There are many things in Our Homeland that can change/affect our characters, and are not only great plot devices, but just add a little extra to your writing experience!

foals/breeding

• Stallions and Mares have the opportunity to reproduce on the site! In order to do so, these characters must have shared a minimum of one (1) completed thread with one another. The intent to breed must occur somewhere in-character, however it may not be written to detail, and must fade to black.
  
  
• Remember to check out the Our Homeland Points Store, if there's anything you'd like to purchase in order to customize your foal. These purchases must be made before posting to the Foal Stats board.
  
  
• Each user involved must post their character's stats to the correct board, using the breeding forum. Once your thread has been completed by Mother Nature , you may post the name of your new foal in the thread!
  

• If the breeding is successful and results in a foal, congratulations, you have a new character on the way! The gestation period for foals is one real-life month; for example, if your characters breed in the Fall (July 7th in real life), the mare will immediately be pregnant, and give birth in the Winter (August 7th in real life).
  
  
• Mares must post a birthing thread in the correct season (this can either be a closed prompt, or open thread).
  
  
• The users involved may decide amongst themselves who will roleplay the foal. If neither of you want to play them, but still want them to exist on the site, you can share their information on the character adoption board.
  

• Foal age progression begins as a newborn > filly/colt > weanling > yearling. They will age with each changing season until they are considered one-year old. 
  
  
• For the first season of their life, newborn foals may only be posted in threads alongside their mothers - sort of like an NPC. Once the season changes and they are considered a filly/colt, they will be allowed to be posted as a separate character.
  
  

stealing

• Both Stallions and Mares will be allowed the opportunity to steal. Stealing includes any horse currently in a herd, or characters unaffiliated with a herd.
  
  
• Characters intending to steal another horse must compose a riddle that describes the stallion, mare, or yearling they are hoping to capture. Note: characters under the age of 1 can only be stolen by a nursing mare.
  
  
• Users will have 4 real-life days to guess who the poster is attempting to describe in the riddle.

• Kings & Queens will have the ability to block characters in their own herd. This includes other stallions, mares, and foals. For horses outside of a herd, partnered/bonded characters will be able to block their significant others & their children under the age of 2. Lone characters are ineligible from blocking themselves.

• If a user does not make a correct guess, or fails to block a character in time, the poster may consider the steal successful. At that point they may reveal which character they have stolen and explain their riddle.

• If a user does make a correct guess, they have effectively blocked the steal, and the poster may consider the steal a failure. This will enable Kings/Queens to challenge the poster to a fight, banish them from their lands, or deal with them however they see fit (within reason, of course). 

• Stolen characters will be required to have one in-character thread with their assailant, to which the writers involved will be allowed to decide where to go from there. Remember: be civil! If you do not want your character continuously involved with the one they were stolen by, you are absolutely not forced to keep up the interaction. All we ask is your character at least "run away" in-character.

fighting

• Your characters just don't see eye-to-eye. So, you and the other user will have to put your writing skills to the test! Fights will be judged writing prompts, in which both users are not only battling one another in-character, but also battling against each other using their writing skills in order for their character to emerge victorious.
  
  
• Fights can occur for any ic-reason, ie., a disagreement between characters, a challenge form a Beta stallion/mare to a King/Queen, etc. 
  
  
• Your writing, word count, grammar, creativity, realism, and in-character attacks will all attribute to a final score, which will ultimately determine the winner.
  
  
• All fights must take place in Midas Circle.
  
  
• Characters engaged in a fight must make five (5) posts of at least 500 words each. In these posts, please describe your character's thought process (what's going through their mind, thought process, intent, etc.). You must also include your character's actions throughout, such as attacks/blocks.
  
  
• Characters will be allowed three (3) attacks and two (2) blocks. You are not required to use all of these throughout the fight. Dice roll by staff will determine hits/misses, and successfulness of blocking; these will occur in-thread after a player character has made a move.
  
  
• You will have three (3) real-life days to compose a response in a fight thread. If another user fails to respond within the three-day window, they automatically forfeit the fight.
  
  
• Depending on what occurs during the fight, your character may sustain injuries. Beware, Mother Nature may interfere during the thread, and may have more influence over what transpires.
  
  
• Fights will be judged by staff. After a fight thread is completed, each staff member will post their ratings without consulting one another. Ultimately, the character/writer who earns the most points will win the fight.

Practice fights are also allowed, in which users will be allowed to engage in a fight and be judged by staff, without having to adhere to the post limit & word count minimum.

island crossing

• The islands are completely separate from the main lands of Our Homeland, and so in order for a character to travel to them, they must attempt an island crossing!
  
  
• Island crossings will serve as a writing prompt for your character. This prompt must describe your character's motives for traveling, their hopes for the future, and any troubles they may face while making the swim - both physical and mental. Take into account any physical capabilities/incapabilities your character may have.
  
  
• Prompts will be graded overall by your ability to be realistic, grammar and spelling, and accuracy. Prompts are required at least 500 words.
  

• Characters swimming to the islands from the main land must post their prompt in Peregrine Beach. Characters swimming to the main land from the islands must post their prompt in Aolani Cay.
  
  
• Mother Nature will post the results of your character's attempt. If your prompt scores poorly, your horse may face consequences and receive injuries for attempting the trek. 
  
  
• If you'd rather not take the chance, you do have the option to purchase a safe island crossing from the our homeland points store.

seasons in our homeland.

• our homeland experiences four seasons, just as we do in real life. these seasons are spring, summer, autumn, and winter.
  
  
• each season in our homeland lasts for one entire real-life month.
  
  
• each month, mother nature will post an update about the current season in the seasonal updates board. these posts will include information about how weather & atmosphere will affect horses across the lands. a brief summary will also be featured in the events banner at the top of the site.
  
  
• users are responsible for aging up their characters with the changing seasons. remember, if your character is listed as having being born in winter, and it becomes winter on-site, your character has grown another year older!
  
  
• foals will be born in the second season from when their stat thread has been posted. for example, if your characters breed in the summer, the mare will be pregnant in the fall, and the foal born in the winter. more information on breeding can be found here. currently, the seasons do not affect a foal's birth stats, though changes may be implemented in the future.