Zelda had certainly been keeping her ears on a swivel as she lounged happily in a tree within Ecrosia. Things had settled down momentarily and she was going to take all the escape and vacation days that she could. After all, she got away with not helping the first time but if there was a second time, she doubted she'd be that lucky again. Though, as it would have it, she could hear screams from nearby and instantly got down off of her tree to go north and investigate.
Locking herself into the sound of the screams of panic, keeping her distance as she realized that there was a fire localized within the Jungle. Seeing as it wasn't a big distance from the Mire itself, she worried it might actually come here. Zelda had no love for the land but she did not wish to harm those that lived here. At least, not if she could absolutely help it. So she called for anyone in Ecrosia (or otherwise, too) that she could warn and speak to about this. They were going to need to do something now and fast.

ART BY NOVI, CODE BY LARS

Surely this was some kind of hell.

Alaric felt the rumbles beneath his paws, heard the far off crashes and shifts of land that told him something major was happening. He growled his displeasure and set to a more determined patrol, until he heard @zelda’s summons. Without hesitation he turned and paced her way, concerned that she had gotten herself in trouble.

All he found was, as expected, some kind of hell.

“fuck,” he hissed as he drew up beside her, hoping that others would come. “we need to make a break, dig a trench to stop it from moving towards the mire. It’s wet enough we should be safe but I’d rather not take the risk.” he looked to her, wondering if she would agree

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+2 - Warn a pride or band member about incoming weather

The call feminine call from afar had caught him in the midst of cooking up one of his tinctures against the algae that was spreading fast through the Mire. He hadn't seen any side effects on his pride mates yet, but Lothar wanted to be prepared for any sickness that may befall him.

He tucked away the little bowl with the rest of his herbs, oils and potions at the back of his den and moved to exit Ecrosia, following the call. Lothar would go simply because he wanted to see for himself what was going on. If there was a patient zero, he wants to see them first and assess the damage.

But there were no sick lions. Only @Alaric and @Zelda.

And fire.

Lots of fire. Coming for Ecrosia.

He approached his brother's free side, arriving on time for the King's instructions. "Bruder," his voice was low, ominous, and demanded attention. "I fear the algae that is spreading through the Mire may be poisonous," For once, his thinly-slit eyes lacked any sarcasm.

art by mog

He smelled fire before he saw it. He had been resting nearby, starring at the nothing until bum. The earth began to shake, winds wild around him. But what bothered him the most was the smell of smoke, of burning wood. Soon the jungle filled with smoke, heavy and stinging smoke. Well, it was time to flee, he ran between the timbers and barks. There as he ran he spotted a group of lions. Something looked very familiar from them but within the severity of the situation he couldnt quite make it through. "Let me assist, Jurgen Starke, let me know what I can do and I will do it." He said as his eyes fell on each lion present. // Barb exo: +5 BWP Note: Vague about if he managed to join FR but it can be said he would have been nearby in the jungle.

Art by Kim + Code by Cloudy

The unnatural weather was not limited to the Oasis and its surrounding territories. From the desert to the jungle, every inch of land was endangered by the elements. Léonie had endured some of them, such as the sandstorm and locust invasion, but a bushfire — that was new.

She’d been exploring the jungle in search of new plants for her growing hobby when it reached her: the scent of burning wood, which she did not immediately recognize as imminent danger due to her lack of experience with it. It was then followed by a summoning call. She had no way of knowing who was nearby, so given the recent violence she’d witnessed between her father and his enemies, she decided to take measures to conceal her identity.

Looking around, Léonie found a puddle of mud and threw herself into it. She rolled in the muck, washed it across body and face to suppress not only her scent, but to disguise her appearance. The dark mud not only covered her stripes, it also masked the white spots that dotted her face and ears. Hopefully between the mud and the smoke that was beginning to work its way towards her, she’d remain unnoticed.

Quietly, the little scout slipped through the foliage to finally see who had called out. It could’ve been nobody of importance, in which case she’d made herself messy over nothing, or it could’ve been something juicy. To her surprise, it was the latter — there stood the leader of the Mire, as well as what she assumed to be his followers. They were discussing something, but Léonie was too far to catch every word. She was determined to solve the puzzle though, so she focused on their lips, trying to read the words as they were spoken out. Inaudible — poison — inaudible … ?

Léonie is trying to hide!

	+5 BWP - Nature's Wrath (Sleuth)
	+10 Sneak into a group without getting caught
	+5 Practice disguising your appearance
	+5 Practice reading lips

coded by flea | artwork by ale-tie

Hell. It comes upon them like ten-folds, angry and wrathful as satan's death breathes upon them. There is panic that stirs amongst their borders, fear, anger, perhaps even sadness that wafts amongst the cleave of their forest and bristle outwards unto the vast and limitless expansion of Amaryllis. Vághan does not hesitate at the smell of fire - smoke. Deathly plumes of dark that crowd upon the tips of their tree-peaks. It is the sizzle, the crack and scream of crimson that draws his masked panic further - magenta eyes darting wildly from side to side to identify where the causation of this hell has come from.

Vághan catches to corners of Jurgen's sentence - lips curling upwards in a hefty and stark snuff before he begins to bark orders. Dig. He isn't aware if any of the others can hear him above the sizzling of the flames. @Alaric! A scream bursts from his lungs - shattering the brute's ribcage as he crimps towards the sovereign with slit eyes and a hefty cough. SMOTHER IT. It's not a suggestion. It's a demand. Their dire need for survival has never felt so intense than now, and while this is nothing similar to what he had to deal with when living with Ghosts. It is far more terrifying than starving to death. Dig your trenches, but use the dirt to smother the flames. Vághan stays no longer than he has to after his demands, sooten feet scathing over the murky outcrop of the jungle as he sputters and coughs. Fuck the smoke. He'd deal with the consequences later.

A crackle, a pop and sizzling sound of flesh and foliage burning beyond their borders draws the demon closer, nearer unto his own pliant corner of the jungle. There is wastes no time. Turning his back towards the flames - Vághan begins to dig as if his life depended on it. One foot after the other - one scoop, one toss. One mistakes, one life taken. It's too much to even think about in moment as black plumes crowd before their salvation - threatening to take away what they hold so dear. Something doesn't feel right...

The beast falters, limbs growing heavy as magenta eyes circle the growing foliage that holds them captive. Lush bright greenery, perfect for the taking if not protected. Too close to the Mire for one's liking, and certainly too easy to catch fires. Vághan turns from his position, sprinting unto the corners of greenery that hold just enough coverage from being found & just enough fuel to ignite a fire. He coughs, sputters and snuffs as he begins his routine once more. Uncertain of what just might lie beyond the veil of their home.

Vághan is attempting to find @Léonie

Rolling 1d10: 8

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?️ +1 - Make a BWP-related post
?️ +2 - Study one of the natural phenomena occurring
?️ +2 - Analyze the changes being made to the land
?️ +2 - Train someone or give advice on how to survive a weather phenomena

---

+5 - BWP-Related Exp
+5 Exercise to gain strength
+5 Practice speed or strength

coded by flea + art by dusk

Ghyslaine

It is the acrid smell of smoke paired with the chuff from Zelda that draws her from the Mire. She moved quickly, coming up alongside her king, @Alaric. “Fire?” She breathed, her eyes searching the jungle beyond them. Her heart raced in her chest, fear a tang on her tongue.

When the strange male speaks about digging, and he screams the order- she moves alongside him, throwing herself at the earth as if they could some how really dig a barrier to protect them from whatever nature intended to bestow upon them.

Her claws snagged and tore, blood oozing from the digit as she dug as if her fur was on fire, because soon it may very well be. She feels her heart thundering in her chest, and so she digs with a reckless sort of abandon. She is glad that this male she does not yet know, seems to know what to do. Having arrived so late, she hadn’t heard the same suggestion come from Alaric, she had only heard the orders and screams of this Mire male.

@Vághan

_{art by yumpy}

From her shadowy place among the undergrowth, the dirty imp watched the scene before her, intent on learning from the movement of their lips — what else did they have to reveal? Poison … poison algae? Weird.

Her nose briefly wrinkled as soot from the seemingly distant flames was carried her way and sprinkled down around the little spy. She overlooked it in favor of keeping her focus on the group, which became much more interesting when the familiar @Vághan arrived to bark orders at them like he was the king, not whatever-his-name-was. Behind the heavy brush, Léonie grinned.

However, the expression fell when something popped in the canopy above and caused her to look skyward. The soot came showering down then— soot, and much more: embers that pulsed with scorching heat. Where they landed on the floor below, new wisps sparked to life as the jungle burned from top to bottom. She remembered how Vághan had shouted to smother the flames, so when one landed close to her, she brought her paw down—

And held it there.

A lesson was learned that day: fire burned.

She needed a second to process the pain that sparked under her seared paw, and another for her to actually pull away from the source as her panicked thoughts collided with each other in her head, making it impossible for her to think clearly. A surprised squeal punched through the smoke and crackling around her, but she was deaf to her own voice, as the only sense she had then was the sense of pain …

Léonie, in her alarm, scrambled back from the smoking ember on three paws. Her scorched foot was held in the air and waved, as if she could shake the heat out. She wanted to scream out in her frustration. WHY had nobody ever warned her that fire was HOT?!

The pain did not diminish no matter how much she waved her paw, but instead throbbed angrily in her sensitive pads, and for the moment, she could only focus on the sting. It absorbed her and took her buzzing mind away from the numerous flames that the now widespread embers had given rise to.

But when she went to heave an angry huff, it was not fresh air that she sucked deep into her chest— it was smoke. In an instant, her mouth and throat became unbearably parched, as if she’d been wandering the dry desert and not the lush jungle. The fumes irritated her throat, of course, and she instinctively coughed to clear it, but only succeeded in pulling more ash into her trachea and lungs.

The smog thickened around her until it was a dense veil, one that then obscured her view on the group. It spread and swallowed the nearby trees, enclosing her, isolating her, not unlike—

Not unlike the mist.

A second, even more harrowing realization followed: the smoke was worse than the mist. Much, much worse.

	+5 BWP - Nature's Wrath (Sleuth)
	+5 Practice reading lips

coded by flea | artwork by ale-tie

Thankfully, one of the few lions that she actually could sense cared that she existed in Ecrosia showed up first. @Alaric being exactly that lion. In his own fashion he immediately devised a plan to which she nodded along with. It was a sound plan and was certainly along the lines of what she had been thinking but hadn't been too confident in if it would work. It seemed that he wasn't entirely convinced either but it was one of very few options that they had.
Next a lion that she was unfamiliar with (@Lothar) who was bold enough to announce that there was some ever-growing algae that may not be safe to be around. This was news to Zelda who took a moment to look around as though there might be algae that was alive and crawling all around them in an effort to suck them into the muck they stood on. Another stranger arrived next (@Jurgen) who gave his assistance but she was rather interested to learn that he was a Starke but introduced himself as though he were an outsider. @Vághan, another she didn't know well, addressed the group and promptly disappeared as though he were in search of something. Blinking in curiosity as @Ghyslaine then approached the gathering. She might've been wounded that the girl hadn't even looked in her direction if fear didn't seem so strong in her eyes.
The wheat woman quickly began to go to work at the ground before them and Zelda moved to her side to help. Keeping herself quiet as she did so, not really having much to say that would contribute to the situation.

ART BY NOVI, CODE BY LARS

@Lothar joins them, appearing at his side in the blink of an eye. his hushed words are not of the fire, though, and for a moment alaric studies his brother, contemplating. "später," he rumbled, after considering, "right now we must stop the fire." or at least protect the mire, as he had said.

another male appears, a stranger that earns a quick look from alaric. he is thankful for the help but thinks nothing of @Jurgen -- not until the man speaks. "Starke?" he repeats, distracted, before shaking his head and deciding that even that could wait. "I'd like to speak to you after, when we can breath again," his words are rushed and quiet, his head held low to avoid the worst of the smoke that was rolling in on the heels of the flames.

@Vághan, next, and his panic is palpable. it stirs the king in to action, digging alongside his pridemate, seeking to throw the mud and muck on to the flames. smothering it, depriving it of the air it needed to live. @Ghyslaine joins in and he is proud to see it; @Zelda is quick to join her.

he was focused, determined, until a squeal of pain once more snagged his attention.

had one of his cubs strayed too far from home? without thinking the beast whirled towards the commotion, a mud-slung body appearing among them, hacking and gagging on the thickening smoke. "down," he snapped, in a tone of voice that dads were really good at using, "get down."

he did not wait for the child to comply, for though he did not think it to be one of his own he reacted the same, lunging forward to ensure that his command was obeyed. "the air is clearer," he rumbled, as he aimed to press a heavy paw across her shoulders and force her lower to the ground, "slow breaths."

@Léonie

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