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 Posted: Fri Feb 21, 2014 8:12 pm
「 MOUSE ✿ INFORMATION 」████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████
✿ █ o1 》 Biology of Mice
✿ █ o2 》 Social Hierarchy
✿ █ o3 》 Religion
✿ █ o4 》 Magic
✿ █ o5 》 Militia
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Posted: Sun Feb 23, 2014 11:00 am
「 MOUSE ✿ BIOLOGY 」████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████
✿ █ OOC NOTE 》 This is not all accurate to real world mice, as this is a fantasy setting where mice and rats are analogous to humans, so keep this in mind when roleplaying! You can totally be inspired by real mice as I was, but don't be upset when something doesn't quite match the real world.
✿ █ LIFESPAN & STAGES 》 Mice have a three week gestation period (21 days realtime and ICly), in which the pregnant parent (or parents, or family members) build nests to house their children. They like to decorate them with a variety of objects, including cloth scraps, jewelry, gemstones and rocks, and flowers.
After they are born, the blind, deaf, hairless and helpless pups are carefully placed into the nests, where they stay and are cared for by parents and family until they are two weeks old (realtime and ICly), when their eyes open and they learn to walk. They cannot be RP'd very much at this stage, and are referred to as "nestlings". Only after their children leave the nest can a parent breed again.
After the two weeks are up, they become juveniles, and look very much like their adult counterparts, aside from their small size. They are very curious and playful, and their personality and looks develop at this time. Their hair and clothes are generally much simpler than adult stage, and the time to get RP-eligible edits to their body is now. This stage lasts six weeks (real time and ICly), and many young mice decide around this time think about their future.
A little older than two months old, mice are considered adults. Now having all the natural edits and changes to their body that they will have (aside from RP edits or bonuses they may receive later), they are able to decide on a career path or join the militia, whatever they want to do! However, they are not able to breed for at least one month after they are an adult. So three months ICly and realtime.
Mice in the real world only live 1-2 years, however in this advanced society, mice can live a very long time. Magical and scientific advancements now place a mouse's lifespan from 20-40 years, though like all creatures, they are at the mercy of the gods for matters of war, predators and disease. You are free to kill off your characters at any age, but feel free to also have elderly mice who have lived a very long time as well.
✿ █ GENERAL BIOLOGY 》 Mice are omnivorous, though they lean heavily towards fruits and vegetables and insects. They may eat whatever and however you like, from cooking their food to being nearly exclusive carnivorous to drinking alcoholic beverages. Usually, most mice get enough moisture from their food to not need to drink, but they can if they desire.
Mice have excellent hearing and smell, and not too stellar vision. Though colorblind in real life, in Panya's forest mice can see colors just as well as a human could, and most mice enjoy pleasing colors and pretty decorations.
Mice are excellent swimmers and climbers. using their tails and dexterous hands to assist in everything they do.
✿ █ FUR COLORS 》 Mice (as well as rats) tend to be colored and patterned first and foremost the same as they do in life, with a wide variety of colors! White and black are popular fur colors, both as main fur colors and secondary ones, and nearly every color under a diluted spectrum is common. They can have any natural marking, and any unnatural marking so long as it could be seen as semi-natural (either to another animal, or loose shapes and such, and also swirls and stuff because I like them). Bright colors are allowed in smaller doses.
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Posted: Sun Feb 23, 2014 11:37 am
「 SOCIAL ✿ HIERARCHY 」████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████
✿ █ O 》 Panya's Forest is ruled by a monarchy of mice, who are now allied with the rat monarchy. They do not have a patriarchal society, with men and women being equals, though in the home, there is a vague air of matriarchy, where women are the heads of households. Any gender may join the militia, and no one is excluded from any task due to gender or sex.
Inheritance falls to the first child born to a mouse, regardless of their gender/sex. As they can have numerous children, with various parents, it's the easiest way to determine inheritance. In the case of a death of an heir, it would fall to the next child in line until one could be found. In some extreme cases (though mostly in the past and in rat culture), battles are fought to determine inheritance.
✿ █ ROYALS 》 Queen Luixa, the current regent of the mice and their kingdom.
Her mother, Queen Dowager Safiya
Her father, now deceased, King Krigen the Great.
Her heir and younger brother, Prince Andren.
Her other siblings, Princess Tilda, Prince Killian & Princess Veka.
✿ █ ROYAL COURT 》 The Inner Court, the Royal family and their advisers, and others who directly speak to and help the current reigning regent.
The General Court, which is made of lords, ladies and lieges (generally the greater lords, ladies and lieges who are leaders of their respective Houses), and they are to speak for the general populace. If someone has a formal request they may come to the court.
The High Priest or Priestess, who does religious work within the confines of the castle and Royal Haven. Currently a High Priestess, she is considered part of the Royal Court.
✿ █ GREATER LORDS, LADIES AND LIEGES 》Those who own larger tracts of lands, often with nobility that stretches back to the founding of Royal Haven and other old cities. Often the owners of the land cities rest on, and sometimes leaders of colonies. These are the most influential mice, with the heads of these Houses being on the General Court.
✿ █ LESSER LORDS, LADIES AND LIEGES 》These mice still own land, often a great deal of it, but they answer to greater lords and ladies. They may be newer nobility, or foreign vassals. Sometimes they become leaders of colonies. They have a fairly easy time with ascending their social rank, if they desire.
✿ █ PRIESTS AND PRIESTESSES 》Includes also Seers and Mystics, general religious officials who live and work in a city (particularly in altars and temples), and make official sacrifices, offerings and prayers to the gods. They are in charge of religious holidays as well.
✿ █ MILITIA MEMBERS 》Members of the Guard, Infantry, Calvary and Knights are pretty well respected members of society. They are trained with weapons and made to keep the peace and protect mice. Knights protect internally, and are often employed by lords and ladies. Guard protects borders, and Infantry and Calvary are part of the armies that the regent leads.
✿ █ MIDDLE CLASS & MERCHANTS 》The general populace falls under two categories, the middle class and the lower class. These are the common people. The middle class is more wealthy, and has a better chance of ascending social rank, though it's not as frequent. These mice are often sellers of items that the lower class makes. Merchants are often from other lands.
✿ █ LOWER CLASS 》More of the general populace. They are farmers and laborers, and other general people. They have a difficult time with changing social rank.
✿ █ OUTCASTS & EXILES 》 Generally mice who commit grievous crimes, or have sinned in the eyes of the gods. They do not live in cities, and are sometimes made to move to the frozen north to live outside the bounds of civilization.
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Posted: Sun Feb 23, 2014 11:38 am
「 RELIGIOUS ✿ INFORMATION 」████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████
✿ █ O 》 Although mice and rats have the same gods, mice are the more religious of the two. The religion, with no real name, is just referred to as "The Faith". It is a polytheistic and pantheon-styled religion, with many, many gods and goddesses, although five are seen as the most important. It is a matriarchal religion, with an emphasis on the female goddesses. Major gods work in pairs, as partner gods with a male and female god working in tandem to keep balance. Minor gods may also have partner gods.
Some mice allow certain gods to be their sole patron and dedicate their life to them, popular choices are Panya, Lilla and Sjeta (especially in the north). It is kind of unusual to do this for Pirena, but some do (Bloodspring is notorious for a cultish group of mice who have made Pirena their patron goddess, and sacrifice themselves to placate the dangerous goddess.
✿ █ PRIESTS, SEERS & MYSTICS 》 PRIESTS & PRIESTESSES: Any mouse can become a priest, and there is quite a bit of training to become one. They are versed in religion, and are keepers of the temples and altars. These are the religious figures who hold festivals and organize offerings and sacrifices for the gods. The High Priest or Priestess lives in Royal Haven and attends the Royal family, giving them spiritual guidance and anointing new priests, seers and mystics. They are allowed to have children, though many choose not to, to fully devote themselves to the gods.
SEERS: A mouse thought to be divinely blessed with extra sight, these mice are oft given prophetic visions and the ability to see ghosts, the crystalline fey, and the world beyond. For those able, they are often very good at magic, especially divination spells and reading into cards and omens. Seers help to determine when winter is coming, as the seasons are volatile and dangerous.
MYSTICS: The most prolific of magic users, they are able to use the most powerful of magic artifacts. Using the divine powers bestowed upon them, they can change a mouse's appearance to include beautiful wings, horns or any other such change they desire. Mystics are a rather rare class, as even though magical artifacts aren't too difficult to come by, the training and devotion necessary is hardly easy for most mice, and comes from very few. Mystics are highly regarded however, and often pass down their artifacts to their children or donate them to libraries.
✿ █ RELIGIOUS SITES 》 The most important religious site is the pool near Royal Haven called The Mother's Tears, where the sun and moon are always reflected into and as such, are always watched by Panya. All religious figures travel there, and certain rites are best performed in the eyes of the Mother. It is a beautiful, if ethereal place.
Besides that, there are temples with altars in all major cities, and most minor cities keep an altar for each of the main gods and goddesses. In these places, sacrifices and offerings are made, and mice and rats come to pray.
✿ █ RELIGIOUS TABOOS 》
o1. Eating the flesh of your fellow rodent. Cannibalism is a deadly sin.
o2. A parent having anything but a familial or platonic attraction to their children, and vice-versa. Parent-child incest is a deadly sin.
o3. Taking advantage of, or coercing someone to be with you. Rape is a deadly sin that will get you outcast or murdered.
o4. Taking the life of your own blood. Kinslaying is a deadly sin.
✿ █ PREVALENCE & OUTSIDERS 》It is believed by many mice and some rats, and those who do not believe are seen with confusion, though some foreign mice and rats do have other religions from their countries.
✿ █ DIVINE INTERACTION & SUPERNATURAL 》The gods communicate fairly often, mostly to mystics and seers. Prayers are often thought to be answered, and magic is of divine origins in Panya's Forest. The supernatural lore includes ghosts and the undead, as well as black magic monsters known as shadow wraiths.
✿ █ DEATH RITES 》Are a private affair that generally include a local religious figure, if available. Bodies being used as godly offerings are common occurrences in the north, while elaborate funerals with crystal coffins are common among the wealthy in the south.
✿ █ AFTERLIFE 》 Pirena eats the evil and the sinners, and Pepon punishes them. Lilla blesses the good and they live eternally with all others. The afterlife is a luscious summer land that flows with milk, honey and wine.
✿ █ MISCELLANEOUS 》Although mice and rats can be polyamorous or monoamorous, it is seen as a certain type of ideal to find your "one true love", because Lilla, the goddess of Love and Life, has only one mate with whom she creates children. Those who find this love can take a life-mating ritual and are seen as blessed, and will have more children than usual.
Because Sain is the god of peace, if you want to make amends with someone its common practice to offer food. Food is always present at negotiations and its seen as rude (and sometimes hostile) to not offer food to guests, if you can spare it.
Absolutely no stigma to being in a same-sex relationship, especially considering two main goddesses are mates. Mice in general are very relaxed about non-binary gendered mice as well, and various sexualities.
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Posted: Sun Feb 23, 2014 2:03 pm
「 MAGIC ✿ INFORMATION 」████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████
✿ █ SOURCE 》 The source of magic is an immense crystalline structure deep under the ground, that no living mouse has seen, though there are stories about it and most scholars agree it is a real thing. In actuality, it was placed there by Panya herself long, long ago as she was building the earth, and now is a conduit of her powers, though in much smaller amounts than when she was awake.
✿ █ HOW IS IT USED? 》 Magic can only be tapped into using magical artifacts that are scattered across the world, but religious mice are better at it, by virtue of magic having religious overtones. Religious mice, in general, do the most magic.
Mystics are very powerful users of magic who work with a divine purpose and can change things around them. Seers can interpret magic omens and divination spells and things of that nature. The bloodline of the royals is also pretty good at magic-wielding also, though Krigen preferred to use his military and strategic prowess.
✿ █ USING MAGIC 》 Hypothetically, any mouse or rat could use magic if they had an artifact and if they worked incredibly hard to learn. However, most do not bother as rats are disinterested in magic, and the common mouse could rely on those already more naturally inclined to it to do magical things for them.
Magic has many uses, but the most common uses are from mice who use to augment their body to be more beautiful and give themselves wings, horns, scales, different tails and ears and those such things, mice who need help conceiving or want to be blessed with extra children, and to perform feats on holidays to reaffirm faith with the gods. Very rarely is magic used to fight, though it's not unheard of, especially in stories. Commoners who practice magic are usually witches who do menial tasks aided with magic and brew potions or do minor divination.
Artifacts come in many shapes and forms, but jewelry is the most common, as crystals and gems have the best resonation with the crystal deep within the earth. They may also be staffs and wands, or intricate books. It could be anything, but these are the most common.
✿ █ CAN MY MOUSE USE MAGIC? 》Sure. That's checked in profiles, and the ability can be won through RP and RP events by finding an artifact. They can also be inherited from parents. Most magic usage is rather minimal however, and more intense use of magic will probably require a character who is a priest, seer or mystic.
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Posted: Sun Feb 23, 2014 2:08 pm
「 MILITIA ✿ INFORMATION 」████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████
✿ █ O 》 Regents are in charge the militia, and the militia is generally made of volunteers of men and women who want to serve the realm, although it is more common for male mice to join. If needed, the crown can issue a draft and force the people into service, but that hasn't been needed to be done for a long time, and hardly anyone alive now would remember that. As the king or queen are in charge, they assign captains to guard (protect the borders, even in times of peace), infantry (on foot militia members) and cavalry (who mount birds or hares). There are also knights of both genders who protect the land internally and aid lords and ladies, and are considered militia although they may not formally be a part of it.
✿ █ THE GUARD 》 Very important, very old, very dangerous. They protect the borders and keep predators out of cities. The Guard was formed even before the militia, and has some of the hardiest and toughest warriors in it.
✿ █ THE INFANTRY 》 General armies, they are on foot generally. Only needed during times of war, so they are rather few in times of peace.
✿ █ THE CALVARY 》 Those with bird or hare mounts, they are in use even when not in war, for their usefulness in scanning the skies and ground for enemies.
✿ █ THE KNIGHTS 》 Not always part of the militia, but generally the first to get drafted or decide to join the militia. They protect the realm internally, and often guard lords and ladies. They are like many medieval knights and begin as squires and pages to more seasoned knights. Special knights can guard the regent in an elite group.
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