You have a group of Iernatai interested in starting a burrow? Excellent! Below is information on burrows and instructions on starting one.

Information on Burrows

The term "burrow" refers to a grouping of Iernatai within a main warren. In this case, it would be a group of Iern's Spirit Iernatai who have gathered together to form a community. It's basically an organizational unit within the main warren, sort of like a sub-warren. Iern are still members of the main warren when they're in a burrow. Burrows are very similar to Eorlan Tribes, Naisuk Sleuths, and the like.

When Iernatai live together in a burrow, they learn to live together and help one another. A stronger Iern might be able to help weaker improve their battling abilities. An Iern talented in foraging might be able to bring back food for the others to eat. Basically, it forms a sense of community and brotherhood among its members and gives Iern a chance to interact with others of their own kind.

An additional perk of burrows is that they receive advantages when breedings roll around. Each burrow is allowed one "official" pairing every round and that pairing receives preference over non-burrow breedings. If a burrow applies and space is filled by non-burrow breedings, the last non-burrow breeding to apply gets bumped off in favor of the burrow breeding. Also, the babies resulting from burrow breedings have a higher chance of mutations and special traits. There are often more eggs resulting from a burrow breeding than from a non-burrow breeding.

Traditionally, burrows are dug underground by all of the members. It may just be the main sleeping area that's underground, or it could include storage rooms, a sparring area, and anything else the burrow deems necessary. Likewise, the area around the burrow's opening is often used for such things as the communal fish pond and possibly a garden or outdoor sparring area. It's whatever the burrow needs it to be.

Fish breeders who are members of a burrow have a chance to compete in intra-burrow fish shows and, should they do well, inter-burrow shows. These shows net winners the most desirable prizes and the most prestige within the fish-breeding community.

Beginning a Burrow

In order to begin a burrow, you must have at least five interested Iernatai. Of those five, at least three must be adults and one of those adults has to take on the roll of Leader. The others may be of whatever age, from egg to adult. An even gender mix is suggested for when breedings come around, but it's certainly not necessary. Please note that Iernatai may only be in one burrow at a time, but they can leave a burrow if they feel it truly necessary and join another. If your Iern wishes to switch burrows, you must email the warren leader and both burrow leaders.

Once you have members interested in joining, you must select a name and symbol for your burrow. Burrows are always named in the style "Burrow of the _____". The blank space represents the word defining your burrow. It could be Burrow of the Sun, Burrow of the Carrot, or anything else you'd like. Nouns usually work best. This name should be agreed upon by all prospective members in some sort of meeting. Your burrow's symbol should be a small representation of the noun you chose to describe your burrow, no larger than 10 square pixels. You can either make it yourself or request that I make one for you. This symbol will be added to the images of all member Iernatai.

After gathering members and choosing a name and symbol, you then need a page or site for your burrow. This site is often created and maintained by the trainer of the Leader, but other arrangements are acceptable. If another trainer makes the page, one of their Iernatai might be regarded as Den Manager or somesuch in rank. You will need several things on your burrow's site.

   - A list of all member Iernatai with links and IDs present

   - A list of the ranks of all members

   - A list of the babies born to the burrow, including parentage and links

   - A communal "pond" area for the fish of members

Member images may be used with the trainer's permission. This page/site can be as simple or complex as you'd like, but it must include a link to Iern's Spirit (http://battles.jennalyn.net). The more in-depth and interesting your burrow site is, the more attractive it will be to prospective members.

If you have all of this, the last step is to email me the form for approval! My email address is battles@jennalyn.net.

Name of Burrow:
Burrow Leader: (Name, ID#)
Members: (Names, ID#s)
URL of Burrow Page:
Icon: