Joining

Prospective joiners are advised to thoroughly read this page before attempting to join. Newcomers to the game and those bringing in a new character must abide by game joining procedure.

Restrictions and Tips

OOC joining is not permitted. The natural exception is for those picking up NPCs.
Salsola encourages the recruitment of females more than their male counterparts. Male join-ees will have to bring more impressive gifts or skills to gain acceptance.
Wandering up to the borders at random and requesting admission is not advisable. We strongly encourage a neutral territory encounter with a Salsolan before attempting to join. Friendship is best!
Check out our Open Characters for an easier time joining -- some are even ranked within the pack!

Process in Brief

Join the game as a Loner.
OPTIONAL, but strongly suggested: thread with (and befriend) a member, if possible. This member will be an IC advocate for your character, giving them an ‘in’. Particular Salsolan characters may be recruiting and may even readily invite your character to join.
Create an IC joining thread. Your character:
- Must not trespass -- trespassers are enslaved or chased off. If you intend to join as a slave, please make sure you’ve read over the Trell page!
- Must show respect to the greeting Salsolian(s), regardless of rank.
- Must bring a gift for the leadership: failure to do so is seen as a personal insult as well as an insult to Salsola's culture -- clear evidence your character has little Salsolian cultural knowledge. See the sidebar for more gift-relevant information.
Once accepted, your character is given an IC Sponsor to guide them through the early months of their membership, and assist them in learning the complex melting pot that is Salsolan culture.

In Character Skills

Salsola encourages attributes that provide a valuable service to the pack; skilled trades and crafts, clever merchants or scholars, talented spies and rogues, healers and fighters alike; Those who show promise or proficiency in these areas, and many others, may be trained by senior members of the pack (those in the highly-respected Faction Tiers who have mastered their craft) to hone their skills.

Rejection

If your character is rejected gently, you are welcome to try again, although it is recommended you do so at a later date. If your character is chased away, it is not recommended you attempt again; it is likely your character will be chased away again, or treated with violence.

Post-Joining

After acceptance in Salsola, it is best to talk to your character’s recruiter or look into finding an IC Sponsor to help guide your character through the minefield of Salsolan etiquette. Though you can choose to OOCly assume your character is learning about Salsola’s culture and laws on their own, we encourage members to work this steep learning curve out in-game.

Residence

If your character wishes to live in the Ruins or Milstone, residence must be purchased via the game.
Your character may permanently settle elsewhere in Salsola (e.g., anywhere other than the Ruins or Milstone) for free.
Please see our Residency page to see what areas are available or taken.

Outsider Relations

Border Patrol

Any ranked Salsolan may greet or intercept an outsider or joiner. Remember: only the leadership ranks may accept joiners.

Visitors

Only the leadership ranks have the authority to permit visitation. This is an extremely rare occurrence. Ranked Salsolans are free to visit outsiders away from the territory, but Outsiders are generally not permitted to visit. If you would like to plot an Outsider visiting without leadership knowledge (secrets are often encouraged!) make sure to PM the leaders to ask for permission.

Recruiting

Any ranked member can recruit someone -- simply explain our culture ICly, along with our joining process. Recruiting is distinctly different from Sponsorship, and simply involves telling a prospective member a little about us.

Sponsoring a Newcomer

New Associate-ranked members receive a Sponsor as per the Associates' Trial.

The sponsor canine must be ranked Family or above. Sponsors are typically well-established in the Thistle Kingdom and relatively knowledgeable about cultural codes, beliefs, etiquette and so forth.

Failures and shortcomings of a sponsored member reflects poorly on the Sponsor; one's social standing and IC rank may drop. However, sponsoring a newcomer to fruition (by which they become a respectable member of the pack) reflects extremely well on the Sponsor, proving their ability as a teacher and their exceptional knowledge of the Kingdom.

Generally, IC Sponsorship is only loosely restricted; we don't keep a "running list" of would-be Sponsors nor is there a particular training process, but if you're interested, let us know.

NPC Policies

Absentee NPC Status

aNPCs are permitted as per the game procedures.
aNPCs may be demoted.
aNPCs lose their Job(s) upon becoming NPCed, but may reclaim an empty Job by re-using their old challenges. If the Job was filled during the aNPC status, usurping requires writing new challenge threads.
aNPCs may be temporarily located at the Salsolan Trading Outpost rather than on-boards, so as to make space in the ranks for active members.
aNPC status is essentially limitless, but removals are the leadership's discretion. In other words: we're lenient, but don't be surprised at removal if you told us you'd be back in January and it's nearing April. :c
As a courtesy, automatic NPC status is granted anytime a character falls inactive -- in other words, if something happens and you can't let us know, we'll still NPC your character. If you'd prefer we simply removed your character from the pack in case of inactivity, let us know.
Automatic NPC status lasts no more than two months if we cannot contact you. Longer stays may be discussed.

Companion NPCs

NPC companions may accompany a new recruit in their joining thread. Slaves are permitted at joining; however, the appropriate game point price for an NPC slave must be paid. (See our Game for details) If you wish to bring in an NPC after you've joined, you must write a RO joining thread for them.

Animal Companion NPCs

Please let us know of any animal companion additions for our Animals Wiki page, either by updating this yourself or posting in our Maintenance Thread.

Mandatory Pack Threads

Mandatory threads are infrequent, so when one occurs, all active members must contribute -- even if it is with just one post. Punishments for non-attendance are IC, with a probable drop in rank and respect.

Mandatory pack threads are most often an IC update on pack proceedings, such as a Last Supper Event, or a thread directly related to an important in-pack plot that is in progress.