This was not good. He had no love for Cirilla or the way she had gatekept his mother, but he would much rather her keep the throne than the challenger. Nero was shocked to see the lioness battling with three legs (but then again, hadn't Saga bested several without eyes?) and for a fucking pride no less. He swallowed anxiously as he spotted @Ghyslaine -- alone. Well, alone in the sense that neither the fool king Violarum or other Lorien members were around to protect her. Fuck. The lion sneaked in behind her slowly, maintaining some distance but close enough to keep watch on both Ghys and Sersie at once. Nero chuffed quietly, only soft enough for Ghyslaine and anyone nearby to hear; he was there. He supported her.

code by dee

wicked is the devil

He is there for her in the ways he knows she would be for him.

That seemed to be the depth of their bond together, him and @Sersie , and of course the cubs that were surely growing to life within her womb… so why when he heard her call for Scilla, did he not feel anger that his unborn children were being jostled around in battle?

Perhaps his emotions really were growing numb.

He does not trespass, but rather camps himself a rather comfortable spot among the borders, a neutral look resting on his face. He’d either see Sersie on her way out, beaten and worn… or he’d see people trying to flee from the wrath of their new Queen, and Aeistrios would be there to try and block as many prisoners as he could.

((Aeistrios is not trespassing, he is at the borders waiting to intercept whoever leaves/see sersie on her way out. Post 2/5 on loa for Aeist.))

code & art by corvus

She’s heard the call, bringing a curious expression to her features. It hadn’t been long since she had come across Cirilla, meeting her formally and conversing for some time. To hear a challenge ring out for her crown was enough for Isla to start to move in the direction of Scilla, needing to see the outcome, whether or not the Sigrún would remain its leader. She moved with a steady gait, light on her paws despite her size as she traversed across hard packed sand. It was much different than the sands out west, making it quite easy to navigate across. Scents of many that had already gathered invade her nostrils, but one in particular sticks out to her, just as his stark appearance against the Lagoon is spotted.

Hackles rise and a low growl rumbles in her chest. Isla stalks forward like a silent predator then, skull lowering to align with her spine and ears twisting back. Claws unsheathe and prick the sand beneath them, leaving shallow dents in their wake. She does not give warning as she attempts to clear the gap between them, soon lunging off coiled hind legs and straight toward Aeistrios. Isla attempts to throw herself at the man’s right side with forelimbs extended, claws hungry to rip into his flesh. Opened jaws snap toward him in an attempt to latch onto his middle back, the need to snap his spine just like he did his wife heavy. That scar she had left him with was a simple reminder that she was going to come back to collect one day, and here that day was.


Isla vs @Aeistrios
for minor maim
round i/iv
Hits:

Rolling 7d20: 9 + 20 + 4 + 3 + 5 + 14 + 18

Dodges:

Rolling 4d20: 16 + 11 + 12 + 20

Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 7 + 5 + 15 + 3 + 14

ART BY SCARF, CODE BY DEE, MODIFIED BY GUNNER

a call for the lagoon makes magdalena's heart twist in her chest. once upon a time, the sandy shores of the lagoon had been her beloved home. a happier time in her life, before the upheaval and the domino effect of tragedies that had resulted of it all. she stalks in, searching out the two women who fight for control of scilla. both are heavily wounded, the challenger with a missing (but healed) leg and bleeding claw marks etched into her face. the defender with her own facial cuts, higher up on her forehead with blood drip, drip, dripping down the sides of her face. in the searching of her gaze, magdalena's eyes pause on the very man that had spelled the ruin of her childhood, of her happiness. almost on instinct, her lips rise over bared canines, claws digging into the dirt as if she's about to beeline for him to try and take a fraction of what the man had stolen from her until another form launches at him like a bullet. she hisses, the sound low and speaking volumes of magdalena's displeasure. if she piled on, it may be a distraction to the woman who was now gunning for a savage attack on the andal king - at worst, the woman would mistake her as trying to help aeistsrios so instead she watches intently for now. in time, she would get her chance.

+5 - Attend a spar or challenge to assess the wounds (cirilla vs sersie)
+5 - Attend a spar or challenge to assess the wounds (isla vs aeistrios)

coding by daanyen | art by rabbit

It is more than apparent now, that there are forces present in Amaryllis who seek to see the land drowned in blood, from one shoreline to the other.

The hound cannot ignore it. He cannot afford to, for it will not be long before the tides of chaos lap at the paws of his own loved ones once again. In ways, they already have. Such is the price of sealing his tie to the Valour in blood.

How many seasons has it been since he'd last deigned to pay a visit to this distant pride? The Lagoon's sands had been stained just as bloody on that day too - perhaps not much has changed about it then, though it is a different Queen who now seeks to drive a usurper from her home.

"Will you seek to draw more blood here today?" He rumbles as he steps up to @Cassandra's side, his tone deceptively light, lavender eyes regarding the vicious battle with an unreadable expression, a flash of furious silver (Isla) not going unnoticed at the corner of his vision. Such a simple question, asked as if it warranted no more gravity then an inquiry as to where the High Sovereign planned to go for lunch.

Yet the hound's sharpened claws emerge to subtly grip at loose sand all the same. Tense. Waiting. Prepared.

ART BY SCARF, CODE BY LARS

She would have liked to nap a little while longer but something was amiss in her home. She could feel it, creeping up on her in her den. She bolts upright, ears laced back with displeasure. Tail twitched, swiping against her flanks as she moved from the family den. Why was it so quiet? Eerily quiet. And no one was around which was odd. Ylfa would make her way out of the family area towards the outskirts of the Lagoon, only to see a mass of bodies gathered. Naturally the girl would slip into her defenses, lurking across the sand to scurry within a drift log, her gaze finding her mother between the bodies. She was tangled up fighting with another woman, one that Ylfa had never seen before. What the hell was going on? If she was a more social being she might have gone out of her way to ask an adult what was happening, but she wasn't social. So, she remained in her hiding spot, unable to tear her gaze away from her mother's fighting form.


*Ylfa is attempting to hide!

---

[paladin/assassin exp]
+5 - Observe a fight (Sersie v. Cirilla)
+5 - Practice stealth
+10 - Successfully stay hidden for the duration of a thread

ART & CODE

He continued to watch the battle between contenders. And oh my-my it was a-vicious- one. Reti could not prevent the little smile that twitched the corners of his maw upwards at the sight of the show.

The sound of an approach, familiar scent, and sound of 'hey' caused him to tilt his head slightly and turn it a bit towards his young pridemate. Greetings. he would murmur a welcome in the usual calm silky tone while splitting his attention between the battle and the swirled youth @Karsa.


It certainly is choosing to do battle 'on hard mode' so to speak. It requires a lot more specialty training and physical practice to preform well in battle missing a limb. One would need to keep more weight on the hind quarters and focus on bite attacks - like the bite and shake move used earlier. he paused witnessing the latest exchange of blows.

Indeed. But rushing in using a low targeted headbutt has its own serious risks. It tends to expose the back of the neck...the spine. And, if your opponent is larger, stronger, or considerably heavier you risk becoming pinned. and obviously getting pinned was a very bad thing, just as landing on your back and exposing the soft bits happened to be. As the challenger might now be learning quiet well.

In addition going limp for a moment like that...and some of the motions the challenger was making, the slight disjointed motions. It looked as if she was disoriented even before hitting the ground. There also...maybe something more going on here. A prior condition perhaps. Or ... poison. Reti murmured softly.

-----------------------------------
+5 - observe a fight (sersie vs cirilla 2/2)
+5 - discuss battle strategy (1/2)
+5 Teach someone under 2 years some fighting tips (1/2)

code by corvus

~ Jóhanna is attempting to remain hidden ~ What is all that commotion about? The stormy princess had been too caught up (literally) with playing in the Lagoon's gentle waves when a stranger's raspy roar had split the air. Another visitor come to pay their respects to the Queen, Jóhanna would assume. But something feels...off. There was no sign of rain, yet the air felt electric and heavy, just as it did in the moments before the storm. It takes her some time to splash her way back to shore. Too long, perhaps. Her brindled hide is doused with the scent of salt even as she her dripping body scampers across the sands, instinctively ducking down into what she hopes is an inconspicuous crouch when her mismatched gaze catches sight of the unusual crowd now gathered at the edges of her home. She wouldn't want all those adults to interfere with her snooping should they see her, after all. As if wild zebras had any chance of dragging her away from watching her mother's battle. Who was the strange, three-legged woman Cirilla was fighting? Why were they fighting? This was different, somehow, from the way Cirilla had tested their scarlet medic, or the way she herself tussled with her sisters. Blood drips freely from the hides of both lionesses as they twist across the sand, a curtain of vivid crimson pouring down her mother's face in a way that twists the princess's heart, despite herself. So many questions rest heavy upon her tongue, and yet Jóhanna cannot think to pull her attention away long enough from the spectacle before her to ask. Assassin: +5 Practice speed or stealth +5 Practice covering your scent Medic: +5 Attend a spar or challenge to assess the wounds (Cirilla vs Sersie)

ART AND CODE BY SHAZ

Isn't that...her? Her voice is a hushed whisper, spoken into @Nero's ear as Maven quietly crept up to stand at her father's pale side. It's not @Ghyslaine she speaks of, obviously - she knows her flighty mother's shape all too well now to miss it when the woman sits mere feet ahead of them, though she would prefer to pretend that she hadn't seen her. To that end, it is almost easier to instead bore her eyes into the three-legged woman entangled in vicious battle with the resident Queen. Her aunt, was she not? The tormentor she'd been warned about? The one who had ruined everything first? (Or was it second, after Violarum had pushed them from the Plains?)

The one who made it all too easy to invite Maven's hatred?

Perhaps it had been against her better judgement to follow @Isla ♔ here, knowing now the nature of the chaos that so often followed in the wake of challenges like these. A prediction that had quickly been proven true when the silver warrioress had immediately charged towards a familiar, ugly plum shadow. Was Sersie with him? That would be terribly fitting, if so.

Either way, Maven is far past giving in to the temptation to turn away. Even if her shoulder does subtly seek to press against Nero's comforting warmth.

+5 Observe a fight (Cirilla vs Sersie)
+5 Observe a fight (Isla vs Aeist)
+5 Learn information about a potential threat (Sersie)

ART BY SPU, CODE BY DEE

@Cirilla VS. @Sersie For scilla lagoon
— RESULTS —

Cirilla Hits: 5 + 3 + 5 + 3 + 3 + 5 luck = 24
Cirilla Dodges: 2 + 1 + 2 + 1 + 1 = 7

Sersie Hits: 4 + 6 + 3 + 3 + 4 + 5 luck = 25
Sersie Dodges: 4 + 1 + 3 + 2 + 3 = 13

Cirilla Successful Hits: 11
Sersie Successful Hits: 18

SERSIE HAS WON THE CHALLENGE FOR SCILLA LAGOON!

Please allow the challengers to respond to the fight results first. As per the site rules, if 3 days go by without a post from the challenger(s), they can be skipped. Whichever comes first! Any posts made before this will be removed, unless you are posting to another fight.

---

WOUNDED ROLL

performed on discord by @Squid

Cirilla is automatically WOUNDED for losing!

Sersie Wounded Roll: 1d5 = 3

Sersie is WOUNDED!

Profiles will be adjusted to reflect the wounded rolls, which, if received, reduce the character’s hits and dodges by -1 for an standardized amount of time. Any wounded rolls received from this fight are considered healed as of [12/21], and are logged in the wounded log. Once healed, post in Trade & Dice Updates to have your dice returned to normal.