Now that things were settling on a somewhat straight path again, it meant that Corinna was getting used to her daily or sometimes weekly chores again. They were good ones, of course, as she enjoyed them and the extent of knowledge that she often received from them. So with the call to a claim/challenge, the Tolkien/Asahi/no surname woman made her way to the Lagoon. Those that were gathered were unknown in every version of the term except as she strolled by she noticed another walking in.

A face that she instantly did a double-take upon as something felt oddly familiar about her. The mask on her face could've been on anyone but it was what made her look in the first place. A young silvery woman that had the divine makings of someone she'd briefly seen a year or so ago. Eons, really, and it was with it that Corinna's memory snapped into place and her eyes grew wide. Ears watering as she gave a large inhale and held it. @Maia. Corinna remembered the children that she'd seen briefly so many years ago - remembering their names like they were just born yesterday. Is that really you? Corinna wandered near and took a seat, but her eyes never left the silver Tolkien.

ART BY LARS, CODE BY DUSK

Mama had called, though Dysnomia didn't understand what for, and it took her little legs a hot minute to get to the gathering. Sheesh, mom couldn't have picked her up and taken her along for the ride? That would've been much easier.

She finally got to the group and saw mama in the middle of everything, now with another woman along with her. Whatever was going on intrigued her ever so slightly, but more interesting was the sight of daddy sitting nearby. "Daddy!" she exclaimed with delight, padding over to Gwyn and aiming to flop over his front paws. Or maybe just one of them. She was rather small still.

@Gwyn

She had come to call this place home at Vasilis' suggestion, and now it would seem that he had gone. Celaine couldn't help but wonder if he was all right as she approached the gathering and sat at the edge of it, waiting to see what would happen next. She didn't particularly know either woman who was about to fight for the title of ruler, so she didn't have any preference as to which of them won. She was probably just going to stay here regardless of which one did, unless another male came along and told her any differently. Although she didn't really think a woman should be in charge, she wasn't going to leave over it. There wasn't any point in that.

+5 Learn something interesting about a pride or family

So, the lagoon had fallen. He wouldn't at all have cared about that if he hadn't recognized the voice calling for the throne. Ah, wasn't that Gwyn's wife? Was he truly so willing to allow her to lead over him that he would allow her to do something like this? He felt as though she ought to be further under his patriarch's paw, to say the least. Unless, of course, he still wasn't well enough to lead. Then Wodnik supposed there wasn't any harm in allowing her to fight for the throne so long as she understood the crown would be taken from her once he was suitably ready to rule again.

Surely that was the deal.

Wodnik approached in time to hear the deal offered by the ruler of the hollow, and he scoffed at the male's retreating form as he came up beside Gwyn to take a seat, barely sparing a glance for the cub at the older man's paws. No doubt some relation of his, but he didn't care enough to figure out in what way. It was a girl, so it didn't matter.

"Seems my decision not to stay in the Hollow was wise," he rumbled as an aside to the former king of the area, keeping his impassive gaze upon the fight that was about to break out.

@Gwyn

The Brook's Noble wandered south towards the lagoon, a place that she had once loved and spent quite a bit of time within. Though, as the fog had lifted others had clambered into it and claimed it forcing it to be unavailable to the young Valour. A claim resounding and a challenge of that claim coming in, Talisa felt her breath hitch with frustration. She couldn't relate it to anger but she struggled to truly see it as anything other than a piece of bountiful land being fought over.

So when she initially arrived and saw many gathered she felt overwhelmed - new faces in mass and her very first experience with the like. So far she'd only seen the new neighbors in small quantities - singles, really - so to see them now was rather upsetting. So she decided to steal away towards @Aquila and @Tullia, worry etched on her face as she tried to manage a seat near to them. I knew it was different but.. she spoke silent to her native kin so as no one else could hear her, I never imagined it like this. Everyone seemed tense and they stared at the challenged and the challenger, it was hard to tell what was going on but she was certain she didn't like it.

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The commotion is hard to miss. Calls and clashes and the sound of busying bodies could be heard from a long ways away. Conrad may be young, but he's seen the rise and fall of prides quite intimately before coming here (often at the fangs of his father or uncles) and vacuum of uncertainty and power left in its wake.

His curious mind would not let him stay away.

Conrad approaches slowly, staying well away from the others if it could be helped and doing his best to stay obscured and out of the way. He recognized one face - that of @Jewel. It seems she was well involved with the goings-on of pride life here. He wondered what sort of stake she held in this pride here before it fell, did she stand to gain from it disbanding now? Surely such things were "above his rank" (something his father had always said) but young Conrad was always interested in such politics.

Silver eyes scan the crowd shrewdly, pinpointing the two lionesses in contention for this pride; a silver female (@Pistis) with a kind yet determined way about her. The challenger (@Maia) was harder to get a bead on, and Conrad couldn't help but be unsure if she was capable or just opportunistic. Not that he knew any of these lions personally - just his first observations. His eyes linger on @Kimagure as the others interacted with her. She is scarred, and the others seem to hold her with high respect. She is likely a leader of some kind like Jewel and looked straight out of his own family (other than the lack of elaborate markings like his own); a strong a fierce kind of woman.

The crowd was full of faces he didn't recognize with a variety of different expressions and reactions about them. He wonders what stakes they have in this fight? Conrad had none, and that made it all that more interesting to observe as a nonpartisan outsider.

Vermier was not aware of the growing weakness of the Lagoon's borders. He roved afield, seeking new weaknesses to exploit, assuming that his sister would manage their allies just as Vermier managed their enemies. Each to their place.

A call from the ocean shore, not of challenge but of claim, implied that their allies were not properly managed. Either someone had struck at the lagoon king or the king had failed himself. Either way might require revenge. At least he hoped!

The beast arrived open-jowled and panting. His mouth had healed but he retained the habit, sensitive of rubbing against ghosts and memories of wounds. One female stood in ready posture and another was addressing her. The first, the female his sister had fought at the battle of the pit. This was Ambrosine's business. He looked only to assess each of their strengths and then his gaze meandered over the spectators while seeking the frame of his sister, assuming that she was present. Yet... she was not. Not surrounded by allies as she should be. Not alone, which would be alarming. She was simply - in a way that he could not comprehend - not present.

But she should be. But she was not. He paused abruptly, paws heavy, footing solid and weight low as though confronted by an invisible threat. That one weak Casimir was here. Not strong enough to have vanquished the lagoon king or Ambrosine. Vermier would like to take another snap at him but his sister's absence was much more pressing. His ears turned back and he glanced around, not only at the group but behind him as well. Maybe she was hiding. Maybe she would signal him. Somehow. Tell him what to do. He wasn't sure he was even supposed to be here - because if she wasn't where he thought she was supposed to be, was he wrong?

It wasn’t long before a challenger appeared. Considerably smaller than her, no doubt. But she also knew it was likely she was faster than Pistis. She blinked and narrowed her eyes just slightly. But it was clear, when she spoke, she was here for a fight. Why did a girl- well, barely a woman, want a pride? She really wanted that much responsibility? Pistis didn’t exactly want to fight such a young woman, but better fight than look weak. Perhaps it would even teach her what it was like to be treated as an adult.

It is with a snarl that she launches herself at the girl, shoulders rolling forward in an attempt to absolutely slam into her chest her right arm outstretched as she tries to slash at her upper left shoulder she kept her jaws parted to try and defend her neck, and found herself with her tail whipping behind her, back paws pushed firmly in the dirt to keep herself steady. She didn’t know who this girl was, but hopefully she learned something from this whole thing, otherwise this was a waste of time.

Pistis v @Maia
Round 1 of 5
For Scilla Lagoon

Hits:

Rolling 5d20: 13 + 15 + 17 + 20 + 8

Dodges:

Rolling 4d20: 6 + 11 + 9 + 2

Code and image by saph

It seemed as though it was only yesterday that Diuris had called the pride together in a meeting, and only a few days prior to that that they had blessed Pistis's new litter. But apparently Amra had been wandering for longer than she'd thought, for as she was returning home one day a call rang out across the Lagoon. Not any call, mind. It was Pistis, and it was staking a claim.
Several emotions ran through Amra for a moment. Confusion, where was Diuris?, ran first and foremost, followed by worry that he had been hurt somehow which was why the scent markers had faded. A second worry wormed itself into her mind after a moment, finding herself now without a certain home, for if Diuris was no longer king, then that meant that Pistis' claim was tenacious at best, as she could be challenged for her right to rule. Then there was slight annoyance. The pride meeting had been small, only half a dozen attendees. Had the small pride, or perhaps inactive pride members, contributed to the pride falling into disrepair and ruin and allowing it to be claimed again?
Brows contracted as she moved, finding herself running very late. Late enough that when she arrived, two combatants were already locked in battle. Steps faltered slightly as she cast a look around the area, finding one lion in particular of note. Gwyn. How the.... He was back? Ears twisted back against her skull, searching second for @Ambrosine but being unable to locate her. Was she not here? Eyes fell upon @Vermier second to that and immediately made her way toward him, watching the way he cast his own gaze about and seemed lost. For as Amra knew, he was tethered to Amb by a lead, and without Amb, he had no direction. "I don't suppose you know any more than I do?" She queried him quietly, offering a glare to the Casimir male and then a frown to the warring women.

While she had never been particularly fond of the lagoon's sovereign, she certainly didn't wish him ill. Naturally, she also wanted him to stay in his side of Amaryllis and away from Fíonn, but... well, none of that mattered at the moment. What mattered was the fact she had arrived on the scene to a battle, and one of the participants belonged to the Oasis. At least, she had up until that moment. Rani frowned as she surveyed the situation, hoping the young woman would not tarnish the reputation of Andal with her actions. She doubted Fíonn would be terribly pleased with Maia, but.. well, whatever. What's done was done and there wasn't too terribly much she could do about it now. Rani settled off to the side, watching with a newfound intrigue -- she had never worn a crown to a challenge before.

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