FurryFaire MUCK

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FurryFaire is an online anthropomorphic MUCK focusing on role-playing in a world of knights and fantasy. The original server ran from 26 May 1996. FurryFaire reopened on a new server in 2005.

FurryFaire is set in the mythical land of Kith Kanaan. Kith Kanaan is divided into a number of nations, each with a specific theme associated with them. The central region, and the primary role-playing area, is called the Shire Lands.


 * Addresses:
 * MUCK server: muck.furryfaire.org, port 8888
 * Wiki: http://ffa2.kitsunet.net/index.php/Main_Page
 * Retired Website: http://www.furryfaire.org/
 * Retired Yahoo Group: http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/FurryFaire
 * Retired Forum: http://ffa2.kitsunet.net/forum/
 * Ran from/to: May 26, 1996 - 2003?, 2005 - present

Core wizards

 * Kyn'Elwynn - Head Wizard
 * Shiro - RP/Setting Wiz
 * Murrimi - Programming and Code Wiz
 * Ramses - Public Relations Wizard
 * YukiFox - Site Administration
 * Mika - Gear/Equipment Wiz
 * Tuoqui - Ideas/Help/Directions
 * Ephialtis - RP/TP/Player Relations

Key characters
To the west of the Shire is the Naipon Embassy, which also doubles as the Anaithan Embassy to the Shire Lands. It is controlled by the daughter of Kurosawa Tashiro (locally known as Foxtrot) and her husband. Kurosawa Kaede is the daughter of Tashiro and his wife, Jade, and was placed in charge of the Embassy in the year 1025 AE.
 * Kurosawa Kaede and Kurosawa Shiro (Naipon Embassy)

Kaede is a striped fox, and is polite and somewhat distant. Her husband is Kurosawa Shiro, a demon hunter from the Saotome Clan in Naipon, who joined the Kurosawa Clan as part of an arranged marriage. He is a russet fox, and a member of the Inari Shrine.

Ralyn and Lina are the children of Kyn'Elwynn the Shadow Mage, and Amber, daughter of Mika. The name of Ralyn is a testament to the original Ralyn, the father of Mika. Ralyn is protective of his sister, and is a proud and noble member of the community, developing and defining himself as he steps out of his family's shadow. Lina is a budding sorceress, and has attracted the attention of powerful figures to the south, in the shadowy nation of R'Tal.
 * Ralyn and Lina (Ralyn's Legacy)

Past characters

 * Genevieve Z'errone - Russian Blue Kitten, daughter of viscount Timmon and Windarra
 * Kivuli'Rakala - Egyptian Mau Cat Girl

Technical history
FurryFaire was originally founded by Chetar, Mystique, Duelist, and Shiamat, on May 26th, 1996. These four people build the foundation of the MUCK, namely Furryshire and West Wood, with Mystique providing much programming expertise to give the game a very special feel. Chetar, at the time, Head Wizard recruited a few other wizards.

Shiamat disappeared a short time after the muck's construction begun. The muck went through about 3 months of non-public running, with building, programming and ideas being put into place.

Kyn'Elwynn was originally recruited from FurryMUCK to help with building and administering helpstaff. Some time after that, Simba (now known as Benjamin) was recruited to manage conflicts and player creations.

Duelist provided the original server for FurryFaire, but after a falling out between Chetar and Duelist, the muck was taken offline and moved to a new server, owned by one of Chetar's friends.

Mystique eventually left, leaving the muf programming in the hands of the head wizard, Chetar.

Over the early years, roleplay was highly promoted, and Chetar held regular meetings with the patrons of the world to see what was needed by them, what should be changed, etc. Chetar and Kyn'Elywnn recruited a helpstaff to help with Tinyplot creation. At some point, Ollie Canal, aka Lairu, was recruited as the first RP wizard, while a roleplaying MUF system was put in place to reward players for good roleplaying though a peer review system. This system was plagued with abuses though, leading to aggressive alternate character tracking to minimize abuse.

Chetar had at one time shut down the muck, for a brief period, because of a falling out with one of the players he was close to, and purged that player from the muck and banned them.

After a second occurrence of this behavior, Chetar decided he was unfit to run the game and turned over administration of the muck to a new head wizard, Alaria. But Alaria was never given TRUE full control, with Chetar still behind the scenes.

After some time, Chetar decided FurryFaire was a burden to care for and turned over the entire MUCK data files, domain name and GOD password to Snowpony and never looked back.

Snowpony ran FurryFaire until roughly 2002. At roughly this time period, the stress of operating FurryFaire become a bit much, and transfer of the position of Head Wizard was handed to Typhon, one of the players and Wizards who had been on the MUCK for most of the MUCK's running period. Snowpony retained control of FurryFaire as Site Wizard, and kept final authority of FurryFaire.

From 2002 to late 2004, FurryFaire suffered a long period of down time, languishing with very few active players. Speculation is that Typhon had recruited players from FurryFaire to bring to another MUCK, but did not fully promote FurryFaire. However when asked about this, he stated that his decision to create his own muck came after his removal from being head wiz in 2004. In 2004, Snowpony gathered the remaining Wizard Staff and Tashiro (then called Foxtrot), to discuss the MUCK's fate. Tashiro had been a member of FurryFaire since 1996, and accepted the position of Head Wizard, making a serious attempt to resurrect the MUCK

Between 2004 and 2005, Tashiro organized the history of the MUCK and worked on unifying the various religions, nations, and organizations to create an in-depth back-story for the MUCK, and allowed initial building for preparation to open. In 2005, the MUCK was moved and re-opened, moving the time line ahead 20 years to allow as fresh a slate as possible.

Another transition of setting and power occurred in 2011, Tashiro giving command over to Arion, who then bequeathed it to Ephialtis who has, as of early 2012, turned the Head Wiz position over to long-standing player and a build wiz of Faire in 1996, Kyn'Elwynn.

Role-playing
FurryFaire is a role-playing MUCK with a detailed history and setting. The primary function of FurryFaire is to provide an RP environment online, while the secondary function of the MUCK is that of a social MUCK, allowing players to interact with one another. While role-playing is stressed, it is not mandatory for people to be on the grid and in-character (in fact, a number of the more prominent players on the MUCK are almost never on the grid).

History
FurryFaire has a rich history. While originally this history was very mix-and-match, most of this has been ironed out to provide a detailed background for the MUCK. The various nations have been carefully smoothed together to provide a logical in-game reason for their presence, and some regions have been removed through in-game events if they provided difficulties for the game environment.
 * Off-Site History of Kith Kanaan

Religion
The various religions of Kith Kanaan have their own view of the 'creation of the world'. Which religion is actually correct is left deliberately vague, as it is not the intent of the staff to provide the players with a 'right answer'. Doing so would detract from the experience of the game. The religions presented as primary to the setting are:

Part One of the Creation Story Part Two Part Three
 * The Arin Faith: A religion which believes that the world was forged from the remains of their primary god, who sacrificed himself so that he could create, rather than destroy. The religion was created whole-cloth for the MUCK, and absorbed some of the scattered fragments from the old MUCK's background to provide a stable faith for the MUCK.  The religion is open, accepting of other religions, and is somewhat reminiscent of the Roman / Greek view of worship.

The Book of David The Book of Suleiman The Book of Joshua
 * The Joshuite Faith: A religion that draws from the Catholic and Hebrew faiths. This religion is considered the most potent of the religions on the MUCK, theme-wise (though has the lowest number of players).  The religion was adapted from the worship of the 'One God' on the old server, whose details had never been fleshed out.


 * The Celestial Courts: A religion inspired by the Naipon culture found on the MUCK. One region was heavily influenced by the Japanese, while a place much like mythic Japan existed 'elsewhere'.  The Celestial Courts was created as a bridge between the two nations and was slowly fleshed out to accommodate both.  With the appearance of a Chinese-like culture on the old grid, the region of Chang'Na has begun to be fleshed out as an alternative to the Japan-o-centric regions.


 * The Rymnian Faith: The lutrai of artist Ollie Canal have always had a place in FurryFaire. Until recently, the game concentrated upon the lutrai and their goddess, Kij.  With the creation of FurryFaire 2, the world of Rym has been visited more than once, and a story arc has begun which involves the resurrection and rescue of the dead gods of Rym.  As such, what was once called the 'Kijian' faith is now accepted as the 'Rymnian' faith.  The first success was the rescue and resurrection of the goddess, Nyx (the moon).  See:  The Rescue of Rym

Nations
FurryFaire consists primarily of a central grid (Threshold), but the setting itself is the continent of Kith Kanaan. This continent is broken down into a number of nations, each with its own theme and flavour. Characters are allowed to come from any of these nations, though some nations are harder to role-play than others.

Example nations
 * The Shire Lands: Once a semi-lawless region in the heart of Kith Kanaan, the nation has grown in power with the presence of refugees from war-torn regions to the south. The region was forged by an entity known as the Blue Wizard, who handed control of the nation to her guards, the Peace Keepers.  The Shire is patrolled and protected by the Peace Keepers, and has become a bastion of law and order...(for good and for bad)


 * Drachen: Reminiscent of Germany, Drachen was once a seat of power for the ancient dragons of the past. Now ruled by an immortal King and Queen, Drachen is a land of iron knights and big swords.  Those interested in strong, noble characters with big swords often make a character from Drachen.


 * Tarantis: A nation ruled by the Guilds, this once-monarchy has been taken over by the merchant class and the Joshuite faith. Tarantis is in the middle of a renaissance, and is the most advanced of the nations of Kith Kanaan.  This nation is much like that of Italy, blended with the Hanseatic League.  Renaissance 'mad science', religion, and politics are the order of the day for characters from this nation.


 * Carcassonne: Once called 'Anaitha', this region is a combination of Arthurian legend combined with Samurai stories, blended with the french tales of the faerie. Noble Knights exist following strict codes of honour, surrounded by the haunted faerie woods of Carcosa.  The region is shrouded in mystery to those from outside, but visitors from Carcassonne come into the Shire Lands, bringing strange traditions.

FurryFaire has over fifteen nations characters can choose from, each with their own culture, beliefs, and style of play. Those interested in trying something different have a lot of places to choose from.

Races
While it is preferred that characters be 'mundane' furries, it is not necessary. The old server had a number of folk who had supernatural heritage (from half-demons, to winged foxes, to kitsune, to walking gods), and rather than wipe out this part of history, it was incorporated into the game. The only restriction for the new server is that it is no longer allowed for characters to be 'true blooded' supernaturals. Characters are allowed to have divine, faerie, or infernal heritage, allowing for the 'angelic' characters or the half-demons.

In addition, certain mythic races are allowed. Characters can play morphic unicorns, griffins, dragons, and other such races. These are considered distinct from the 'True' version of each race, but are considered true bloods for the most part.

Finally, characters can play almost any of the Rymnian races. Lutrai, Cepn, Skole, and other races have been brought into FurryFaire, and even the Lapix, mentioned only twice on the official web page, have been fleshed out and given a home in Kith Kanaan.

Each race has a unique Merit available to them, a special ability which no other race has access to. In addition, some races have innate abilities, while gaining access to other abilities at a discount. Mundane characters can also gain these abilities, but they are more expensive (and thus rare) among mundane folk. Taking a race limits the character in other areas, but the trade-off allows for a degree of balance.

Orders
There are a number of Orders available on FurryFaire, granting characters access to secret societies, knightly groups, and samurai techniques. Each Order has their own background and goals, whether religious or political, and can either be a secret or open to the public. Orders grant the players access to abilities available only to those orders, and provides aspirations for the players.

Example Orders
 * Emerald Adepts: An order of Paladins who worship the Goddess of Magic. Sister to a group known as the Mysteries, the Adepts hunt down supernatural and mystical threats to the security of Kith Kanaan.  They are competent sorcerers as well as warriors.
 * The Crimson Paw: A merchant order from the Arabian region known as Anansie. The group is split into two factions, one involved with business, and the other involving assassination and the protection of the people of Anansie.  The Crimson Paw are a two-levelled order, acting both as legitimate businessmen, and as a criminal group.
 * Knights of the Fallen Sun: Founded by a player at the end of a rather bloody campaign, the Knights are a peasant militia, forged by a king who abdicated his throne. The knights answer to no nation, to no lord, and wander Kith Kanaan, destroying threats to the people.  They have recently become even more effective as a martial unit, after spending nearly two decades fighting wars in the south.

Sorcery
The magic system for FurryFaire is designed to be open and flexible, allowing players to create nearly any kind of effect. This magic system has been tested extensively, the players having ripped apart the system a number of times to expose the weaknesses that existed. With such intense testing of the mechanics, the magic system has come out stronger, allowing players the freedom to be creative with their magic, while preventing the staff from having to worry about game-destroying levels of power.

Support
The MUCK is supported by an e-mail list for the fans, a Wikipedia which is updated as often as possible to keep the game's information up to date, and has only just opened a Forum for players to discuss and perform free-form role-playing. The Head Wizard and the Staff of FurryFaire are an active part of the MUCK, and are easily reachable when players have questions or need assistance.