NEWS -- March 2012

['Souls Assemblage]

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Table of Contents Rule Updates 'Soulschat Behaviour Characters Sexual Maturity & Puppies Spotlight and Community Soul Mods Very Important March 2012 News! After considerable thought and discussion, we're happy to announce some radical and exciting changes to 'Souls in the coming months! The following events will be very gradual and will likely take the rest of the year to occur, but we look forward to playing them out and hope everyone will be as excited as we are! As spring arrives in Eastern Canada, the Luperci virus begins to mutate and change. It becomes an potent airborne virus, no longer limited to transfer by exchange of bodily fluids, and spreads more quickly than ever. However, instead of affecting animals of the genus Canis in any notable way, the virus seems to now be affecting animals of the genus Equus. Horses, mules, donkeys, and ponies that have been in frequent contact with Luperci canines all pick up on the new strain of viral mutagen -- dubbed Equestri. Affected animals of the Equestri virus process a variety of changes over the first several weeks of infection, though they are rather dissimilar to the changes Luperci go through. For most Equestri, changes include significant intellectual gains and unique and vibrant changes to fur colors and patterns, as well as some proportional changes to physique. For about 33% of the infected, additional limbs begin to sprout from the shoulders, covered in downy feathers. Over several more weeks, these limbs become full-fledged wings and the animal's bones hollow out and lighten, accommodating viable flight. For another 33% of the infected, a single horn begins to protrude from the forehead area, growing to about a foot in length over several weeks. Two months after the initial infection of the Equestri virus, affected animals are fully transformed. With equal intelligence to their Luperci masters now, former beasts of burden may or may not choose to continue serving. Quick to pick up Luperci high speech and still well versed in equine low speech, Equestri have a linguistic advantage over canines, not to mention a size and brute strength advantage, despite being prey animals. If they decide to, herds of Equestri could conceivably overthrow the canine dominance of the Nova Scotia area... What Does This Mean?? The Equestri virus outbreak begins April 1st and will affect all equine animals at 'Souls, regardless of whether they are a wild horse, or one living amongst Luperci. Because the Equestri virus is airborne, and because there are so many Luperci at 'Souls, it is reasonable that all equine animals would be affected even if they don't frequently come into direct contact with Luperci. Equestri will begin to manifest changes two weeks after their infections, so Luperci may begin to notice color changes and behavioral changes around April 14th. It will be up to individual players to decide whether individual horses will manifest the additional changes -- wings or horns; however, no infected animal may manifest both without explicit permission from the 'Souls Assemblage. Winged Equestri will not be able to actually fly until after June 1st as their wings need time to fully develop. Equestri will become fully playable characters on June 1st, and players will be able to join as Equestri characters. Equestri NPCs will be counted separately from Luperci NPCs; however, each character may only have one Equestri companion NPC. This means that all characters currently with multiple equine NPCs must plan to only have one equine NPC by June 1st. Specific Rules and Procedures regarding Equestri characters are still in development and we welcome your feedback on the matter. We are absolutely planning on allowing Equestri to form herds similar to canine packs, though this will not be possible until after June 1st, when Equestri become playable. Again, these are all very gradual changes. Until June 1st, players are encouraged to play out the changes to their equine companions subtly. If you have any questions about this timeline of events, please feel free to ask! Rule Updates We have expanded on several sections of our primary Game Rules. In particular, we've elaborated on realism expectations for characters and added a lot more information on how warnings and bans are handled. Nothing has been added or changed, necessarily, but we hope the additional information makes things clearer and easier for members to understand. We've also made a small amendment to our Graphics Rules regarding avatars. We encourage all members to give the updated Rules a quick read, and as always, we welcome you to contact us regarding any questions or concerns you may have. 'Soulschat Behaviour There have been a few incidents in Chat where inappropriate images or links have been posted to the public chat. While we do not intend to reprimand any individual members, we'd like to stress that images and links to prank sites websites are NOT allowed in the chat. For example, links to a site that cause one's computer browser to shake and seizure, or which causes one's computer to freeze and reboot, are rather malicious, even if intended to be a joke. Additionally, like mature threads on the board, links to Not Safe For Work images and sites should be appropriately marked -- or better yet, saved for a private chat room or another messaging service. Remember, if you don't think something would belong in OOC Garbage, then it doesn't belong in the Chat either. Characters Sexual Maturity & Puppies We've made a small amendment to our Puppy Procedures to close a loophole regarding required character ages. Parent characters must be at least 18 months of age at the time of the litter request. As we recommend litters be formally requested 2-3 weeks prior to intended birth, characters may technically become pregnant around 16-17 months of age. Mods We wanted to give a quick shout-out to our wonderful mods, Alli and Meghann, who have been especially awesome lately. Additionally, congratulations are in order for Sunny, who is now a full-fledged Mod! Thanks for all of your hard work! Spotlight and Community Soul Congratulations to Candace, winner of Spotlight Soul for March 2012 as Ciara O'Callahan. For more information, check out the Community/Spotlight Soul thread! April Fools! No, seriously, please don't canonically play out your horses changing into neon colored ponies. ಠ_ಠ You are, however, absolutely welcomed to do so in LASKY. ♥

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