Though ye be king on dry land, I be king upon the sea


New as he was, Skjol is a capable man. He knows his weight and bulk are a fortress, and many have tried to penetrate it. Few ever succeeded. Though he hadn't spoken to the ruler of the cove, he recognized her sound upon the border. A summons, if you will. To protect and watch an ongoing fight in another pride.

Now this was something he was familiar with, and gleefully aware it was universal.

The rush of battle is an intimate subject. He knows the dance well, regardless of body. In fact, he'd be willing to say that this form was far more equipped to deal deadly throws than his birth one. So when the Queen asks him to be an escort, Skjol accepts with an excited look in his eye. As they approached, his nose catches the scent of the bluffs--now, suddenly reminded of the woman, Louve, from the passage. This must've been where she hailed from, a shame it was now under attack.

Little grasp on the politics of the land, he was unsure of the full motives of the attacking party. But it seemed as though most disliked him, even his own family. Shame really. Skjol flanks @Sunder to the right (his left,) and keeps his good eye fixated on the growing crowd. He catches a zebra male and a large red colored one begin to throw punches, and he mutters to @Typhoon "How much fighting have ye done, lad?" he looked to be far younger than himself, but he couldn't quite tell.

+5 Observe a fight (Anthonius vs Amara)
+5 Observe a fight (Ryker vs Alexander)

code by daanyan, Art by Rabbit

+5 Attend a spar or challenge to assess the wounds
+5 Use the terrain to your advantage
+5 Explore the borders of a pride or group

Always there was war, and circumstances had hardened the silver lion enough that they now sought it out without medical bag on hand. Ever since they'd seen one of their pride be targeted simply for showing up to help, Parvati arrived carrying nothing but their bare skin and a critical scowl of determination. First step of business: find something to put everyone back together again. One tipped ear informed them of many voices raised in anger and Parvati was sure that absolutely nobody in this land could keep their tempers behind their teeth where it belonged.

The desert was nearby, a future source of aloe to completely solve minor cuts and soften the edges of deeper wounds. Up here, on the Bluffs, in the shadow of some of these ledges, they might find moss and cobwebs to stuff into a gaping wound until better care could arrive. The silver lion was obviously nervous as they poked their head into a undercropping outside the borders, snuffing around for humidity that might suggest moss grew within. And as for spiders... they were sure they would find spiders, if any spiders lived here. Murphy's Law and that.

Waking up with the bloodstains
My state of mind is a hurricane

He'd really hoped to get more of a rise out of the man with that comment. Whether he believed it or not, it had seemed like a nice jab, but he didn't get the surge of anger he'd hoped for. Anger tended to make lions sloppy when it ran hot, and even he wasn't truly immune to that.

Alexander shifted, but not enough to throw him entirely off course, and Ryker delighted in the first taste of blood and the sound of the man's snarl. Ideally, he'd drag the man down and treat him to the same sort of violence inflicted on Levana the last time they'd all encountered each other. But Alexander was too tall for that, had too much mane anyway.

Rather than clamp down and grip the larger male's shoulder, Ryker's head would turn, coincidentally, at the same time Alexander's jaws came for his face. Head angled, the red man's fangs slicing through the thin skin of his right brow [[right side would be closer to alex's face with current positioning]] as Ryker attempted to slam his own skull into the other's jaw, uncaring of the bruising to his own head that was sure to result. He hoped to both knock his opponent's head away and cause lasting discomfort to the jaw and teeth (dislocation would be oh-so ideal, but he didn't quite have the force at such a close range).

The tickle of blood lingered above and around his right eye, flowing down, and he hoped to make the best of things before it seeped in to artificially half-blind him.

His right paw would seek to adjust to the new angle and, again, attempt to shred his opponent's right wrist.

Distantly, he was aware the fight for the bluffs itself had begun, but that was secondary at the moment. He had faith Amara would come out on top, yet again, anyway. Or, failing that, her family would make quick work of the would-be usurper.

Ryker vs. @Alexander ♔
Major Maim (tbd)
Round 2 / 4
Hits:

Rolling 9d20: 9 + 19 + 20 + 6 + 4 + 17 + 2 + 10 + 11

Dodges:

Rolling 4d20: 9 + 17 + 8 + 6

Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 19 + 3 + 10 + 11 + 13

I'm a wild boy, ready to destroy

code by corvus

+5 Attend a spar or challenge to assess the wounds

Adrift from @Sunder and her gang, snuffling across the territory between the Cove and the Bluffs and only errantly recalled, Imago arrives with sand and brush strewn twigs tangled within the neck's mane and yet eyes so deep and soulful; as though in wandering, a cat chanced into catnip, or a horse into fabled locoweed. Jaws part and red tongue huffs. Scent of the Bluffs on this dwindling day in this dwindling season tastes like crushed, dried herbs. Near the queen does the small lykoi fret, pacing sporadically, tongue working with shreds of muttered herblore of no immediate relevance. "What autumn herbs to blot the stars?" is one strain of words in vain directed as a poem under the breath toward the attending, surging sovereign @Amara "How can one see where she even bleeds?"

(1/2) +5 Observe a fight (anthonius vs amara)
(1/2) +5 Observe a fight (ryker vs alexander)
Sabre heeds the call, following not too far behind @Ryker, @Levana, @Kireena and the children. The guard dog keeps his wits about him, muscles tense as they made their way up the path that led toward the challenge. He hadn't been around these parts of Amaryllis before, seeing it as a two birds one stone sort of deal with being able to observe the surrounding while also witnessing a challenge. Who knows, he may even find himself in battle himself.

As they all settled, colossal form would move about so that he could help give the cubs more protection. He sees Ryker going after a man he did not know, ear flicking as the once Firnen Queen explained who was challenging before speaking on who the defender was. Anthonius and Amara. How cute. He stays silent for the time being, allowing for soft colored eyes to shift back and forth between the ongoing fights while he kept himself aware just in case any tried to attack he himself or another of his pride.

_{background — art by drifty — code}

ooc: This is a preplanned thing! Pls let Mara post Dragos first c:

More & more began to flock onto the scene, but they dare not cross the borders. Little did their foolish heads realize that simply being present marked them with a cross. Their scents mingled together and he came to realize that most were of allied prides. No other Savante had shown their faces, to his dissapointment.

Anthonius stood so close - at an arms length - and yet he was marked for a woman's belly, not Apollinaire's. It frustrated the General to no ends, and yet he stood at his spot, bound by his duty to the Matriarchal society he lived in.

@Ryker approached with an entertaining remark, but Apollinaire felt a pang of jealousy as he stepped in to snatch the only available target - Alexander. No. He was mine. HIs, and yet he was stolen under his nose! Muscle bunched up beneath taut flesh, and only @Amara's arrival stopped him from jumping in to join (or perhaps chase off?) Ryker in tearing at the unfaithful cattle.

"Let us all taste him after this," Amara's words made him smirk. Yes. After this, he will have them all. One by one. Starting with brave Anthonius.

"I have heard that you and yours fear my General," Apollinaire's lips split in a vicious grin, underlining the High Sovereign's words. Fear they will... but they have yet to learn of true fear. If they'd known their place - beneath the Dieudonne - then they would've lived a calm life. Now, they will suffer for the duration of their insignificant existence.

Spurred by Amara's battle, he began to look around, keeping a good eye on everybody present and those who continued to arrive. Breathing in their scents. Tasting their allegiances. Until --

The scent of Obsidian grew if only slightly stronger. But it wasn't Alexander. No, it was somebody else!

There, the hound pivoted, a well-oiled machine made of muscle and pent up hunger as he prowled with deadly grace toward the rocks that surround the Bluff borders. There he saw her - a girl so tender and juicy, and he knew that finally he will have his share.

A Hollows spy, a sly little mouse! @Ismeria was seconds away of becoming his next gourmet meal.

It is not difficult to keep his eyes on the two fights, but instinct urges him to keep his attention diverted - every few seconds, expecting an attack, Dragos scans the slowly building crowd. With them, a pressure begins to build in his head. A pounding he can’t ignore, so very familiar, so very easy to give in to. This war was not his doing, not this time, but it has already begun. Why is he standing there, waiting for them to attack him, when he could just start - and finish it - himself? Why should he, after all they’ve done, behave?

When does he get his revenge?

No. No.

He has a reason - reasons - to live through this day. He has a family to return to, to protect. They are more important than revenge. He is not a monster. He is not a beast controlled by bloodlust and battle. He will be better for them.

The tension built within Dragos does not fade with that realisation; he does not think himself immune to attack, not with the growing crowd, all of them hungry for their pound of flesh, willing to punish bystanders for one man’s actions. He’s seen what they do - the Hollows fight is still fresh in his mind, even now.

As he unwillingly recalls that day, his gaze instinctively flicks to where he’d seen Apollinaire a second ago -

And sees the hound charging toward his little sister, a look in his eyes so very fucking familiar that Dragos feels cold wash over him.

He does not think, he just acts.

He won’t see another loved one between Apollinaire’s fangs.

Dragos charges, leading with his mangled paw, shoving off the ground with all that coiled tension. He attempts to slam himself between @Ismeria and Apollinaire before the Wolfbron lion touches her, coming up from her left side and trying to bodily charge into Apollinaire’s front. His jaws open as he gets closer, letting out a low warning growl, and he tries slam his right shoulder directly into the middle of Apollinaire’s chest. His aim is to only push him backward and away from his sister - knock him flat on his ass, if he’s lucky.

When he's done, Apollinaire will never touch his family again.

Dragos vs @Apollinaire
For Major Maim
I of IIII
Hits:

Rolling 6d20: 19 + 11 + 7 + 4 + 8 + 5

Dodges:

Rolling 2d20: 20 + 9

Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 9 + 11 + 19 + 16 + 12

ART BY DRIFTY, CODE BY LARS

i am the storm / and im coming for you

her family couldn't stop her from roaming around, not even a paw on her tail. like ripping a scab from wound, faustine left her uncle's hold. this was her home, after all, so she could go where ever she wanted. maybe if she was in luck, faustine could capture someone and take them back to her den as a fun pet. the idea tickled her enough for her to start searching, nose twitching in the air as she wove from body to body. an adult would be unlikely, but another child her age would do just fine.

she stopped when she saw @Cassius ♔, his pelt resembling her sister solene and grandmere amara's. it caught her attention enough that she ignored the other mire lions. mire. it would seem this boy, colossal and just months younger than she was, was off limits. still, it would be better to introduce herself. faustine ought to make some allies, no matter what her famished self told her.

bonjour, i'm faustine, the granddaughter of the lioness currently fighting, she said to cassius only. faustine had relinquished all hopes of speaking english without her thick french accent. she kept her face nonchalant, though the ghost of a smile had appeared as well.

CODE BY DAANYEN + ART BY HUSH

Legacy of Sigrun

((open for interactions(fights up to Dominance), vague about pride))

Sif was new to Amaryllis dynamic events even if she was told about it by her mother before she left. But it was still something she hasn't lived on first paw, but it seemed that would be changing today.

The girl wanted to see it with her own eyes so she arrived with stoic yet eyes colored in a subtle curiosity to see how these fights will go. She traveled her eyes through the many fights taking place. She didnt cross the borders but she got close enough to be able to watch. First she observed the main challenge, then her eyes passed towards the zebra colored guy and the red giant. And lastly she watched another giant lion fighting a brownish male.

She sat down to watch calmly.

+5 Observe a fight(Amara vs Anthonius)
+5 Observe a fight (Ryker vs Alexander)
+5 Observe a fight(Dragos vs Apollinaire)

code & art

+10 Successfully stay hidden for the duration of a thread
+5 Gather information about a character

+10 Remain undetected in a large thread (5+ characters)

She would have thought they'd get bored with coming for the Bluffs eventually. Did they not realize it was a foolish endeavor? Even if they won there would be hell to pay in the aftermath. Take the poor fools who had taken the Hollow, for example. Except, it seemed those were the exact same fools who were here now. Arcania would have laughed in their faces, except they seemed to currently be being gnawed on. So instead she made good use of her knowledge of the pride lands and tucked herself away on the cliffs above, looking down on the scene from her vantage point like a vulture.

She listened as the Hollows king denounced the other man, stripping the family name from him, and yet it seemed the challenger refused? How intriguing. Family politics could be so entertaining, she thought.

assassin level 3 perk to remain hidden
1 is failure, 2 is success

Rolling 1d2: 2