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
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FULSIRING
Fulsi has a standing treaty with the Nakoma, granting limited access to their fresh water.
NAKOMA TRIBE
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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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The peaceful, chilled morning was still and quiet. Across the lake a cloud of mist arose, shielding the modest flock of white cranes that slept there veiled in the dim predawn light. Snow had fallen across the shore of pebbles and rocks, and the only sign of movement came from small birds in a multitude of varieties and colors dropping to forage from their idle topiary shelters.
Abruptly, a dark shape darted toward the lake, seeming to materialize out of nowhere and scattering the panicked little birds to the trees. Outraged peeps and chirps of alarm followed in the wake of the disturber as a roll of high-pitched barks, whines, and cries echoed across the lake - startling the elegant cranes into flight.
The animal lept into the water, bounding deeper and deeper until it swam in earnest to catch a delicious, white feathered morsel. The cranes whooped danger calls and took to the air with almost lazy intent, raising as one and disappearing into the sky. Alas after several tiring minutes, the creature admitted defeat and headed back to the shore.
Elvy hauled herself from the lake and shook her short pelt diligently. Steam rose from her canine body, earned from the long minutes of plugging away through the water after breakfast. She turned to lap a generous amount of water. The sun had broken the horizon by that time, casting a sharp light of orange across the lake and its inhabitants.
A noise echoed across the rocks, and the Pitbull Terrier rose her head, water dripping from her mouth as her cropped ears listened intently. In the light her coat shone almost blue - covering a muscle bound frame with a deep chest and wide skull. White paws and a darling bib covered her chest, and a moment later, when all was silent, her head turned behind her, casting the light into her brilliant amber eyes as she broke into a pant, her tongue lolling to one side in a large smile.
Next time, next time! So close! She thought to herself, and licked her chops longingly and looked to the birds above. They in turn regarded her solemnly, and flit tree to tree mockingly. A microscopic bite hit her ruff, and instantly her hind leg attacked the assaulted area, making her lips pull back and eyes lose focus from the relief.
It had been a full day since the poor retro had eaten, and if she had not had success in the past in last ditch efforts (like the failed one just moments before) she’d have never tried for a crane. But! You never knew until you tried!
Hungry, she thought. Hungry, she almost whined to herself and looked about. Her nose went to work again as her breath fogged the air. What might she be able to catch? Surely there was something or someone around here that didn’t mind being eaten? After all, she was a very hungry dog.
Post by Ray "East" Kraus on Jul 3, 2015 21:56:01 GMT -5
and you'll always be freaks and you'll never be like other people but i'll never be a freak 'cause i'm just too perfect.
It was just his damn luck. East thought that God was smiting him, and probably for no good reason. What had he done to get lost? One moment he was with the group, just behind Jethro, and the next he was alone in the trees and all he could hear was the silence of the forest. It was creepy. Unnatural. At least in the cities it always sounded like something, even if that was the screech of breaks or the cussing of some angry man. Everyone was in a hurry. Everyone had somewhere to be. But here there was nothing but silence and snow that went up to his knees.
East spent a while trying to find his scouting party. He attempted to follow their tracks but it had already begun to snow, leaving their trail impossible for someone of his skill to follow. He kept his arms crossed and tried not to shiver too badly. Luckily, Damon had lent him his warmest winter jacket when East had told him that his assignment was to go all the way out to the retromorph territories. It was welcomed and it might have been the only thing that kept East from falling prey to hypothermia. As it were, the sun was quickly setting and he had no choice but to find shelter and abandon his search. He would find them in the morning... possibly. He did not have the resources to make fire and so he shapeshifted. The cheetah was not made for this climate; however, East had discovered that he acclimated well enough, perhaps due to the fact he was a shapeshifter or just due to the adaptability of an animal's body. He dug into the snow and curled into a small ball where he slept.
It was the worst night that he had had in the Menagerie so far. He woke up, at least, early the next morning and to sunlight. He crawled shivering from his hole and found a perch on a rock that protruded above the snow. He warmed as much as he was able, sprawled out on the rock. His eyes lazily searched his surroundings. He could see the distant glimmer of a large lake and he could hear something...
Right before his eyes a white rabbit popped above the surface of the snow. It looked at him with beady black eyes, shaking its whiskers. A few seconds later it glanced away and began to move on. East had to admit... he had seen fatter rabbits... but was he to be picky with his stomach grumbling as it was? He launched himself from the rock in a sudden, rocketing motion. He overestimated the distance of the rabbit and his own momentum. He hooked it squarely with one paw but was sent toppling as he attempted to stop. He did a somersault, quickly recovered, and sprang upon the faltering hare. With a crunch, he crushed the delicate bones of the rabbit's neck between his teeth.
He shifted very, very quickly and spat blood from his mouth. "Ew, ew, gross... grossssss." He rubbed his tongue on his sleeve. He stared at the thing he had killed, wondering if he ought shift back and eat it raw... No. No he would not. It took him close to an hour to find wood dry enough to burn. He roughly skinned and gutted the rabbit and put the carcass over the fire to cook. Overwhelmed by the urge to pee, East went a little distance away from his "camp" into the trees. He hummed under his breath, having decided that his day was beginning to look up... He had the Menagerie's version of a five-star meal and a meager fire to keep his fingers from falling off. It could always be worse.
Wandering along the lakeside wasn’t getting her anywhere, and she was very cold. Perhaps it had not been such a good idea to go in the water. With another vigorous shake the bully dog took off in a hasty trot, her whip tail switching back and forth in her jaunt as she headed away from the lake, and into the trees.
It was not long after that a smell so delicious, so heavenly hit her nose she bee-lined for it without any thought behind what she may find or the danger it might present.
Hungry, hungry, smells good! So good! She chanted to herself, her mouth watering as she crashed through the undergrowth haphazardly, and drew close to the origin of the scent. Rabbit! Cooked rabbit! Oh my, oh my! When, all at once she skidded to a stop at the edge of what appeared to be a small camp.
Camp meant People! Uh oh, that meant the rabbit was not hers. She had stolen before, she remembered, and it had not gone well. No! Bad dog! Very bad dog! And the people had thrown things at her. Above all things, Elvy did not want to be A Very Bad Dog.
Watching the rabbit sizzle over the flame was torture. Her bum hit the dirt in defeat as she watched it with avid, amber coloured, pain-filled, sad doggy eyes. Her cropped ears went back, and she licked her chops with a big pink tongue. Hungry, she whined to herself. Hungry.
A moment later, a people came around the corner and jumped the moment he saw her. She did not move. Instead, her head lowered as her ears remained tucked back in doggy shame – the tip of her tail began to beat the ground, and from the corner of her eye she looked again to the rabbit, then away. Not mine, she said to herself sadly. Not mine.
Post by Ray "East" Kraus on Jul 7, 2015 0:48:00 GMT -5
and you'll always be freaks and you'll never be like other people but i'll never be a freak 'cause i'm just too perfect.
It was always a concerning sign when pee steamed. East quickly finished his business and trekked back toward his camp, shivering. Oh, he just wanted a warm bed. He wouldn't complain if there was also a furnace in the room, and perhaps a tray of brownies and coffee spiked with baileys creamer. He came around the corner and shot out of his skin. What, what--no, no, no. This was not right. Where was he again? East spent a long moment regarding the blue bully dog, his jaw practically touching the snowy ground. Well... he supposed that he was close to Nilda territory and that water he had seen must have been their lake.
He sniffed and straightened up. His nose was runny and his cheeks were chapped from the cold, but that was of no matter! He had learned that dealing with retromorphs sometimes constituted a stiff bearing and a firm hands. Dogs did not like cats. East was a cat. Problem solved. "I'm not leaving. This is my camp for the day and that's my rabbit. If you want to fight me for it I'm... I'm a tiger. Big, strip-y cat. I'll eat you." It was all a bluff, of course, considering East could hardly stomach the blood of a rabbit in his mouth and he had almost puked the one and only time he'd bitten a man. Not to mention the fact that a cheetah was hardly built for brawling and he certainly wasn't a tiger. He hoped that the dog wouldn't question him--
East then realized that her demeanor was not an aggressive one. In fact, she almost looked shameful, like his mother's dog had when the bastard killed a chicken. East cocked his head to the side and assessed her again. He glanced toward the fire, where her attention seemed to be located, and looked back at the dog. She hadn't stolen his rabbit, which was good, but she surely looked like she wanted to. "Don't even think about it," East chastised. She looked so damn sad. He crossed his arms. "I mean it, you're not getting any." He walked across the makeshift camp toward the fire and shifted the rabbit over the flames, ensuring that it wasn't--well, shit. That side might have been a little over-cooked. He felt the dog's eyes on him.
He was many things, but completely heartless didn't apply... At least not when puppy eyes were involved. East thought it would have been easier to starve a baby. "Finneeee." He exclaimed in exasperation. He set the rabbit in the snow to make it cool more quickly. A few minutes passed during which East performed an excellent imitation of an annoyed cat, just short of the tail flick. Once the meat had cooled, he began to cut away the more burnt portions of the meat and tossed them toward the dog without looking at her, grumbling under his breath something along the lines of, "Stupid mutt, looking so damn cute." He looked at the organs set aside and, grimacing, picked them up and tossed them that way as well.
The People was as unhappy to see her as she thought he might be but his words, though harsh, belied what she thought he would do – which was chase her off, or throw something at her. Instead he puffed and grumbled words at her. Her ears went up curiously as he spoke, her posture straightening until she heard the words, fight and eat you. Her chopped ears went flat at the idea of a fight with a People and her head lowered again, the doggy shame painting a sad picture as she attempted to look like the most harmless Pitbull Terrier there ever might have been. It was chilly, and with her short, short coat she shook visibly. Her amber eyes trained to the ground. Sorry, sorry. Elvy is a very sorry dog.
When he was silent for a moment, her amber eyes looked up curiously, then back to the rabbit. Don’t even think about it. Eyes back to the ground in doggy shame … they lifted for just one more look at that tender … I mean it, you’re not getting any. In defeat, Elvy’s white dipped forepaws shifted, turning her position if only a slight bit and she licked her chops. When he walked across the camp and turned the rabbit over the flames, Elvy dutifully kept her eyes to the brush across the way and, after a few minutes yawned - a slight squeak at the end. Now and then, though her broad skull did not turn, her eyes shifted back to the rabbit for a quick peek and stealthfully, her nose lifted to the air. When he glared at her, back went her ears and the tip of her tail wagged in the leaves.
Fiiinnnee, before he had even finished the word Elvy was standing two feet closer, tail whipping side to side so quickly it thumped her rib-cage, happiness outlining every feature of her steely-blue dog face. Despite her elation, and ever polite she kept her distance, and waited patiently while dinner rested in the snow. When he began cutting off sections of burned bunny, Elvy sat quite primly in the snow, her tail whipping a clear path in the leaves behind her. Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy. She chanted in her head excitedly, and not a single piece of tossed rabbit reached the ground. When the innards where thrown her way, she backed, allowing them to hit the snow and delicately gorged upon them as well.
When all was done, she licked her chops and, sniffing at the shallow snow, shoved her nose clear to the pine covered floor beneath it. Then, she dug – throwing snow and dirt away from the camp with comical eagerness until a shallow rut in the ground was created … just large enough for Elvy to lay belly down and legs sprawled out behind her. The snow was too cold to lay on, and the fire was nice very nice. She lay there with half lidded eyes, panting as her tail unconsciously and lazily wagged to and fro.
Post by Ray "East" Kraus on Jul 10, 2015 23:02:39 GMT -5
and you'll always be freaks and you'll never be like other people but i'll never be a freak 'cause i'm just too perfect.
East did his best to appear nonchalant, perhaps even indifferent... He bit into the rabbit and promptly ignored the dog, trying not to shiver too badly so that he could actually eat without biting the tips of his fingers off. He cleaned the bones methodically, trying to imagine that it was a sirloin... or rib-eye... or T-bone... His mouth began to water, but not from the tasteless, tough meat that he was currently eating. He glanced back at the dog and realized that she hadn't spoken back to him... maybe that was because she didn't understand.
Well, what did it matter? East wasn't interested in making friends with retromorphs. He was interested in getting back to Fulsi in one handsome piece. He jumped visibly as she began to dig into the snow, the sound having surprised him. She looked so damn happy. East couldn't remember the last time he had seen a dog that wasn't a human--he quickly reprimanded himself. This dog had a human shape, right? Didn't that make her at least fifty percent? Regarding her, he decided resolutely that that was not the case... he didn't know of any human that would have made that expression, even in their shift form. He scooted closer and began to scratch her behind the ears. East couldn't help himself. If he had a soft spot... it had to be dogs. When he had been younger he had had some hound mutt, one that followed him everywhere. It had been his dog until he went to school and it had loved him.
He felt profoundly lonely for a moment. He had learned very quickly that people did not love like animals did. He withdrew his hand and sighed, quickly finishing the rest of the rabbit. He took a moment to warm his hands by the fire and, again, looked at the dog. "Good girl," he said, softly, before he stood. He needed to start going back... "I have to go back to Fulsi."
He realized that he was, again, communicating in a language that she probably didn't understand. He began to speak in shiftertongue. "I have to leave. Thanks for the company. If you want, you can come."
He hunched his shoulders and began to trek through the deep snow. He didn't bother to put the fire out, knowing from the ominous look of the clouds that it would begin to snow again soon.
She lay in the ditch by the fire, panting with half slit – happy dog eyes. She could feel his deliberating attention, but felt no alarm. It was a talent most dogs had, an ease with people that was bare-faced and unapologetic. When he drew near her tail thumped happily, and his fingers petting her ears caused waves of pleasure that made her foot kick. Ohhhhh yeaaahhhh, she thought as her eyes squitched shut. When he pulled back his hand, she stretched her spine, using her strong font paws to pull her outstretching body a foot or so before rising to her feet with a wagging tail.
Good girl¸ he said and immediately her mouth closed, catching her canines between her doggy lips as her head chocked to one side. Her eyes shone brightly then, and she began panting in excitement with an open-mouthed grin as she walked closer to him wagging. Oh boy oh boy, he is happy, he is happy.
Elvy had never been a large Pitbull. Even with her heavily muscled frame she only topped out at fourty-five pounds or so. As a result, she was a hell of an athlete compared to the larger examples of her breed that often topped out over a hundred pounds. While he sat she barely reached his chest, for he was a very tall man, and when he stood she looked up and up.
His next words to her made little sense, although she knew the word 'go' well enough to know that either he wanted to leave, or wanted her to. Her head tilted and her ears went back in uncertainty. Then, he spoke in the language they all understood. It took thinking about it before Elvy ever remembered she could use it. It was all too rare that she needed to anyway, and by then she had forgotten.
If you want you can come, he offered. Every ounce of the blue bully dog lit up with excitement. Really! Oh yes, oh yes! I would surely like to come! Elvy will come too! She yipped happily and trotted after him as he left the campsite.
All was still for several long minutes before the Pitbull trotted back into the tiny clearing, turned, kicked snow and leaves over the fire to kill it, then raced away to bulldoze through the bracken after her new friend.