Foreword
Fogbound Fables is an ARPG rooted in Slavic mythology, religion, and history. Regarding this inspiration, I have two notes: Firstly, these influences are notoriously poorly documented, and as such, this group neither is nor seeks to be an accurate representation of any of these aspects of Slavic culture. Some parts of the lore are changed intentionally to better suit gameplay, some are changed to represent variants of stories I myself heard from my parents and grandparents, and some are changed due to a lack of sources.
Secondly, Slavic mythology and tradition is frequently misused to serve as ammunition against progress and progressive values, and as such, it may have earned a reputation for attracting a certain kind of audience among the public. To this, I say that I am neither a traditionalist nor a nationalist, and the sole reason for my choice is that I wished to bring a bit of my culture into the ARPG space. I wish to find a balance between inspiration and tradition - I hope this is something I will be able to achieve.
Thank you all for reading!
- Lairai
Artwork Rules
For all of the game's purposes, terminology is defined as follows:
Artwork = Any artistic entry | Visual Art = Visual art specifically | Literature = Written art specifically
In Fogbound Fables, artwork requirements are divided into multiple tiers. These tiers present different sets of requirements that apply on top of the general art rules listed directly below. Please make sure to read through these requirements at least once. We recommend bookmarking this page and referring to it prior to creating artwork for the group.
External Assets & Artificial Intelligence
You may not use external art assets such as photos or illustrations in your artwork without heavy alteration. Any kind of AI art, including AI-generated concepts or writing drafts, is strictly prohibited.
Matching the group's lore
Artwork submitted for the group's activities must match the setting and lore, or it will not be accepted. Special events may occur during which you may be encouraged to portray your character in alternative settings, which will present an exception to this rule - otherwise, all artwork in Fogbound Fables should be lore-friendly.
Art 'farming' prohibited
Artwork may not be submitted in large sheets of images or compilations of stories with the intention to 'farm' specific activities for rewards. Comics and multi-panel stories are exempt from this rule. Artwork will be judged on a case-by-case basis in this regard. In the same vein, rushed artwork or artwork with a clearly simplified style for the sake of speed will not be accepted for group activities either.
Character appearances
Any characters portrayed in artwork should match their official references. 'Unofficial' edits are not permitted, and neither are unofficial backstories for handler characters. If you're interested in editing your character, you may do so using official edit items.
What counts as a background feature?
Background features are not individual objects placed around the environment. They should consist of major elements that shape the background (e.g. rock formations, buildings, fields, flower patches) and should be recognisable in the background in question.
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How do the minimum wordcounts and percentages work with Handler-Lokaj pairs?
One handler and their bonded Lokaj count as one character for the purposes of minimum wordcounts. However, any additional Lokaj depicted in the piece, even if they are bonded to the same handler, will incur the additional wordcount requirement.
For the purposes of minimum % of characters showing in visual art, one member of this pair must be visible as per the % required, with the other only meeting minimum visibility (25%). Any additional characters need to meet the % required for the activity.
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What counts as a background exactly? Is it just landscapes?
No! Backgrounds do not solely have to be landscapes, cityscapes, or interiors. Backgrounds can also consist of flat patterns or ornaments (of your own making, not from the web!), art noveau frames, tarot card-esque illustrations, mock game UIs, anything your heart desires. However, if an activity requires a certain number of background features, those must also show in your background, regardless of what kind of background it is.
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What counts as a fully coloured as opposed to just coloured?
When the requirement just lists 'coloured', you may use whatever palette you want, as long as the entire piece is not one single colour or gradient. This includes restricted colour palettes, monochrome, etc.
When the requirement lists fully coloured, the image should feature a full colour palette (not monochrome or restricted). This colour palette does not have to be realistic, though values on Lokaji and handlers should stay the same to keep the characters recognisable. Abstract or otherwise very unrealistic colour palettes are permitted, but should not be used consistently to alter the colours of a character (e.g. if your Lokaj is brown, and you dislike this colour, you may not use this feature to consistently portray them as red).
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Any abstract, restricted, monochrome, or unrealistic colour palettes must be applied to the whole piece and not just to certain characters selectively.
Anecdote
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At least 25% of the character should be visible.
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The character must be coloured.
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Shading is optional.
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Must contain at least a sketched background. This background must be recognisable as some sort of environment or pattern of your own making.​
Visual Art
Literature
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300 words minimum.
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+50 words for each added character.
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There must be a sense of setting in the piece. It should be clear where the piece takes place, and what that environment is like.
Saga
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At least 50% of the character should be visible.
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The character must be fully coloured.
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Shading is required on both character and BG.
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Must contain a full background. This background must include at least three distinct features and should have a sense of depth or detail.
Visual Art
Literature
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500 words minimum.
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+100 words for each added character.
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There must be a distinct sense of setting in the piece. It should be clear where the story takes place, and what that environment is like. The character should interact with their environment in some way.
Fireside Tale
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At least 50% of the character should be visible.
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The character must be fully coloured.
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Shading is optional.
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Must contain at least a coloured background. This background must be recognisable as some sort of environment or pattern of your own making.​
Visual Art
Literature
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400 words minimum.
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+50 words for each added character.
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There must be a sense of setting in the piece. It should be clear where the piece takes place, and what that environment is like.
Epic
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At least 75% of the character should be visible.
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The character must be fully coloured.
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Shading is required on both character and BG.
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Must contain a full background. This background must contain at least four distinct features and should be fully rendered.
Visual Art
Literature
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700 words minimum.
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+100 words for each added character.
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There must be a distinct sense of setting in the piece. It should be clear where the story takes place, and what that environment is like. The character should interact with their environment in some way.
Behaviour & Conduct
General
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This is a closed species group, and as such, only players who have obtained characters through official means may participate.
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This ARPG is 16+ due to some of the themes present in it.
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We do not take financial responsibility for any fraudulent purchases conducted in the group. However, if there is proof of a member repeatedly offering such transactions, the individual in question may be banned from the group permanently.
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Visual references accompanied by registration information are only considered valid when uploaded to our official database. Users are discouraged from making unofficial uploads of group imports. If the official reference is shared anywhere, the page in question must link back to the group's website somewhere visible.
Conduct
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Hate speech is strictly prohibited and any members displaying racist, homophobic, transphobic, or xenophobic behaviour will be banned from the group.
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In areas designated for official questions towards the mod team, we ask that members do not step in to provide answers – even via posting the answer to a different channel and notifying the member in question.
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All discussions within the group's platforms should be kept tasteful and reasonable. Avoid controversial topics, be it from real life or digital spaces (or other ARPGs), do not direct swear words at other users, and respect others' preferences regarding what kind of behaviour makes them uncomfortable.
Participation
- Only one active account per person is allowed.
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The owner of a given character will always get all item rewards the given character gains. Leasing characters is not permitted.
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Both Handler and their bonded Lokaji must be owned by the same person.
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Character names may not contain profanities, slurs, or otherwise hateful language.
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Please refrain from persuading staff to handle your requests more quickly or otherwise remind them the request is there, with the exception of when you feel a request has been missed or forgotten after more than ten days since its submission.
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Displaying hateful or violent action towards targets explicitly linked to real-world religions, cultures, and minorities is prohibited. Slavic history contains tumultuous conflict with other religions, but this group is not the place to portray it.
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Any entry into the group which contains gore, suggestive themes, heavy violence, or spoilers for the group's story should be labelled and shared with appropriate warnings.
Sales
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It is the seller's responsibility to inform the buyer about the state of the item they are purchasing. This includes aspects such as rank, steelchant slots, etc.
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Artwork follows a minimum pricing rule:
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1 Anecdote with one H-L pair: $10 (+5/added char.)
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1 Fireside T. with one H-L pair: $15 (+5/added char.)
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1 Saga with one H-L pair: $20 (+5/added char.)
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1 Epic with one H-L pair: $25 (+5/added char.)
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You may advertise your sale once every 24 hours maximum.
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Please do not contact users about buying characters or items off them if they haven't specifically advertised these items to be for sale.
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All sales and trades are final in terms of the group's involvement. We will not reverse already processed requests.