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
we are stars and electric animals

#1
AW
03-04-2021, 02:09 PM (This post was last modified: 03-04-2021, 02:09 PM by Altair.)
He ranged out a bit further from the others for a change of pace—it was nice, in a way, though it wasn’t like they didn’t know where he was. His father had tasked him with a little bit of scouting beyond their normal range, having deemed their surroundings safe; Altair couldn’t have turned down the chance, let alone the responsibility.

It was liberating, though the boy had become troubled.

If this was a dream, it was pretty elaborate. Not just the usual sort where something was just slightly out of place enough to notice. He had noticed what he could have considered anomalies, like the absence of his siblings. There were long days and nights that he wouldn’t have considered out of the norm, if this was the norm… and he had too many growing doubts that this was really still a dream.

Ranging through the thick forests along the lower climes of the mountainous region, he tried to keep his mind off of it. At first it hadn’t been difficult at all, but as he fell into what he considered to be the more boring parts of exploration, his thoughts wandered a bit. It was distracting, but not quite enough to totally take him out of the picture on what was going on around him; it would have been too risky to do something like that. Things may have been safe, but he knew better—Dirge may have instilled a passion of the world in them, but Hydra had raised all of her children to stay alert and prepared.

He paused at a small, mossy knoll to gather himself; the sun already arcing high in the sky through the canopies of the mixed timber. It was chilly, his breath still rolling out in thick plumes. The wind didn’t bite as bad here as it did higher up, but things were certainly a lot more damp. But winter’s hold was beginning to loosen its grasp, he thought, for even here where sunbeams fell the snow did not linger as greatly.

The knoll was a natural impasse—he could have stayed along the elevation he was at and continue forging his own path, or could he have descended some to follow game trails. His nose worked the scents, though nothing out of the ordinary crossed him. Nothing too familiar did either, but disappointment did not knit its way across his brow.
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#2
03-04-2021, 06:35 PM
She too, finally touched down and away from the mountain. Not for the purpose of exploration and feeding into the adventure, but rather Desdemona would feel safer knowing the general gist that was around. She hadn't met too many wolves that Hydra claimed was around, but knew those she was familiar with were surely either on, or near so. It seemed like many would be in a state of confusion, for even the Queen was a bit lost to how they were there- but chose that particular mountain, as the base of the new empire.

Upon stepping down did Desdemona vaguely trace someone of familiar origins, and so she called out to them, "Altair?"

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#3
03-04-2021, 06:51 PM
Before he could fully commit to a decision, a familiar voice called to him. He turned his head to seek her out, the furs of his darkened hood caught briefly in the breeze; it was a short search to locate the cut of her dark, tall figure mixed in with the wintry backdrop.

“Desdemona!” Surprise colored his words—he hadn't expected to encounter her, at least not here. Truth be told, he had missed that she had joined them; he had been too engrossed in this waking dream to draw in everything he should have. Should have been expected though, everything he knew of the world had been pulled from him in a blink.

With the wave of his tail, he abandoned the knoll to curtail the distance between them, eager to reconnect with another familiar face.

“When did you find us?” The question was hot off his tongue like a printing press, and he only just withheld the urge to bombard her with more.
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#4
03-04-2021, 07:02 PM (This post was last modified: 03-04-2021, 07:02 PM by Desdemona.)
"I had met Hydra some days ago, and been guarding the upper mountains." Perhaps it explained why she had not seen any, and many most likely are unaware of her appearance within the group. She was pleased though at least a few of Hydra's children were still around, but yet to here about one in particular; Atlas. Desdemona had grown fond of the man the day they officially claimed a friendship between, yet disappointment came as days went by and there was no sound of his appearance. Slowly though, the rest of the Ostrega's were being unearthed, hopefully he too would follow.

"Hydra had found me." She was used to his questioning, as remembering the few times they interacted, he constantly bombarded her with a serious of different questions. Though she held patience against that, and did not mind answering. Desdemona remembered a time she too was curious, but the light had been crushed quite early, she did not wish the same upon the younger generation.

"Were you with your family?" Though, she shot a question back.

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#5
03-05-2021, 06:24 PM
So his mother had been the one to find her; that made sense with the way his mother and his uncle seemed to possess that ability of innately seeking out who they wanted to when they wanted to. Not to mention that Antares was pretty good at that himself… Altair not so much. And maybe if he wasn't in some bout of teenaged living and doing his own thing he would have known Desdemona had been found.

“Yeah, pretty much,” he said with a nod of his nod. “I mean when I… woke up… they weren't there but they were close. Nobody seems to know where we are, or where home is.” There may have been a faint note of disappointment to his words, but the concern went far deeper now than just wondering where they were.

He continued: “And we haven't found everyone yet either.”

That should have been the most troubling of all—he had expected them to be nearby just as he had been. But as the days had passed by without fanfare, the sudden lack of his family being always close troubled him more and more. If this really was a dream—and here he was doubting that still too—it was becoming a nightmare.
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#6
03-15-2021, 05:18 PM
"They'll be found, eventually." As majority of the Ostrega's roamed the mountain, slowly were they being unearthed. However, even she knew they would not all be found. Vague memories of her previous death still lingered within her mind, and she knew by heart, Desdemona wasn't the only one to perish. But she couldn't say who else, and dare not to utter words to a child who knew little about the outside world. She saw him as sheltered, and a being to protect overall.

"It just means we rebuild what we lost." A hope, to a stronger kingdom.

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#7
03-21-2021, 06:32 AM
Her final statement had a certain weight to it that Altair could not quite grasp the gravity of. It pulled at him all the same, another question forming on his tongue that would not cooperate enough to be spoken into existence. His mouth opened as though to usher it out and along, but there was naught in sound to be uttered, and he soon pursed his lips.

But still: rebuild what they had lost?

He didn’t really think of Moonspear as lost, but in essence it was. Somehow, even he knew it existed no longer, at least not on this particular earthly realm. There was nothing in their surroundings to suggest that they were even remotely close by—that much he had gleaned from the hushed words of his parents and their peers. There was no guarantee that they would find it again, if they were to look.

Which left how they had got there, which brought him full circle: this had to be a dream.

But the boy did not say as much, instead finding an agreeable note to pass along to Desdemona. It wasn’t so much that he didn’t think she would understand because he felt she would; it was simply that he did not understand.

“I suppose we will,” he said at last, assured, “I’m glad you’re here though.”
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#8
03-22-2021, 10:12 PM
She knew well that their numbers had dropped quite a lot, and not the powerhouse they once were in the valley. However, she wasn't sure there was any other native packs around, and if they were the first in the area.. It simply meant a quicker stance to their domain. Rebuild the Kingdom they had, a stronger foundation upon the mountain, and wolves to train even against the terrors they faced before. The memory of the bear held deep within her mind, and at times did she hold nightmares of its terror, and her life snapping like a twig.

"I am also glad you are here. A strong warrior just like your parents." All of Dirge's and Hydra's children were strong in their own way.

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#9
03-25-2021, 05:32 PM
“A warrior? I don’t know about that,” he said with a smile. “I still have a lot to learn anyway.” Though he had to admit, it was rather appeasing to hear such a thing from someone who was an actual warrior. Besides, he hadn’t been through some great battle in getting there. He didn’t even consider himself a survivor of anything either. They had been unfortunate thus far regardless, but it was hardly an uphill battle or an act of riding out attrition.

Which on that note…

“You still don’t mind if I learn from you, do you? When you have the time I mean—I know things are busy right now with all of this new stuff.” Borders to shore up and settle, caches to be made as they tracked and trailed what was available to them; he couldn’t quite fathom what all they had to do, but he would do his best to partake and contribute all the same. But true to his nature, he desired to glean much more than that, to find some semblance of what he had before littered in with what would without a doubt be a rigorous change to their structure.
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#10
03-30-2021, 01:52 AM
"We are always learning. Even I still am learning from Hydra." Desdemona was trained from birth to be a rigid guard, and while she held experience, she used more as a meat-bag, and a distraction, then an actual warrior when it came to real battle. Her experience was quite dull due to this, though even so, there was not a day she wasn't guarding, or training for the best. Strange to some, but she had a routine within the morning that consisted or stretching and running to maintain her athletic figure.

"I do not mind- though i'm afraid you may find it boring." She did admit so, her own training was not as entertaining as some children would like. But it did well enough.

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#11
03-30-2021, 05:00 PM
He laughed—finding her lessons boring was hardly a thing.

“Believe me, I’ve probably sat through more boring stuff than a lesson,” he said to her, composing himself. “I’m pretty much grown and yet my mother tries to keep me stuck here. I know why, but there’s so much to see. I’d like to think that maybe if I can show that I’m not so little any more that she’ll let me help more.”

He wanted to find his siblings, the rest of his cousins—the rest of their pack. All of them being scattered to the four winds was most definitely a concerning thing, perhaps not even the sort of thing that he needed to concern himself with… but it was hard to avoid. He could pounce around with Ciri or Osiris all he wanted, but his ears worked just fine. He had heard the chatter.

Altair had eavesdropped plenty along their mountain home.

“So trust me, I don’t think it’s boring. I want to learn… maybe we can teach each other something in exchange. I bet there’s even something you can teach me if we follow the borders too,” he concluded with a smile. It was bait, obviously; he wanted to go for a jaunt and knew the swiftly and surest way to stay out of the line of fire from his mother’s teeth was if he still had some sort of a chaperone. Desdemona was very convenient at the moment.
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#12
03-30-2021, 05:05 PM
"When Osiris was older, him and I ventured to several packs to warn of an enemy. Your mother approved.. Perhaps with a someone to accompany by, she'd be willing." Desdemona wasn't too keen for the other to do stuff by himself alone either, especially remembering when one of his littermates had been kidnapped. Hydra especially was extremely overprotective or her children, and she wasn't surprised on the unwillingness to let them venture too far. Though she'd imagine how stiffling that might be to curious children, especially when they are in a new land, desperate to be explored.

She could only think of so, remembering asking the Queen for permission, and taking many weeks to tell packs and gain information on the menace that was within the forest. She does wonder what they are up to now, as one of the powerhouses within the mountains now are far away.. A curiosity that she would only think briefly, before it would disappear.

"You wish to patrol with me?" Desdemona inquired as she raised a brow.

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#13
03-31-2021, 05:13 AM
“Yeah, of course,” he said with a nod. “Border patrol is helping, right?” His tail swished through the air behind him—he knew that she would pick up on his thought eventually. Of course, he hadn’t forgotten about how she and Osiris had gone off to visit their once neighbors either. It was a vague memory; he had been much smaller by far, much less roped into the way that the world had been for them.

But now, he had a far better grasp on it. He didn’t comment on it, thinking it was an ancedote made to make him feel better, to give him perspective but truth be told it wasn’t much help. Osiris was off again now, this time on his own save for the company of Leta. Even his father was off exploring by now, he imagined, trying to get a lay of the lands around them.

“So what do you say? Want some help?”
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#14
03-31-2021, 08:01 PM
"Very well. Do you prefer the training way, or the usual way?" Everyone who knew her so, would know that her usual routine was always guarding below. It was a common occurrence to see her, and often being the first to calls.. Though she also had her own twists, usually by the end of the day. It was not to amuse herself as some would think, but to strengthen her core and prepare herself, agility or simply prowess needed at times when there was trouble.

She offered the two, but Desdemona didn't explain what the two meant to be about.

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#15
04-01-2021, 02:11 PM
“Uh—”

The question caught him off guard; his brow furrowed as he pondered just what the difference could be. A sly smile started to crease his features though, certain she was playing a trick on him. Was there even a difference? Altair didn’t think so in the end, experience was experience at this point.

“The training way, of course,” he rejoined with renewed confidence and a hearty swish of his tail. It had to be the only way, even if it was difficult. He hadn’t been raised to take the easy route and things were definitely not easy right then and there. Besides, if it gave him an advantage over his siblings once they were all reunited then it was all the better.
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#16
04-06-2021, 11:54 PM
new thread at nameless mountain?



"We'll need to return to the mountain, for now.. You can chase." Desdemona was thankful that the mountain was relatively similar to Moonspear, and how she trained stayed nearly the same, just a slightly different pattern. But as currently they were on the lower plane within the forest, she could not fully train within the boulders and slopes, but that doesn't mean she can't figure a way.

Without letting him responds, the guard sped off into the trees. Not into a straight line however, rather she did a seemed to swirl around the trees, almost like she was trying to loose him, but Desdemona made sure to look back that was he was following. She was expecting him to follow each step, as a start.

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#17
04-11-2021, 07:33 PM
She sped off with remarkable swiftness. There was only a moment of hesitation on his part before he was hot on her heels, the only space between them there so that she could guide him back on the quickest course to their borders.

Altair lacked the finesse that Desdemona had, but that was largely due to his own inexperience. He could certainly hold his own and of that he was certain, but there was a reason that his parents trusted the raven-haired guardian for a reason. And as such, he put that same trust into her, gleaning what he could from her own expertise as they wove their way along the ascent.

But once they reached the borders, he would really learn what she had in store…

And it was there that the lesson would begin.
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