Greetings and salutations my dear friends!  I bet you thought we really had died, ay?  Well, the truth is we pretty much had. Which is why we are going to now be having a rebirth of sorts.  By which I mean, The Valley of Siyyon will be almost completely rebooting.  We thought starting fresh would be the best way to make this a happening place again.

This journal is to announce the restart and also to lay out the very basic plans for how Siyyon will be from now on. Firstly, I want to reassure anyone who is already a part of this group, you are more than welcome to remain and you will not have to change up your characters or their sheets overly much (if you don't wish to).   

We'd like to think the new Siyyon will allow for greater assortment of characters and a lot more options for members. Without further ado, here are some of the main points you can look forward to in the new Siyyon, in no particular order for the moment (please feel free to ask questions in notes or comments) :

No species limit (if someone in the group already has a species, you are still free to develop a character based on the same species so long as it is unique )

The area covered by the Valley of Siyyon and surrounding land is much larger than previously.  Regions and climates cover the gauntlet from mountainous to seaside, desert to tropics. (Eventually we will have a map for easier understanding )  

Current territories will simply become areas most likely to host a particular kind of creature (carnivore, human, herbivore, etc ).  

Fashion and technology will be taking a leap forward, as this will be more akin to a sword and sorcery fantasy world than before. Think Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings type world.

Your character does not HAVE to be advanced in time periods.  If you want your character more tribal, that is fine, there's plenty of room for some places to be more advanced than others.

Characters of the non-human variety no longer have to adhere to 'taur' rules for species.  You can now have any manner of partial animal for a species, such as sphinxes, fauns, etc.

Mods will no longer be the only alphas in the group.  Your character can apply to become an alpha after you have two characters who have completed certain objectives.  

Benefits of becoming an alpha?  You can stake your own territory and attempt to win characters over to YOUR pack/pride/group/etc.  You choose what other groups you are at peace with and which you are neutral or hostile towards. You make the rules for your group (note: these rules are in character, you do not gain mod privileges).  Note: a character does not HAVE to belong to a group. Your character is perfectly fine as a loner. It's up to you.

Fantastical species are reserved only for alphas/human leaders (your current species can evolve into a fantasy species if you wish if you achieve alpha rank or you can make an entirely new character to be an alpha if you wish).

Note: If you are ALREADY a member and ALREADY have a fantastical species for your character, you can send us a quick application to make your character into an alpha. There is no promise of being approved, but it's much more likely if you have completed a number of objectives in the past and have a good story as to the reasons your character wants to become an alpha.  

  There will be more advanced technology to a point.  Limited locations will have things such as running water, electricity, and the like. There will be no advanced weapons. Because the basis of the story is still that this is far past a final world war that decimated the planet and left strange scientific anomalies, there is a global understanding of a ban on the production of any manner of advanced weapon technology.  Think swords, bows, etc.  The most advanced will likely be along the lines of early guns.

You still cannot make up your own species for your characters. However, you are welcome to submit made up species of flora or fauna to become part of the Siyyon world. We only have a few so far.

That's about it, for now. We will be opening the group for applications in early September (exact date will be available soon).  However, if you are already a member, you can feel free to alter your application now and resubmit for pre-approval.   We will be moving ALL sheets and other art to a pre-reboot folder.  If you are already a member you have two weeks from today, so until September 8th, to tell us you'd like to remain a member and then we will be clearing the member list. (You don't have to have your sheet updated by then, just let us know you're staying)

We will be working to update the rest of the club to reflect the new beginning.  The first thing we'll work on is the 'How To Join' page so that old members know how to update their sheets if they wish to stay.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask in comment, notes, or chat :3