Mateship & Offspring Guide

Here at Beautiful Creatures, we like to use the word courting when one is searching for a mate. To spice up our character's love life and because we love diversity here at Beautiful Creatures we allow different sexual orientations. When two partners have finally decided that they want to be mates for life one - normally the male - approaches the King or Queen of their clan and requests that the two become mates and a ceremony be held. Depending on what pack you're in affects if a ceremony is held actually held. Generally, courting takes two or more weeks in real life with 20 or more posts between the characters that are wanting to become mates. This helps prevent members from pairing characters up right away and encourages that your characters get to know one another before making a life changing decision.

• Your character’s must be 3 years old in order to have a mate!
  
• Kings/Queens must approve of your courtship either IC or OOC before you can become mates!
  
• You must have 20 or more posts between your characters before they can become mates.
• If your mate has been kicked out of the clan, has been killed, exiled, banned, et cetera IC/OOC for any reason, your character is automatically mateless and you can choose another mate whenever you wish.
• Same sex couples can happen! Diversity is encouraged here at BC, however, it's not required.
• Multiple mates (polygamy) is not permitted here at BC! That being said plots surrounding/involving love affairs or flings can be arranged as they stimulate creativity between members and their characters.
• Interspecies breeding is perfectly fine and sometimes encouraged here on BC, however, it's only when you want to have offspring that you need to purchase the 'hybrid' item from the Bone Pile Shop.
  

When two characters have become mates with one another the option to have a litter together becomes available. Same-sex couples who want a litter of their own have the option to adopt or have a willing surrogate or donor lend a helping paw. This must be discussed between the three members outside of roleplay or in roleplay if you truly wish to add an immersive effect.

When the conception of your litter has happened a dice role will be done by Harlequin or another staff member. Dice rolls will determine the amount of offspring you'll be having and their genders. Dice roles do not have to happen if you are planning on purchasing your own litter. It is recommended that you start an offspring request right away, this is where we'll do your dice roll determining your litter. Please read up on what an offspring is HERE. Your offspring request will remain pending until an admin goes over it, once it has been approved it is recommended that you start an adoption thread.

• Before you and your mate settle down with one another and start a family you guys need to have 10 roleplay posts between each other! This is to prevent member’s character’s moving on too quickly and give you two time to get to know one another as mates.
  
• Rape is allowed, however, both members responsible for roleplaying the characters need to agree on this outside of roleplay.
• Depending on your animal's species will affect the amount of offspring you're allowed to have. Herbivores and bears are limited to 1-2 offspring while felines and canines can have up to 5 offspring in a litter! Any offspring who don’t have a roleplayer by their due date are classified as deceased.
• No graphic mating, please! Do that somewhere away from Beautiful Creatures if you want to do that. Use the traditional “fade to black” technique when your characters are mating.

A successful breeding will result in a female becoming pregnant. A female character will be pregnant for 2 weeks until her due date arrives. What is a due date? A due date is a generalized time period when a female can give birth that is given to you by an administrator. As soon as the cubs are born they become rpable by the selected members you've chosen for them.

• Pregnant female are relieved of their rank and duties until their offspring are weaned.
  
• Use realistic time frames! What do we mean by this? Well, you don’t just become pregnant with a huge belly after one day. Show signs and symptoms of your characters development and stages of pregnancy. Be immersive! You should be pregnant for 2 weeks unless you've purchased the Special Delivery item in the Bone Pile Shoppette. (Refer to the Bone Pile Shoppette store for more information)
• It is recommended to make an adoption thread when you have figured out your offspring's names after your dice roll has been completed. This will give you ample time to search for roleplayers before your due date.
• Adoption and surrogation is also another form and way for same-sex couples who are wanting offspring together to accomplish that desire.