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Breeding
Basics
Breeding occurs in winter and puppies are born in spring. All important dates and deadlines will be available in the calendar and provided in announcements.
Requirements
Breeding should be a planned affair. Be sure that you're established on the site and ready for the commitment.
*: Yearlings in the winter before they turn 2 are canonically 18-19 as a human equivalency and may breed **: If all of your pups die for any reason, you do not need 50 extra posts the next season. Litters
Each breeding season, a wolf can have a maximum of 3 pups. Parents choose the number of pups they want to have and either select colors or opt in to roll. If you opt in, parents provide staff with a list of palettes, eye colors, and sizes. There's more risk, fanfare, and praying to RNJesus this way. Rolled puppies may have elective heterochromia, so long as the original rolled color is included and present.
 For those of you that are wondering, yes males may have multiple litters within a year. However, because they can have no more than 3 pups, at most they can have 3 baby mamas (1 pup from each). Pups are all members of the Commonwealth until they turn 1 and can elect to join a different guild. In mixed-nationality couples, the nationality of the pups is largely determined by the culture in which they are raised. Survival
All pups have a 50% chance of dying within the first month of life.
To ensure that your puppies survive, parents write Bonding Moments (BM) for each pup. Each BM is one thread, one post from each parent, with each post having 300 words minimum. The BM involves the happy couple interacting with the children (NPCs at this time). You can think of bonding moments as family milestones. There are two options:
A parent can only participate in the BMs for one litter so if you're hoeing around, you can be an active parent (and increase the survival chance) for only one of your two/three litters. At 1 month of life, the survival of the pups will be rolled. Pups with no BMs on record will have a 50% chance of dying. Pups with complete BMs on record will have a 0% chance of dying. Pups that survive are adoptable as early as 1-2 months of age and are immediately playable. That said, you can keep pups as NPCs when they are not currently being played for as long as you wish. Same-Sex
Same-sex couples may choose to fulfill the breeding requirements and submit an application in winter. If approved, they will find children in the Fae Forest, ones allegedly left by the Fairfolk. An NPC wet nurse will provide milk for the children and may be minimally interacted with and referenced in posts. Survivability and adoption rules are the same as for heterosexual couples.
Aging
Feel free to use this guide to help gauge the relative age of your characters
0-11 Months
At 2 months when pups are playable, they are the human equivalent of a 5 year old. They can give all the cuddles, snuggles, and sneak into the cookie jar. However, they can't travel far so keep that in mind. At 6 months, they're roughly 9 to 10-year-olds. They're eagerly considering what guilds they'll join and they're becoming model citizens (or menaces, depending on the pup). At 10-11 months, your pup is now roughly 13 or 14. Your tweenie-bopper is soon to take the world by storm. 1 Year
At 1 year, your pup is no longer a pup. They can travel freely, hunt small game with ease. The first year is equivalent to a 16-19 year old making their way. Your character joins the guild of their choice. 2-4 Years
At this stage, each year of life lived is the human equivalent of 5 years. At 2 years, you're a fresh, 20-year-old chicken. At 4 years, you are a 30-year-old with a mid-life crisis. 5-6 Years
At 5 years, you are roughly 35 and hitting the peak of your midlife crisis. At 6 years, approx. 40, things begin to level out. This time has been spent cultivating various skill trees such as guild-life, political advocacy, and practicing pick-up lines. Maybe you've even started a family by now and are watching your own pups grow up. 7-8 Years
Now, each year your character ages is equivalent to 10 human years of life. At 7 years you'll hit your 50's. At 8 years you'll hit your 60's. Perhaps retirement and 401k benefits are on your mind as you face the reality of age. Is that some salt and pepper I see on your muzzle? No more breeding after the age of 8. The junk in the trunk just ain't what it used to be. 9-10 Years
At 9 years you are in your 70s. At 10 years you are in your 80s. Health fades faster and faster and most end up leaving their guilds (except for the College which believes wolves' minds ripen with age). Hopefully you have some grandpups to keep you company because no one else wants to hear your stories. 11-12 Years
You are old. You've lived a full life... or maybe you're a shut-in that never saw the ocean and you just had a late expiration date. Either way, it's time to settle your earthly affairs and prepare for that eternal sleep. At 11 years you are in your 90s. At 12 years, 100 human equivalent, you die (or laugh in the Grim Reaper's face and buy an extra year of life because capitalism). |
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