesome people)

The main storyline and pet ideas is inspired from countless movies, stories, cartoons,
and such. Some things are even meant to be taken as homages to my favorites. A lot
of the places are directly taken from films such as Disney's Atlantis, Ghibli Films, and
lots of other older cartoon films and shows. While this is a work of original fiction for the
most part, don't be surprised if you suddenly notice a similarity.