For details on "EMPIRE RANKING", please click here instead!
For guidelines on how to join our group, click here!

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Environment:

A constantly updating box on the front page will show the environmental conditions found throughout the Empire territories at any given time. This box WILL affect your roleplays so check here often!

Weather
- Weather conditions are updated once a week so check here often!

Season
- Seasons are updated less frequently than the weather conditions and usually follow along with the actual in real life season.

Moon Phase
- Because the Empires hold a gathering once every full moon [once every month], this will let you know how long it will be before the next gathering!

Condition Meter
- Below each heading, a colored dot is placed to show a certain environmental conditions impact on the Empires. Because conditions might not always be the same through out every territory, some dots may be different so it's very important to check how your character(s) empire is fairing.

= Major Impact; Border checks and hunting patrols are stopped and cats mostly remain in their camps. Scarce prey or widespread illness may be present.

= Moderate Impact; Most activities are affected. Prey supplies may be low or an illness could be on the rise.     

= Minor Impact; Aside from a few annoyances, the Empire is surviving normally and most activities continue as they normally would. Prey levels and overall health are normal.

= No Impact; activities continue as normal and the Empire is thriving!

For example. You see the front page's meters like this:

~~~

Season:
Mid Summer

A|L|S|I|F|B
|||||

!!Wildfires continue to run rampant throughout most of Fire Empire Territory! Due to the thick smoke and ash, Lightning Empire Territory is very smoky. Prey in both these areas have decreased!!
~~~

This tells you for the most part that the Empires are doing very well aside from Lightning and Fire Empire, where wildfires affect their prey supplies and activities.

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Empire Points (EP) / Character & Empire Strength

With each submission to the group, you help you Empire become stronger. This will help determine how well off your Empire is doing during a particular season. Strength is calculated in EP or "Empire Points"

For details on "Empire Points" and how to calculate them, please click here instead!


What do EP do exactly?

Empire Points determine how fit your cat and Empire is in comparison to other Empires and their felines.

- Character EP Points: ultimately decide how your character is impacted by things such as diseases, weather, season, etc. The more EP your character has, the more likely he/she will not be negatively impacted! However, this does NOT mean that once your character reaches a certain level of EP that it's invincible! ALL characters can and will at some point be impacted by something. EP just determines how "healthy" and well trained your character is in a sense.

- Empire EP Points: are points collected by all cats of a single Empire and are used to determine how strong one Empire is compared to the others. Character EP from all cats in one empire are added together to get Empire EP!

- Characters also need a certain amount of EP before they can move up in rank

- You may also be able to 'buy' art of your characters by spending the EP you've gathered. Availability for this is to be arranged though!

You can check how much EP your character and Empire have by visiting the Characters Page.

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Characters CAN die!

Yup, this time around, your characters can die! Cats from the Empires and even Bounty Hunters must fight to survive against each other and the elements. If your character isn't careful, he/she could be starring death in the face in no time.

How do I keep my character from dying?

- Be active and participate in missions!

_{If your character is inactive for too long, there's a good chance your character might die. Your character MUST participate in missions to stay "active". [which is usually only once a month] If they miss a mission, they'll receive a "death strike". Gather 3 death strikes and your character is considered "dead" and he/she will be removed from the group.}

- Submit often and build up EP!

_{The more you submit, the more EP you gather. The more EP you gather, the stronger your character and Empire are.}

- Roleplay on the blogs!

_{Roleplaying alone won't keep your from receiving "death strikes", but your more likely to know when missions are if you're more active on the blogs!}

If you switch accounts, please let us know your new user name asap to prevent your cats from being marked inactive!


My character was removed from the group! Why?!

Chances are, you didn't participate in your missions and your character stayed inactive for too long.  You have two options once your character is moved to the "Once of the Empires" folder:

- You can create a brand new character and reapply to the group

- You can "revive" your character by drawing a fully colored picture with a background of your feline.

^{Revival pictures won't receive EP and revived characters can never be promoted to the Silver Gladiator or Leaders ranks. If you're reviving a Silver Gladiator or a Leader character this way, then they will be demoted to Gladiator rank. Characters may only be revived two times!}

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Pregnancy and Cubs

For your characters to have cubs, both parents must be Gladiators!

New Breeding Lists

EBC for the longest time had kept to a very simple breeding set up, which worked for the most part, but needed to be fixed. With the old group, a Leopard could breed with a smaller cat such as an African Gold Cat, a feline that is the size of a domestic feline! To fix this, we changed the groups to fit into four main categories:

The Large Feline Group

Lions, Tigers

The Intermediate Feline Group

Mountain Lions (Cougars/Pumas), Clouded Leopards, Snow Leopards, Leopards, Jaguars, Cheetahs

The Medium Feline Group

Chinese Desert Cats, Servals, Lynxs, Bobcats, Caracals, African Gold Cats, Temmincks Golden Cats, Ocelots, Mountain Cats, Jaguarundis

The Small Feline Group

Desert Cats, Central European Wild Cats, African Wild Cats, Sand Cats, African Black Footed cats, Jungle Cats, Pallas’ cats, Bay cats, Leopard cats (not to be confused with Leopards), Rusty-Spotted cats, Fishing Cats, Flat-headed cats, Marbled cats, Margay, Tiger Cats (not to be confused with Tigers), Geoffroy’s Cats, Kodkods, Pampas Cats

These groups have a very specific set of rules to them. Like the old system, these felines can breed outside of their tier if they want, but they can only breed with the felines directly above or below them.  

Hybrid Creation Rules

1. Cats can only breed outside of their own species with other breeds in their tier, or breeds in the tiers directly above or below their own.

For Example, Sullas, Scarflash's bobcat, could breed with any species in the Small, Medium, and Intermediate groups, but cannot breed with any in the Large group.

2. Cats in the Large group can only breed within their group and the group below them (the Intermediate group), while the Small group can only breed within their group and the group directly above them (the Medium group).

For example, Ivy, Onelife’s Kodkod in Shadow, could only breed with another cat in the Small group, and any cat in the Medium group.

3. In order to have hybrid cubs with parents of different groups, you must have an extra “survival” roll to see if cubs are even possible. For example if a Tiger and a Cougar/Mountain Lion wished to have cubs, they must go to the admins for a survival roll. If this roll calls up as fail, no cubs can be born. You can only try for hybrid cubs once every two months (after a fail).  If your survival roll succeeds, the rest of the breeding process is the same as non-hybrid cubs.

After two fails in a row, the third roll automatically passes to ensure that cubs can occur within the empires.

Hybrid Breeding

Hybrids that wish to breed can breed, but they have two rules.

1. Hybrids with parents of the same tier (such as LionxTigers, ServalxCaracal, etc.) adhere to the same rules as other cats in their tier; they can breed with the groups both above and below. Same rules apply for rolls, even "survival rolls" with other species outside their parents' tier.

2. Hybrids with parents of different tiers (Snow LeopardxTiger, MargayxOcelot, etc.) can only breed with cats inside their parents' groups. Same rules apply for rolls, though there is no "survival roll" since both parents need to be in the same group.

An easy way to think of this is as follows: Anura of Ice Empire is a Snow Leopard / Lynx, which means that she is a class between the Intermediate and Medium Tiers. She can breed with other felines that are set up like this (Such as a cougar x Ocelot mix) or she can breed with felines within the Medium and Intermediate Tiers. She cannot, however, have cubs with any feline that is in the Large Tier, or any feline that is a hybrid of the Large and Intermediate tiers.  Nor can she breed with any feline that is a hybrid of the Medium and Small tiers.

If you are still confused as to how this works. Diagrams will be provided within the up and coming months to help out.

Once you've decided your female gladiator is pregnant, her player must note the group with the names of both parents and their Empires.  One of the admins (most likely the leader of your empire) will use the coin and dice method for determining the gender and number of kits your female will have.

~~~

Example

- Valon of Air Empire x Avita of Air Empire

Dice roll will determine number of cubs
Rolled number was 3
Valon and Avita will have 3 cubs

Coin flip will determine the gender of the cubs:
(male = heads / female = tails)
H / T / H
Valon and Avita will have 2 males and 1 female

Note: If your characters have more than 2 cubs in a litter, then the remaining cubs will be adopted out to new players. These character must remain within the group and the player adopting these cubs may not  remove them from the EBC world.

~~~

Span of pregnancy: When submitting your request, the admins will let you know the day your cubs will be born and can be added on (This is the same time). This allows members to figure out designs and who gets which cub.

Please make sure you make the cub's rank as "cub"! Once your wait period is over, the cubs are "born" and you may submit your application sheets for them to the correct empire in the group's galleries.

Note! Your character must have successfully completed at least 2 of the mandatory monthly assignments before they may have cubs!

~~~

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Armor

Armor designs are a very important part of the Empires. Not only does it help protect the cat in battle but they're also used as a symbol of rank and past achievements. Those of a higher rank would naturally have their armor made out of metals that were more valuable and made with a finer quality than those of lower rank.

~~
<sub>First Class materials/gems:
Gold, Silver, Platinum, Silk, Satin
Rubies, Sapphires, Emeralds, Diamonds

Second Class materials/gems:
Iron, Copper, Steel, Bronze, Pewter, Leather
Topaz, Amethyst, Tigers-eye, Ivory, Obsidian

Third Class materials/gems:
Zinc, Iron, Nickel, Lead, Brass, Titanium, Leather, ordinary cloth
Quartz occasionally but gems for Third classes are rare</sub>
~~

<sub>Classes:
First Class
Leader, Silver Gladiator, Healer, Blacksmith

Second Class:
Experienced Gladiators, Young Gladiators whom earn recognition from their leader for a brave act

Third Class:
Newly promoted Gladiators, Apprentices, Cubs
~~

Healer/Healer Apprentice armor:
Because Healers and their apprentices rarely see the heat of battle, they can choose whether or not they have armor made for them. Many choose to just because it promotes their rank, but it's not uncommon to see a Healer or Healer's Apprentice without any armor at all.

Bounty Hunter armor:
Bounty Hunters are fitted with armor on behalf of the humans but the quality of the armor's metal and gems still follow the "Class" system above.</sub>

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Empire Crests and Markers

 
See this journal for all Empire crests and markers!

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Rank Promotion Requirements

While a part of this group, your character may have an opportunity to be promoted in rank! Below you'll find the requirements needed in order to qualify your character for that rank.

Leader

- Character must have been a Silver Gladiator in order to apply for leader.
- Characters who were killed due to inactivity but revived are not eligible
- Characters must have gathered 80EP

Silver Gladiator

- Character must have been a gladiator who's had at least one apprentice move onto Gladiator rank!
- Characters who were killed due to inactivity but revived are not eligible
- Silver Gladiators are chosen by leaders
- Characters must have gathered 50EP

Blacksmith

- Characters must have been previous Blacksmith's Apprentice
- Blacksmiths are chosen by leaders if previous Blacksmith had no apprentice
- Characters must have gathered 35EP

Blacksmith Apprentice

- Blacksmith Apprentices are chosen by Blacksmiths
- Characters must have gathered 6EP

Healer

- Character must have been previous Healer's Apprentice
- Healers are chosen by leaders if previous Healer had no apprentice
- Characters must have gathered 35EP

Healer Apprentice

- Healer Apprentices are chosen by Healers
- Characters must have gathered 6EP

Gladiator

- Characters must have completed Apprentice requirements
- Gladiators are promoted by Leaders
- Characters must have gathered 25EP

Apprentice

- Characters must have completed Cub requirements
- Characters must have gathered at least 6EP
- Apprentices must complete their training in order to be promoted

Please see this journal for a full explanation on Apprentice Training!

Cub

- Cubs must complete their training in order to be promoted

Please see this journal for a full explanation on Cub Training!

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Gatherings & Events/Missions

Gatherings

Once a month, by the light of the full month, the Empires meet in an old abandoned coliseum called "Moonlight Coliseum". This is a time for the leaders of the Empires to share news and events that have happened in the empires since the last gathering!

For gatherings, the leaders (admins) of each empire will each write up a small bit to post in one large journal telling a little bit about their territories and their Empire's current state. This usually includes:

- New kits
- Newly promoted Apprentices and their mentors
- Newly Promoted Gladiators
- Deaths
- Threats to Territories (ex: wildfires, drought, bounty hunter sightings, border disputes, etc)
- Anything else of importance!

Bounty Hunters also have a gathering type of meeting around the same time named the "Meeting of Moonlight" that takes place on an island in the middle of a large river located in the "Lowlands". The Lowlands are a flat territory that all Empire cats stay away from...but that'll be covered on the territory maps! Bounty Hunters will also have a small part included in the same journal as the Empires!

Events and Missions

Events/Missions are assignments that every member must take part in to keep their character "active". Before you panic, read first! This usually boils down to you drawing a simple picture of your character once every 1-2 months. c: It really shouldn't be that hard!

- What type of mission your character will be doing will be up to your Empire's leader. He/She will post a journal entry giving each cat in their empire a task that must be completed before the next set of mission is given out. You'll usually have 1 month from the time the journal post is made to complete your assignment!

- Event/Mission journals are normally posted 2 weeks after the full moon gathering or during the New Moon! You'll have until the next new moon to finish your pictures!

- Characters that miss a mission will be considered inactive and are given a "death strike"! For every mission you miss after your initial first, your character will be given another death strike. Gather 3 death strikes and your character will be "killed" and no longer part of their empire!

- Mission submissions should be submitted to the "Empire Assignments" folder

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Characters List

There's a ton of symbols located on the Character's List page so this sections will help explain all of them!

Here's a sample section of the Character's List:
~~~

Air Empire
[35EP]

_{Leader: Valon, played by KaiserTiger [7EP]**
--------^{Apprentice: Lotus (1/5)}
Silver Gladiator: Crisma, played by Joker-Darling [3EP]* [//]+
--------^{Apprentice: Troy (3/5)}
Blacksmith: Spurius, played by Gruvu [5EP]}

  
~~~

Alright, so here was have a portion of Air Empire's Character List showing their Leader, Silver Gladiator, Blacksmith, and a couple apprentices.  First, you'll probably notice the EP number under the Empire's name. That shows how many Empire Points the entire empire has earned as a whole. In this example Air Empire has earned 35EP total.

Next we'll look at Valon, their leader. The number beside his player in the [] brackets shows the amount of EP he's earned himself through submissions and missions. The ** indicates he's successfully had 2 apprentices move on to gladiator rank and the colored bullet shows that he actively took part in the last assignment held. Below his name shows his active apprentice and how many pictures they've completed out of their 5 training pictures. In this case, Lotus is Valon's apprentice and she's completed 1 picture out of her 5 training pictures.

Looking at Air Empire's Silver Gladiator, Crisma. This shows that so far, she's earned 3EP and has had 1 apprentice move onto gladiator rank. The red bullet though shows she's missed 2 assignments in a row and is now considered "inactive" so she'll start getting death strikes, which will show up as / marks on the right side of the colored bullet. A "+" will show up beside a character's name if they've been revived before. Below her name is her apprentice Troy, who's completed 3 of 5 training pictures.

------------------
|Quick Reference Key:
|
| Colored bullets show a character's activity:
| = completed last assignment
| = missed last assignment
| = player has asked for an extension before deadline
|
| * - the number of apprentices a gladiator has successfully  trained
| [//]- number of death strikes a character has gathered
| + - shows whether a character has been revived
|
| (#/5) - For apprentices, shows the number of required pictures completed in their training
------------------

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Bounty Hunters: Hunting Empire cats

- Hunts are mainly roleplay based. Bounty Hunters may challenge  'wanted' cats if they are actively taking part on their Empire's roleplay journal. (Active = within the last week). Only wanted cats may be challenged.

- To challenge an Empire cat, the bounty hunter must join in on that Empire's roleplay journal and roleplay a scenario where they challenge the cat. Empire cats can't deny Bounty hunter challenges.

- The Bounty Hunter must then send the group a note saying they've challenged a wanted cat. An admin will then make a special challenge journal for the two characters to roleplay a fight on. The two cats have one week to finish their roleplay then all the admins will review the journal to decide a winner. If an admin's character was taking part in the challenge, then they won't be able to vote.

- The looser of the battle must give up a small amount of EP to the winner. If the Empire cat is determined to be the looser, then they are "captured" by the Bounty Hunter.

- "Captured" Empire cats stay captured until they build up 10EP from art submissions. While Empire cats are captured, they're only allowed to roleplay on the "Captured" journal, they can't take part in assignment missions, and all EP they earn from art submissions during this time isn't added to their Character's/Empire's total.

- Bounty hunters must wait 1 week after they've finished a challenge before they can challenge another wanted cat.

- Bounty Hunters may not kill Empire cats during challenge matches

For more elaborate Bounty Hunter Information, see here