The ARK

The ARK is a global collective of changelings that serves as a sort of governing body, claiming to be the rightful authority over all changelings. The majority of changelings who are aware of The ARK recognize and submit to its authority, but not all. It is the oldest, largest, most organized, and most well-connected of any changeling collective— though that doesn't necessarily say very much.

The ARK's stated mission is to facilitate the appointed purpose of all changelings: the representation, defense, and preservation of animalkind. The conservation of every threatened species by virtually any means necessary was historically, and has remained, their highest priority.

History
The official extinction of the last remaining wooly mammoth population on Wrangel Island approximately three thousand years ago was the impetus for the creation of The ARK. Animalkind saw this mighty species slip into oblivion and swore "never again."

Thanks to the ARK's efforts, only a handful of species have gone truly extinct since the mammoth. Humans believe otherwise because The ARK recognizes that the only surefire way to keep humans from destroying a species is to convince them that they already have.

Havens
Whenever it seems as though a species' demise is imminent, ARK operatives will round up a sizeable population of them— ideally 500 to 1,000 individuals, to prevent a genetic bottleneck— and bring them to secret places known as ARK Havens, where they can live safely hidden from human eyes.

ARK Havens are found all over the world. Most of them can be found in cave systems, both on land and underwater, but remote islands, certain nature preserves, locations deep within vast and inhospitable deserts or tundras, and other places humans aren't likely to venture work just as well.

Most of the inhabitants of these Havens are dustless, and are kept in captivity by the Haven's changelings. They're given food, veterinary care, and whatever enrichment the Haven's staff can provide. Most of them are also enrolled in breeding programs aimed at bringing their species' population back to a sustainable number. In these ways, ARK Havens can be compared to zoos.

The changelings living in the Havens aren't much freer, however. Most live in their Havens full time and are rarely, if ever, allowed to leave. When they are, it is only for brief periods of time, and usually at the behest of the Haven's chief staff. Most of these outings are supply runs, scouting missions, or message carrying between Havens.

Whatever a Haven's chief staff decide is best for a changeling's species as a whole is always prioritized over the rights of individual changelings. For instance, while no one is technically enrolled in a breeding program like the dustless, Haven changelings are very strongly encouraged to take only members of their own species as mates.

For these and other reasons, it isn't unheard of for Haven changelings to try to escape their Havens and live secretly out in the wider world. These attempts see varying levels of success. The most successful ones usually employ the help of snakes, who, having had to rely on their ability to evade The ARK's detection for the last few millennia to survive, are naturally best at it.

The Status Spectrum
The ARK uses a color-coded system to classify a species's conservation status, and by extension, the rights and protections afforded it by The ARK, and its place within the organization, if any.

The nine categories— Red, Orange , Yellow , Green , Blue , Indigo , Violet , Black , and White — are defined as follows:

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More Classifications
The ARK further categorizes changelings by realm, clan, and kind, for representational purposes.

The 3 realms are the skies, the waters, and the lands. All flying creatures are of the first. All aquatic or amphibious creatures are of the second. All others are of the third.

There are 5 clans: the fish, the mammals, the birds, the herptiles (reptiles and amphibians), and the invertebrates.

One's kind is one's species, though many domestics will use the word to refer to their breed.

Structure
The ARK is broken uр into eight bodies, seven of which correspond to Earth's continents— North America, South America, Africa, Asia, Europe, Australia, and Oceania (which groups Antarctica and most of earth's islands together). These seven bodies are called the rafts.

The eigth body, called the Ship, isn't anchored to any one continent but instead "floats" from one to the next every three years.

Rafts
Every raft is composed of two metaphorical "decks." The first deck is the office of a representative called the "Skipper." The second deck is the office of a board of five representatives occasionally referred to as "deckhands" but more often referred to with no name at all.

The Skipper of every raft must be of orange or '''yellow status, but can be of any realm or clan. They must be of a kind native to their raft's continent.

The five representatives of the 2nd deck are allowed to be of green or blue status. There must be one representative for each clan, but the three realms need not be equally represented. All must be of kinds native to their raft's continent.

The Ship
Unlike each raft, the Ship is made up of three "decks."

Top Deck
The top deck is the office of the Noah, the Helmsman of the whole of the ARK. The powers of the Noah have varied over the millennia. Today they are comparable to those of a prime minister.

All Noahs must be of red status, and every species of red status is given a turn to fill the seat. Picture a rotating wheel labeled with the names of each red species. Every three years the wheel turns, and the next species in line takes the seat. Which eligible member of that species will be chosen is put to a vote. If there's only one, the title falls to that individual automatically. If no members of the species are eligible for the office at that time, that species's turn will be skipped.

Controversially, a changeling need not have any prior political experience to be elected to this position, though those with political experience are preferred. Since red status changelings are, as a general rule, politically involved (or at least politically literate) from a young age, this is rarely a problem.

Middle Deck
The middle deck of the Ship is the office of the Ziz, the Leviathan, and the Behemoth— the highest representatives of the realms of the skies, the waters, and the lands, respectively. Like the Noah, they must all be of red status. They serve for nine year terms and they each preside over one of three sub-councils that make up the bottom deck.

The sub-council of the Ziz is the smallest, having only three members: one representing the bird clan, one the invertebrate clan, and one the mammal clan.

The sub-council of the Leviathan boasts the most members, one for each of the five clans.

The subcouncil of the Behemoth has four members, one for each of the five clans except the fish clan.

Bottom Deck
The deckhands of the bottom deck of the Ship must all be of orange or yellow status, oranges being preferred.

Together, these 16 changlings steer The ARK— and by extension, they remind themselves, the fate of animalkind.

Current Members
Bonnie Wright • Maurice Culver • Hallie

Former Members
Tabitha Moon • Alonso Avellano • Siegfried