it never ended -- it really, truly, never ended. nymeria took her time making her way towards the territory of the bluffs, throat tight and her steps heavy every inch of the way. it was a conflicting moment of uncertainty for her, one of cautiousness and of fear, as she trailed towards the edges of the gathering, and notably angry, group. her eyes settled first upon the challengers in the center of it all, recognizing the brunette man only as the former king of scilla lagoon, where all other details of his reign or identity were lost upon her. zoticus had already risen up to match him, with circe and the other members of the pride hanging tightly on the wings, as if waiting for further calamity to descend upon them.

but, truth be told, the valour woman did not know what to think, nor did she know what she was supposed to feel. if anything, she was angry that, once again, things seemed incapable of settling, and that gluttony continued to push the inhabitants of amaryllis into a web of violence. not that there was much to be done about that, but the sentiment was there all the same. and so, silently, nymeria would look to take a secluded spot on the outskirts of the match, her head tucked slightly towards her chest, whilst allowing her gaze to sweep briefly across the rest of the figures gathered. she noticed @Roan, @Avaneira, and @Morrigan initially amongst the sea of faces -- but, not wanting to disturb them with her looming presence, would remain where she sat, quiet and in her own bubble of contemplation.

Gareth would rather be tossed from the ledge of the highest peak than let @Nymeria go off on her own to a challenge. Not after what had happened at the last one and he was all too familiar with war and what that entailed, and the truth was that it could have been far worse. They could have targeted Vermeda for many reasons and had simply been lucky that they were still considered safe. Seeing as his Queen was still one of the most precious things in his life he knew he could never let her be by herself even if she requested. That sort of demand was null here.

So the weathered soldier took his path eagerly at his wife's side, pressing his body against hers in bold support of her. He was there for comfort and closeness, observing this fight and gauging their surroundings so that she remained unharmed and unbothered. Nymeria Valour was the center of his universe and would always be -- aside from his rambunctious and independent children, of course -- but this was an important moment that he would need to witness just as she did. Gareth would need to know if an alliance was broken today or if Zoticus would continue to rule as he had done time and time again by fighting off those that opposed him.

table by ferus, art by munk

+10 Sneak into a pride or group without getting caught
+5 Infiltrate a group thread without getting caught
+5 Use the terrain to your advantage

[hidden]


Try as he might to fill it up, there remained a sort of hole in his life, shaped like his dear friend. A fleeting reunion had not truly been sufficient and he found himself constantly wondering about the man's wellbeing. Which was saying something, as he rarely even considered his own.

So, rather than immediately respond to the call that inevitably meant a violent scene, he'd lingered around the desert for a few moments, watching lion after lion filter in from a distance. Such spectacles always invited a crowd, and by now he knew at least one reliable path to carry him to the top without being noticed.

Careful, quiet, steps along a hidden trail, up and up, until he could settle among a cluster of stones similar to himself in color. Above the gathered crowd, just within the territory itself, he laid himself down to watch over the edge of his perch. Things were already underway, and he amused himself by making predictions as to who might come out on top. The last time this had happened, where he'd secretly attended, the pink man had come out victorious, but he knew such a result was never certain.

code by corvus

Hanneth Hodari

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His voice was one she knew. She called to @Copree as she left the Mire hoping that Dero would stay home. She needed to know what happened to the family that Copree was connected to. She had become so disconnected from things and she needed to find a way to get ahold of things again. She had to protect her family. She arrived to a flood of faces, including ones that had attacked her family already and @Roan. Why was he here? She chuffed to grab his attention but went to stand with @Nymeria and @Gareth. Her approach was soft as she came to sit next to the lioness. Her voice was hardly a whisper but just loud enough for the pair to hear her, The pink one fighting is the one who attacked Kiton and Roan. Almost took me out in the process of trying to get to Roan. She hadn't known names and still didn't but here, it was plain as day who he was. She visibly shuddered remembering the day. They were allies of the Rainforest. Mixed eyes look around at the growing crowd, Will there ever be peace here again? She asked the space around her, not really thinking she would get an answer.

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Line art by Adoptadpoles | Image and table code by Amanda

saga arrives, later than the rest but she arrives. she's been... preoccupied lately. with plenty on her mind and plans to be made. vermier's voice is not wildly familiar at this point, but the call for challenge is enough to coax the wounded warrior from her home and have her prowling up the bluffs to find the spectacle. her gaze swings across those assembled and she narrows her gaze on her family and the small group growing around them. wordless, she filters past the others, her gaze straying briefly to @Crixus and she pauses to offer a chuff of greeting, but does not linger.

as she approaches, @Sole does as well, hissing a decidedly unpleasant half-threat at the yearling @Beelzebub. her eyes narrow and she hunches her shoulders as a low growl rumbles from her chest. she eases her way between the two of them, turning her back on the youth and allowing her gaze to level with the lavender man's. "careful," she hums, her posture outwardly composed, now, but a heaviness in her gaze. "the lagoon is magnus', now, and this is our member." saga may find the youth difficult to ignore but she can't imagine the turmoil the bezra group ( and, truly, @Amara and the adults, too ) felt at the madness that has unfurled around their home. the adults may have been banished and the yearlings held for their parents to decide their fate, but finding the former sovereign here does give saga pause - if only to admire her dedication to her former members. saga's attention settles back on sole and she offers a humorless smile, a quick barring of teeth. "go find your people." she advises as the yearling, surprisingly, holds her tongue and presses closer to the dark woman. assuming sole will leave without further intervention, saga's head turns to level her stare on amara, now. there's no animosity and for a moment she simply watches, gaze sliding down to the bezra yearling and back, before giving the slightest inclination of her jaw. in gratitude? acknowledgement? it's ambiguous and she doesn't stay to elaborate. instead, she shifts a few feet ahead of the two of them and settles on her haunches.

she's not so much guarding as she is lurking. maybe menacingly. maybe not. she doesn't much care what the former sovereign and her young henchwoman thinks - bee is now the sigrun's responsibility whether anyone liked it or not.

heaving a sigh, saga's gaze finds @Ragna in the group and she assesses the others surrounding her daughter, wondering if she's going to end up in another scrap at this challenge. lately it feels like amaryllis is a revolving door of challenges and raids and truth be told, much as she loves to fight, she could almost do without such a large gathering for a while. especially since the stranger from the tundra is sitting across the little arena and saga still doesn't quite know, ah, what was going to come of.... well, everything.

table by ferus & lineart by eerien00dle

More and more showed up and she felt herself on edge. The crowd that gathered of strangers, friends and foes alike on Bluff land made her antsy. Perhaps it was the fact that she had just given birth a few weeks prier as well as her Queen had as well. She had noticed that @Circe wasn’t here and with Zoticus in battle she kept her ears perked and on alert for trouble. Hearing someone come sit behind her she turned and looked at @Cupid for a moment before her eyes narrowed at Bee and @Amara. Though it was the arrival of @Sole that drew her from her seat. Going closer to him as @Saga spoke telling him to go find his people she hissed.

A snarl leaving her lips aimed for the two toned lioness. “And this is our home. So if anyone is going to find anything perhaps it is you lot that need to find elsewhere to sit.” She knew that @Magnus wasn’t her enemy nor was Sage but tell that to her hormones. Her protective instincts told her to get the crowd off the land she called home.

Art & Table by Autumn!

she hadn't ever met the lion who had been king at the time of her… capture seemed like a too dramatic term, but how else could she describe the events that had come to pass? úna had seen him around, certainly, recalled seeing him at ursa's hunt, but she had never strung two words between them. he had been a distant figure, unimportant in the grand scheme of things when the rest of his family had done enough to hurt her soul without him. and yet, the moment his roar rang through the lands, úna knew that this was where buzz would be. as raw as scilla lagoons had left úna, the love for her sister persevered. úna, after all, had been the one that trespassed, the one responsible for her own punishment and the punishment of their siblings. she couldn't understand why they continued to be upset with her and not úna. buzz hadn't done anything wrong. but úna had. with time, she was beginning to understand this, understand that to repent she needed to accept her role in all that had happened, but it was coming too little too late — scilla lagoons had been uprooted, and the yearlings' sense of direction with it. where should their loyalties lie? the answer was obvious: with each other. úna held no attachments to anyone outside of their family, and so she was willing to follow the decisions made by someone who did. beelzebub had aligned herself with the scary lions that had previously hosted the lagoon, and as such her sister considered any other option a moot point—sticking together was the only thought on her mind, and that's why she steps over the wolfbron border (only after noticing everyone else do the same, seemingly a pride challenge negated the usual rules) and plasters herself to the free side of @Beelzebub with little more than a glance to @Amara over the spotted shoulders between them. she'd spotted @Faevyre on her way in, but had sensed that her sister needed her more than her aunty ever would. some people might consider the yearlings to be adults now, but they were far from it, far from being the image of competency and benevolence that aunty fae managed to be just by existing. still, she made sure to acknowledge the mauve lioness with an affectionate twitch of her ears as she'd moved through the crowds, not quite able to muster a smile. a spliced woman, @Saga, steps between buzz and some ugly purple man (@Sole), and una takes a moment to try and place why the lioness looks vaguely familiar. she thinks that maybe she's one of their parents' pridemates, but if so she couldn't understand why she would be defending beelzebub. the sigrun seemed only to have animosity toward them when they invaded, one of their youngest even attacking her… these lands would never cease to baffle her. instead of thinking too much on it, she sits, and presses her fluffy cheek to her sister's shoulder, breathing warm air out into the thick fur of her neck. " he'll win this time, “ she mutters reassuringly. she wishes she could be as confident as she sounds, wishes she could provide some sort of stability for buzz, wishes their lives hadn't been one rug pulled out after another since frostbound and orusa had flooded. eira, please, let him win.

image by k'sariya, code by koi

The call stirred something within him, a familiarity that was both electric and frightening in the way it coursed through his drumming veins. Someone was demanding blood, lusting for onslaught. It was ever a siren’s beckon, even though he had left most of such a life behind months ago, such things still were as much a part of him like the beating of his own heart. He couldn’t conquer that bestial nature, and as he always has, embraces it with arms wide open. To ignore it, would be the same as telling a wolf not to howl; there was nothing that could be done once the animal took its foothold. There are many things you can deny, but this is a far different beast. Across the borders of the Bluffs he strides, a phantom stranger, unshaken as he steps into the unknown and scales the wall of kingdom come with ease. He had disregarded these strange and foreign fences without care, ever drawn like a moth to the flame as the commotion became louder, louder still like a sinful cadence against his listening ear. After all, he had only come to see the show in all it’s violent glory; and what a spectacle it had grown to be. He slips through the numbers of others crowded around the arena, devilish blue eyes flitting along in silence from one transient face to another before they found what had brought him here. The two males were already locked within the wild throes of combat, and as any warrior, he felt the same thirst begging to be slaked. It had been far too long with other things having been moved to the forefront of importance, and in doing so, his edge was no long so sharp. Something that would need to be dealt with soon enough. For now, he was content to take a spot amid the roar of the rabble, to sit back upon muscled haunches and watch what was to unfurl before him with ravenous, unbridled hunger. +5 Observe a fight (Zoticus vs Vermier)

code & art by irish

empty+5 Learn something interesting about a character
+5 Gather useful information on a enemy lion or pride
+10 Learn something about pride/family relations

This is… interesting.

Perhaps Aleksandra should be more upset at the prospect of losing her home, but she is not. It stopped being home sometime ago, but the shadow can’t pinpoint when. All she knows is that she is not happy here, and the off chance that Zoticus’s downfall might bring her freedom - she can hardly help but pray it happens.

Not that any of that shows on her face as she slinks into the gathering - keeping to the shadows, well to the back of the crowd. There’s odd clusters of lions around, in various stages of snarling and hissing matches. Aleksandra feeds off the tension, but hones in on a small group speaking about the challenger - dangerous for children, they say. How nice.

The dark girl creeps along the backs of them all, listening as a Caldon Cove woman announces their loyalty, as several furious looking rogues and Lagoon children sniffle and cry - Aleks makes careful not of them, their faces and scents - while she attempts to remain behind them and out of sight, so she may listen in on their conversation as she moves past.empty

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she's an opportunist, at her core: and what is this, if not an opportunity? how strange it is, that a challenge for leadership in these lands opens the borders up to trespassers, but miette is hardly one to argue against a gift so freely given. for months she has considered how to go about such a heist, lacking the confidence without intel and having had none of the infiltrators she was familiar with in the land to pass along such information had crippled the pirate's ability to do much of… well, anything.

but she didn't need intel for something like this. the distraction of the challenge, different scents all around and the clash of opposing factions: it was a breeding pool for chaos. her neutral scent would hardly draw any attention amidst the others, and even if it did she could easily claim that she'd been invited to join recently and hadn't fully settled in yet. a believable lie, but one she hoped not to need to rely on.

deciding where to slip in, was the biggest conundrum—entering at the far side of the territory, away from the fighting, would be suspicious if anyone came across her, but no less suspicious than such a person wandering round the bluffs instead of supporting their king. if she entered at the main point of entry though, she could blend with the crowd up until a point, but then it may look suspicious when she turns deeper into the territory.

in the end, she angles for something in between, picking a path that gives her line of sight to the gathering but is hidden enough to hopefully go unnoticed when she heads deeper into the territory instead of stopping to watch. she walks with purpose though, the easy brand of miette confidence™ designed to make it seem like she belongs there. sneaking and skulking about is simply too obvious. the best way to hide is in plain sight, strolling through the land.

of course, she's not familiar with this territory so locating the cache will be her first major hurdle, but treasure hunters are always up to the task. it's not her first pantry raid, and sage green eyes poke about the territory, assessing the terrain with a practiced eye to suss out where her quarry will be, sniffing at the air covertly to try and pick up a trace.

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