(C) 1996 Dragon's Eye Productions. Written by Talzhemir.

1. Primes (An In Character Explanation)

After The Dragon, Primes and Dark Primes are the most powerful beings in Furcadia. Most of them are ancient; they are the ones who made `time', `space', `color', and so forth. They are also patrons of various aspects of life, such as `luck' or `food' or `childbirth'. They are all the Dragon's children. There are two kinds: the Primes, who are good and friendly to Furrekind, and the Dark Primes, who are evil, and ultimately seek to destroy all Furres. They aren't mythical beings or legends, but sometimes so much time goes by since the last sighting that some Furres may doubt their existence. The good Primes just smile at this, but the evil Dark Primes resent disbelief. Dark Primes will sometimes try to get Furres to follow or even worship them. The good Primes are very ethical and moral; they believe that Furres should be left to their own as much as possible. The Dark Primes, on the other hand, view all mortals as their playthings.

For an account of the Primes and Dark Primes, see Of Clouds and Wyrmmes. Also, see the Origin of Rabbits and 2nd Wyrmmes and the Origin of Gryffes

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2. Out Of Character Notes on Primes
IC, The Primes hold godlike powers and they're immortal but they aren't really deities. Good Primes insist that they aren't deities, and they don't want to be worshiped or arbitrarily obeyed. Furres generally treat the Primes the way most modern people treat the classical Greek/Roman gods: as symbols, inspiration for virtue and the arts. The evil Dark Primes, on the other hand, like being able to influence Furres, and they ICly encourage secret cults in their honor. Worshiping a Dark Prime is illegal in Kasurian cities and punishable by death. Doing so in Theriopolis, on the other hand, is only going to get you the status of "idiot".

OOC, Prime and Dark Prime characters serve another function: they are personas for use by the staff. They may appear freely in the Socializing and Persona Play areas. In Socializing areas they should be OOC, and in Persona Play areas they should be IC or OOC as fits the situation. In Roleplaying areas, however, the Dark Primes should only appear In Character very rarely, usually incognito.

The Primes should almost never appear in the In Character areas unless they are incognito. Primes are played by those who keep Furcadia running, behind the scenes. They are programmers, puzzle-level designers, and so forth. They are a little bit like traditional "mud" "Wizards".

Dark Primes are more responsible for Furcadia security, player comfort, and introducing new plot elements into the continuity (or occasionally removing old ones). They're a little like traditional mud and tabletop game "Game Masters" (GMs). They share this responsibility with the Rahs of Guilds, with whom they work.

Neither Primes nor Dark Primes have the power to "boot". Dark Primes are only empowered as mediators; Primes have better things to do.

4.1: Telcodar, Lord of Caves, Dark Prime of Frenzy
Rat with dark blue fur and eyes of milky blue. Called `Shatter-claws'. His wings are insectile; his claws are extremely long, thin, and slightly curved, teeth pointed. Telcodar seeks to dig underneath the world and destroy it with quakes. He assists nihilists and those who have lost control of themselves.

4.2: Drossifer, Lord of Flies, Dark Prime of Loneliness
Cat with dark green fur and a segmented tail tipped with a stinger, eyes bulgous and faceted, wings insectin. Drossifer begets Unmentionable Ones upon mortal creatures. Those born of Furres look like Furres with fly heads. His favored haunts are swamps, the bleaker the better.

4.3: Peristane, Lord of Claws, Dark Prime of Slavery
Gryphon (lion-hawk) all black, with only one wing and one eye. Peristane took some of Saligor's birds and made the Ostrixes and the Scarhawks. He gave them unto his four Half-Prime sons. Then he disguised himself as a mortal, and attempted to make himself emperor of ancient Taigorr. His longevity eventually betrayed his supernatural nature, and the evil Undying Emperor was discovered and driven out by the hero Mouse Rembion and the heroine Horse Mare Naborrah. Peristane made a second attempt to rule Taigorr, fathering four new sons. This time he was thwarted this time by the Prime Reegarr, who tore off Peristane's left wing and put out his eye. Legend has it that he rides a flaming chariot drawn by four Diatrymas.

4.4: Suffrith, Lady of Disasters, Dark Prime of Gluttony and Lust
Horse, hideously emaciated, her hide yellow-brown (dust) and her mane and tail of bristling straight black. Suffrith tries to sell potions of fertility to poor womenfurres. The mother then bears many times more children than she can feed, and these babies are ravenously hungry, yet very slender. Suffrith is usually cloaked in threadbare dark drapes flecked with shrouds of cobwebs. She encourages compulsive gambling, recklessness, and self-delusion.

4.5: Taglinn Tigh, Lord of Nightmares, Dark Prime of Fear
Panther, with four arms. His chest has eight slender holes in the ribs, through which can be seen roiling glowing fog. Breathing the tendrils of this vapor causes fright to the point of paralysis. Despite his nature, it is said that he has fathered numerous Half-Primes, and takes a special interest in their upbringing. He is the arch enemy of the Prime Aristaya. Some believe him to be the most powerful of the Dark Primes.

4.6: Lokira, Lady of Cruelty, Dark Prime of Pain
Feline, with no fur, dark blue skin. Her large eyes are white and she has nine long tails. She is tall and very slim with a very narrow waist, bony hips; she dresses in glistening dark armor. Lokira incites conflicts, conspires to make natural conflicts blossom into wars.

4.7: Chatengo, Lord of Treachery, Dark Prime of Despair
Cat with large white eyes, in tattered clothes and dripping with seaweed.
Chatengo was cast out of the Primes as punishment for drowning the Prime Nareetha. He delights in all manner of betrayal: unfaithfulness in love or war. His personality is shattered into her two Aspects, Amoi and Enmoi. Amoi insists that love means promising anything to ensure the cooperation of the beloved, and that love can be bargained for, and rightfully earned. Enmoi does not believe that love exists, and is forever attempting to cheat the other Primes.

4.8: Nareetha, Lady of Death, Dark Prime of Sorrow
Mouse in bridal garments. She has lost her mind and usually stands silent at Chatengo's side. Her song is a terrible wail that destroys her victim's minds. When she appears at an an assembly of the Dark Primes, she is usually gagged with something like a white bandage.

4.9: Erigon, Lord of Poisons, Dark Prime of Murder
Depicted as a courtly, mild-mannered mouse of nervous demeanour. His fur is gray and he wears half a dozen rings. Erigon's breath is poisonous.

4.10: Dyarr/Dyarra, Lord/Lady of Confusion, Dark Prime of Lies
Lizard, androgynous, in a long cloak that drags on the ground. The Wyrmmes were his favored people, and they were destroyed by lava, earthquakes, and tidal waves, in a disaster brought about by Dark Primes Tallus, Telcodar, and Chatengo. Dyarr was upset when the Dragon did not permit their re-creation, but instead, ordered the Furres to be made. Dyarr conspired with Erigon, and they brought the Dragon a wine that caused it to sleep. Then Dyarr took on the Dragon's guise. He told Thelcoda and Licharra to make new Wyrmmes. He might have succeeded, but Chim and Patrilius were suspicious of the order. They created an orb, called the Second Moon, and its light stripped away Dyarr's illusion. The Primes were so angry at the deception that they tore off Dyarr's wings. When the Dragon awoke, He/She cast Dyarr out of the Dreaming. Known Progeny: Dyanna (daughter), DamionDarkness (son of Dyanna).

4.11: Greydark, Lord of Broken Things, Dark Prime of Destruction
Wolf, haggard and white, with sinister facial markings. Greydark has occasional moments of lucidity, in which he is wracked by remorse, and sometimes tries to restore things but most of the time he is insane, and devotes his cool intellect to trying to destroy coherency of reality. reality in the Dreaming which underlies the coherency of Furcadia. Objects in Greydark's vicinity will begin to decay and break down. Furres will age at a frightening rate the closer they get to him.

4.12: Mirmoggin, Lord of Bones, Dark Prime of Cannibalism
Horse with staring eyes. Mirmoggin is usually chained down by the other Dark Primes in the Vault of Dread, a room that is a tiny universe of its own. Many of them despise or hate Mirmoggin for having devoured various Half-Prime children.

4.13: Tallus, Once Lord of Prophecies, Once Dark Prime of Thieves
Tallus's appearance is unknown. He was said to have been able to see the future all the way up until a final battle, whose outcome he didn't know. His name survives mostly in phrases like "Tallus only knows". "Eyes of Tallus" refers to the stars, for after he was torn apart by the Viveravvus, the Dragon placed the fragments in the sky. Some astrologers thus believe that the power to see the future via horoscopes comes from Tallus's shattered body.