Astarte bristles as @Leonie throws insults towards @Alaric, she stays at his side, eyes fixated on the girl, that is until she's attacked by a Rike, leaving the crimson woman still at her kings side. Thunderous pawsteps catch her attention abd she aims to place herself in front of Alaric and his Lagoon queen, the phantom in front of her unfamiliar, but the way his voice drips with venom and hisses like a snake causes her to give a warning growl.

She is still wounded from the tumble off the cliff, the ripping of her tall, but she still stands as a barrier for the king, she does not fear him, though he more beast than lion, a small glance is given to @Tinuviel, showing her loyalty to both the King and his queens.

ART COPYRIGHT XXX / CODE COPYRIGHT ANALESE

code & bg-credit

There is barely enough time for her to tuck her chin before @Valerian's teeth are sinking into the right side of her neck, just barely missing her vital jugular vein. Fuck that was close, too close. Sunder attempts to bring her right forepaw up to swat the man away, claws unsheathed in warning as she moves to wrench herself as delicately as she can from his grasp. Already she can feel the warm blood oozing down her chest from his puncture marks, crystalline eyes locking onto him briefly, as if she'd say "sorry about this but it's war" but the words remained locked within her. Quickly she would turn, pushing her way back through the crowd, or rather "hobbling" considering her left forearm was leaking and tender and her right forepaw had been crushed and bruised. Each step across the sand was achingly slow before she returns to @Keligan, breathless. "Looks .. like.. I owe you a date." She forces a grin, moving another step closer before collapsing alongside him. The world spins around her before darkness takes hold, sweet oblivion.

exit via unconsciousness aka @Keligan carry her home LOL


[assassin/sleuth exp]
+5 Sneak start a fight (2/2)
+10 - Participate in a war x2 (2/2)

This one wasn't quite so cold as Ember nor as vicious as Sedona. Her predominant expression seemed to be confusion with a chance of scattered annoyance. He would make sure that didn't happen! (By being even more charismatic and entertaining, of course.) "You deserve flattery. I'm surprised you haven't heard this before, but -" and he began to notice several unexpected things. Things which he would have expected if he had scouted the situation a little better. One, a cub, a vexed little thing, and how the lioness lazing just behind them was actually acting as a bodyguard, which meant this female was not quite so unattached as he had hoped.

And then, following from this ignorance, was a sudden roar that had his dark ears flat and his solid frame rising to turn around before a smaller sunset-sparkled lioness slammed flat into his right ribcage. She's married! "Hey lady, I didn't know!" he defended himself with ignorance, his tone likewise seeking to downplay the incident. The female who he had been wooing also thought this was a little much - maybe she'd kiss his wounds later? - but for now, Aurochs sought to defend himself with as little damage to both himself and this interloper as possible. He didn't want to crush one of the married female's pridemates. Even if she was married. Plus this one was younger and way more eligible, once she got her claws out of his skin. His right side still ached from the weight of her charge and she had little needle claws stuck into his pelt along his spine, oozing a bright amount of blood along his black furred dorsal line. "Can you, like, remove yourself from my skin?" he growled, more pained than angry, and tried to swing his right elbow back to try to jab into her side. Not much else he could do except try to keep pivoting to face her.

@Lunaire vs. @Aurochs
Minor Maim
1/4

Hits:

Rolling 7d20: 10 + 15 + 3 + 8 + 12 + 19 + 18

Dodges:

Rolling 2d20: 10 + 12

Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 15 + 19 + 6 + 20 + 5

Valerian realised with frustration his angle had not been true, and although he could taste blood it is not the damage he had hoped for. The pressure upon his muzzle grew intense and he takes the slap hard, jostled several stumbling steps clear where he stands panting and blinking blood from his eyes. He had lost, and it is only battle experience that keeps him standing.

He locks eyes with his opponent, a indignation of loss to his ego but certain type of respect flaring in his green eyes. He sees her turn and move through the throngs of others, where he loses sight.

His hindquarters and face stung with fresh claw and fang marks, and Valerian looks for his kin in the crowd, and turns to move toward @Laerke (and @Lucanus).

“Mind patching me up?” he rumbles toward Laerke hoarsely, tongue swiping blood from his dark muzzle.

art © drifty

Strange, how swiftly things changed. How they shifted, how they broke.

Tinúviel sucked in a breath, her eyes never leaving @Ronin as the world about them unfurled with chaos in the wake of their fallout. Her lips pressed into a firm, thin line; her shoulders tensed, her stance defensive, but awkward. Corinthian had trained her as best as he could but his bulky and brutish technique did not translate well onto the smaller, slimmer Queen. She appeared as if she were trying to make herself larger, to make herself stronger, to prepare herself for a fight she was almost certain to lose. She looked so obviously out of place that it was almost unbearable to watch even herself.

Betwixt the supporters and dissenters of the Lagoon, she heard @Tiamat's voice, a reassurance that eased the plush fur that had been raised around her nape, the half-wild look in her eyes that couldn't move from Ronin. She let out a breath she'd not known she'd been holding, the white-hot burn in her lungs flittering on the edges of her suspire.

How the rage built. How easy it would be to picture Luther or Viridian in his place and to assail him freely, to show all of Amaryllis that Tinúviel would fight, even if she couldn't; for it was the nature of their kind, was it not? Were words simply never enough? Even if Tiamat were willing to let Tinúviel prove her worth through her actions this country had still demanded her blood, and Tinúviel was half-inclined to finally give it to them.

But at the last second, she relented.

As Alaric steps forward, his wife steps back. Her gaze averted, refusing to look at the former Andal King and his wife as they departed. He felt a strange suddenly all at once, all over again, and the ache of Tinúviel's heart was bidden to hide under her guise of painted strength, a steely expression that stared now toward the ground, at her feet, as her claws dug into the earthy sands below.

It is only when the High Queen calls for war does her head lift up, watches the stationary Scillan soldiers spur into action. Out of the corner of her eye, she catches @Lyric rushing toward @Alexander ♔, and Tinúviel's resolve crumbles all at once. Her lips are half-parted, her paw half-lifted from the ground as she barely managed to stop herself in time before flinging herself between their fight. Alex—... she begins to say, but stops herself short. Is this it, then? Is this picking sides? Were he simply just another casualty of war, one that Tinúviel could beggar an apology from later? Would he accept her falling on her knees, begging for his forgiveness?

This all felt so wrong.

Tia needs our support.

Alaric's words give her pause, comfort her, in a strange way. She is silent, sad, but she nods in response. But what were Tinúviel to do? She'd clearly no backbone to fight Ronin; certainly, she could not push herself on a stranger far more undeserving. Thus, she instead lingers; watches, wait, assessing all her pridemates for wounds and watching as her world begins to crumble all around her.

@Fernweh VS. @Tiamat FOR Scilla Lagoon
— RESULTS —

Fernweh Hits: 2 + 2 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 8 luck = 21
Fernweh Dodges: 2 + 3 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 11

Tiamat Hits: 4 + 4 + 1 + 3 + 5 + 12 luck = 29
Tiamat Dodges: 2 + 3 + 3 + 4 + 3 = 15

Fernweh Successful Hits: 6
Tiamat Successful Hits: 18

TIAMAT HAS WON THE CHALLENGE FOR SCILLA LAGOON!

In official wars and raids, fight result timers and posting restrictions are negated. Posting may continue, but the results of this fight cannot be acknowledged ICly until either both challengers have responded, or if 3 days have gone by. Whichever comes first!

---

WOUNDED ROLL

performed on discord by @Shark

Fernweh is automatically WOUNDED for losing!

Tiamat Wounded Roll: 4

Tiamat 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 23rd April 2023, and are logged in the wounded log. Once healed, post in Trade & Dice Updates to have your dice returned to normal.

Unlike @Mithril, Mirime's resolve easily crumbled. As @Isla ♔ stood her ground and defended herself against the cubs' accusations, the red tabby shirked. Every part of her offer felt wrong. There was a truth in the fact that they could truly not help who had created them, but they had every capability of choosing who they'd become, and though Mirime missed her father a great deal she had known nothing other than the soft warmth that Fernweh provided, the comfort with which knowing she still at least had one parent. To be taken away from her, too, felt like a cruel sin, a betrayal of her own akin to that of Andras'.

And yet, oh, how she missed the Summit. How she missed the cold clouds rolling over the peaks, the crisp bite of winter, the snow that melted between her toes.

She shook her head clear of the thoughts, desperate to will away the urge to accept Isla's invitation right then and there. She spots @Laerke out of the corner of her eye, and latches onto the furred woman to keep herself from speaking. Thankfully, it is her brother who speaks up, and is far more decisive in his words than Mirime ever was. His words were brave, but they hurt Mirime as much as they made her proud. How awful, she was, for almost considering Isla's offer when her brother stood so defiantly with their mother, the woman who had raised them and loved them unconditionally.

A heat rose to her cheeks, and she swore she felt tears prickled in the corners of her young eyes.

But just as she is about to speak, to once more be Mithril's number one back-up, she sees the battle between their mother and the Scillan Queen conclude, and it was unclear to Mirime what the outcome of it was, what the gravity of it truly had been. Mith— she said, quickly attempting to press a paw into his shoulder, —Mama.

What's happening? Does she need our help?

MARKUS RIKE

---

There is not a lot that Markus can do about Léonie's back paws as they continuously kick into his thigh, worsening the damage already done. It was a minor thing, in the grand scheme of things, and the behemoth could have come away with worse injuries than what the girl beneath him had delivered.

Her forepaws slam into his chest and pierce the skin that lay perfectly untarnished underneath his mane as his teeth, surprisingly, find purchase against her throat. Markus is surprised with his success, and finds the dark inner demons within his mind speaking to him.

Press harder.

You could do it.

You could take her life.

But before Markus could make a decision on what to do, her claws are frantically attached to his face. Her right paw sliced over his left eye, causing scarring that would be permanent (and attractive?), whilst her left paw sliced the right corner of his mouth. Markus growls and attempts to tighten his grip on her neck, not caring if the oxygen slowly begins to weaken her body, whilst releasing his left paw and without a sound, attempts to slash the sand against her face to temporarily blind her and throw off her attack.

Payback?

Markus vs. @Léonie
for Minor Maim (ear tip removal)
Round four of four

Hits:

Rolling 8d20: 7 + 20 + 11 + 9 + 1 + 14 + 17 + 8

Dodges:

Rolling 2d20: 20 + 12

Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 11 + 18 + 2 + 16 + 4

Lead Fighter Perk: +1 hit rolls when fighting on your pride territory or an allied pride's territory.

Wounded roll from Léonie's Assassin Lvl 3 perk applied.

she lost.

the realization of her failure crept into her the moment she detached from her opponent. despite the initial scent of birth clinging onto @Tiamat's pelt, the scillian queen still stood victorious over fernweh. reminiscent of morrigan just before she kicked rainer's unconscious body down the mountain. would tiamat toss fernweh into the waves? or will she bury her ten feet under while the others watched? tears flooded fernweh's eyes, but she wasn't sure if it was from the rippling pain in her body or from the paranoia that she would suffer for her loss.

her body collapsed onto the blood-soaked ground. there was a numbness ebbing into her limbs, and her mind, although frazzled, was slowly succumbing to that as well. but, as if something had jolted her awake, fernweh's face turned to search for her children. nothing was as important now than to see them, find them, and take them from these onlookers who would do nothing but gawk and fight amongst each other.

@Mithril...@Mirime she called, desperately trying to keep her voice heard. fernweh painted a pathetic picture, crawling against the hot sand as she made her way towards the pair. she didn't care that @Isla ♔ or @Laerke was present, only that she needed to be by their side.

but, before she could make her way towards them, fernweh felt a sharp stab of pain in her skull. her eyelids drooped and she fell unconscious. [exit fernweh]

ooc: anyone is welcome to interact with her!

ART COPYRIGHT RABS / CODE COPYRIGHT ANALESE

Exhaustion tugged at her limbs, making them feel heavy. Tiamat knew she was victorious. It was apparent in the way that her opponent collapsed to the sands beneath them. The released each other, blood flowing freely from fresh wounds. Her opponent, @Fernweh, began to crawl, calling out names of what Tiamat assumed were her children. But before she could make it far the girl passed out. What from, Tiamat was not certain.

Her own haunches collapsed beneath her and she sat down hard in the sand, the exhaustion from the fight coupled with her recent birth pushing her to her limits. "@Tinúviel," she called, exhaustion coating her voice. She hoped her co-queen was not embroiled in a fight with Ronin. "Can you...make sure she's okay?" She wasn't sure if Tinuviel could even hear her, but it was worth a shot.

"Anyone not an ally of the Lagoon, get out!" she shouted as she slid down into the sands. She wasn't close enough to stand over her opponent and protect her and she wasn't sure if she had the energy to try. Her midsection ached more than anything, still recovering from birth. She was content to lay there, for the moment, and regain a little energy so she might be able to stand back up in a few moments.

image by rabbit, code by anyu