Questions a new user (Me!) have about 'Souls as a whole

[Astrea_Le_Fae]

I've come across 'Souls not too long ago, and I would like to clarify some things that I believe have not already been asked.

Q1: Do travelling merchants exist in 'Souls? I know that Traders exist, but I am asking this in case traveling merchants differ. Must they live as strictly just traders? 

Q2: How hostile is the world? Is everything out to get you, and your character is at a constant risk of dying, or is it peaceful enough for one not to get instantly killed when starting off?

Q3: I understand that character coats must be naturally coloured but with leniency with the colours, but where would white fur with a faint pinkish/mahogany hue stand? Are these still allowed?

[Songbird]

'Allo, and welcome! ^___^

Q1: Do travelling merchants exist in 'Souls? I know that Traders exist, but I am asking this in case traveling merchants differ. Must they live as strictly just traders? 

The short answer is "yes," traveling merchants can and do exist in 'Souls, and often do so as NPCs. Just be sure to read up on our NPC rules if you wish to have extensive relations and/or interactions beyond one-off threads with said merchant(s).

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Q2: How hostile is the world? Is everything out to get you, and your character is at a constant risk of dying, or is it peaceful enough for one not to get instantly killed when starting off? 

The world can be as hostile or as "peaceful" as needed for your story-writing needs and/or is realistic/logical. If you want your character being constantly in danger (because of something from their past, their general nature, etc.), that's perfectly fine! If you want your character to have relatively few close/hostile encounters, this can also happen.

However, we ask that you simply keep realism and logic in mind. For example, if you plan for your character to be a loud and very well-known murder-hobo, there should be consequences that fit accordingly. Or, if your character is trying to travel with a whole caravan of goods, they should be expected to be a target for, robbed by, and/or harassed by bandits and such. If your character decides they want to punch a cougar in the face, expect for the cougar to fight back. Etc., etc.

If you're talking about encounters with other played characters, your character cannot be killed without your explicit consent. Most players on 'Souls, as well, will likely try to discuss things if a fight breaks out between y'all's characters. In general though, so long as your character doesn't cause a fight, there won't be one unless you and the other player want one to occur.

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Q3: I understand that character coats must be naturally coloured but with leniency with the colours, but where would white fur with a faint pinkish/mahogany hue stand? Are these still allowed?

This may be a question better addressed in a PM to the 'Souls Assemblage. In general though, by "naturally colored," we mean you can't have a naturally blue-colored dog with green spots, or, a canine that is firetruck engine-red; basically, if it's not a color naturally found in dogs in real life, it shouldn't be a color you use for a 'Souls character. Marking-wise, we tend to be more lenient for characterization reasons, but, within reason.

Keep in mind, too, though, that your character can also repeatedly apply dye to their fur if they want to have unique colors and their natural coat color allows the dye to show through ;)

[Raze]

Just to add onto this:

Q1: Do travelling merchants exist in 'Souls? I know that Traders exist, but I am asking this in case traveling merchants differ. Must they live as strictly just traders? 

The main consideration with traveling merchants -- whether you're playing one as your character, or utilizing an NPC as Songbird mentioned -- is how they move all their goods. There aren't paved pathways or roads in post-humanity 'Souls (just eroded and dilapidated asphalt; imagine the pot hole your city never fixes and add 30 years), so wagons or carts will have a hard time traversing ground. A Luperci might do better only trading what they can carry on their back, and they might find that it's easier to stay in one place so they have a steady source of goods. If you add a pack horse into the mix, you'll want to consider how they take care of that animal.

Also no, they mustn't live strictly as traders. (Characters can have many roles as long as it's realistic and they're not stacking too many different, unrelated skills!) It would be more common for a craftsman to peddle their own wares rather than have a bunch of different ones -- for example, a hunter/trapper can trade pelts, a wood-carver could sell trinkets, etc. Otherwise, you'd want to figure out how this merchant has all of the things they're trying to trade away. It's possible they exclusively peddle other people's things for them, but it's a consideration.

Q2: How hostile is the world? Is everything out to get you, and your character is at a constant risk of dying, or is it peaceful enough for one not to get instantly killed when starting off?

Songbird's answer covered this amazingly! Echoing Songbird: it's whatever suits your story/writing needs.

I just wanted to note that 'Souls doesn't have a dice system or similar. Some wolf RPGs I know require dice rolls, have fighting systems, and other things to give characters a "risk" of dying, but at 'Souls, whatever you want to write is what you do! As long as you're keeping reason in mind (and not godmodding by playing a serial killer who always gets away or similar), you're free to have your character live a peaceful life or fight for it! (Our Fighting page on the RP guide goes over our site's general etiquette regarding fight threads.) Any boardwide plots about things like sickness, drought, and famine are also opt-in.

[Songbird]

@ Question 1) xD Opp, yeah, I totally forgot about a played character angle, so, thank you for chiming in, Raze <333

I just wanted to note too since Raze's answer reminded me of a few things, but, 'Souls does not have an in-game currency system in place either. No money. No coins. Nothing but "I'll trade you this/these items for that/those items/services." So, that may be something to consider too. As a result, a lot of players may often interchangeably refer to merchants and traders as being the same since they both deal more or less deal with an exchange of goods.

[Astrea_Le_Fae]

Thanks, y'all! exactly what is the difference between an NPC and a non-NPC? I always assumed that NPCs are the kind of character that isn't the focal point of one's response, like a sidekick, for example.
The primary reason that I want to have a traveling merchant character is so that if I ever leave and want to rejoin, it would be easy to make up a reason for absence, like stating that my character had simply traveled elsewhere before returning.

For the world's hostility, I am very thankful to know that not everything is out to kill my OC. I asked this because last year, I was in an RP with some extremely unpleasant people who relentlessly attempted to kill my OC. I left shortly after.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot, How do you all do character aging? Considering how Luperci don't live all that long, how would aging and eventual passing be implemented in the story? I fear that if my current (In progress) OC dies, all my good ideas would dry up and I wouldn't be able to create a new one.

[Mel]

NPCs are non-player characters, as opposed to a PC (Player Character), which would be the one you actively are writing with. We have some variations when it comes to NPCs, which can be found here.

A traveling merchant would certainly be able to leave and return, certainly! Raze and Songbird have covered some details regarding the complications that might go into playing such a character. Loner characters are less "bound" to the in-game setting if their players go inactive, as it's assumed they've traveled elsewhere during those absences. You don't need to feel bound to the merchant role if you'd like to explore another character direction.

Sorry to hear you had a bad time elsewhere! Some characters may be more hostile than others, but as mentioned, permission must be acquired from players when it comes to fighting/killing.

Our RP Guide covers aging! Time passes at a regular pace here -- if you pick up a character that is two, for example, this time next year they would be three.

[Astrea_Le_Fae]

Ah, I already saw that page about aging. In that case, what should I do when a character dies? Do I have to make up a completely new character, or can I rejoin with a similar, but different character? For example, the merchant character dies offscreen, and a new character takes the name and appearance (With some changes) to continue where the previous character left off. This is the only workaround I could think of to prevent all my ideas from drying up.

[Mel]

You would have to make a new character, yes.

That being said, you could certainly pick up the offspring or a younger relative of said character, or even a non-blood relation who would want to continue their work. With that in mind, however, this new character would need to build their own connections and relationships in game.

You would have a large period of time before your character would die from natural causes, in any case! Luperci can live up to fifteen years, after all. In most cases you'd have at least a decade to play around with (unless you started with a much older character).

[Astrea_Le_Fae]

Thanks again! I'll get started on my own OC~