More on Illinca

Admin Posts : 5 Join date : 2015-08-16

Just to make sure we're all on the same page in this RP, we're going to go over all the other things in Illinca. Obviously, Illinca is not an average horse sanctuary. Something's quirky here. And besides that, things work a little differently.

First of all, Illinca is HUGE. It may not seem that big when you're reading the Welcome to Illinca! page because there's not too many places, but you've got to realize that each place mentioned on there is enormous. The smallest area is the Apple Orchard (the Lake is larger than the Apple Orchard). That is why not many horses travel around to see all these places because it takes a while. To go from one side of Illinca to the next takes at least a week with no stopping. But, horses would want to stop and rest and sleep during the night and they'd need time for grazing and drinking as well. Illinca is an enormous territory because it was made to hold tons of horses. Just to make sure we're clear on the actual size of Illinca.

Also, no more horses are being imported into Illinca. The first horses came here when Illinca was first created, and then no more horses after that. Strange, isn't it? A horse sanctuary that doesn't let anymore horses into it after the first dozen. All of the horses in Illinca today were bred and born here. They have lived here all of their lives.

Illinca has been around for several hundred years. When you think of the lifespan of a horse (a healthy horse under right circumstances is usually around 25-30 years old) then that means that lots of generations have come and gone in Illinca. It's been around for a while. All of it has been explored. They have a system going. It works. And the first horses to come here have long since died and their names have long been forgotten.

There is lots of horses here. After all those years of safety, the equine population has boomed here in Illinca. There is no limit to how many horses you make, because in reality there would be a ton of horses living there.

Because it's a sanctuary, the horses at Illinca have no idea what humans are or anything dangerous. There are no predators (wolves, tigers, bears, etc.) living in Illinca.

However, there are other animals living in Illicna besides the horses. Just no meat-eating animals. There is also no animals bigger than the horses that live there (with the exception of some very small ponies). The largest animal besides the horses are the little deer that graze beside the horses. There are very few deer, but the few that are there are don't bug the horses and they are very pretty and quiet. There are little fish that live in the streams and a bit bigger fish that live in the Lake.There are also frogs and newts that live in the Lake. There are lots and lots of crows around Illinca, mostly for cleaning up the place. There are also lots of little songbirds (canaries, robins, bluebirds, mockingbirds) that live there and fill Illinca with a beautiful sound. There are still lots of insects in Illinca (more for feeding the fish and birds than anything) but they do bug the horses a little. There is the occasional vulture (once again for cleaning) but they are rarely seen. Among other animals are mice, rabbits, cranes, muskrats, hogs, foxes (they don't bug the horses at all, just the mice and rabbits), pigeons, ducks, and the occasional eagle.

There is no leader in Illinca. The horses all live together in harmony. Of course some horses show more leadership over others, but there is no designated Alpha horse. There is, however, Healers. As mentioned before in other threads, Healers are horses that care for the other horses. They live in Golden Field at the Hospital and are trained on treating sick or wounded horses. Yes, Illinca is not a perfect place. It may be a sanctuary, but it's not completely protected from diseases and clumsy horses. Healers are trained to care for these casualties and sicknesses. If your horse becomes sick or hurt, take them up to the Hospital where they will get treated immediately. There is almost always a couple horses in the Hospital. Healers are allowed mates and foals, but are advised against it.

Besides Healers, there are also Elderly Horses. They are most commonly called Elders. These are horses that have passed 25 years of age. All horses over the age of 25 are considered Elders. If they were once a Healer, they no longer work at the hospital. Elders and Healers conduct gatherings, weddings, and other things.

The horses have no idea what the Wall is doing there. They know it must be some form of protectance against the outside world, but they don't know why it's so terribly high or why it's height varies in different areas. NO horse knows this. Don't have your horse randomly know the reason for this. They DO NOT. That will come up in role-play afro

Mates are allowed. So are foals. However, if you decided you want your mate to be another person's horse, make sure to ask them FIRST. You can't just decide that they are your mate. You also must plan out who will role-play your foals if you decide to have any.

When two horses decide they want to become mates, they go up to the Rightside Clearing and go to the Flower Circle. They may invite as many horses to watch as they want. There, an Elder Horse and a Healer pronounce them eternal mates. They may only get a new mate once their old one dies. These mate gatherings are called Weddings.

Gatherings happen very rarely in Illinca because there is nothing to gather for. There has only been a couple of gatherings in the whole time that Illinca has been around. These are conducted by Healers and Elderly Horses.

There are however some special things that are much like gatherings that are also led by Healers and Elderyly Horses. These include Weddings (when two horses become mates with each other), the Welcoming (when one or more foals are brought to Flower Circle and given an official welcome into the herd of Illinca), the Elderly Coronation (when a horse reaches 25 years of age and goes to Flower Circle to become an Elder), Set-Free (when foals and their mothers go to Flower Circle and the foal is officially weaned from his mother and "set free" as an Adult into Illinca) Romance Gathering (where horses meet at Romance Ranch in hopes of meeting their future mate. This is also the only 'gathering' that doesn't take place at Flower Circle), the Death Blessings (where Elders that are near death lay in the center of Flower Circle and get blessed by the Healers to travel safely to the Afterlife. Not all Elders choose to have a Death Blessings Ceremony, but many do) and the Memorial (when horses gather at the end of the year to remember all of the horses that died during that year and thank them). The Memorial is mandatory. All other gatherings are open to any horses that want to come, but aren't mandatory.