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
death is an inherent price in war


Morning Sunny/Clear
#1
AW
Discovery
Adventurer
11-28-2021, 03:20 AM (This post was last modified: 12-31-2021, 03:18 AM by Elazar. Edited 2 times in total.)
Lucius Elazar is dead.

And then, he is not.

He knows this before he can feel it, its slow, quiet return. Not at all like the last great rush headlong into the end. This comes sneaking in through the cracks, wiggling him free. He flexes his toes, all of them on every limb, and they each answer. He smacks his lips, wets his tongue. There is nothing to taste except his sleep, and all so different from the last thing he could remember. No trace of his battered end seems to remain with him. Questions are aplenty now in this hazy after instead, but it is not the moment's first concern.

Sunlight streams in through a dirtied old window. It's the remains of an old bed, definitely not his own, and a single sheet is drawn over him as he begins to move. Such effort shakes free a low, tired groan; popping joints too as the fabric falls away with a gentle rustle. He supposes it could be worse. Sluggish from heavy sleep, he rises slow, disturbing the peace and the dust motes with it. Nothing here is familiar, not in this life, nor the last. Everything feels strange; numb, but overwhelming when there had only just been nothing.

Wooden floors creak when he eases his weight down, and finds his paws after a few shaky steps of a newborn fawn. It comes back to him quickly, though, he finds with satisfying grace. He can breath new life, it would seem. The soldier straightens again, and moves on to make his way through a tattered door frame. Then it's down the leftovers of steps that warranted a leap to the end. He skims along with purpose, but carefully, all honing in on the nearest exit; he would much rather not be in the crumbling remains of someplace he had never been before, and the sooner, the better.

Fresh air greets him, finally, with a great sigh he fills his lungs. He squints and admires the scenery that awaits, slowly panning from his left to right. Evidently, he finds himself surrounded on all sides by strange structures. Lucius recognizes none of it, and still cannot place himself. He grunts beneath his breath, ponders the meaning of this, and steps on into the abandoned street. He heads towards the west like he might find the answers there.

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#2
Discovery
11-28-2021, 07:06 PM
 Being caught out in the sunlight was not Exalted's idea of a good time. Her body is not built for the harsh glare of the sun, the burning torture it inflicts upon her skin and the unending blindness that it offers her pale eyes. That was why she was cursing to herself when she realized that she would not make it back to her home in time, that she would have to wait until the sun was a bit lower before she headed back. Misha could hold the fort while she was away, it was imperative that he did.

 In any case, she knew a place where she could rest. A place where some of the inanimate objects bit but as long as she kept her wits about her, she should be fine. It was dusty and strange but she found her way to that strange city. She saw the strange pit in the ground where water could be smelled at the bottom. She made sure to skirt into the shadows of the buildings, a white streak against the gray brick of the old, dead town. Her blue gaze would track the different buildings. She remembered the one she'd walked into before with the swinging doors, the saloon that @Misha had met her in.

 And kissed her.

 A shiver went down her spine and she wasn't sure what strange emotions were stirring there. She preferred not to think on it. Not when it involved him.

 She snorted, gaze tracking to another building. Gray and blue with a creaking door... that a wolf was walking out of. A male wolf, cloaking in the colors of Death. He was large and he was beautiful and she wanted him to be theirs.

 She ran her tongue across her lips and then, skirting the edges of the building came around to the front walk of the building. She was still cloaked in shadow so that she wouldn't have to step out into the sunlight. So that she wouldn't be missed, she let out a low wordless howl of greeting to catch his attention. To bring him to her. Her eyes were bright and while she didn't smile, she did seem approachable enough. She was just a yearling, after all, an albino lost in the desert. Why would he suspect that she commanded the full leagues of a cult?

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#3
Discovery
Adventurer
11-30-2021, 09:47 PM (This post was last modified: 12-31-2021, 03:16 AM by Elazar. Edited 1 time in total.)
He is grateful for the daylight once more when he can make out the details. While he may not understand what exactly it is he sees in the abandoned remains of civilization, he skims a long look from top to bottom, then all around--even past into the great blue sky, then beyond that. Far enough to make yearning pang in his heart for the skies he left behind, and the comrades he held so dear.

He refocuses swiftly, and passes over windows.. this time from the outside, and an old weathered sign first. Next a strange beam of wood carved in a particular way once, still supporting an overhang on another structure. Like everything else, it means nothing to him but as he leaves a steady trail of pawprints, he takes it all in. Mentally, he has to wonder: where to go from here, and perhaps along the same vein--where is here?

A hint of motion stirring a shadow brings him to alertness. It's certainly more than just birds this time. Then, a howl solidifies the very thought. He finds it to be a strange call, but welcome enough given what he has to work with. They may know something he does not so, Elazar strides over to investigate. For all that he can fathom, he may be imposing on someone's home.. or near enough to spark that concern. He is easily outnumbered right now, after all, so he finds it prudent to proceed with intent.

He at least does not feel nearly so stiff now, the walk having worked well to shake free his dust, and when he decides he is near enough for an introduction, the once-bhairava poses neatly--modest, despite his height, his tail lax. “Good morning,” he greets, and schools his expression towards the pale stranger. “Do you live here?” he asks on a friendly-lilt.

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#4
11-30-2021, 11:58 PM
 Her low call caught his attention and he began to make his way over. She studied him as he did so and noted that he seemed like a simple man. Polite, well-mannered, all were pluses in her eyes. They couldn't all be ruffians, now, could they? Besides, she found something endearing about his mannerisms. "Morning." She drawled in kind. She wore a muted smile as she nodded her head at his question. "More or less... My pack and I live northward of here, still in the reaches of the desert-lands. Call us a sanctuary, if you will, for those lost and finding their way." Well, she wasn't lying. In her eyes that was exactly what her pack did... although the methods might sometimes be questionable. Hopefully, she had piqued some of his interest.

 "I am called Exalted. Pray, am I right with this assumption? You woke here with no purpose or reason? In this place, in the midst of this hellish desert?" Relatability or mystery at one-hundred percent she hoped.

 He had gotten lucky that he had a place to wake up that was full of shelter. Some were not so fortunate.

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#5
Adventurer
12-02-2021, 04:55 AM (This post was last modified: 12-31-2021, 03:17 AM by Elazar. Edited 1 time in total.)
The stranger answers him, and generously enough to appeal to his interests. It gives him time to notice the more peculiar features of her face as well, but in all of his disconnect, he cannot place it well enough to judge. But she speaks of a pack, a sanctuary in a place like this one. Knowing what had led to this point, where he finds himself wondering now, Elazar blinks. A lot to consider already.

The assumption is hauntingly accurate, so he lets a small low laugh break his quiet. “That's awfully close,” he breaths. “I woke in this curious place not too long ago, yes. Never have I seen anything like it,” he says on a gesture towards the buildings, and the hellish desert beyond. If that was what this was. “I met my end, was nothing.” He had no doubt. “Then.. find myself waking here.” he could summarize neatly enough for such a new acquaintance.

Shifting back, and an open stare, he guesses he is not the first case of such a mystery reappearance. Mildly concerning but already he can start to piece together a theory. He remembers enough before to help inspire him. “You're the first I've seen since, actually.” he decides to mention, yet to discern if it carries a deeper meaning. Still, he cannot speak on his purpose yet either, not when he had only just fulfilled his last goal. It was his distant dreams that had died with him already. Everything forward from here was not something he planned to have. “I'm Elazar. Lucius Elazar,” he provides. “It's good to meet you, Exalted.” his nose tips pleasantly, content to let her pick it up from there--and already he suspects she might not need much encouragement. He wants to hear what else she might know, and what she may deem fit to tell him.

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#6
12-04-2021, 03:19 AM
 Not perfect, but close enough if seemed. Good. Close enough should still seem impressive enough. Was impressive enough to hopefully lead him to his salvation. "This is a place like no other." She agreed with him, starting off slow before adding. "Your waking here was no accident... those that wake in this hell are here by Its will." Though those other unfortunate souls did not have her here to guide them, did not have her to tell them why this was the case. "No other force but the supernatural can explain this, no?" It sounded so reasonable coming from her pinkish lips, like a fact of life.

 Or death.

 The first he'd seen? She grinned. "Probably a good sign. I am what one could call a harbinger or a guide." Well, she wasn't exactly lying. She was a harbinger of Death's now that True Mother was gone, and she would happily guide him to salvation and his true purpose. "Likewise, Elazar." And, of course, she needed no further prompting. "I don't believe in chance or happenstance; all things happen for a reason. Our meeting, I think, is no exception. Pray, would you be interested in our sanctuary? It is there to lead those who want it to salvation. We are all a family there, you see." She was still relatively new at this and had yet to see Odium lure in outsiders. She still would never see that and would have to get experience herself.

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#7
Adventurer
12-09-2021, 08:32 PM (This post was last modified: 12-31-2021, 03:17 AM by Elazar. Edited 1 time in total.)
Exalted confirms his thoughts on the lands, then implies that this was no accident that his flesh has found its way here. It is something he can only begin to wonder why, not when none of his plans had yet included anything past that end. Though no real explanation in itself, he does not like to make a move without careful consideration after all, and even he may have been able to strategize his way into an afterlife that fit his station.

Following after her train of thought: what role did the supernatural play, too? Where did fate begin, and he end? He can entertain the notion, especially when he has nothing else. “I certainly have no good explanation,” he shakes his head gently, agrees with a low exhale and another almost-laugh--mismatching with a look that's hard to discern the meaning of exactly. He can still find novelty in it though so his interests are tickled. In truth, he's downright fascinated by all this unknown.

So she is a guide? He beholds her in a new light then, and it adds up well with what he has gathered thus far. Lucius decides to keep this in mind for later. “I would be interested in learning more,” he explains, looking around them briefly. He doesn't know what any of this is, or where to go from here now that he surely has nothing, and nowhere. Everything, even his influence, begins and ends right here with his very furs. It scares him, though he must admit, it is strangely liberating after the toil his last life had culminated in. All fresh, vast, and new. Tempting. “About this place, and your sanctuary of course.” he eyes Exalted again. “I get the sense that I have much to see and learn in these peculiar new lands,” he goes on to add.

What salvation is she collecting wolves for?

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#8
12-13-2021, 02:40 AM
 He agreed, finding the truth in her words. A hard truth that she believed herself, deep down in her bones. How could she not when she'd witnessed Death gifting fallen comrades' life again? When they crawled from the ever-flowing pool of blood at the center of the Eye? She had seen things far beyond the scope of any mortal.

 He wanted to learn more... that filled her with a savage joy.

 "There is so much to learn." She affirmed before beginning. "As I mentioned, this land is hell and here in hell there are Sinners. All are inherently Sinners but one can choose to ignore Death and live in heresy... or they can embrace Its call and serve It so that they may be spared eternal punishment and damnation by Its fangs." She said, educating him so that he might decide to do good and turn over his soul to Death. "My pack gathers Sinners and allows them to reach salvation through Death's holy tasks. We serve Its will here in hell." She said with a kind smile, as if she were just a sweet acolyte trying to save his poor soul.

 "Wouldn't you like to be more than a Sinner? To be washed clean and pure as a Disciple in Its eyes?" What a wonderful thing she was offering. Salvation with family.

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#9
12-23-2021, 04:00 AM
He watches just as acutely as he listens, searching her expression for signs of unease, or doubt, where he finds none. It inspires him, quietly, and learning more continues to come easily. This greater insight is precious, and though it invites an old, ancient chill, too much of it rings as familiar for him to not understand what may be at play here. A Sinner, embracing death's call--sent to serve in this new Hell. Roughly, it seems to boil down right to what he almost knows. A demon, a devil, a sinner... all the same, Elazar is no stranger.

It's another life that he walks in now, however. Another place to carve out a groove for himself, another try, seemingly. He still struggles to grasp this, the great expanse of loss he faces to find himself alone now. He has no one and he must persist, despite the guilt, or lack of, that carried on into this future. This may be sharp opportunity, or entrapment, or something else entirely. He likes a gamble, however, and thinks he might be able to make something of it whichever way it falls.

Lucius senses there may be a different tilt to it all here--something in her bearing makes him guess it, but he does not balk before this unknown. The soldier in him his drawn to the idea of serving death again, despite not yet knowing what this could mean here. He wonders what else it may set out to make him do, or what cruelties he could still face but it grants Exalted another benign nod. He especially cannot help it when she speaks of cleansing. Privately, it makes him think of someone he has left behind, but he forces the recollection away to instead ponder his own purity. He knew he was anything but. “Ah, perhaps I would,” he leans towards approval. “Cleanliness is important to me, and why should the spirit be any less so?” he tilts his head, not quite ready to reveal unprompted what he had seen before, and why he can stare this one down without flinching. But here in this desert, he knows he will need to adapt anew. “I have nothing else now in this new life, it seems. Certainly no home, no comrades left. I can stand to be more, I am sure.” Elazar replies neatly.

He wants to hear more, see more even--get a deeper look, maybe dip his toes in first. With nothing else, he finds himself keen enough to go along with this first offer to come out of the shadows.

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#10
12-28-2021, 03:08 AM
 "Exactly." The albino woman purred, she even gave an approving nod of her head. He seemed to understand just fine. Well, the basics, anyway. She'd save the extra fun parts for when he was safely tucked away into the fold. "And already you are so close to salvation but we all need for the spirit to be washed pure." None as pure as her own, but close. His pale coat would earn him a special place quickly within Sanatorium.

 "Well then, Elazar, consider this your new start. Sanatorium will be your family and I am the Mother of this family... the leader, if you will." The leader, the Mother, the Harbinger, Death's Speaker, she could go by many names. All had the same lilt of power.

 "You will find a home within the Eye, it is a grand sight. Halls carved by divine means, perfect for those that serve Death but I digress." She stepped forward, deeper into the shadows of the building as the sun begin to climb higher and threatened to touch her with its burning embrace. "I will lead you there when the sun has released its hold and the moon rules." Her ghostly pale skin could be inferred to be the cause.

 "'Till then, come. Speak with me? Let us grow more familiar, as family does." She said warmly as she laid down in the shadow of a broken door like a wraith waiting to pounce. Except she only wished to have more small talk and perhaps speak further of the divine to lure him in deeper.

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#11
12-31-2021, 03:15 AM (This post was last modified: 12-31-2021, 03:20 AM by Elazar. Edited 1 time in total.)
Subtly, he tilts his head and notes with interest that he is evidently already so close to this very salvation he wonders on. He has been trying to imagine what, precisely, that is. Another fact to tuck away for later, he supposes. Lucius is willing to savor it, in no hurry.

His nose dips into a nod, and though he does not yet speak it so soon, he imagines the taste of it between his teeth: the name of his new start, Sanatorium. What he has to listen to serves far greater use; she reveals that she is the lead, the Mother, and like all things so far in the mere moments between them, he accepts this with a steady gaze. He is glad then that he has met their lead right from the get go, and if he may follow anyone into their unknown, it may as well be someone in a position of power--whatever relative strength that may be here in this foreign desert. It all fascinates, which distracts him from the grief, which then helps separate him from before, at least until he can fully compartmentalize this.

The Eye, he already tries to imagine as he parses her description. Before, he has lived in his share of places but none like that. “I can't wait to see it for myself then,” he breaths alongside another slow nod, and further came to understand; they would travel by moonlight. His first full day among this place would begin there, reasonably enough. Mulling this, Elazar steps further into the shade himself, drifting to a spot none too far from her own. He cannot disagree, and is more than willing to ease into this; he feels like he only just arrived, after all and they had a lot of time to kill if he was right in guessing it was not yet afternoon.

He wants to know more about his new family in order to know where it is he will go from here, what he must be. “Of course. All that you would like to know,” he offers as he settles himself in, content to pass the time with simple conversation. He remains willing to answer questions, at least vaguely, as the wolf he thought he had been before. He trusted he would glean his share in return, too. After, when the skies no longer burned so bright, he would follow her on to The Eye to meet this new beginning's home--whatever it may be. Elazar intends to find out.

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