» It began with an operation...

» Operation Volitare. Langudoc Region. France.

The quest to harvest neurological enhancing cells and enzymes wasn't one known to the public, but an elite government orginization was well under way with the process and experiments. In the brain of all creatures is an enzyme that could potentially fight neurological diseases like Short and Long Term Memory Loss, Alzheimers, and Brain Cancer, but the enzyme is never present in large enough numbers to prove effective. Until operation Volitare was put into place, an experimentation center for scientists to find the enzyme cure and produce it for human use. The government built their first location in a rural area under the pretense of a navy training base, a guise that worked for some time until the location had to be expanded several times, reaching the size of a small city, which became increasingly hard to keep a secret. The government took care of this by, literally, wiping Volitare off of the maps, destroying the road to the city, and incorporating a forest that impassible for any vehicle. Years passed and the few people that lived nearby forgot about the strange city.

But the experimentations continued, scientists working mainly with dogs collected from city pounds, they changed and spliced the dog's genes, hoping to come up with a genetic code that would increase the brain capacity of the dogs, so that they could take out the cure and turn it into an injection for human use. Along the way they made mistakes, genetic mistakes that came to be known as the GMD's or Genetically Modified Dogs, these dgos had abstract and unusual coat colours, were of unusual size, or had strange coloured eyes; many variations of the GMD's were created, and rather than being destroyed, they were kept as an oddity to be studied in the future. A few generations of the GMD's were formed, some created by scientists, others offspring of the first generation of GMD's. A few generations of selective breeding from a smaller group of scientists produced a creature that they nicknamed The Hellhounds, tall, black dogs with a medium length coat and orange or red eyes. This group was isolated and carefully bred to keep it's genes pure, for no reason other than to see what would happen.

Somewhere along the way, the scientists got something right, that is, they increased the brain size and capacity of the domestic dog. These dogs were smarter, bigger, faster, and more adept than they once were, able to reason much like humans and act much like humans. They showed signs of being able to understand the human language and performed well when taught sign language. A small number progressed to being able to discern a command written down on a piece of paper. Surely, this was progress! But before the scientists could make use of their new, modified experiments, the SmartDogs, they turned on them. The modified dogs brought together the GMD's, Hellhounds, Wolves, and Domestic dogs to break open their cages and slaughter the people that had kept them captive for so long. In less than a day, Operation Volitare, which had been in progress for five years, was brought to a quick and bloody end.


» Six Months Later

Ever since The Operation gone terribly wrong was first put into effect, the city of Volitare has been covered up by the government, the city well hidden from view and secluded in the Frenc countryside. The forest surrounding Volitare was increased, with an electrified, barbed wire fence in the heart of the trees, surrounding Volitare's outer walls; six feet of solid brick now broken in some places, the original wooden gate knocked down when the dogs escaped. The genetically enhanced Smart Dogs, bred with the domestic dogs and wolves, and soon died out due to a failure in their genetic code, leaving behind a race of domestic dogs, wolves, and wolf dogs that were smarter than the dogs removed from city pounds at the beginning of the operation. They organized themselves into three packs, dividing the city equally amongst themselves and peace reigned.

The majority of the GMD's and Hellhounds were hostile, antisocial creatures and fled to the forest once they were free, there they lived alone or in small groups of up to five. Occasionally a few GMD's entered the city and lived in the packs there, but it was rare that a Hellhound was ever spotted within miles of Volitare's walls. But, an especially bitter winter brought forth the first wave of renegades, a group comprised of GMD's and Hellhounds that wished to take back the city and force the less worthy dogs and wolves out into the barren forests where they themselves had spent their free lives.


The peace that Volitare once knew is resting on a thread; the Hellhounds and GMD's, now called Mise à Mort, are closing in on the border and working to break into the city and capture it forever.

Which side will you choose?

Welcome to The Shadows of Volitare


-- Opened August 1st 2009, received 10 active members in the first 24 hours.
--Not your average 'feral dogs in an abandoned city roleplay, SOV has an original plot never seen before.
--High posters can unlock new, special abilities for their characters or earn enough euros to buy their own land and start a new pack.
-- Territories up for claim
-- Staff positions available
- Contests going on with some fabulous prizes
- Looking for skin and banner designers
-- High ranks available in the three city packs, and the Mise A Mort Mafia Pack!