welcome to your new hell, Welcome to the Menagerie. Or as we like to call it, Dome Sweet Dome! We are an eight-year strong futuristic shapeshifter and sci-fi creature roleplay, dedicated to bringing you a world unlike any other; a world in which your character has become an experiment and must fight for survival in a domed city, cut off from the rest of the world. Choose to be any animal in your fight for survival in an artificial world built by the Keepers as they subject you to experiments beyond your control. Choose to wander the world inside the walls alone, as a Rogue, or find safety in numbers in one of the groups known as Rings. How will you survive?
60 - 65 ºF
blustery with scattered showers spotty sunshine
YEAR 2309
shift bans.
» Cougars (aka Puma, Mountain Lion, Panther)
» All Tiger Species
» All Lion Species
» All Wolf Species
» African Leopards
group bans.
none.
encouraged !
FEMALE CHARACTERS! create a RETRO or ANTHRO and get 250 CP + a free skill! read me for more info!
last updated: april 19th, 2016
Click on each Ring or Retro group image to view their ranks!
GROUP UPDATES
CARNARING
Jocelyn Edelwolfe is the new Alpha! Seija Mulviene is the new Beta, and Grey is the new Delta. Lead Hunter is now Boone Haywood, Head of Border Patrol is now Noelle Ndango!
FALLENRING
-
FULSIRING
Fulsi has a standing treaty with the Nakoma, granting limited access to their fresh water.
NAKOMA TRIBE
-
ANALOYA PRIDE
a while back, the Analoya suffered a suspicious poisoning of their river, luckily with few casualties; the Bellator are suspected of having taken part in it, and there are whispers that Pride leader Wanderer is talking alliance with the Nilda for access to their clean water.
BELLATOR HERD
As new leader of the Bellator, Loril has instituted some rank changes. See this thread for more information!
LAWAII FLOCK
no updates!
NILDA PACK
no updates!
CARNARING QUICK STATS
ALPHA -- Jocelyn Edelwolfe, Clouded Leopard, played by IronChild
BETA -- Seija Mulviene, Spotted Hyena, played by Seija-chan
DELTA --Grey, Mackenzie Valley Wolf, played by Kriss
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It was finally warm again, and Nikk took advantage of the weather every moment she could. That winter had been hard, and though she had tried to hibernate she had not fattened up her bear shift enough to sleep completely through till spring. She had awakened early … and very grumpy.
The average heighted slim blonde girl her human form took was much easier to keep fed, so it had been over a month since the Menagerie had seen her Polar Bear shift. Even the concept made her mentally tremble, and she flipped one of her throwing knives blade-handle-blade idly as she watched the meadow.
The problem with hunting in the Menagerie was that if she killed an animal, and they were a shifter they would turn into a human … then she couldn’t touch it. Nikk did not consider herself a cannibal, and under even starving circumstanced flatly refused to eat shifters. However, retros to her were fair game (they weren’t born human) which was how she had ended up here for dinner.
Brown eyes hunted through the grasses, hoping to spot a rabbit or something else her knives could take down … maybe a bird? She sighed, releasing a small puff of smoke from the lightly chilled evening air. Bugs buzzed here and there in the light of the setting sun, and every now and again her free hand would waft away a pest lazily – her occupied digits never once missing the rhythm of her knife toss.
She’d been there an hour, and about ten minutes ago there had been movement to her right. It could have been anything; game, a scout, another shifter. Though she had taken note she continued to watch the meadow – the small kills she preferred were usually pretty quick and it was right then she spotted the quail. Her gaze narrowed, and with the flick of her wrist the knife sank through its head … severing its beak and eye from the rest of its body, and sinking into the dirt behind it.
Sweet, she thought and bent down to snatch up her pack. She couldn’t shake the “watched” feeling, but in the dome they were all watched. Still, once she stood she paused and looked behind her wearily.
He could be so still. So, so still. His limbs would lock, and he would maintain the position, hardly stirring his lungs, until his prey moved into an appropriate location, and he could kill them with the minimum effort, like any respectable feline. He had carefully followed this particular herd of red deer from Analoya land into Bellator, carelessly trekking over the border. It was insolent, maybe, but Jet would have enjoyed his fair share of revenge, being that the hooved ones had welcomed him with extra enthusiasm into the Menagerie. If one of the herd members had found him, he would have happily told him what he thought of them, more with his teeth and claws than their strange language.
He hesitated at the thought, wanting to catalogue it. He wondered if Eden would be amused by his internal sarcasm, or not. It was a "human" sense of humor that he was beginning to get a better grasp on--
Snap. A pair of deer that reeked of Analoya territory broke through a line of the trees, nibbling at the edge of a fruit-bearing plant (disgusting, Jet thought), and hesitated. They were very close now. and heedless of him. Kajetan began to roll his shoulders, kneading the soil under his paws. Any second--
He heard a crash in the brush nearby, and so did the red deer. They were up and running before he could break his way through the thicket. He tore after them, but he was not in his element, and he realized pursuit was futile. But that crash? What had caused that? He circled away from the deer, lurking in the underbrush with the silence of a natural hunter, until he came up downwind a strange smelling girl. His eyes fixed on her, emotionless and evaluating.
She did not smell like sea-water or desert or city. She did not smell like the plainsland or the mountains or the lake. She smelled like a mixture of everything, something that was insulting in its strangeness. His muzzle wrinkled and he panted; the scent was strange on his tongue. His eyes fixed on the bird. It would be nothing but a bite for him, but Kajetan felt particularly spiteful that she had disrupted his hunt. She looked at him. Right at him. But he knew how well camouflaged worked, and instinct told him to remain still and soundless. He did so, his body frozen, his intense eyes lowering to her feet to avoid making her feel hunted.
After a timeless stare, she began to look away, returning her attention to the quail. Kajetan burst forward. It was an aggressive mock charge, and a foot or so away he bucked up, his hackles bristling, his ears pinning, his jowls lifting in a savage snarl. He yowled and spat, stiffened his legs. It was a display of dominance, of aggression, something that said you better f---ing run in leopard-tiger language.
It was the best way to avoid injury. Most shapeshifters didn't want to get any more hurt than he did, and he wanted to scare the life out of the girl for what he thought Eden might've called "laughs".
Her instincts told her there was something (or someone) there, but she could not see it. A human’s eye sight was not the best in the animal kingdom, and bears’ were even worse – but Nikk was hungry, and if the hidden creature didn’t want to show itself she decided the leave it be.
She turned her attention to the quail, and the moment she did there was an explosion behind her. Before the large cat halted his show, Nikk was splayed low to the ground, legs braced and arms poised – her razor sharp throwing daggers at the ready. Nikk did not waiver and took a deep breath through her nose, anticipating the cat for his movements and intentions.
On the ground where the feline had stopped and hastily retreated were two daggers. Had he been a hair slower, his paws would have been pinned to the dirt. Brown eyes narrowed, and the woman did not move for several breaths. Her nose itched with the urge to change, but managed to fight it back – barely.
Everything happened within seconds, and they regarded each other with a shared level gaze. There was something in her manner, an expectation that carried no foundation … Nikk fully anticipated the cat to back off. As it was so rare that she shifted, she never smelled like the eight hundred pound white bear her other form took – but something about her attitude, about her assuredness seemed to speak for her and other creatures of the Menagerie were usually wise enough to read between the lines.
The flick of her wrist and the flash of her knives warned him of them, and Kajetan leaped back, narrowly avoiding being stuck with them. His ears flattened as he hissed, a guttural sound that put housecats to shame. The leopard was drawn up, his legs stiff, his chest swelling with his every breath. It worked. He was large, impossibly so for a leopard, but not as impossibly for a tiger. He held her gaze, defiantly, with a tinge of feral disdain.
He was angry. More than angry. Downright insulted, that some common Menagerie rogue had been able to disturb his hunt, and then had the audacity to throw knives at him. She had not run. He mentally ticked off "prey animals" as her shift, and he concluded that she was no Bellator. Kajetan snarled, and in a lightning-quick gesture he shifted and seized the two knives in the space between them. His expression was still a snarl, and he was as large in his human form as he was in his animal, with all the lean muscle and grace as a cat. Shirtless, he was aware of the hot summer sun flitting through the trees, making a mottled design across his back and chest.
He knew the quail wasn't worth a fight. Likewise, he didn't want to waste his time on a girl that held herself with such raw arrogance (as Kajetan saw it, anyways). She stunk of no retro group, and thus she was no longer worth his time. Humans, who merely paraded at being animals, frankly disgusted Jet. They used to intrigue him. But no longer. He rolled his shoulders, shifting the weight of the blades in his hands. His yellow eyes flicked at her. "Throwing knives." Not a question, a statement. He had already seen them in action, and his father had been fond of "blades". Kajetan twitched the knives into a comfortable position, held dangerously in his palms. He had little respect for a creature that defended themselves with only blades, rather than hands and teeth. Humans cheated--he knew that nature was unforgiving, but humans were unfair. It was why half the world was hunted out.
The odds are little more fair in here, aren't they? he thought.
"What are you?" Not a question so much as a demand. His eyes flicked at her again, and with a disinterested, unimpressed chuff, Kajetan tossed the knives to her feet. She acted calm, unafraid. She either had to have one hell of a shift, or she was confident in her ability to defend herself against an animal that was nearly five hundred pounds of raw muscle and anger. Kajetan turned his feral gaze to her, not bridling it, meeting her eyes with an air of felinesque superiority.
Nikk watched him wearily. She had never been a fan of felines; temperamental dramatic creatures they were, always hazardous beauties. His anger was tangible, the intense rage rumbling straight to her core that did not let up when he shifted into a large man and seized her daggers.
She rose when he did and quite slowly. Her manner professed neither dominance nor cowardice, speaking quietly of the years that she had spent in the Menagerie without perishing. Nikk upon quiet reflection often thought situations like this akin to a card game. If you broke your poker face, they’d be all-in or fold … and either could be disastrous.
Throwing knives, he said in an acidic tone. He eyed her hatefully. It was something Nikk never understood about the Menagerie, why they hated each other so much. He didn’t know her from eve and yet he acted as though she had murdered his family, simply for the trespass of … trespassing. Her dark eyes held his unwavering … though it was a delicate hold, without intent or emotion.
When the knives hit the ground at her feet she remained calm and did not reach for them. She had another two in her hands now, as well as yet another set hidden on her person. Her nose continued to itch, but it was a familiar distraction – not enough to hinder her.
He commanded what she was. It was a common question … Nikk hated shifting. The damage she had caused in her bear form was irreparable, and even with this asshole she felt no desire to harm anyone unless she had to. 'Had to' usually resulted in killing, and it made Nikk sick, however another part of her bristled at his tone, what am i?
Without much thought she answered in a monotonous tone, “Capricorn on the cusp of Aquarius, and you?”
Kajetan did not understand her. He recognized the words, but immediately associated them with the constellations Selah used to tell him about, back in the optimistic days where the two of them would lay side-by-side and gaze at the stars. So he merely scoffed, an unimpressed sound, at her gibberish.
He stood gazing at her for long enough that it would be considered awkward. That was not his intention, really. He was merely calculating the situation, and trying to decide whether the encounter was worth his time, or if he should just make his way back to Analoya territory. She was a slight girl, nonthreatening. But that did not explain her behavior, which was so self-assured, quietly confident without being arrogant.
She was sure of herself. Of her ability. She did not feel threatened by him, and while this spat in the face of his pride, Kajetan was intrigued. His rage simmered in those timeless seconds, and his curiosity increased. He paced closer, his demeanor changing from hostile to cautiously interested.
He had never been this close to a human-animal.
What came to mind was a greeting he had witnessed between some of the humans in the dome. He extended his hand, nose wrinkled, and said, "I am Kaj." An introduction given only to outsiders--she would not be privileged enough to know his full name, or his last name, or the name he went by in the pride. He was intrigued by the humanity of the... the... handshake? Oh, yes. That's what he'd heard it called. And if she accepted his offered hand, he would linger, curious of her hold.
He had only ever met the Keepers. And they weren't exactly accepting handshakes from "dirty animals".
Chuff, something between a snort and a dismissal. Her eyebrow rose, as the seconds ticked by Nikk relaxed more and more. He had already displayed the aggression he would without cause, and a small taught part of her worry relaxed. However, it was not the part that kept her aware and prepared.
It caught her slightly off guard when he drew nearer to her, but she did not give ground and when his hand extended her eyes dropped but for a breath to see his rough palm. Her slim fingers slipped into his, her light skin against his darker complexion and her gaze lifted again as he introduced himself.
Nikk returned his firm but careful grip with her own, and it seemed an even longer period that their palms touched, fingers seeming to speak in a way Nikk did not understand. It had been – well, since before the Menagerie … years ago that she had someone that wanted to … shake her hand.
Still she humored him, and deadpanned her own name back, ”I am Nikk,” and impulsively she cracked a small, close mouthed smile. ”It’s … nice to meet you,” she said though the trivial statement sounded out of place. It was nice to meet him. Most just tried to 'meat' or kill her so this strangely civil gesture (particularly in the face of his original venom) caught the girl off guard.
When he his grip slackened, her fingers slipped away slowly. Eyes ever weary, she kneeled down to retrieve her two throwing daggers, and slipped them to invisible homes on her person.
Her mouth opened with a breath indenting to speak, but though better of what she was about to say. Instead, she tried again – her tone careful … ”Sorry, er … for the knives. You startled me,” she said lamely. Unaccustomed to apologies, she issued one solely for propriety – which seemed a little odd, but she felt better for saying it.
His previous ferocity had become replaced by curiosity. Sure, he was still angry she had ruined his hunt, but his interest in her took priority in those few seconds. He had not received a reaction for his hostility, which frustrated him, but in the face of his "kindness" she turned sweet as honey. The curiosity in his expression was not hidden, and his eyes (though previously narrowed to slits) opened to assess her, transforming into a wide-eyed look of interest, one that had something purely feline about it.
"Nikk." He mimicked the name, committing it to memory. He'd never heard one like it before, and it continued to interest him. There had been the hunters that had captured him, and the Keepers. But those were humans who he hated. This was a girl that was stuck in the same situation as him. But she was born human. He didn't know how he could tell--maybe the way she spoke their guttural language, not as a first language but as a second, and the way her name had been pronounced with a strange accent unfamiliar to him.
Its nice to meet you. Strange phrase, he thought, but did not say. He just nodded, and continued to stare, even as she dropped to pick up her knives. Her hand left a warm imprint on his, and he raised his hand to inhale the scent, a mixture of him and what lingered of her. She smelled like nothing he'd known in the Menagerie, having only been in Analoya and some retro lands, as well as the edge of Fallen.
"Sorry? Don't be" He blinked, lowered his hand. "I started it. You just scared off my deer." He struggled for words, more accustomed to explaining through his expression or body. He gestured with his hands to the thicket nearby. "I was hunting, and... you... you... startled... them. Like I did you, but they ran. They weren't but a handful of strides downwind of you."
He was quite satisfied after a few seconds, at having a proper conversation with a human-born. The satisfaction showed in the notch of his chin, as well as the puff of his chest. He peered around her at the quail. "All feathers, no meat." He wrinkled his nose.
ooc: "a handful of strides" referring to a measurement familiar to him, rather than yards or feet--he's measuring in the length of one of his running strides, and a handful being five (counting with his fingers, that is).
Her face turned sideways with a slight frown of confusion when he told her not to be sorry, but his further explanation seemed broken, and very descriptive. Nikk nodded, and shifted her stance. All feathers, no meat, he commented.
She shrugged, turned halfway to bend and fetch the quail by the legs and turn to Kaj once more. ”Better than nothing. My knives are all I have,” her mouth tightened and her brows lifted to looked at his hands that, moments ago had been many inches longer. Her brown gaze lifted again and her chin swirled sarcastically as her fingers wiggled in the air. ”No claws at the moment,” she said with a humored tone.
”It’s enough for me anyway, but I scared your game …” intrigued that he had refused her apology she held up the dead bird. Red blood tripped from a mutilated head. ”Want it?”
There was a large part of Nikk’s life that was inconvenient. If she wanted game as a human she had to clean it and cook it first, as a bear this quail would provide little more than a snack, but a snack that would get her to the next meal.
Her offer was no test. The retro had backed off a touch, which she was grateful for. If she'd had to shift into her bear form ... it would have gone differently.
