They call this place the ruins, the mysterious land to the southeast where the forest meets the sea. It is a warm, wet, swampy place, split into two by a vast river, with its axis at the heart of an old human town. It is full of mysteries and secrets, of otherworldly whispers and vanished races. But more than that, it is a place of revolution. For the leaders of the five great herds have decided that this place, a place of new wonder and unknown peril, will be the setting for the greatest experiment in their history: to see if, at long last, the five breeds can live together in something resembling peace.
For some, the call for change is enough. For others, it is the promise of peace. Those less idealistic come in search of land for their own, to make a new homeland. Some come to keep pure blood and culture, and stop the madness their rulers have unleashed.
For whatever, reason, though, they come. The oreille, the veleno, the rama, pellame, and masse. Of all breeds, of all lands, of all walks of life, they come. They come to see what can be made in the ruins...
Welcome back; your last visit was on Sep 7 2008, 04:37 AM
 |
Forum |
Topics |
Replies |
Last Post Info |
 |
Madhouse
Life's a brownie; we're just nuts. Chat, go crazy, poke the Unicorn of Ultimate Torment™. Just don't feed it after midnight...
|
14 |
65 |
Sep 6 2008, 05:19 PM
In:  So really, who are we?
By: Deriance |
|
Creativity
A gallery of sorts: pictures, stories, poetry, whatever.
|
13 |
31 |
Jul 18 2008, 12:09 PM
In: Tiny Unicorns!
By: Arem |
|
Suggestions & Inquiries
Want something on the site? Want to throw an idea out? Confused about something to the point where your eyes are all swirly? Then post here!
|
6 |
31 |
Feb 8 2008, 09:32 PM
In: Dead charries
By: Whipped Cream |
|
Absentee
Post when you're going, and when you expect to be back. Or I will hurt you.
|
7 |
9 |
May 8 2008, 10:32 PM
In: Bah
By: Iolanthe |
|
Links
Post your links here.
|
2 |
0 |
Mar 24 2008, 05:33 PM
In: Star Trek
By: Mystic's Dream |
|
Characters
Here you post your profiles for approval by the admins. To have a profile approved, we need to see at least your character's name, age, proffession, breed, personality, and appearance. For higher ranks or special adoptables, we will need to see more, or at least really awesome descriptions. (I'd reccomend keeping track of KP here, too)
Also on this board are adoptables and templates.
|
38 |
42 |
Sep 5 2008, 08:46 PM
In: Mongrel
By: Arem |
|
Contests
This is where contests go...Yeah. Members are even allowed to run their own contests, provided that they don't try and offer things they can't offer (KP, mostly)...
|
5 |
16 |
Jan 18 2008, 06:26 PM
In: New Species Contest
By: Mystic's Dream |
|
Old Characters
Character profiles from before the re-start. If you're just coming back, your profile(s) is(are) here.
|
17 |
25 |
Oct 26 2007, 05:55 AM
In: Character Profile: Sakari
By: Arem |
|
Plotting/Desperately Seeking Roleplay
Have a mini-plot you want to set into motion? Looking for someone to start a thread, or reply to one you've made? This is the board to do it.
|
6 |
17 |
Aug 27 2008, 10:17 PM
In: Please join us!!
By: Estelle |
| |
|
Forum |
Topics |
Replies |
Last Post Info |
|
Town Square
The center of the town, once bustling with activity, and now empty and silent save for the occasional intrusion of the wind. It possesses few features of note, save for its single white-blooming magnolia and the well built beneath it. It is fairly wide, many paces across, paved in broken and corroded cobblestone.
|
3 |
17 |
Aug 25 2008, 07:41 PM
In: Raindrops
By: Arem |
|
Ruined Houses
A loose ring of delapitated houses surrounding the town square, of simple construction and design. Their thatched roofs have long since rotted or collapsed, leaving wormeaten wooden framework and crumbling plaster walls. An observant and determined searcher could probably find any number of unusual artifacts within their confines.
|
3 |
25 |
Aug 2 2008, 09:23 PM
In: Quiet solitude
By: Uaine |
|
Fallow Garden
A vegetable garden gone wild in the abscence of human caretakers. The neat quadrants once partitioned for tomatoes, melons, lettuces, and squashes have been overrun by strawberries. Many of the oystershell paths have been obscured by the dense network of the fruits' runners.
|
2 |
14 |
Jul 30 2008, 10:39 PM
In: The promise of spring
By: Arem |
|
Fortifications
A gleamingly white stone wall once surrounded the town, with fortified watchtowers at each corner and a single iron-studded gate. The gate has long since fallen from its hinges, the towers collapsed inward upon themselves, the walls swathed and pulled over by the encroaching vegetation of the forests beyond. They have, however, served their purpose as a last defense, for the wilds have not yet consumed the town they guarded.
|
1 |
9 |
Feb 27 2008, 07:35 PM
In: Smells like Penstemon
By: Arem |
|
Chapel
From the outside, the chapel is visible mostly as a high steepled roof with an unreachable bell tower and an equally unreachable bell. The walls are coated in blue plaster that has fallen away in places, leaving a sky-like pattern on the outside.
Inside, the old chapel maintains an aura of peace. No one can say which god was worshiped, if any that a unicorn would know. It lacks pews, suggesting worship was done standing or on the ground. There are steps leading up to a platform on which a rotting old lecturn stands, with a few notes, all but ruined by time, still upon it. The windows are stained glass, fogged and blurred by time so that the colors and shapes are hardly visible. The wall sconces are filled with old wax and the bugs trapped inside. The only ornamentation found is in looking up.
A fresco, all but perfectly preserved by time, is painted on the ceiling. It is a circle with something like a star in the middle. in between the points of the star are the breeds, each in its corner, all eyeless. Running inside the circle are the silloutes of unicorns, each one running to be the next, each breed flowing into the other. and at the bottom, by the door...a piece of plaster is missing, so that you cannot see what the final image was.
|
1 |
7 |
Apr 23 2008, 04:18 PM
In: Of Shadow and Twilight
By: Mystic's Dream |
| |
|
Forum |
Topics |
Replies |
Last Post Info |
|
Cypress Swamp
The cypress trees, the ancient behomeths of the swamp, tower above the other trees. Their knees rise from the muddy ground, standing like statues to some ancient tree-god. When the waters of winter receed, they leave behind a mud-and-clay ground, barren of grass, and trees marked with dark waterlines. Within days, however, small plants have sprouted up, and the ground becomes firm. There are things both beautiful and frightening here.
|
1 |
19 |
Apr 8 2008, 04:15 PM
In: Restless today
By: Mystic's Dream |
|
River Lethe
The river of forgetfulness, a sprawling watercourse a mile wide at some points, with hidden eddies and swift-moving currents beneath its otherwise peaceful surface. The waters are dark, clear, and sweet, unusual for a flat-bottomed river. The banks vary with its course; in some places overhung by forest, in others choked with reeds. Crossing is made easier by the prescence of sandbars and shoals, and by numerous oxbows.
|
3 |
11 |
Sep 5 2008, 09:56 PM
In: Riding the river
By: Mongrel |
|
The Docks
The docks were constructed several centuries ago by human hands, and abandoned at the same time period as the town. They are in equally perserved condition, for all that the former is of wooden construction. The cyprus planks and pylings have proved surprisingly rot-resistant, although they are blackened with age, and bedecked with moss and lichens. It is several miles upstream from the delta, and thus the water still runs clear and sweet.
|
1 |
2 |
Feb 8 2008, 09:34 PM
In: Serenity
By: Soi |
|
Lake Imbifer
Lake Imbifer is settled in the northwest of the Orphic Forest. It is in a large clearing, so the lakeside is a grassy place, good for sunning. A few trees exist on the slope leading down to the lake. There are trees growing in the shallows as well, cypresses, with their knees rising from the water. In the center of the wide, dark lake is an island with heavy grass and a single fir tree. There are rumors of something strange...and huge...living just beneath the surface of the lake.
|
2 |
9 |
May 1 2008, 04:34 PM
In: Teao's Big Entrance
By: Arem |
|
Orphic Forest
Taking up most of the area around the ruins is the Orphic Forest. The canopy trees of this forest are often pines or oaks, with smaller trees and underbrush of innumerable variety. Because of the climate, most of the trees do not lose all their leaves in the fall. Still, there is a thick layer of leaflitter on the ground, broken often by small flowers--white violets are the most common--and sparse grasses. Life abounds here. You know, pretty birds, cute little bunnies....and big poisonous spiders and fairly deadly snakes.
|
4 |
40 |
May 1 2008, 05:09 PM
In: Stopping by woods...
By: Uaine |
|
Watermeadow
Several acres of flooded pasture adjacent to the cyprus swamp, a place of boggy ground and lush vegetation. Irises grow in great abundance here, covering the soggy ground in great swathes interspersed by innumerable small brooks and channels. During the dryer months, the water receeds, leaving a lush carpet of grass between the flowering drifts. Wading birds, turtles, and jewel-bright little frogs can be seen here by the quiet and keen-eyed observer.
|
1 |
10 |
Jan 20 2008, 11:40 PM
In: They Once Told Me...
By: Nony |
|
Salten Sea
The land ends at the salten sea, a salt-water ocean with deliciously warm, clear waters. Well, it's really more of a gul-*gets thwapped*Anyway, The beach is made of pure white sand, with small shells littering the beach. There are a few large, driftwood logs and many smaller pieces. From time to time something interesting washes up on shore. All in all, the salten sea is a pretty peaceful place, unless you meet something interesting in the water.
|
4 |
35 |
Aug 14 2008, 08:47 PM
In: Sifting Sand
By: Uaine |
|
Oak Grove
A break occurs in the Orphic Forest, right before it becomes the swamp. It is a beautiful meadow, all basking in the shade of live oaks, each one thousands of years old. Their trunks are monolithic, reaching with tireless patience for the heavens. Their branches stretch as crooked arms, rising and falling, reaching above the tallest heads or being low enough to use as jumping hurdles. There is grey, stringy spanish moss hanging from most of the branches. The ground is carpeted in fine grass, small flowers (white violets are the most apparent), and the small leaves of the old oak trees.
|
2 |
21 |
Aug 27 2008, 09:13 PM
In: A Moment
By: Arem |
|
Holehallow
A wide sinkhole located at the heart of the cypress swamp, for most of the year it is invisible, only felt as a steep drop off in the muddy bottom, and noticed only as a more open spot between the trees. In the dryer months, though, when the water sinks, the pool empties, leaving a limestone crevasse deeper than a tree is tall. Visible amongst the mosses and pitting is a narrow ledge spiralling down to the bottom. Some think a cave entrance lies at its end; others speculate the depths unfathomable. Regardless, it is dangerous as it is intriguing.
|
1 |
7 |
Feb 6 2008, 04:45 PM
In: Reverberant Refrain
By: Mystic's Dream |
|
Battleground Lake
Sometimes, a challenger will issue a duel. It happens, just as a regular battle would. And when such a duel, a formal cmbat occours, this is the sanctioned place to do it. the battlegrounds lie near lake imbifer, but time has been much crueler to this spot. It is a dry lakebed, all life having been taken from it long ego. The ground is made of red clay, which on hot days will become cracked, and on wet days will be slick and impossible to walk in without getting stuck.
|
0 |
0 |
--
In: ----
By: |
|
Champ des Fleurs
Surrounded on all sides by the Orphic Forest is the Champ des Fleurs--the field of flowers. True to its name, one cannot walk on the ground without almost stepping on some small ground-flower. Flower bushes and stalks of all kinds and colors grow, so the specifics of the area change greatly with the seasons. Along the edges are crape myrtles: thin, gnarled trees with explosions of glossy leaves. Come summer and fall, the leaves turn crimson and each tree becomes covered in a froth of small, clustered blossoms in shades ranging from red to white to lavender. And then the blossoms fall away, and come winter, the field is empty and dry.
|
2 |
14 |
Jul 18 2008, 09:10 PM
In: The *joys* of spring
By: Taini |
|
Viridian Way
Someone lived in the Ruins once, someone once chose to come and go there. They built a road, circling around the town before heading in two directions: one heading north through the Orphic Forest, and one winding south through the wetlands, heading to the sea. The road segment that goes through the Cyprus Swamp and Turtle Marsh is raised high above the floods, while the forest road is level with the ground. All along its length is wide enough for many unicorns to cross, shoulder-to-shoulder, and has worn bumping throughout.
|
1 |
8 |
Apr 26 2008, 04:42 PM
In: A Long Walk
By: Iolanthe |
|
Turtle Marsh
Out between the swamp and the sea lies the marsh: grass and reeds streatching out for leagues. While it may seem to be a green, soggy wasteland, there are animals that call it home. In the small puddles and ponds scattered and hidden in and by the marsh dwell fish and frogs of all sorts, and the creatures that would live off of them: egrets and cranes, ducks and, of course, turtles. There is more in the marsh than just animals and reeds: strange, exotic plants grow between the more mudane ones.
|
1 |
12 |
Dec 31 2007, 08:30 PM
In: Singing (offkey) in the rain
By: Mystic's Dream |
| |
|
Forum |
Topics |
Replies |
Last Post Info |
|
Wellspring
A wide, deep well built by humans for the irrigation of their orchard, ringed in cut stone to knee height and lined with the same. Irrigation ditches radiate from it in an expanding circle, becoming more obscured by grass as they proceed. A tall forked stick, the pivot for a bucket long since rotted away, stands at its side like a sentinel. The water in the well itself is bitter and unpleasant tasting, although within reach of any thirsty unicorn, and has little purpose except for as a landmark in the tangled sea of orange trees.
|
0 |
0 |
--
In: ----
By: |
|
Perimeter Road
Once a hard packed dirt road, pounded smooth by human feet and iron-shod hooves, the surface is now a lush carpet of grass and mosses. It is clearly visible from a distance, a relatively clear patch in the dense bushes and gnarled trees. Ringing the entire orchard, at its widest point, the passage is wide enough for six to walk abreast. Perhaps some clue of the human's departure may be found here, mixed in with the dusty soil and the occasional scrap of ironwork.
|
1 |
3 |
Feb 25 2008, 12:59 PM
In: Blood and Water
By: Mystic's Dream |
|
Orange Orchard
The only part of Arangia which remains true to its purpose. At the center, where the grasses were firmly established, the hip-high weeds and tangled bushes were unable to take root, leaving a wide open patch of space large enough to hold the entire herd. The trees, although not well cared for, still bear some fruit, and the citrus perfume of their blossoms drifts through the air.
|
1 |
8 |
Apr 23 2008, 03:28 PM
In: Something so simple can be ...
By: Jin |
| |
|
Forum |
Topics |
Replies |
Last Post Info |
|
Woodlands
The sides and top of the ride are covered in trees, evergreens like the cypress and pine, but other trees as well: trees that make flowers in the spring, blossoms that look like azaleas, maple-like trees, and strange trees with red berries. The groundcover is mostly dirt and dead weeds, with the occasional small flowering plant, iris or lily, fern, or tired old shrub. Although recent floods have not touched the ridge, many of the older trees have mosses that resemble floodmarks growing on them.
|
1 |
24 |
Apr 20 2008, 02:11 PM
In: [ Wandering Alone ]
By: Jin |
|
Outskirts
The slope, the very bottom of the ridge: it is the place most likely to be consumed by yearly floods. It runs right by the viridian way, so with any luck one will not be stranded there come wet season. It has cyprus trees, but then again, what in the cyprus swamp doesn't? the knees are good in canse the sides get slick and become mud, because they can be used to help climb up to the top.
|
0 |
0 |
--
In: ----
By: |
|
Cypress Crest
The very peak of the ridge, where the rest of the swamp stretches out as small and insignificant. This would serve as the meeting place of any herd in relevance. There is, right near the highest point, the largest cypress tree for leagues, with a top so high that it ends up being swallowed up by the canopy before you see the top. and it were clear enough, maybe it could even be swallowed by the sky before you see the top.
|
0 |
0 |
--
In: ----
By: |
| |
|
Forum |
Topics |
Replies |
Last Post Info |
|
River Mouth
A network of tiny islands and hummocks strewn across the entrance of the river, where fresh water meets salt and the current churns up high ground suitable for plants to live on. These tiny patches of dry land are rarely larger than ten feet across, but spaced closely enough to afford jumps from one to another. In the calm areas between them, fish and crabs can be seen scuttling back and forth across the sandy bottom. They make for amusing sport, as do the timid flocks of gulls and shorebirds.
|
0 |
0 |
--
In: ----
By: |
|
Mudflats
At the center of the the delta, where the water spreads out to become brackish and shallow, the silt has formed into a broad swathe of fine mud. Shifting and changing with the tide, it is separated from the banks by a channel on either side, and for the most part, is abandoned save for the rookery of seabirds and the occasional heron. However, it is ideally located for privacy, with a clear perspective and out of hearing range of the shore. Hence, meetings are usually held here, when the tide is low and the ground is dry.
|
0 |
0 |
--
In: ----
By: |
|
Banksides
The area of the delta most hospitable to long-term habitation, the banksides here are one of the few areas of firm footing and good grazing. Between the cordgrass can be found succulent, although slightly salty-tasting, forage. The ground is sandy and littered with shells, shaped by the constant motion of wind and waves into dunes and dropoffs. The ancient refuse of human rivercraft often washes up here; bottles, fish traps, boards, things so strange as to be unidentifiable.
|
0 |
0 |
--
In: ----
By: |
| |
|
Forum |
Topics |
Replies |
Last Post Info |
|
Field
The downstream end of the island is covered in a wide expanse of meadow, with high grass and a handful of scattered trees. Wide and open, it is crisscrossed with a number of bare places, the most traversed courses of its animal inhabitants. Beneath the calm of the rippling grass, it is full of life; rabbits, swallows, wrens, leafhoppers and butterflies all abound, as do wildflowers and patches of sweet clover and cowslip.
|
7 |
85 |
Aug 3 2008, 12:29 PM
In: Training Time
By: Arem |
|
Promonitory
All of the island's banks are steep, but the promonitory is especially so, a wide outcropping of stone overhanging the swirling waters where the river splits around it. It is of the same stone as the ruins, and in places one can see where blocks were quarried for its building. Mostly, though, it is worn smooth, its cracks and imperfections covered by moss. A peaceful place, with a good view of the river and the causeway, meetings are usually held here.
|
5 |
42 |
Jul 26 2008, 08:03 PM
In: Kiss...
By: Jin |
|
Causeway
As Luteus Island is located in the middle of the River Lethe, one has two options to get to it; one is to swim, and the other is to navigate the causeway. This is easier said than done, though. A thin, shifting shoal extending across from the western bank, it is difficult to see under the water, and almost never shows up in the same place twice. It makes the island superbly defensible, for a single sentry could hold off all comers at the narrows where the causeway abuts the dropoff of the bank.
|
3 |
36 |
Aug 1 2008, 09:14 PM
In: Fighting the heat
By: Arem |
| |
|
Forum |
Topics |
Replies |
Last Post Info |
|
Fireweed Thicket
Not all of the copse shows obvious sign of extensive damage, and the thicket is ample proof of this. Between the smoke-stained trees, new growth has risen from the ash-enriched soil; grass, ferns, and the red-topped wildflowers that gave the place its name. It is a pleasant, open place due to the lack of underbrush and smaller trees, like an old growth forest. Towards its edges, though, you can see that the earth is still and yet mostly cinders.
|
0 |
0 |
--
In: ----
By: |
|
Blackened Edges
The very edge of the land that was able to escape total destruction by the fire, the trees here are burnt, but not quite dead. Their bark is charred and blackened by smoke, but above, they still put out new growth. Mostly conifer, with some smaller bushes mixed in, it is a strange spectacle, with a distinct boundary between the untouched forest and the fire-scarred copse.
|
0 |
0 |
--
In: ----
By: |
|
Circle of Ashes
Time has smoothed over the effects of the fire that struck Pyrus, bringing new life and promise. But in this one location, at the heart of the copse, Time seems to have had no effect, for it is as barren as the day it was burnt. A perfect ring, the only area with no new growth, and an ominous silence. It is as though the nature itself reviled it, for no birds sing here, no grass grows, and no common animals will walk upon it. It has been left to the discoverers, to do with it what they wish.
|
1 |
8 |
Apr 19 2008, 10:23 PM
In: What is this place?
By: Mystic's Dream |
| |
|
Forum |
Topics |
Replies |
Last Post Info |
|
Waymarkers
On the eastmost edge of the marsh, on the eastmost edge of the land, are two posts. They are made of metal, and have broken-off hinges that shows they may have once held up gates that have vanished from sight. Here, the road is its widest, but up ahead the road becomes less well-manages and sinks, slowly, into the soggy ground. The road is grassy here, with a single peach tree growing to the side of it.
|
0 |
0 |
--
In: ----
By: |
|
The Paths
Once, people lived here. And they had thier ways through the marshes as well as the swamp and woods. The paths are raised so that, when the land floods, the roads will still be crossable. The main road leads east, but there are smaller roads leading in almost all other directions. Many of them have become choked by reeds and grass, or have had small ponds form in or through them, but others are fine, their dirt still tightly-packed despite the years.
|
0 |
0 |
--
In: ----
By: |
|
Crossroads
The place where all of the marsh paths meet, the crossroads is a circular platform, like the center of a spoked wheel. It has a small well erected at the center, for the sake of weary travelers, but bucket has fallen to the bottom, and all the mechanics have rusted by now anyway. This is one of the few places that have not been overtaken by grass or reeds. This serves as a fine central meeting place for the resident herd.
|
0 |
0 |
--
In: ----
By: |
| |
|
