The Shimmering Plains - Info, Roster, and Signup!

[damaatsii]

There are tales of a time Before, when the great dens of the twolegs were filled, when the corpses of monsters were alive and snarling, when prey was plentiful and the weather steady. No cat alive remembers those days. Instead, gangs and groups dart through the crumbling buildings and scrounge for scraps in dark alleyways. It's a lawless world, harsh and unforgiving. Few make it past 30 moons. Nobody escapes this cold reality.

But the stars have spoken.

A group of cats have received a message from their ancestors: Cross the Heart of the Great Stones and find the Shimmering Plains. The words are incessant, following the cats in their dreams, distracting them from their hunts, whispering at the back of their minds. Finally, one day, as though driven by fate, the cats follow the directive and head towards the Great Stones.

Will the group survive the journey through the Great Stones? Who will rise to be a leader... and who will fall to the darkness in the Heart? It's all up to you.

---

Howdy, and welcome to the Shimmering Plains info/roster/signup thread! World information will follow, and then the signup form, then the roster, and THEN an update post! I'm doing my best to keep things organized I swear.

The Shimmering Plains takes place in a post-apocalyptic world, where twolegs have been reduced to wandering bands and most technology has been lost. The cats will be setting out from an old mining town, traveling through the mines and mountains, and then, hopefully, find the Shimmering Plains. If everyone is still invested in the story, we'll make a new thread and pick up again!

Because of the nature of the world, there are few cultural rules, norms, or crimes... which means the earlier you join and the more active your characters, the more they can help shape the future of this new cat society! It's absolutely fine if they end up adopting the Code and continuing like a regular clan, but there's also plenty of opportunity to create something unique together.

There is no set naming rules among the cats (yet,) but most are named after objects or traits. Some names are family names passed down from cat to cat and have kittypet origins; others are picked by their owners, determined to dictate their own fate. All I ask is that cats with super long names are given a nickname to call them by.

Not all cats that join are required to have received a message from Starclan/their ancestors; some might have just been in the right place at the right time, or tagged along with a family member or friend. All cats DO have to be at least five moons old to join the group, as the journey would be too difficult for kits. That doesn't mean that no kits can be born on the journey, though! I don't think most cats are known for their family planning skills.

I will accept unusual or rare colors/patterns in this RP, though there are no unnatural colors. Patterns... we'll see.

PLEASE DO NOT JOIN THE RP UNTIL I HAVE ADDED YOU TO THE ROSTER

To begin with, I ask that you have no more than three characters, but more can be added later if you're active! Trust me, there will be opportunities to have new cats join later.

I intend to start the RP around New Years, so please be patient!

SIGNUP FORM

Name:
Age:
Gender:
Appearance: (please include several sentences, even if you post a picture, along with a list of any scars they have)
Personality: (at least three positive traits, three negative traits, and one neutral trait)
Reason for joining: (did they receive the message? did they just follow someone? right place at the right time?)
Character Arc Ideas: (just give me an idea of what kind of conflict or growth you want them to have throughout the roleplay. I can't guarantee that I'll be able to fit it in, but it will help drive plot points!)

Thanks for any interest, and don't feel shy about messaging me with any questions or ideas! Happy RPing!

[damaatsii]

ROSTER

Glass : @The Cannibal
Feather : @damaatsii
Silence : @Pdolabr
Bel : @Pdolabr
Hope : @Estelle
Rowan : @mochi

[damaatsii]

UPDATE LOG
CURRENT TIME/WEATHER
leaffall; cold and windy, relatively dry

[The Cannibal]

I really love this idea and I'd love to see how it goes !!

Name: Glass
Age: 12 moons
Gender: Male
Appearance: Glass is a mostly creme colored tom with very light hints of ginger/orange around his face and tail that become more apparent when in direct sunlight (so imagine a flame-point but basically the ginger is so light it's barely noticeable most of the time). He's on the somewhat skinnier/tall side, but is not on the abnormal spectrum, just a bit taller and leaner than the average cat. Most of his scarring is around his paws, small pink scrapes that never healed, and a single pink scratch over the right side of his lip. A lot of the time he is missing a patch of fur, as he tends to get into scraps a lot (you'll see in his personality why), but the area where the patch of fur is missing changes. His eyes are a pale amber-yellow.
Personality:
Positive~ Quick-Witted, Alert, Hardworking
Neutral~ Crisp (very to the point)
Negative~ On-edge, Aggressive (when scared), Doesn't trust easy
So in short, Glass is a very flighty tom, who's very sharp in the intelligent sense, and is always on the lookout for danger. He works very hard to keep himself alive, and once he finds another cat he can trust, will work very hard to keep them alive and safe as well. He never beats around the bush and will tell you things as they are, no matter how bad it is. Typically he doesn't bring other cats emotions into account, which is normally why he has such a blunt/crisp response to things. He is also a cat you don't want to back into a corner, for when he's scared, he gets extremely aggressive. This is why he's almost constantly missing a patch of fur. He will fight another cat with little disregard if he feels threatened, and he's not the nicest cat to be around when he's scared or stressed out. And another thing that makes him hard to get along with, is that he doesn't trust others easily. It's a hard world and he's learned that the hard way, there are few cats out there you can trust, and even fewer who will stick by your side. But once you have his trust, he will be a friend that will constantly keep an eye on your back.
Reason for joining: He received the message, but is suspicious of the other cats that claimed they received it as well.
Character Arc Ideas: In the beginning, he's not really going to trust the others of the group, but will stick along with them to test his chances, though will be ready to bolt at the first sign of danger. I'd love for there to be a point where he's kind of come to trust them, but something crazy happens that causes him to choose between fighting for the group, and fleeing like he normally does.

[damaatsii]

Name: Feather
Age: 14 moons
Gender: she-cat
Appearance:
A tall, fluffy she-cat with curled ears. Despite her thick, heavy fur, she's actually quite slender beneath it. She has nervous but sweet green eyes. Her coat is mostly white, but has several markings of gray-brown tabby. While she isn't necessarily a small cat, she often hunches over or otherwise makes herself appear smaller. Her tail is almost excessively plumed and often has twigs or leaves caught in it. Several scars litter her body, but they are all covered by her thick fur.
Personality:
Feather is perceptive, soothing, and honest. Shy and retiring, her most negative trait is her naivete. She trusts too easily, often times deciding a cat is good based on one interaction. Feather rarely defends herself and is more likely to run, crying and hiding, than confronting an issue. Her self confidence is pretty abysmal.
Reason for joining: Feather received the message and holds it close to her heart, using it as a source of hope and direction.
Character Arc Ideas: I just want to see the sweet baby grow into a good, strong gorl

[Pdolabr]

Name: Silence (called Si)
Age: 20 moons
Gender: Female
Appearance: Si is a very small cat, if one didn't know they would guess she was barely 10 moons. Despite this, she is extremely muscular though her build is very lithe. She has a seal point coat (think siamese) that make her bright blue eyes very noticeable. Her coat is not short, but not long, almost like a medium-length fur. At first glance, she seems to be scar-free, until one notices that her stumpy tail is not natural, but missing. She also has several light scars around her neck.
Personality: Positive~Determined, Loyal, Calm, Charismatic
Neutral~Logical, Intelligent
Negative~Callous, Cruel, Distant, Unempathetic, possesive
Si is a wonderful ally, but a horrible enemy. Si mainly operates by trying to make the wishes of 'her cats' come true. She draws cats in with her charisma, which is mainly a show. When she decides she likes one or two, Si makes them 'her cat' primarily by ensuring that they will stay by her side no matter what through several methods, mainly by manipulating their perception of her. If she is betrayed, or someone hurts one of her cats, she becomes a little sociopath. She will destroy the offender through isolation and psychological warfare before maiming/mutilating them. She will do anything for 'her cats' though, even if she is horrible at showing it. She will provide them with comfort and other emotional needs, even if the emotional component on her end is largely fake.
Reason for joining: Silence has followed the last of 'her cats', determined to protect them and make this dream of theirs come true.
Character Arc Ideas: I think it might be cool for Silence to create some important bonds, eventually seeing the group as 'her cats' before coming into conflict with another cat; maybe somebody who joins later or she is betrayed in some way. I feel the natural conclusion to that arc is for her to die or be exiled during/after a fight with the cat. If she survives, I could see her becoming a sort of villain to the main group

Name: Bel
Age: 7 moons
Gender: Female
Appearance: Bel is a tortieshell with amber eyes. She is a big for her age, nearly as big as Silence. She only has a few scars on her paws from a particularly nasty fall as a kitten, but other than that is scar-free. Bel will have a more sturdy frame when she grows into it, but for now is having to deal with some gangly legs while she is growing.

 

Personality: Positive~Compassionate, Loyal, Empathetic
Neutral~Energetic
Negative~Sheltered, Impulsive, Temperamental
Bel is a very kind and loyal cat, with a lot of energy. She has been sheltered by Silence nearly her whole life, so she has no idea what the world is really like. Her energy lends her to impulsiveness, for example taking off after an insect in a dangerous area. She also gets temperamental when she is feeling poorly, snapping at her friends and busting out in tears.
Reason for joining: Bel received the message.
Character Arc Ideas: Bel has been relatively sheltered by Silence, and I want her to grow up a bit more

[damaatsii]

bump! <3

[Estelle]

Name: Hope
Age: 6 moons
Gender: She-cat

Aperance:
Hope is a mainly white cat with some black and caramel brown spots along her spine, all the way to her tail. She has one black spot covering a part of the back side of her left ear and another caramel brown spot at the back of her head and not more than two or three more or less small spots on her sides.
She has blue eyes, her right eye being her blind eye and a lighter colour blue than her left eye. The reason for that is a now thin scar she has across her right eye, wich she got when she was a kit. Besides the one across her right eye, the only other scar she has is a very small scar on her left fore paw, wich can barely be seen.
She has a very fluffy tail in wich easily things like small sticks and leaves could get stuck if she doesn't watch out. She is a bit of a slender cat, wich is 'hiden' by her middle long fur.

Personality:
positive: kind, caring, loyal.
Neutral: shy, determined.
Negative: easily frightened, indecisive, doesn't trust others easily.
-Hope is a very shy but still kind cat. After her mother passed, her brother always protected her, until he too passed, and there for she doesn't know that much about the world and how everything works without him: wich is the reason why she's easily frightened.
She may seem quite naïf even tho in reality, she isn't. She doesn't trust other cats easily and with her shyness added to it she usually stays quiet and tries to go as unoticed as she can for a while when first meeting new cats, only starting to speak more and open up a little once she gets to know them and realizes they're probably not a threat. Once she realizes that, she might be less afraid to speak her mind and might even do so on certain occasions.
She had always been quite indecisive, by example, if someone would ask her wether she wanted to eat a squirl or a bird she would often not know wich one to chose, and settle for the one that's the easiest to catch. But it's not always that way; with certain things and in ceratin cases she would know exactly what she wanted. And often once she sets her mind on something she believes is worth it, she'll most likely go threw with it.
One other bad trait that she has, but that rarely shows, is that sometimes she may try to act a little manipulative or try to play with a cat's mind, wich is something she absolutely hates, but still tries to do on very very rare occasions.
But regardless of that, Hope is generally a kind and caring cat. Once she cares about someone she will want to be sure that cat is safe no matter what. She is also very loyal, she would possibly be the last cat to even think about betraying the ones she cares about.
She normally always wants to avoid conflict and defenitly fighting, but when it comes to it and she has no other way to protect the ones she cares about, she will show her claws and fight, even tho she doesn't like doing so.

Reason for joining:
She received the message, to her it felt like I was atleast partly a sign from her mother.

Character arc ideas:
I would mainly want her grow out of her shyness atleast a little bit and simply have her grow as a cat in general.
But maybe at the beginning some cats could be a little suspicious of her, due to how quiet she stays, or even other reasons, but then that something happens wich results in her having to prove her loyalty to the group?

[mochi]

this is so cool! i hope i can see it through till the end ^^
also, Rowan was originally a girl before i realized Glass would have been the only male haha


⯭ name ⯭
Rowan

⯭ age ⯭
14

⯭ gender ⯭
Male (He/Him)

⯭ appearance ⯭
Rowan is a handsome young tom with pale green eyes and mocha brown fur that darkens to a brown-black that covers his face like a mask, streaks across his spine, and down his legs and tail similar to a Siamese. He also sports Bengal rosettes and stripes across his coat, fading into the same brown-black as his face, legs, and tail. A lighter brown marks his undercoat from his chest to his belly, stopping just before his tail. He is on the taller spectrum with a lean build - muscular, but not overly so - and his fur is short, thick, and sleek with the occasional out-of-place tuft of fur. He doesn't have any large scars, mostly just little scrapes throughout his pelt - the most noticeable being a wide nick in his right ear.

⯭ personality ⯭
+adventurous, +confident, +honest
Receiving the strange message distracted him only slightly from his search, but it was enough to spark his curiosity and remind him how much he loved to explore.
=energetic, =outspoken, =competitive
Ever since he was a kit, Rowan has been loud and nosy, always finding trouble and getting his paws dirty.
-impulsive, -aggressive, -hardheaded
Losing his father, and in turn his mother and unborn siblings, left him with a deep emotional scar that can cause him to lash out at others and make rash decisions.

⯭ reason for joining ⯭
He received the vision, however, he still searches to find the one who killed his father and exact vengeance.

⯭ character arc ideas ⯭
Perhaps one of the cats in the group could be the killer he's been searching for, and that could create an interesting struggle between the characters as he tries to figure out where his loyalties lie.
Even if none of the cats in the group are the killer, he'll still go through internal struggles on whether or not to leave the others to look for the killer.

In the end I want him to realize revenge isn't the answer, but that conclusion will come with a lot of internal conflict.

[Silhouettes]

Name:
North

Age:
16 moons

Gender:
Female

Appearance:
Reference 1 | Reference 2

North is a physically big feline, hints of maine coon visible in her lineage. Her coat contains multiple colors, muddled and blended together. The base color in her coat is white, with swirls of multiple shades of gray vaguely resembling tabby stripes. Her chest along with most of her tail is white. The mollys eyes are a vivid yellow with a clear green hue. Her ears are tufted at the ends. North’s tail is exceptionally fluffy, a sheer contrast from the medium length of the rest of her pelt. Smears of grayish-brown can be seen throughout it. She has a few scars, most noticeably her left ear being considerably torn. The rest of her scars are just a few scratches here and there, hidden throughout her pelt.

Personality:
Positive- Charismatic, Dedicated, Confident
Neutral- Extremely Religious
Negative- Disloyal, Hostile, Cold
North lives up to her name. She’s a cold molly, almost apathetic. She seems to share almost no empathy with other felines. This blends with her aggressiveness, almost any little thing can set her off. She’s even naturally hostile towards others- thus making getting on her good side quite difficult. Though, even if someone did happen to get close to her, she would betray them in a heartbeat. The silver cat isn’t one to trust, as she’ll willingly trade someone’s life for just a scrap of food. This isn’t saying she doesn’t have any morals. She is extremely religious. And after seeing the vision, it made her worship to the “gods” and "stars", whoever they are, even stronger. Because of her affinity to whoever she believes in, once North sets her mind to something, you better believe she’ll get it done. She’s extremely confident on her ability to both interpret and deliver “her gods will”. She does have her way with words, however. Charisma seems to be her second language. Though, it can easily falter if someone tries to put down her belief in any way.

Reason for joining:
Received the Vision; very proud of it and won’t believe that others received it too without some convincing

Character Arc Ideas:
I fully expect her to die one way or another, but before then I do see her taking another cats life (NPC or otherwise) somewhere down the road. She’ll most likely have issues with a large majority of the group, so perhaps she could get hurt later and the others won’t really wanna help her.