Guidebook

Introduction & Rules

Premise

Sonder is centered around the betrayals and tensions of court intrigue. Based loosely on the historical Jacobite rebellions in the 1700s, the crownlands of Rionnach have been in chaos for many years. Once upon a time, a queen from the Highlands was chased from her throne, and a new King Adamh, of the Mainlands, ascended to power. Wolves of Rionnach found family and culture in the Highlands, Lowlands, or Mainlands regions, and they politically aligned themselves with Royalists, in support of King Adamh; Jacobites, in support of the lost son of the banished queen, Jacob; or Voxi, those who preach democracy and equality. However, tension later stirred amongst the political Jacobites, the majority of whom resided in the Highlands. Those rebels favored Jacob for the throne of Rionnach. After the Rebellion of 1710, Jacob took the Highlands, which he named Saora, from under King Adamh's nose. For a short while, there was no war.

But peace is not a friend of Rionnach, and in 1711, an old magic took hold of the lands in the form of a mystical fog. This strange magic was believed to be linked to mythical creatures called the Fae, once thought to be solely a Highlander superstition. Now, however, the proof of the Fae's existence is difficult to ignore. The Fae Fog, as it became known, changed wolves - aging them up or down seemingly at random, and even resurrecting some from the dead.

In the chaos, Adamh reclaimed the Highlands, and the perilously new King of Saora unexpectedly perished. Several years passed fretfully. Then, in 1714, Adamh was poisoned by an unknown assailant, thought among the people to be of Highlander origin. His daughter, Mhairi, ascended to the throne, promoting peace between the people - and attempting to diffuse tensions caused by an ever-growing fear of the Fae.

Our story begins anew in the spring of 1716, just after the late Queen Mhairi's death and the ascension of her young son, the new King Beltane. But Fae magic is not done with Rionnach yet. The Fae Fog, which had collected at the edges of Rionnach like smoke, finally dissipated completely with King Beltane's coronation, and its absence revealed something entirely new: land bridges to new nations. Wolves of Da'Ira and Ildhrune, familiar with each other but strangers to Rionnach, find themselves comingling with Rionnach's masses for the first time in living memory. Political turmoil abounds, and these new nations have cast a watchful eye over the carnage. For what nation will you choose to carry the banner? Which of the many diverse cultures do you call your own? And, when the magic surges and your country needs you, will you fight for it?

Our history is fraught, but your story is your own. Welcome to Sonder.

OOC

Genre: Sonder is a mature semi-realistic wolf roleplay focusing on the rise and fall of kingdoms. Blending in aspects of human society in the 1700s, wolves on Sonder bend realism by living in crumbling cottages, making fires, crafting teas, engaging in a food and medicine-based economy, and enjoying a variety of professions. Additionally, wolves can interact with supernatural creatures such as the Fae through random events, further enriching and derailing their lives. Though the common tongue spoken is dominantly English, certain nations and cultures have a preference and affinity for Scottish Gaelic or other languages.

OOC Accounts: Every user has one OOC account that they link their IC accounts to.

Time: Sonder runs on liquid time and 1 IC YEAR = 48 OOC WEEKS.

Word Minimum: There is a soft 150-200 word minimum per post. This helps give your writing partners a little to work with.

Characters: Users are not limited on characters, but only 3 can be Outlanders (i.e., not native to a nation on Sonder). Every Outlander after your 3rd needs to purchase a +1 Outlander item from the shop and every character after 7 needs a +1 character item purchased from the shop.

Sizes: Avatars: 250x300 px. Tables: Max width is 600px.

Age Minimum: All users must be aged 18 years or older. This is strictly enforced.

RPG Rating:

Thread Prefixes: AW: All Welcome (Anyone can join), M: Mature Content (Gore, Sexual content), P: Private (Post only if you have been invited to the thread), E: Event (Often used by NPC accounts. Usually "All Welcome" by nature).

Art: No AI art is allowed on-site or in discord.

IC Rules

Respect and trust are core pieces of Sonder culture and as a result, we operate on an honor system. Users are trusted to update all aspects of their profiles (even achievements), not abuse any loopholes they may find, and to treat one another with respect and kindness. In return, users trust Staff to operate fairly and to focus more on SWP events and fun festivals than any sort of policing. Just think of Sonder as a lovely, chill coffee shop—we're all just here to vibe ♥

Mature content must be marked with an M prefix in both the thread title and the discord tag. Sexually explicit scenes (graphic innuendo, explicit reference of genitalia, etc.) must fade to black. Pedophilia and incest plots of any kind are banned.

Theft is treated extremely seriously. Do not steal code, artwork, character content from media or peers, etc. If something inspires you, check in with the creator and see if they're okay with influencing your work.

Characters may interact with dilapidated castles, run-down cottages, cracked bowls, books, scraps of fabric, and other relics from the human world. As far as your characters know, humans have never existed and they have no concept of what humans are. Note: In general day-to-day life, wolves cannot be adorned with items (such as necklaces, glasses, scarfs, masks). However, we often have magical realism events where wolves can don these exciting items throughout the course of the event, and you can even purchase the magical realism item from the Market to have something affixed permanently to your character.

NPC use is allowed within reason. You can have existing NPC family (such as prior children or a spouse), NPC friends and co-workers (such as a boss that employs you or little old ladies in your neighborhood), and you can kill and/or get into fights with NPCs (please don't become a serial killer that's hacking through them every day though) - whatever propels your story forward! Note: NPCs should enrich your stories with other writers and should never be used to avoid writing with all of our many friends on Sonder. Also, users cannot have pups with NPCs in the game (they have to have already been born prior to the character entering the site).

Inactive characters are considered offscreen. This means that they may be in the periphery of the storyline just watering their plants and going about their business. Though they may not play an active role in plots, they do not have to disappear. Be sure to work out offscreen details with your roleplay partners.

Threads are not unarchived by Staff. That said, you may write in archived threads for all eternity. The site automatically closes threads that it archives, but users have the power to open their own threads! Just have the person that made the thread look to the right of the title and there should be an "open" button. Similarly, if you want to close a thread prematurely, feel free to do so.

Staff Contact

We are but humble peasants laboring at the shrine of our god, the Guidebook.

Ashon Moderator

Cipher Moderator

Claerie Administrator

Di Administrator

Essie Administrator

Credits

Artwork: Skin Images — New Era (shapetales), Redwood (Kulnifer), Royalist/Voxi/Jacobite (Claerie), Perth (Kulnifer), Fae Forest (Kalmansielu), Sussex (defineDEAD). Board Images — Highlands, Lowlands, Mainlands (Andiliion), Éireland, Ildhrune, Da'Ira (Dumbdingo). Affiliate Buttion — Fall River (Warg), Snow (Claerie), New Era (shapetales). Guild Flowers — (Claerie). Market Items — Corvid/Elixir/Scrolls (Sylvirr), Lock/Key/Taming/Scales/Merle (Claerie). Maps — (Claerie), (Amphi).
Coding: Site Skin — Pumpkinspired. Retired Site Skin — oraegano. Misc codes (posting template, small guidebook bobbles) — bean