Welcome to Canis Major

a wolf and animal rpg (role-playing game)

Canis is a writing community for play-by-post (forum-based), freeform roleplay set in a fictional dream world in the intrusion fantasy genre. Most characters on Canis are wolves; many play elements are focused around wolves and canids, but the world makes room for a large variety of other animal characters such as dogs, horses, cats, bears, deer, and many, many more.

Our community is focused on flexibility, creativity, and collaboration. That boils down to a few important features:

  • There is no set activity requirement to write
  • The setting and plot are member-created and staff-supported
  • The game is continuously improved to increase fun and decrease stress

Learn more in our Rulebook!

AW
If You Change, Keep Moving

#1
AW
Adventurer
01-03-2025, 07:46 AM
Quote
Dawn broke with the song of birds, an orange glow in the midst of winter bathing him in a light that beckoned for him to start the day. Raiden cracked his eyes, a yawn stifled between his maw as waves of green fluttered in the cold breeze. It hadn't quite settled yet—the churning clouds in his head—but it was the sound of leaves that drew his attention. They were different, rattling and loud as they scraped the earth, much unlike the pines that stood guard even through the coldest winters. That was his first sign.

Raising his head, the man of thunder quickly searched his body. There was no tampering, no injuries, only tussled fur from laying here in the grass roughed by the wind. That would be good if he hadn't awoken away from home. The meadow stretched out before him, stray oaks dotting the land, providing the most minimal shelter. It was pretty, but revealing.

...At least the land seemed to be unclaimed.

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#2
Adventurer
01-03-2025, 09:09 AM (This post was last modified: 7 hours ago by Ries. Edited 1 time in total.)
Quote
Ries had not been walking here. He had been walking somewhere, he was pretty sure, but not in this exact place. It was strange, but stranger things had happened than blinking and having the entire world change, hadn't it? Or maybe Ries hadn't been paying enough attention. That had occurred multiple times in the past, where his feet had carried him too far before his brain had fully caught up.

Never before had he experienced blinking and the world changing, but that was fine. At least the place he'd waltzed his way into was beautiful and seemed safe.

Definitely not Vanderfell, with its steep slopes and rocky underfoot, but still beautiful.

Dark ears angled about and his nose twitched, trying to gather as much information about the place as possible, and he continued his walk.

The wind cut through his fur and he shivered a little, shaking himself out afterward. "Cold day," he hummed to himself, trying to figure out which way his home might be from here, currently unaware that he was not alone in the meadow.
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#3
Adventurer
01-03-2025, 10:00 AM
Quote
A voice cut the cold, soft and unexpecting to the draw of his gaze. A man dressed in browns and creams adorned with a blanched paw. He couldn't have been any older than him if Raiden had to guess. Rising like a storm, he shifted to his paws, allowing a pause to shake his fur until it settled better along his body. It won't be the last. His voice rumbled thick with sleep, but warm all the same. Winter makes a nasty habit of surprises.

He had no reason to suspect the man of causing his situation. For all he knew, his company had only recently arrived. It was more probable given that his attention was not drawn to him just yet. Raiden spared another glance around the glade now that he was more alert. Branches bare spare for the few leaves that clung stubbornly like a child to their mother. Low fog, thin enough to not obscure his field of view, but thick enough to glow under the sun. Hardly a place to hide or take shelter...

Do you have a name for this place, Stranger?

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#4
Adventurer
01-03-2025, 01:23 PM (This post was last modified: 7 hours ago by Ries. Edited 3 times in total.)
Quote
A voice like the sound of distant thunder brought Ries' attention, ears swiveling and eyes widened for just a moment before he realized this man had to be friendly. At the very least, he was neutral in his approach, and Ries figured he hadn't accidentally taken a wrong turn and ended up in someone's homeland.

"It does," he agreed, settling a smile onto his face and relaxing his posture. Had it been winter before? Ries was not certain. But it was definitely winter now, the cold biting and the foliage sparse. What must the mountain look like, he wondered. Covered in snow, most likely. Treacherous and slippery for those unaccustomed. "No blizzard, at least. Silver linings." For now, anyway. Ries had been caught in a few downpours in his time, and this would be an exceptionally bad place for one.

Do you have a name for this place, Stranger?

Ries hummed as he glanced about the area, eyes narrowed in thought. "Foggy Meadows," he said eventually, expression changing into something amused, tail swaying. "Nothing official, unfortunately, but I'm sure it has a name." Most places did, in his experience. It was probably a much better name than Ries had given it, too.

"I have a name though. Official and everything," he began his introduction, eyes creased in a smile and head dipping down lower. It wouldn't do to remain strangers. "Ries Boesch," he said simply, and tilted his head a little on his next question. "And you?"
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#5
Adventurer
01-03-2025, 11:59 PM
Quote
Raiden lets out a short hum beneath his breath, the heat billowing in a plume from his nostrils in the early morning temps. Fitting enough, I suppose. Who was he to argue? Not a local then, I take it? The man of thunder quirked a brow with a minor tilt of his head at the other's introduction. Boesch. Nothing came to mind, but the name danced at the corners of his mind, familiar, but not for reasons that should concern him.

Raiden... Raiden Ostrega. Question for you, Ries, if you are not from here, then maybe you can point me in the right direction. I fear I've found myself in a bit of a... predicament. No need to mention how exactly, not that he had the answers to that, but he knew better than to make himself sound mad before his only company. You see, it's embarrassing to admit, but I seem to have gone and gotten myself lost. You wouldn't happen to know of a pack called Empyrean, would you?

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#6
Adventurer
01-04-2025, 06:56 PM (This post was last modified: 7 hours ago by Ries. Edited 2 times in total.)
Quote
Already the cloud was lifting - or, settling in rather - from Ries' mind. This was not an awakening, but rather an intrinsic change to the world as he knew it, and his brain was reformatting without his knowledge to adjust to the new layout. "No, I am," he assured. I think, anyway... "I'm from a pack near here. I've just never been in this specific meadow before, I guess." It sounded weird to his own ears, but... weirder things had happened.

Right?

Raiden Ostrega.

Empyrean.


The first name was unfamiliar. The second name was.

"Oh, I know Empyrean!" he said, tail swishing in a wide arc behind him. "I'm from Vanderfell. We're on good terms, I think, but if we aren't, that wouldn't stop me from lending a paw." Runar would be more in tune with their pack's allies and such, but it was no real problem for Ries, who didn't care much for politics. "You need help getting home? I think I know the way, if you do." It was a hop, skip, and a jump away, but Ries didn't mind the travel.
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#7
Adventurer
Yesterday, 10:49 AM
Quote
It was a shot in the dark, but one that happened to land smack dap on a bullseye. Raiden's ears perked a centimeter as his company claimed to know his pack, and suddenly the pieces were falling into place. Boesch. Like the leading High King and Queen Boesch.

His throat rumbled in some form of approval, Ah— Your... mother The inflection lifted at mother, questioning Ries' connection to his family, She is friends with mine then. I know of Vanderfell. The purple mountains that broke the distant horizon, but no more than a meadow away. At least, they used to be.

Can't say I've ever visited, but your aid would be appreciated. Perhaps I can bring something back as a thanks and see what my mother sees in your home. It was rare for her to take an interest in another pack that wasn't wary or suspicious, but she had always spoken approvingly of their High Queen.

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#8
7 hours ago
Quote

His mother? Ira's face popped into his mind and his chest ached inexplicably. Not only did Ries miss her, but he wished he could return home and feel less stifled and less hurt. He had, of course, been in their territory numerous times since his father's passing, but not as much as he would like to be. Not when the mountain itself seemed to reverberate with his loss.

"Good! Then we are on good terms," Ries guessed, tail waving behind him. That would make it easier to approach Empyrean without fear of repercussions on this particular trip.

He perked up further at the next statement, smile growing a bit. "A gift probably wouldn't be necessary, but that would be kind of you. I'm sure a visit would be perfectly fine." A gift sounded appropriate under the circumstances, and maybe something Ira would appreciate, but he didn't want Raiden to assume he was doing this out of obligation. There was no need for strict formalities.

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