Because the group does not have a set timeline, nor does it keep an official passage of time, members are allowed and encouraged to work on their plots as they feel the most comfortable. There is no pressure to move time forward in your storyline, but cats at various stages of their lives are limited to what sort of activities they may participate in.
The group recognizes three (3) official stages in a cat's life:
Kitten
Adolescent
Adult
You may establish other age-groups in your group or storyline, or even address these stages by their ranks instead. For game-related purposes, all cats will always belong to one of these stages until an Aging Trial is completed for the cat, which will allow them to move forward onto the next age stage.
You may, at any point, age down a cat that has been received through an encounter or purchased. However, once a cat's age has been lowered, they may only age up throughout a trial.
To age down a cat, you may head onto the #updates channel.
Aging trials may vary from one group to the next, but the concept is the same: a cat must prove they are ready for the next stage in their lives.
Rules
You may include as many cats as you wish in a single Aging Trial submission.
You may not include both a Dawn and Dusk Trial in the same image or literature piece; you may, however, have two images side-by-side or a lit divided into two sections that represent the different aging trials individually.
All of the cats participating in the Trial must meet the minimum requirements, any cats featured additionally do not need to.
Minimum Requirements:
At least one (1) of the prompts below must be included
Art: Images must feature the kitten ranking up, colored fullbody with simple background.
Lit: Chapters must feature the kitten ranking up, minimum of 700 words.
Submitting your Trials
Once your submission is completed, head over to the #aging-trials channel and create a new thread with the following form:
Username: Your username
Cats featured: ID and names of the cats ranking up
Additional cats: ID and names of anyone else included (optional)
Nicknames: (lit only)
Items applied: (optional)
Prompt:
The Kitten stage is all about learning and exploring. In order to age a cat into adolescence, depict your kitten learning something about the world, either by themselves or with a guardian.
Requirements
♦ Complete at least one (1) of the prompts below.
♦ Art: Images must feature the kitten ranking up, colored fullbody with simple background.
♦ Literature: Chapters must feature the kitten ranking up, minimum of 700 words.
Prompts
♦ Have your kit sit down for a history lesson.
♦ Show your kit catching a bug or another small creature.
♦ Have your kit visit the healer for a general checkup.
♦ Have your kit playfight with another kit or family member.
♦ Kits love a good game of Mossball, set up the teams or show the gameplay.
♦ Show your kit tending for the elders.
The time has come for an Adolescent to be introduced to its group as contributing member. They spent the previous moons training to both provide and defend their home, and the time has come to prove themselves. In order to age your cat into adulthood, depict your adolescent showing off their skills, either by themselves or with their mentor.
Requirements
♦ Complete at least one (1) of the prompts below.
♦ Art: Images must feature the kitten ranking up, colored fullbody with simple background.
♦ Literature: Chapters must feature the kitten ranking up, minimum of 700 words.
Prompts
♦ Winning a fight against another apprentice or warrior.
♦ Successfully catching prey.
♦ Diving into a body of water and retrieving an item.
♦ Racing against another apprentice through the territory.
♦ Enduring some nights alone in unknown territory.
♦ Successfully healing another member without guidance.
♦ Rescuing a group-member from danger.