Roots-of-Life - Colony Guide

Colony Guide

Roots-of-Life's foundation is built around colonies and the characters who reside in them. This page will serve as both an introduction to colonies, and a step-by-step guide on how to start creating your own.

Colony Overview

Creating A Colony

Application Base

Shorthand List of Rules

Colony Overview

Colonies are official groups of cats. They consist of a leader and, at minimum, two commoners (non-high ranking cats). They have a defined territory, which they will defend from hostile invaders.

The most common way for a colony to get new cats is by taking in outsiders; as a result, most colonies are not hostile to outsiders or other colonies. The other way they get new faces is from litters born into the colony.

Occasionally, a colony may fall on hard times, and choose to disband. Any surviving cats are considered outsiders again, and are free to wander or join a different colony.

Colonies are always founded in real time, from scratch. They're never retconned into existence!

Creating A Colony

Members can own up to three colonies for free, and may purchase extra slots from the shop!

This page covers rules specific to creating a colony. General colony rules live on the Rules page, and we recommend refreshing yourself on them first!

From here on, this page will serve as a step-by-step guide to creating your own Colony. We'll give pointers on what you shouldn't do when writing an application, and providing specific resources wherever necessary.

Application Base

First, you'll need an application to write on! Our application is linked right below. You can make a copy for yourself by selecting File > Make a copy.

Colony Application

Colony Names
Every colony is named using a one-word prefix, followed by the word "Colony." Colonies are typically named after something that represents their values, territory, or skillset.

They can only be named after things cats would reasonably know about; any manmade objects or things found outside of the group's set location are not viable colony names.

Unusable prefixes are Root-, Life-, and any currently-used colony names. To make sure you aren't using a name that's already in use, refer to the Colonies page.

Colonies

Colony Descriptions

When describing your colony, you should include information about:

Their territory
Types of prey and predators
Common physical attributes and abilities
Their culture and customs/traditions
And their ranks

You can also include other information such as shared beliefs, superstitions, behavioral norms, and aesthetics, for example.

A breakdown of some of these sections follows below!

Colony Culture and Customs

Colony cats have their own set of laws and morals.
Murder obviously isn't tolerated by the colonies. Colony cats don't turn a blind eye to incapable cats being forced to hunt or fight, either. Most colonies are peaceful towards their neighbors, though that isn't always the case.

Stealing supplies from other colonies is considered disgraceful and shameful, but taking resources from humans is fair game. Many colony cats are afraid of getting close to humans, though.

Many colonies have festivals, to celebrate different times of year. Mateship announcements and the births of new kittens are often celebrated by the whole colony. Deaths may similarly be grieved by all.

These are just general customs, though. Your colony's culture and customs are totally up to you. Don't be afraid to explore unusual customs! As long as the customs don't involve any sensitive topics (or closely resemble real-life religious customs), they should work out perfectly fine.

Ranks

The common colony consists of a leader, a successor, and commoners. All colonies must have ranks that fall into these three categories.
Most colonies have additional unique ranks that fall into one of these categories.

A leader guides their colony to the best of their ability. Usually, they either founded the colony or were elected the past leader’s successor. There can be multiple leaders.

Successors are cats who are to become leaders. They are elected by their predecessors. When the predecessor passes or retires, the successor becomes leader. There can be multiple successors. Alternatively, a colony can have a clearly defined method of succession; this is the one exception to the required ranks.

Commoners are everyone except the leaders and successors. This includes elders, queens, kittens, and your average adult cats.

You can select any names for your colony's ranks (or stick to the defaults!), as well as add any additional ranks. Ranks can be based on specialized tasks, on age, or something else entirely.

You must have at least one leader and two commoners to found a colony.

About Leaders

Leaders frequently communicate with the residents of their colony to make sure everything is running correctly. They have the power to change cats’ ranks, exile cats, and make important announcements.

Leaders are always the ones speaking on the behalves of their colonies, so residents of their colonies will need to be heard. If colony cats disagree with their leader’s decisions and the leader refuses to listen to them, the residents can either disband and start their own colony, or revolt against the leader and possibly their successor.

Leaders are the front of their colonies, so they run into the most trouble out of any role. Whenever traveling for something important, it is common for leaders to be accompanied by at least three cats for protection.

About Successors

Cats are picked to be successors if they have the potential to become a leader, so it typically isn’t based on heritage. Successors are usually younger, and can be chosen at any point in the leader’s life. They have duties like any other cat, but are also taught how to lead by their predecessor.

If the leader dies before electing their successor, or both the leader and successor die simultaneously, the residents of a colony will decide on who to elect as the leader. For example, the residents may decide to elect a leader by vote, or a cat may step up with no objections from the rest of the colony. However, becoming a leader without having been a successor first is historically considered taboo.

About Commoners

Commoners are the large majority of a colony. They almost always listen to their leaders unless they strongly disagree with the leaders’ choices.

Healthy adults are expected to provide and fight for the colony. Having specialized ranks for adult commoners based on certain tasks isn't unusual.

Age-based ranks are also not unusual.

Kittens are a subset of commoners. They are considered kittens until 6 months of age, and then adolescents until 12 months of age. Kittens are raised by queens for about three months. Then, they will begin exploring the rest of the colony and learning about their fellow residents. Older residents will teach young cats everything they need to know. Once young cats know enough about the outside world, they can roam the colony’s territory as they please. Cats are considered adults once they’re a year old.

Queens are mother cats, a subset of commoners. They are well-respected for bringing new life into the colony. Queens’ dens are typically set up in the remote parts of a camp so they can raise their kittens in peace. Colony cats don’t visit queens unless they are close to the queens. They start appearing around camp again once their kittens begin socializing.

Cats are free to retire from their duties when they're ten years old. Due to their age, elderly residents don’t fight for the colony and aren’t expected to hunt, but it’s common to see elders still providing resources for the colony.

Healers aren't a base rank, and cats typically learn rudimentary healing knowledge as they go about their lives. Healing is greatly limited as, in Roots-of-Life, healing works by our real world's logic. Many plants are insignificant or even toxic.

Colony Territory

Colony territories are quite varied, and many biomes are present. An average-sized territory in Roots of Life is about 25 square miles (65 square kilometers.) Some colonies are larger or smaller. Informally, they come in six sizes: tiny, small, average, large, huge, and enormous.

You can freely pick any size for your colony except enormous; the size you pick has no in-game effect, so it's just for fun! You also get to decide how they'll look on our map. We'll ensure the shape and size you pick match up properly.

Colonies with an enormous territory (50+ square miles) require an organizational structure that would allow them to keep that much territory under control. All other sizes don't require a specific structure.

The most common type of territory is a forested one. Common prey tends to include things like mice, voles, birds, and fish. Common predators include things like bears, wolves, foxes, and badgers. However, not all colonies have these sorts of prey and predators. For colonies in a more unusual territory type, you should list the common types of flora and fauna found there.

Be sure to avoid creating a territory (and accompanying landmarks) that don't make sense for the group's location (Pacific Northwest or southern Canada).

Colony Landmarks

Next, you can write about any stand-out places in your colony's territory.

Landmarks can be a point of interest for any reason. Even a tree can be a landmark if it looks odd or has some significance to the colony. You will likely want to name a landmark after its reason for significance, such as the Storm Marshes (Lake Colony), Windy Oak (Clover Colony), Towering Redwood (Fire Colony), or Quiet Falls (Hidden Colony).

You need at least one landmark besides your colony's camp (their main area of living.) You can have any number of landmarks, but they should all make sense in tandem.

Are you struggling to think of any landmarks? Below is a list of geographical features to choose from!
Try to think of how each different landmark would be mapped out, to keep the territory type somewhat consistent.

Arch
A natural arch or bridge made of rocks or land

Basin
An area defined by its dip into the earth, some filled with water. AKA pit, sink

Bay
A small body of water or inlet that is partially surrounded by land. AKA bight, gulf, inlet

Beach
A sloping shore along a body of water. AKA coast, shore, strand

Bench
Level land that sits below an elevated area such as a hill, ridge, or mountain. AKA level

Bend
A curve in a stream or the land around it. AKA loop, meander

Cape
A piece of land that extends into a body of water. AKA neck, point

Cave
A hollow underground area. AKA cavern, grotto, tunnel

Cliff
A steep slope. AKA bluff, crag, head, nose, rim, rimrock

Falls
A steep fall of water that runs from a stream. AKA cascade, waterfall

Flat
A flat area within a region of relief, such as hills or mountains. AKA clearing, glade

Forest
A densely wooded area. Less common are sparsely wooded areas, such as wooded meadows.

Gap
Low point or opening between hills or mountains. AKA col, pass, water gap

Gully
A trench that was worn into the earth by running water, typically where rainwater collects. AKA wash, arroyo or coulee if the area is dry

Lake
An inland body of water. AKA pond, pool

Pillar
Spire-shaped natural rock formation. AKA rock tower

Plain
Flat land that is mostly treeless. AKA grassland, upland, meadow

Range
A series of mountains or hills ranged in a line. AKA cordillera, sierra

Rapids
A fast-flowing section of a stream, often shallow with exposed rock. AKA riffle, ripple

Ridge
An area of raised land that's narrow and long and consists of a chain of mountains or hills. AKA crest, rim, spur

Spring
A place where underground water flows to the surface of the earth. AKA seep.

Stream
Flowing water. AKA bayou, brook, creek, fork, river, run, slough

Swamp
Wetland that can be wooded or grassy. AKA bog, marsh

Valley
A low area of land sandwiched in between hills or mountains, typically with a stream running through it. AKA dale, hollow, ravine

Colony Leaders & History

Since there aren't any previous leaders upon starting your colony, you'll put your first leader here, and otherwise leave it empty for the future.

However, you won't be leaving your colony history blank. You'll want to write about how the colony started, such as any struggles encountered along the way and the ideals of its founders. You don't need to include things that are irrelevant to the colony as a whole, such as colony rumors or every new character added.

Adhere to our usual sensitivity rules for histories, which can be found on the main Rules page.

Final Steps

You're nearly finished with your colony!
You can take your final steps by including some trivia. All of the miscellaneous ideas you have for your colony can go here.

Next, hit the share button and set your document's viewing access to public.

Now you have two options. You can submit your colony's application right now if you'd like! Or, you can can wait until you've finished the characters that will found and inhabit your colony, and then submit everything at once.

Regardless of your choice, all colonies (and their founding cats) will be submitted to the Colony category of our Discord server's ticket system. You'll create just one ticket for everything, to keep it all together.

Colonies take longer to review than a single character, so please be patient. A review will be sent back to you, where you may or may not need to make certain edits to your colony. We will work with you to help on edits!

Once the review is finished and any corrections have been made, we'll ask you a few questions about your colony: their location and shape on the map, a desired emoji for announcements, and a color to represent them on the map. We may also ask if you have any suggestions for achievement names. When all of that is settled, your colony will be officially accepted!

That hard work has certainly paid off. With both your characters and colony accepted, you can now partake in discussing relations and news with fellow colony founders, accept other members' characters into your colony for roleplay, manage colony residents, and create plots for your colony.

Have fun!

Shorthand List of Rules

For those who want to just keep the list of rules in mind, this section is for you!

All of these rules are in the main guide too, of course, so if you need an explanation of one, scroll back up to the relevant section.

Colony Application Rules

Colony's name should be natural and not already in use. Must be in X Colony format.
Territory and everything in it is reasonable for the Pacific Northwest.
Description of territory, prey/predators, common attributes, customs, and ranks required.
Enormous-sized territories require a specific structure; all other sizes are free to pick.
Need at least a camp and 1 other landmark.
Need at least 1 leader and 2 commoners.
Colony is founded in real time; do not retcon in years of history.
Colony history must adhere to our usual sensitivity rules. Should focus on the colony at large!