Fawnlings

Art Roleplay Game
ARPG Name:	Fawnlings
Species Name:	Fawnlings
Website Hosted On:	DeviantART
Dates:	Feb 12, 2012 - May 2021
Founder(s):	Ehetere
Staff:	22 members on the admin team, including HaniHunni, Killer-Kame, and PrimalInstincts
Country Based In:	Global
External Links:	Closed Group, Archived Group, 2019
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

Fawnlings was both the name of an original species and its art roleplay game (ARPG) on DeviantART. Players could obtain one or more fawnling characters and roleplay with them. All characters were free, but the wait time for an application to be accepted could range from a few weeks to a few months depending upon current staff availability and influx of applications. While the majority of the game was based out of DA, the Discord group was a very active and popular way to keep up with the game. Fawnlings reached 500 members in 2014, 1000 members in 2016, and as of 2020 has 1,546 members. Before the announcement declaring the group was to be closed, the group had roughly 1,600 members. The day before it's supposed closure on Apr 29, 2021, Fawnlings had 1,573 members.

While its player base may have been smaller than many other original (and younger) species such as Grems (4,128 members) and Bagbeans (6,472 members) it was still an active and cooperative community until its closure in 2021.

History

Main article: Fawnlings History

Fawnlings was a DeviantART group that was opened on February 12, 2012, at the very beginning of the original species group boom between 2011-2012. Ehetere was both the founder of the species and the group, though her involvement appears to have been rather short. She only stayed for roughly two years, and may have been a vague presence for two more years until 2014. Her last Fawnling artwork (and last piece on DA) was posted in 2014. Ashling, her last character, had not been updated since the character turned two, though before the character was deleted Ashling would have been grown, making Ehetere's absence quite noticeable. On the Fawnlings group and under the About Us tab, Ehetere's title was "Absent Founder," a title which she came up with herself, until she briefly reappeared in 2021.

Fawnlings as a group and species had steady growth since its original player boom in 2014. Its community had remained very active on DeviantART through it's years, and many old players still interact through Fawnling's successor ARPG Realm-of-Elaphaea. While staff have had their ups and downs when it came to availability, there was never a shortage of players willing to apply for staff roles when applications were opened in times of need, evident in the many people being hired in the Fawnlings Timeline. This lead to there often being a large amount of moderators even when the group was slow.

In 2021 Ehetere would return for a short period of time due to Fawnlings staff reaching out to her about obtaining the rights to the species and group. Ehetere wanted to keep her species and world, as she had plans to make it into a novel. She thus gave the group the ultimatum of keeping the species but changing the world lore, or otherwise being shutdown. Unable to accommodate her, the staff immediately moved to a new Discord and made a new group without discussing it with Ehetere. Though Rae had only given a few days notice before the group's closure date, she ended up leaving the group open for nearly a month before she finally closed it, on circa May 25th, 2021. During the final weeks in which it stayed open she continued to respond to comments on the journal that had announced the closure, and she banned at least one person from the group. Responses to the group's closure varied greatly. While some were eager to see change, others were upset with Ehetere and expressed their discontent on both DeviantART and Twitter. A portion of staff chose not to follow the community to its new group when they had disagreements with the new group's direction and treatment of the then ex-admin Ehetere.

For a more detailed examination of the group's closure and response to the closure, see Fawnlings History.

The Species

Fawnlings are a race of sapient deer-unicorn-horses. Their anatomy is a mix of deer and horse, and almost all fawnlings have a horn or antlers centered in their forehead. They are capable of magic, herbal medicine, and various forms of crafting. One herd, Oakfern, even has a tradition of making paints and drawing shapes upon their flanks. While they can speak they do not have written language, nor can they make any form of rudimentary paper. All fawnlings speak the same language and follow the same set of genetic rules. While fawnlings may be seen as a simple original species, they made up for their simplicity with extensive lore and a once active roleplay community, which has since moved to a new group called Realm-of-Elaphaea.

Canon

Fawnlings has a set canon and detailed amount of lore, some of it in the base game and some of it having been created by years of players roleplaying and transforming the material. There were also multiple versions of the game: The Western Isles (TWI), the Horse Art Roleplay Game (HARPG), and original characters (OC). TWI was the main way to play, while HARPG was the second way. Obtaining an OC allowed players to have a fawnling without subscribing to either TWI or HARPG.

Full page on DA

As of 2022, with Fawnlings having being closed and re-claimed by their original owner, only HARPG and OC fawnlings are allowed to exist.

Currency

A few special game currencies affected TWI, HARPG, and how the community at large played, as is common with other art roleplay games on DeviantART. Fawnlings was no different. This included the currency "tokens," which were special rewards redeemed for various things, such as gene mutations, items, or designs. They could be earned through events or by being considered a good player. The second currency was "bacon," a reward given to players secretly by other players or staff for being a good community member. Bacon was used to turn into tokens, or for "bacon designs," which were custom designs sometimes of rare quality.

The Western Isles

The Western Isles was set on an island of its namesake. The island was split into five major biomes and factions: Windborne, Oakfern, Glenmore, Blackwood, and Silverthorne. Players who join Fawnlings could join any of these factions (with the occasional limitation, such as limited amounts of does in Blackwood), or if they preferred they could create faction-less renegade characters. Each faction came with its own set of rules, its own dangers, and its own system of government. While there were a lot of things players could not change, there were also plenty of ways to change the lore of each group. For example, in Silverthorne there was a king, an honorary queen, and five generals. The king could create, change, or remove laws as he pleased. Then, when it came time for a new king, the generals would take a vote and either the king stayed or one of the generals became the new king. In this way players could have a say in how the canon of the game progressed, making it a highly transformative ARPG.

The game itself also had extensive rules and mechanics. This included seasons and years (one real life month equaled one in-game season, four real life months equaled one in-game year). There were also gods and goddesses in the game who could bless or curse characters if their player submited a special token. Characters had stats that could be raised (similar to Dundeons and Dragons) through making visual or written art, and certain stats were required for characters to change their occupation. Players scored their own art using the official RP points calculator, so there was an honor system.

All fawnlings have a complex set of genetics that are mostly based on real horse genes. However, there are also some types of fantasy genetics, such as zebra stripes. With the closure of the group many unique genes were lost, as the art and journal entries detailing their specificities were deleted. Breeding was a large part of the game and could only be done during rut, which three times every real life year. After the groups closure, rut is no longer an impasse and those who decided to retain their fawnlings can breed them freely. In game born fawns could be randomly rolled for special modifications like uncommon manes, piebald, or being freakishly tall. Players did not have to accept these rolls and could ignore them. Fawns could also have birth defects, mental illnesses, and injuries. Piebalds and premature babies were the fawns that most often had birth defects, which could range from simply having buck teeth, to infertility, to the internal growth of tumors. Players were given a list of three defect rolls and had to pick and choose between the sets. Many of the defects would have consequences in game.

Horse Art Roleplay Game

HARPG is similar to TWI in that it uses genes and stats. However, the focus of HARPG is a more traditional equestrian roleplay setting. Players, when leveling fawnling stats, either draw, write, or roleplay their fawnlings doing things that show horses do. Fawnlings in HARPG could compete to win titles such as champion.

HARPG fawnlings could be "unlocked" to be transferred into TWI using special tokens. For example, if one had a piebald in HARPG but wanted a piebald in TWI, they could use a special "adolescent piebald unlock" token to unlock that HARPG character for world transfer. Since the group's closure, HARPG fawnlings can no longer be transferred to TWI, as TWI no longer exists.

Original Characters

Players who did not want to play in TWI nor HARPG could sign up for an OC. They had to apply for their characters the same way as everyone else, except they could do with them what they wish. Player made worlds could be submitted to the group for staff approval if OC owners want to gather a smaller niche player base with fawnlings in their own personal settings. Since the group's closure, OC worlds no longer need staff approval.

Player Lore

Before closing in 2021 Fawnlings accumulated about nine years of player made lore and changes to Fawnlings canon. Every character named under player lore was owned by a member of the Fawnling community. Through their roleplaying efforts they influenced and changed the game and their herds, which was not easily done without much effort. One should note that, even in herds with less player lore, there were constant checks on the activity of characters in special positions, such as kings and queens. This meant that special positions were always changing no matter the lore or activity of a herd. Full lists of the coming and goings of these characters can always be found in the History and Politics journals of each respective herd.

Windborne

Windborne was an isolated island separated from the mainland by a thin bit of sea. Originally Windborne was one herd, but then a splinter group of nay-sayers broke off, deciding that they were done with the main herd's strict way of life. War broke out. In the end two new herds were formed on the Windborne island: The Allied Herds and The Loyalists. The Allied Herds was formed out of the splinter group, while The Loyalists was formed out of the traditionalists. Afterwards, The Allied Herds was the only herd on The Western Isles that believed in gender equality. The Loyalists remained a nomadic herd on the outskirts of Windborne and were a smaller group of atheists and soldiers.

This split in herds freed up many fawnlings to ways of life that were not possible for them before. After The Allied Herds was formed mothers began taking their babies down to Cockle Bay, where years before they'd have been attacked by guards there.

Oakfern

Oakfern was Windborne's neighbor to the right and Glenmore's neighbor to the left, and was a swampy bit of land full of caves. Natural born, pureblooded Oakfern fawnlings were all pygmies. Their player lore was not quite as extensive as some other herds. The Oakfern herd was very religious and included shamans and sacrifices to their moon deity. However, in the year 752 during a sacrifice, multiple shamans began having visions, including the head Shaman Berach (Played by Tigglesaurus). Due to the visions they decided not to sacrifice the Glenmore child they had captured, and instead raised her. In the year 759 king Nazem (played by fishiefawns) exiled all crossbreeds from the herd (a sentiment most herds took up independently). The herd was also no longer allowed to leave their caves. In 771, in a momentous fight, a doe named Sigrunn (played by BrokenFawnHill) challenged the previous king and won, becoming the first doe king of Oakfern. Then, in 772, an above ground settlement was created by Sigrunn, called Camp Azure.

Glenmore

Glenmore was a temperate land of woods and grasslands, with Oakfern to the left and Blackwood to the right. Both Oakfern and Blackwood disliked Glenmore, though almost all herds hated each other with very little exception. Glenmore was popular with players as it came with its own line of royals, princesses, princes, lords, ladies, commoners, and even tainted fawnlings (characters who have mated with a class lower than them). Glenmore's royal line was so beloved that an official family tree exists for it, though it hadn't been updated for a long time due to becoming too difficult to keep modern, even before the group closed.

Glenmore was a land of magic; however, that magic began to drain away. Only royals retained their magic. Thus, royals were the strongest magically and they began to interbreed to keep that magic alive. Some incest is present in their early family tree. The history of kings and their heirs is long and sometimes morbid, as evident in how the Glenmore's early chronology often lists a new death and new king every few years. Princesses have fled into Blackwood and been kidnapped, and coups have upturned the whole herd. In 757 Prince Donnaghán (played by Strideroo) killed the captain of the guard, and then he and his offspring were stripped of rank. Two of his children tried to steal princesses and fail. Then king Ragnar (NPC played by https://www.deviantart.com/tigglesaurus Tigglesaurus] crowned Drustan (also played by Tigglesaurus) as the heir to the throne. Regnar then died suddenly and rose Drustan to the title of king. This all happened very quickly. In year 762 Drustan is questioned and challenged. He fled the herd and created a splinter herd for his followers and family line, called Haven. In his place Rafe (played by RusticForrest) is crowned king. In 767, Rafe started a war against Haven, where both Drustan and his mate Fanella (played by Decors) die. Drustan and Fenella's spirits became guardians of Haven. Players were were part of Drustan and Fenella's bloodline could join Haven as a secret sub-herb.

Blackwood

Blackwood was a dense, dark, and dangerous wood. Glenmore bordered to the left and Silverthorne to the right. Its fawnlings were some of the largest and most feared, and they were the only herd that respected does more than stags (despite the official page stating that they were equal, does were still more respected). Blackwood was also the only land that required a specific coat color to survive, as pale coats would have to do a "survival roll." If they failed they were either injured or died, but that could be negated by high status or visiting during winter. This made it difficult for light-coated Silverthornes to cross into Glenmore and vice versa. The creation of doe characters was heavily restricted by the staff to keep them rare in the herd.

Blackwood had very little player lore. Outside of the typical kings rising and falling there were little to no major events nor change within the herd. The presence of so many kings and queens having "mysteriously disappeared" is likely due to player inactivity forcing the admins to move the plot along for new, more active Blackwood leaders. There were only three plot relevant events otherwise. In 768, a wildfire burned down the forest and many fawns tried to stop it, but the land became uninhabitable for a short time. In 769 the elder witch Hagen (played by DodgerMD) created a new rank to help teach magic to the herd. In year 771 the preacher Charon (played by DodgerMD) killed the Silverthorne king Tafari (played by HayleyRPG).

Silverthorne

Silverthorne was a savanna with only Blackwood to its left. It was a militaristic society with deeply religious views and a poor view of does. It was difficult for a doe to be much more than either a mother or an herbalist, though they may try. As a result, there were several players who made aggressive does in order to break the status quo.

In 759, king Skuldafn (played by ChrissyMax) increased security at the Blackwood border and spoke out against crossblooded fawns. He declared that does should not breed with crossblooded stags. He also declared that does that leave for Blackwood and come back could possibly be exiled for treason. In 763 Eikthyrni [1] was elected as the new king and reinforced the previous monarch's ideals by forbading crossbreds from procreation. He also created Fireseers to investigate the increase in piebalds, which were looked down on as Blackwood spies or cursed. His rank as General was filled in by Colonel Tafari, who would later take his place as ruler when Eikthyrni retired. In 767, king Tafari made even stricter laws regarding the border and its patrol, and talked down on piebalds and solider does in the process. He then went on to capture a "demon," however the demon later escaped. In year 770 king Tafari added three new ranks: priest, priestess, and winter watcher. He also enacted a new tradition in which fawns pledge themselves to the winter flame to help crossbreeds feel more welcomed and loyal to the herd. In year 771, king Tafari fought Charon of Blackwood and died. Andúril (played by PrimalInstincts) was elected king by the generals in his wake.

Community

The community was a friendly and active place to settle. Admins answered questions and reviewed a suggestions box to help improve the group. They would take shifts with who answered questions in the Discord chat. And, because collaboration was a large part of the ARPG, players were constantly engaged with one another and forming art trades. Before the Discord was closed alongside the group, these art collaborations could be advertised for in either special Discord channels or via a journal uploaded to the group. Token trading, plot requests, and character auctions could also be submitted to the group via journal. So for Fawnlings players who were uncomfortable with a live chat, there was always another way to connect to other players.

Originally Fawnlings members would chat using DeviantART's chatrooms, with both an in character and out of character room. They soon moved to a moderated Skype chat, and in 2018 moved to Discord. Roleplay could no longer be done in the public chats as their were no channels for them. Staff cited that they had too many members and public RP channels would be chaotic. However, there were privately held RP severs and at least one player-held RP sever that could be joined by asking. Most RP had to be done in private messages, and group RP between more than two or three players was made more difficult due to these limitations. Some players took to using Google Docs for their RP.

Events

Fawnlings staff frequently threw holiday celebration events where players gifted one another art, and were in turn rewarded by being placed into token raffles. For example, the Christmas 2019 event "Festive Fawnling Giveaway 2019" had players secretly draw a random member's fawnling in a festive way. Making art for the event gave the artist four raffle tickets, and then by further commenting on the journal gave them one more raffle ticket for a total of five. After the event ended, staff spent one to two weeks drawing for winners. Winner tokens were put into the token spreadsheet and players would check to see if they'd won by searching the sheet. Both TWI and HARPG characters were eligible for events like these, and characters between the roleplays would mix in a non-canon way, like a crossover.

Occasionally Fawnlings staff helped host "mass roleplay" events, though these were suggested by and were in cooperation with players. These were events that majorly changed the nature of The Western Isles plot. An example is the great Glenmore coup where king Drustan was shamed en mass in a staff held roleplay. Then, later on, Drustan was driven out. Mass roleplays were great for breaking and re-building the fawnling herd status quo, but required quite a bit of player collaboration, especially among busy staff. Players whose characters were the main point of the mass roleplay (like Drustan) had to also be comfortable with, and agree, that their character(s) could fall under hard times. In Tigglesaurus's case, they had to be fine with knowing beforehand that Drustan would be exiled from the herd and shamed as a king.

Finally, there were the "Of the Month" and "Of the Year" awards. Every month a form was sent out for members to vote on their favorite characters and roleplays. Winners received recognition in a journal and heaps of bacon. The Of the Year awards were similar, but were on a yearly basis.

Art

Visual

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  Past king of Glenmore by RusticForrest

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  A typical fawnling by sfwgenuflect

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  A blessed character by ge-oh

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  Official art of a god by Ehetere

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  Official height chart by Ehetere

Literature

• What was Lost by Hiokami-chan and Salemtide
• The Dark Lady and the Pale Lord by Ookamigirl00
• Newfound Family by Bovidaeloony
• Fire Baby (Quest) by Yumpy
• You Better Behave by DodgerMD

Comments

Beechlet, Feb 13, 2012

yay! excited for the rest of the fawnlings to come out <3

Nerwen-Wilwarin, Feb 11, 2013

Fawnlings are really epic. I really love the world you created, well done!

Bovidaeloony, Sept 20, 2019

Are designs not checked in order of how long they've been waiting anymore? I have a few from July that I corrected a month ago and haven't gotten any response but August designs have gone through since then.

Theravenist, Jul 25, 2016

I sent my buck in for Blackwood and I am so excited :D

JackalsGrin, Dec 14, 2019

1. The fawnling streams are fun to watch because it is interesting to see to how different designers approach requests, deal with genes or take inspiration. A lot of them are very happy to discuss their approaches/thoughts as well which is always nice.

Archives

Fawnlings, having been excluded from the Wayback Machine some time after its closure, no longer has archived copies of its existence.

• Fawnlings on Jul 13, 2019 - Fawnlings on Apr 26, 2021, a few days before closure
• The Rules, May 23, 2014
• About the Western Isles, Nov 1, 2015