Here's the gist,
The legend told far and wide states that there once lived a hound we call "El Viejo."
El Viejo was a hunting dog, who, for unknown reasons, was abandoned by his humans among the New Mexican desert off of an old highway called Highway 550.
Upon coming to terms with his abandonment, El Viejo's first instinct was to turn to his brother and sister, the wolf and coyote. But they scorned him and left him for dead just the same.
With all odds against him, El Viejo persevered. He found means of food, water, and shelter under the hot sun and frigid winter evenings.
With time, the loneliness of his lifestyle weighed on him. But he realized that the lonesome highway he had been left to rot on was a path for many stray travellers such as himself.
El Viejo gathered strays who had met a similar fate, walking the highway just as he did. He showed them the ways of wild living and what life could be like without concrete closing in. He had only one condition; follow his every word, his every law. His gang became known as Los Sabuesos, the hounds who walk this highway.
El Viejo's laws are still followed. And his legend is spread from stray to house dog alike.
It's generations past El Viejo's time now. After inner rebellion that broke the pack dynamic, disease known as the Rot, and just barely defeating the rabid gang of Rattlers, it is safe to say Los Sabuesos has seen better times. A combination of humans finally discovering their makeshift desert home, and their previous hardships, have forced the group to follow the highway even further. This has taken them to the distant Blackstone Mountains (Jemez Mountains to humans) the group has so long been fearful of. These mountains, being a national park, are rich with human hikers and campers. The inner mountains are free of this. But where there is no humans, bears, cougars, owls, bobcats, and coyotes take their place instead.
Join us as our long-term, literacy encouraged (but not required), realistic, dog roleplay begins it's third chapter. Los Sabuesos will struggle to establish their territory among these new lands. They must evade human and predator alike as they try to mark land and hunting grounds for their future generations.
Continue scrolling for joining information and some of our frequently asked questions.
Did that interest you?
You may join our discord anytime to ask questions. No commitment is required. However, should you decide to stay, make sure to read the rules and get roles!
It's worth noting that characters must be logged in the character-logs channel before roleplaying- this is a mini-application process merely to approve new characters. If you have issues seeing channels or are confused, staff are happy to answer DMs!
New users are highly encouraged but not required to start as trainees, so you may naturally learn the lore without having to read all of the site.
FAQ
If you have a certain question, use ctrl F to "find" a keyword and see if it has been answered.
"I am looking for a wholesome street dog RP, is this it for me?"
H550 plays to realistic dog behaviors such as dominance fights and realistic dog mortalities- as in sickness and death are present. Violence is part of the plotline. Although no one is required to participate in violent plots or dominance fights (you totally can have a shy or pascifist character), it's still a thing. This is a survival based roleplay so it isn't your classic wholesome dog RP.
"What breeds are allowed?"
Although we previously had breed restrictions they have mostly been lifted. So long as a breed isn't banned (as seen in our bans-encouragements channel on the discord) then you may play as one. Breeds become banned if they are rare but there is an unrealistic excess of them. For instance, if there are several wolf-dogs or xolos, you can expect to see a temporary ban in place until common breeds take back over.
That being said, you will be asked to mostly play to breed physical capabilities and standards. Dogs like poodles and komondors for example, will mat easily and will need help maintaining their fur. Pugs aren't going to be fantastic hunters who can bolt up the mountain and catch rabbits, but there are camp-bound ranks for dogs like that. You get the gist.
"Can I get past a breed ban?"
We might let your banned breed slide in anyways if it's your first character because we don't like to shoot down people's initial character ideas. But it would depend on how severe the ban is really.
"What accessories are allowed?"
Your dog can have literally any reasonable, appropriate accessory as long as it is in the realm of possibility that they obtained it from a human. However, weapons are not allowed to avoid any confusion or potential power-playing. Accessories that aid in invincibility are also not permitted for long term use.
"Do you really have no activity requirement?"
Yes and no. We obviously are going to kick people who have not spoken in the discord for several months, to keep our member count honest. But we generally let people who are quiet or who only occasionally roleplay stay. Keep in mind that lesser activity will mean lesser rank status, though. You cannot hold a serious plot role or high rank without actively participating in roleplay sessions. If you're only able to check in every so often, we recommend a loner character who comes and goes.
"What do you mean by realistic? What can my dog look like then?"
The only unrealistic factors about the RP are that the dogs talk to each other and can survive against all odds using a civilized system of handling things. Things like pelt design and physical capabilities will be expected to be mostly realistic. We allow more unique eye colors and are lenient on "rare" breeds, or breeds that would not normally survive. You can see our character creation guide for specifics https://straydogrp.wixsite.com/highway550/about-7 or view existing characters to go by example.
"What do you mean by literacy preferred but not required?"
We do not believe in policing how people write over a silly dog game, at least to severe extents. It is our preference that people use length, detail, and grammar when writing, but we will take people still learning the in's and out's as long as they improve or adjust over time. No biggie if you aren't busting our paragraphs with perfect spelling yet. We all started somewhere. English isn't everyones first language. Wolfspeak is allowed as long as it is able to be comprehended and is not severe, but I will warn it is not really used much in the RP by the majority of us.
"Can my dog be a loner?"
It's highly encouraged you be part of the pack on your "main" character, as loners WILL miss a lot of the plot if they're off doing their own thing. But if you're not an active RPer then yeah, you can be a forever-loner if you wish, since that just makes more sense. Otherwise, we prefer your character be only a temporary loner.
"Can I be roleplayed in, starting as a loner?"
Okay I'm not gonna lie here. We have been open for three years. 75% of our joiners wish for this entrance. During our active RP times we were recruiting a few people a week. Do the math on how many "starting as a loner" roleplays the veteran members have done, LMAO. It depends on how burnt out people feel on doing those sorts of introductory roleplays, but I would say all in all it is preferred you start the roleplay as...
- a new dog who has been around for a few days and starting training as a pack member now.
- an established member with a rank, if you know/read the lore of the roleplay.
- an orphan pup starting training at the age of five months.
"I read the mountains have cougars, bears, and bobcats, oh my! Can I have a character of either of those?"
You can but we ask you get situated with the plot and RP for a while, and then ask if you can make one for the plot. They can't be a main character you're consistenly on at this time. When these sorts of characters open they'll be posted in the casting-calls channel.