Welcome to Gaia! ::

"That sounds good," you say! "Where are these benefits?"

Sloooow down, partner! You've gotta hear the rules first. They're pretty important (look at all that official-looking writing down there), so listen up!

I. TIA IS YOUR ALMIGHTY GOD, SORT OF
1. A clan only becomes official after Tia has given it the green light in the clan application thread. However, unofficial clans may freely roleplay and interact with other clans in the roleplay forum.
2. Tia may disband any clan, at any time, for any reason. This reason must be clearly stated to both the clan leaders via PM and the rest of the clan in an announcement post in the clan's subforum, if it has one, or in the Clan Plots and Recruitment subforum, if it does not. Clans have up to a week to contest the decision before being officially disbanded.
3. Tia will not interfere with any clan's roleplaying at any time (unless she is, in fact, participating), though she may encourage clan leaders to stage plots from time to time. Clan leaders, therefore, are responsible for maintaining their clan's roleplaying continuity and ensuring that all roleplay stays kosher.
4. The rules stated here may change at any time.

II. FORMING YOUR CLAN
1. A clan may not be incorporated without one or more leaders to lead it (duh).
2. A clan must have at least five different pets and two different players as declared members before formation. (These numbers may be increased to reflect increases in shop popularity in the future.) Exceptions to this rule may be made if a recruitment event will be held immediately after incorporation that increases membership to at least the required number. Tia may also randomly decide to make new clans that do not fit the membership requirement.
3. A clan may elect to purchase a subforum upon formation, at a cost of 2500 gold to the clan's leader or account donated directly to the guild, but this is not required. A clan that does not purchase a subforum upon formation may choose to purchase one later.
4. Clans are strongly encouraged to have a mule to hold clan funds, communicate with members, etc., but are not required to do so.

III. CLAN RULES
1. Clan leadership and hierarchy, as well as the clan's succession policy, must be clearly stated in the clan's subforum or in the Clan Plots and Recruitment subforum.
2. If the clan leader shows no signs of activity either in the guild or the main Ricotta's Deli thread for over a month, without any reason given, the leadership will be passed to the next-in-command, or a newly elected leader, based on the clan's succession policy.
3. Additional clan rules related to roleplaying, breeding, etc., must also be stated in the clan's subforum or in the Clan Plots and Recruitment subforum.
4. The clan must keep public records of clan funds, including member donations and payments made. However, Tia will maintain the clan's list of shop credit. Additional assets belong to the clan, such as items on the mule, must also be recorded. Clan leaders and members may not take clan funds or assets for personal use. Reports of embezzlement will be investigated seriously, and if found to be true, will result in blacklisting by all parties involved, and may result in the clan being disbanded.
5. Clans must maintain accurate lists of members. Tia isn't going to do this because...
6. Mice can join and leave clans at any time, as often as they want (unless the clan has rules about membership).
7. As stated earlier, clan leaders are responsible for policing clan roleplay and maintaining its continuity. They are also free to arrange interclan roleplay and have as many epic plots as they want. METAPLOT GO but seriously, Tia probably isn't going to help you with this.
8. Clan leaders are responsible for holding clan events, recruiting, etc.
9. Clan leaders may delegate tasks as they see fit.
10. Clans without any new RP posts in over a month may be disbanded by Tia.
11. In the event that a clan is disbanded, the clan funds and assets will be redistributed as follows:
a. All donations, gold and items, will be returned to their donators.
b. Any additional items found in the clan's assets will be sold in the marketplace.
c. If clan funds are insufficient to return all donations, the funds will be distributed in proportions equal to that of the original donations.
d. If the clan somehow has additional funds, they will be distributed equally amongst all members of the clan.
12. In the event that clan assets can not be redistributed due to leader disappearance, Tia will not be held accountable.

IV. CLAN BENEFITS
1. A clan leader may order any of the items described below at any time, regardless of slot availability. Tia, however, reserves the right to refuse any order.
2. Newly ordered pets and breeding babies may be redistributed by the clan in any way it sees fit, including for-profit means. However, any redistribution thread must be given the Tia stamp of approval before business can be conducted in that thread.
3. If pets are sold for profit, all gold made from the pet will go to Tiarana.
4. In return, Tia will give the clan shop credit equal to the original price charged for the pet plus 50% of the profits made from the pet.
5. Tia will maintain the clan's list of shop credit, in the same thread that the clan keeps its financial records.
6. The clan may purchase any of the items described below using shop credit. However, the clan may only use shop credit OR gold, and not both, when making a purchase.

Got questions? Suggestions? Comments? Post them here!