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
you open always, petal by petal


Sunrise
#1
AW
Formation
Medic
05-18-2022, 06:33 PM (This post was last modified: 05-26-2022, 02:54 AM by Olive. Edited 3 times in total.)
That morning, like so many recent mornings before it, Olive awoke early; far earlier than the sun was to rise. She felt strange in a way that way supremely uncomfortable — her gut churned and diaphragm spasmed. Her mouth salivated in a way that was utterly profane, and her paws were numb from the nausea. At first, all she rolled from her prone sleeping position to one that was more-or-less made her a splatter of white upon the earth. Her mouth was open as she panted to steady the roller coaster she was on, tongue lolling out, and she laid like that for about an hour — unable to go back to sleep, yet not desiring to wake up fully —

until the urgency to vomit urged her up and away from her den in a flutter and a rush.

She absconded to a place that was shielded by ferns, emptied the contents of her stomach (as little as there was to upturn), then sat about her puddle of sick with her head hanging in a morose fashion, her entire ribcage heaving every few moments to ensure she did not forget the sensation. There was little thought-process happening within the sickened woman, other than how truly miserable she felt; when the worse of it faded into the waning night, a muted surprise came over her at how most child-bearing women went through this, but had never truly bemoaned how awful it could make one feel.

When Olive felt the tickle of the earliest sun's rays upon her ears, she lifted her face to welcome in the sunlight. Like a plant with its morning dew, what was left of her nausea evaporated and left Olive with a mission for the day. Enlivened, the sylph made her way over to the river, washed her mouth out thoroughly, and then proceeded to snuffle along the ground like a scent-hound, attempting to find where ginger root might be growing far beneath the sodden earth. She still felt weak and shaky, and the very opposite of hungry; but the task gave her something to focus on, and that in and of itself was soothing enough.

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duskguard  /  healing    /  lineage
#2
Discovery
Adventurer
05-22-2022, 12:01 PM
it is literally 5 am so if this is a garbage post I'm sorry I just keep meaning to hop in here sfasdfd also sorry this became really long??


Daylight waited for no one, that was lesson one. Gwen had been an early riser for as long as she could remember now to make use of every moment of light. With no place to call home each day was dedicated to that next step on the crossing road ahead. Sooner she moved, sooner she found a place to sleep, and thus the cycle repeated. To some, it may sound like a chore, but it wasn't like she had to move.

Some days she wouldn't and used her time to sleep in and catch a larger meal, but there was something comforting about being free. You can't lose a home if you never mark one. Every day you get to decide what you want to do and no one else can say otherwise. Plus, there was so much more of the world to see, no matter how much you already think you have.

Though the trees towered far beyond the pines she was used to, their branches were sparse and the early light seeped in freely as she paced the highlands. The early call of birds had awoken her before morning's first rays, and like other creatures, she sought to fix her parched throat. When she first arrived at the looming woods she recalled a river running through the territory to a mirror-like lake stilled behind some kind of dam. Retracing her steps came easily as the sound of moving water soon brought her to its bounty.

Gwen wasted no time in dipping her head for the cool liquid, though mild awareness of her surroundings brought the woman's eyes up to keep herself alert. Almost instantly she would find her gaze locked on a target who seemed to be scrounging nearby for...well, hell if she knew. However, unlike her previous company, this woman was clearly no threat with her small fragile build. Only once she had finished drinking would Gwen make a move to observe the stranger closer. Careful trailing revealed the faint smell of a pack. It wasn't familiar, but that didn't mean they weren't near. That woman may be no threat, but who could say the same for the rest of her kind?

Mentally shaking her head, Gwen would pause in her tracks. She was better off steering clear of any pack, even if that woman traveled enough to potentially see Dalila. If the girl had found a pack, good for her, and she hope she did, but she wasn't about to break her pact to find out. Turning on her pads, the sun dusted woman would look to put distance between her and the other before she was noticed.

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#3
Medic
05-23-2022, 03:03 AM (This post was last modified: 05-26-2022, 02:55 AM by Olive. Edited 1 time in total.)
thanks for joining! ♡


Ginger was a plant that loved warm humidity, so riverside in the late spring was a ripe place to be with such an intention as Olive's. Being a root, the shaman-woman could best identify the plant by its leafy top, and she was simply agog when she came across a small crop. The woman pawed at the moist soil once, clearing away some bulk at the base of one stalk, and thought about how the bubbling in her stomach was now feeling far better — she might even have called herself slightly hungry —so this would have to be an herbal gift that she left for future Olive, when the sickness inevitably returned tomorrow morning.

Sniffing at the earth to ensure that this was indeed the remedy she sought, Olive inhaled something microscopic and her coal-dusted nose snorted succinctly to expel it. Reigning her head upwards and twitching her maw to shake off any soil that besmirched her pale lips, Olive noticed the woman who was walking starkly in the other direction. "Oh," she whispered to herself, surprised to be any others besides Tiberius and herself in this river-carved land. Before the woman got too far, Olive lifted the lilt of her voice and called after the golden spirit "There's no need to leave so soon," and she looked after her curiously, wondering if she would get to meet another this day, or if she should continue to snuff out the remedy she so needed.

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duskguard  /  healing    /  lineage
#4
Adventurer
07-06-2022, 10:08 PM
The voice of another halted her steps as she inwardly grimaced. She had been seen...so there went sneaking away. A soft sigh brought her paw back to the earth as Gwen turned her head enough to glimpse back toward the willowy woman as she continued to dig underroot. Maybe. But perhaps it's best if I do. At the very least the other was not hostile nor seemed to warn of protected lands.

I'm not looking for trouble today. Today. How she wished she could truthfully say ever, but temper could be a controlling thing. If you tell me where your pack lays then we may both be spared some time and breath. It was hard to avoid so many claims when the scents all began to mingle together, but if she could walk away with a bit more of her map marked then she would be happy.

the staff team luvs u
#5
Counsellor
07-15-2022, 06:42 PM
The woman seemed intent on leaving, and Olive was not in the business of stopping her. There was the matter of her own ill-ease to worry about, and then that of continuing to develop Duskguard, but Olive could not help but wonder about the somber, reclusive, beautiful thing that had found her, and now was fluttering away.
 
Olive wasn’t certain why she did everything she did; sometimes it was no more than a wanton longing or impulse, or perhaps an inner resonance with something that vibrated similarly — sometimes she just did things to do them, and this was why she took a step forward and chuffed towards the stranger as if she were welcoming her, or at least, pleased to share space.
“There is no trouble to be found here.” she warbled. “My partner and I will soon be moving to the north, where we will carve out our claim.” Olive swung her nose to the instinctive north, which she could almost feel through it’s electromagnetic currents.
 

“Have you a home you are heading back towards?” Olive inquired with a cant of the head, wondering if she belonged to a pack she was familiar with — or should be familiar with. The woman smelled of nothing but wild and wind and freedom, but far stranger things has happened before.

the staff team luvs u
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duskguard  /  healing    /  lineage
#6
Adventurer
07-17-2022, 04:06 AM
The other welcomed her before her paws could flee any further, but promised words did not speak in the place of actions. A quip bit her tongue as Gwen forced herself to swallow her words though it would not stop her from thinking them. 

With you, maybe.

Gwen said nothing as she followed the other's gesture and let her words sink in. She seemed too soft to be luring her into a false sense of security and there was nothing to gain if she was. Just because she said it was fine though did not mean another would not take issue with her presence. Either way, Gwen could feel the disappointment blooming as the other declared her plans for the north. Apparently even bitterly cold lands of snow were desired as homes.

Then again she wasn't sure what truly lay north.

The vagabond had hoped to find air less stifled and stuffy than the mountains for a bit of a reprieve from unwanted interactions. So far it had been the only place she felt truly alone with her thoughts, but the last time she had visited was over a year or so ago. Things could have easily changed...

My home is forward. Figuratively speaking of course. She never lingered long, not anymore. Now it was only whatever the day brought, be it good or bad. Why the north? There are better places to make a home. Places that won't freeze your tail off or starve your pack in unkind conditions. She wasn't sure why she put the effort in to care, but maybe it would save them from following the only path she knew. The path that doomed unwanted children and cast away perfectly good wolves.

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#7
Counsellor
07-28-2022, 07:02 PM (This post was last modified: 07-28-2022, 07:02 PM by Olive.)
The golden other no longer sought retreat, and Olive's fluttering head settled somewhat. Not entirely because, you see, both she and Tiberius had been tasked with the somewhat laborious task of finding wolves who had been left wanting in the world. After all, what was a pack with no followers? But their own mission was something more. It was born of a desire to create the structure they longed to see; and if Olive's Gods were to be believed, she knew she would vibrationally attract those of a similar caliber, and similar desires. 

So when Olive looked at this woman she saw not another simple wolf, but a spigot of untapped potential. She simultaneously confirmed that she was unencumbered by pack loyalties, but expressed disdain for the north and its frigid temperatures. The Priestess smiled, for once, she shared a similar thought process. Cold meant suffering, did it not? She was a summer wolf, and out on the ice spit with the walrus harem, Olive felt nothing but pain —  however, when wrapped in the arms of her tundra-obsessed partner, the cold was almost comforting, welcoming. It all seemed to be relative, so after a moment's thought, she responded.


"See, that's exactly what one might see when they look at the tundra...” she chimed. "But should you look closer, you would find that it's as vibrant and plentiful as the forests of the south.” Had Olive much personal experience with this part of the North? Not entirely, but her safety and health had been repeatedly assured to her by @Tiberius, who fervently believed it was the only place he wanted to raise his family. "Especially for predators, there isn't much competition...” Even from other packs, she wanted to say, but seeing as they were both currently in the far overcrowded mountains, intraspecific competition was probably a high-ranking concern. 

Well, the woman didn't appear to be leaving, so Olive kept on chatting.
“There's also this incredible phenomenon that happens in the snow... If you place meat within the ice, it freezes and can be stored for, I'm not sure.... an eternity, perhaps...” It honestly was something that fascinated her, and had never seen such a force of nature employed with such intention. It was almost an ingenious as using plants for medicine. With a small smirk, Olive shrugged her shoulders as is to suggest she had been passively cool about the whole thing. "I'm Olive,” she introduced finally, tilting her chin down, inviting a response.

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