She was not alone. He would make sure of that, but he would be quick to abandon her if she chose to cower instead of helping him defend her. The man that had targeted her was spitting words, offering her sanctuary, trying to persuade her to join them and forsake the Brook. He remained smooth faced, he knew very little about the Lagoon pride, only that they were hot tempered and unable to hold themselves with even a sliver of decorum, hence why he stood beside the medic instead of striking out at his ‘friend’ Matti. He would speak of peace and Lathan gave him a look that said ‘really, peace? That’s what you’re going with?’ He had some nerve, if they wished for peace they would let the Lagoon go. They would not continue to attack over the loss of a home when they had already made another. They didn’t want peace…no not when it didn’t reside within the Brook. His lip twitched, the beginnings of another snarl. "He does not seek peace, Freja." He murmured. @Colsun was a snake, a viper hissing sweet words before he struck. Then the man addressed him as another woman came to stand at his side, evening the playing field. Ears twitched as they remained pinned to his skull. "I do believe Cassandra is the one to blame for this shit." He growled, remembering all too well it was her that could not let things go in the Passage, she had been so enraged by that little nudge by a child that she had stomped to the Brook and fought for it- again. Only to lose- again. He could say what he wanted, but it did not cloud the fact that this was not on the Brook, this was on Cassandra. —- FIGHT STARTS HERE —- Cousin would lunge forward, jutting out his shoulder blade to aim for his chest. Lathan tensed, attempting to step one step to the right so that while he would get the shoulder bump, it would be to his left shoulder and not directly on. There would be pain and bruising, but it did two things. It took him further away from the man’s jaws and softened that blow- as the blade of the shoulder would not strike him but only the meat and muscle. Colsun’s jaws reached and snapped at his flesh, causing his head to jerk, just as the mans teeth dug into his cheek. Lathan snarled at the tugging sensation, the white hot pain that shot through his face as hot blood began to leak from the puncture. There was something else happening as sand seemed to be flung at him, but he couldn’t spare a moment to look in the direction of Freja. He felt movement near his chest, but he could not spare that a glance either. His left paw came up, reaching over the leg of Freja, in an attempt to dig poison laced claws into the side of the man’s face that was linked to his own. He’d leave his other poison laced claw for the woman if she dared to come up on his right. "Speech." Lathan @Freja vs. @Colsun @Heloise For Freja Round 1 / 3 Hits: Rolling 6d20: 6 + 3 + 2 + 20 + 8 + 17 Dodges: Rolling 3d20: 20 + 8 + 18 Luck: Rolling 5d20: 9 + 8 + 3 + 16 + 7

Art by Rabbit and code by Shazaki

((He is VB, waiting for rank change. passage thread posted before challenge))


Karsus had barely settled, if at all, into his new Pride when the call rang loud and clear--a fight was breaking out. The boy didn't know shit about the Brook yet, but he couldn't miss this change to dig his claws into another less fortunate being. After all, violence was bred into him--it ran in his blood, he experienced it in the womb. He never stood a chance at being a peaceful son.

So when he hears the call, it beckons him. And when he smells the same scent as his new-found pride, he gets even more excited.

Already he has smeared blood from a dead animal across his features, ready for a fight. Karsus was a simple boy--he didn't bother with politics, he didn't care why. All he wanted was the glorious release of endorphins that always rushed his system every time he could make a cut, every time he could taste blood on his tongue.

When he arrives it's chaotic as fuck. Fights have broken out everywhere, bodies clashing, fur and skin tearing. An array of blood and sweat and fear and anger. And honestly, he couldn't even tell you who was who--

But he spots someone that looks like they'd be one hell of a fun ride. His duel toned eyes lock on, pupils thin and Karsus barrels towards the red and blackish form of this stranger (of whom, he doesn't even truly know if he should be attacking or not) and let's his fight begin.

Karsus attempts to use his bigger form to knock them off balance, hoping he has been successful in taking them by surprise. His maw opens, his teeth are bare, black claws and yellowed teeth attempt to seek purchase along the neck and shoulders. He shakes his head violently, wanting to feel the sensation of skin separating from the body, to smell the rush of blood that comes with this sort of entanglement.


@Karsus vs @Zaahir ♔
Minor Maim -- cool ass scar
Round: 1 / 4
Hits:

Rolling 4d20: 15 + 10 + 19 + 9

Dodges:

Rolling 1d20: 5

Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 8 + 5 + 14 + 18 + 9

They will say I have shed innocent blood, but what is blood for if not for shedding?

.

code by corvus

It echoes like sweet music to the monster's ears. The song of chaos, of war and bloodshed. He doesn't hesitate to follow its beckoning call to the shores of Amaryllis, to Scilla lagoon.

Cassius's choice of thrown isn't a bad one, surely also not completely blindly chosen either. The lagoon was their enemy and if his cousin could claim it it would bring a blow to those who'd dared oppose the X'uekai.

Moving through the chaotic battlefield the monster's eyes linger on the fighters, the faces. The scent mingles and becomes one of war. Blood is shed and death awaits them. A dark smirk settles onto his face as the banshee cry of his little sister catches his ears. Vailing women, wailing girls. They ought to train it out of her, what use was crying to the clouds? No, the X'uekai did not vail like banshees they tore through the world with tooth and claw.

"Silence a tu insufrible gritando hermanita" Silence your insufferable yelling little sister his tone carries a low growl as he approaches his shadow of a sister's pink eyes gleaming with ill intent. "Los Xuekai no son banshees como estas mujeres de carácter débil" The Xuekai aren't banshees like these weak-willed women The monster would aim to move around her to stand beside her as his head drops so he may speak only to @Nazara "Choose an opponent for us hermanita, and they shall either be ours or fall before us" little sister this was what it meant to be X'uekai, to take whatever you wanted or destroy whoever got in your way. And no they would not fight fair either, this was why he looked at Nazara awaiting her decision, waiting for her to choose a target. He would follow her into battle let her wet her claws with Lagoon blood, let her taste the sweet nectar of victory and bloodshed.

July Y12 || Scilla lagoon || Vermeda Brook Royal || 7 years

Potential xp
Barbarian
+10 Participate in a raid or war
+5 Observe a fight (Cassius vs Isla)

Velasco X'uekai

code by corvus, art by eightysichs (DA)

The visions hover at the edges of her sight. Spectral movements of battles in the past, sweet and warm reaches for embrace that she so deeply longs for. And in between the make believe, stitched in the gaps of the illusions that haunted her came the real bodies. Came the clash of iron and will and blood into sand. Like miracles of old they would turn water into blood red wine this day -

Eventually through the haze of her spiritual torment she is drawn to a call. Nay, drawn to a curse. The voice calling for aid of those beyond calls to Dio and she knows the tone and cadences well. It is but a girl, shaking her blood at Cassandra's direction. But a girl not unlike Dio once. Possibly wide eyed with wonder at the powers of what their ancestors, what the gods, held. Reaching for it, beginning to understand it. Youth made acts of faith easy. Naivety made belief simple. "Please Maua, hear me." She calls aloud, she screams for at last the god to pay attention to them this one time and do something. Do something to stop the slaughter and torment of the lions who loved them.

"Hear our cries, feel our blood spill." She feels a tug in the back of her mind and the vision of her father racing into murder is alight in her eyes. She can see nothing of reality as she races towards the figure beside the young woman that Dio noticed before, larger, a man. In her eyes she sees her father and in her heart she believes maybe she can stop the vision from replaying the murder once again.

Dio rushes forwards, running towards Velasco and attempting to approach him from head on. Her paw raised upwards and aimed for his left shoulder, attempting to shove him to the side and further away from the younger lioness. Her claws shifted from their sheathes and she aims to drive them in along with the force of her push. "Aquila. Father." She shouts and stares into the void of her illusions, not fully knowing what she was doing.


Diomedeidae vs @Velasco
Minor Maim
Round: 1 / 4
Hits:

Rolling 5d20: 11 + 16 + 14 + 3 + 5

Dodges:

Rolling 5d20: 1 + 15 + 13 + 20 + 18

Luck:

Rolling 6d20: 9 + 3 + 5 + 16 + 17 + 11

ART BY RABBIT , CODE BY LARS

@Obsidiana VS. @Fairytale FOR DOMINANCE
— RESULTS —

Obsidiana Hits: 4+2+3+4 Luck= 13
Obsidiana Dodges: 1+0+0 = 1

Fairytale Hits: 3+2+2+2 Luck = 9
Fairytale Dodges: 3+1+4 = 8

Obsidiana Successful Hits: 5
Fairytale Successful Hits: 8

FAIRYTALE HAS WON THE CHALLENGE FOR DOMINANCE!

The results of this fight cannot be acknowledged ICly until either both challengers have responded or 3 days have gone by — whichever comes first. Any posts breaking this rule will be removed.

((Keeping this Vague as her joining thread is still ongoing--regardless, she is VB aligned and open to all interactions))

"Silence a tu insufrible gritando hermanita" @Velasco says but Nazara is present only within herself. She continues--

"---And I curse ye unto misery! Disease! Let it rot into your very roots! Let them perish with plague, and let your body crumble under the weight of the X'uekai name!" she finishes the curse by drawing the half circle, carving out a singular rune above it with a bloody claw in the sand and spitting towards the scilla wretch.

At last she can fully hear her brother, to which she raises a brow in curiosity "Too lazy to pick your own target?" she asks, still alight with adrenaline at the anticipation of the outcomes possible here. But the girl clicks her tongue as she spots @Diomedeidae charging at Velasco. "Seems you don't need me to pick at all, fate has chosen for you"

She sidesteps, to give the fight some breadth, "Carve her pretty face, just for me. It's far too perfect she calls "And do not fret, I can heal whatever her kitten claws do to you"


Potential XP:

+10 Cast a curse or blessing on a character/group (Onto Cassandra)
+10 Participate in a raid or war (actively fighting, healing, or helping others) (pending?)
+5 Attend a spar or challenge to assess the wounds

I could burn your motherfuckin’ village to the ground—

I could crack your skull between these motherfuckin’ thighs—I could doom your lineage with one look from these eyes! I could name the date in which they’ll put you in the ground—you’re the one who said its justice watchin’ witches drown!

code by corvus art by drifty

s

o forget theories of sorrow / & hellfire & brimstone at the final circle of the earth: / if I must believe in anything, I choose this

---

She couldn't tell if it was easier with Nikandr's presence, or far more hard. His scent washed over her before she spotted him out of the corner of his eye, but although her ears twitch back, she cannot pry her gaze away from her sister. Perhaps she feared that if she lost sight of @Magdalena, the girl would disappear from her again; or, perhaps, it was that innate, instinctual fear of turning her back against a Scillan.

We could fix that, came her friend's easy drawl, and Melusina couldn't describe the feeling swelling deep in her chest. She is half-tempted to say yes, Gods, please, but when her mouth parts, at first, nothing comes out.

Do it, she screams silently, and it is only then that her gaze breaks from Magdalena's, and falls desperately into Nikandr's. Her eyes hope to convey what her words could not. Save her. Save me. Save us.

Magdalena, Melusina?

Her head whips around to @Dominic, and like @Nikandr, she does not know if she welcomes his distraction or loathes it. Suddenly, there are too many variables, too many eyes upon them. They'd all held their breath, shuddered with anticipation at the reunion of two sisters on opposite sides of war. And as time dragged on with its cunning cruelty, the bonds between them were tested by their resolve, and the fury of their fellow soldiers began to seep in. Their own fury, as well, deep-seeded and guarded, began to claw its way through.

A voice rings out. Its commanding tone rises above the crowd, harkening her sister's name. And though Melusina could not see the man who commanded sister to attack sister, she could not help the way it tightened her jaw, stiffened her muscles, drug her wide and wild eyes to her sister once more. A silent question lingered on her lips, though it was evident what Melusina was daring her: Would you try to end me?

Try to, she reiterated silently. Melusina no longer dealt in absolutes. She had fought Cassius and she had won, and the evidence of her victory was threaded into his very flesh.

@Rohan's surprise would be far less unwelcome had he arrived just moments before. But like Magdalena, the warmth of his reassuring embrace if short-lived, and the youngest sister is quickly pulling herself free of him, too. Worried that she would falter—deeper yet still that she might become swath in his Scillan scent.

Her mind is whirring, overwhelmed. Between Magdalena and Nikandr and Dominic and Rohan, the roar of war crescendoing all around them, it takes everything in her to not lose control of her breath. The rattling in her lungs returned, disease taking advantage of the chaos and causing her breathing to sputter. Yet, Melusina tries desperately not to let it show, disguising her broken gasps between flared nares and half-narrowed eyes.

But when her father—her father's ghost—appears, she can hold nothing else back.

@Alaric had died. She had watched him take his final breath. And in the wake of her parents' demises, Melusina had fled before she'd seen him brought back to life. The very will of the Gods had stitched him back together, but his daughter had run before she could bare witness to it. Now, the man who stood in his place seemed like an imposter, an imitation of what once was, what once could have been had they all survived.

Keep up your guard, he says, in that awkward, fatherly tone she'd always known of him. And oh, how desperate she was to shed her skin, to fling herself into his arms and beg his forgiveness, all their forgiveness. But Melusina had come too far; and the wings that had been clipped had grown back in a different shade of color.

Vermeda, Mel? came her sister's incensed response.

Melusina's ears twitch, and the effort with which it takes to pry her eyes from their father is too slow, too great.

Where else? How long have you been back, if you're in the Brook?

Long enough, she breathes. Long enough to know she had made a decision in the Passage that had set her on this course; long enough to have felt pride or regret for it, and yet, Melusina felt nothing at all.

Icefang does not coddle me. She—Vermeda—has made me strong. Strong enough to defeat Cassius, she wants to say. Strong enough to be renewed, to be made anew. You can see for yourself, sister.

But she is not met with such mercy. Instead, Magdalena seems to recoil, a familiar anger unfurling in her sister that Melusina had only just begun to become acquainted with herself. Her face twists into a frown as they separate, fury driving a wedge where once there had been nothing but relief and love. She feels her heart thundering, each painful beat thrusting against her aching chest, her shuddering lungs. She had to act now. If she didn't, she would lose her sister forever. She was running out of time—

Do it, Nikandr! she commands, tears prickling in the corners of her eyes as she turned toward her companion. Do it no—

Before she can finish, a flash of white races past her periphery and launches itself right at her friend. A wild, frantic screech bursts from her parted lips as @Noemi throws herself into the fray, and cuts off Melusina's support. She barely has time to recoil before Dominic surges forward, as well, meeting Magdalena where she herself had skidded to a stop from her path to stop Nikandr herself.

No! she wails out as their battles surge all around her. She had needed more time—if only she'd had more time.

But fate was far too cruel a friend for that. Melusina made her choice long ago. She had months to prevent this day.

Deep, hidden within her, was the realization that would she to do it all again, she would make all those same decisions.

Her head whips to her father, that dark and creeping feeling seeping through; her resolve snaps, breaks. Her eyes are hardened, half-narrowed, no longer those of a shy Stärke daughter.

This is all your fault.

You should never have given us your name.

Art by rabbit, table by cala

THIS THREAD HAS REACHED
WAR STATUS!

— A war is underway between the factions of
Scilla Lagoon and Vermeda Brook and allies —

If happening on a pride territory, this is a reminder that trespassing increases your character’s PVP by one level.

Please remember to read the fight rules on wars, raids, and the fatigue system here, and to post all fights in Fight Updates so that they can be properly logged.

If your character is in a fight or other situations that could impact them post-thread, please be mindful when doing posts that are set after this in their timeline.

Blood pools over his tongue, spilling out from the corners of his mouth as it mixed with his saliva. He revels in that oh so familiar and satisfying pop as her skin breaks beneath his claws. But his vision also boils over with nothing but warm red. Her teeth still in his back, her claws cut deeply into his own leg. A muffled snarl against ridiculously plush fur.

It is a cheap shot, his next move, but one he is not in the slightest afraid to make. That paw that had been in her thigh relinquishes. Only to come up closer to the lower part of her stomach. Where the scent of milk lingered heavily. The fur there thinned for the four teats now exposed for her fresh new babes. Here is where he would attempt to strike. Aiming to drive his claws in as far as physically possible.
And rip.

If the woman did not wish to let go of him then she could return to her children with a torn abdomen. Let them taste her blood. Though once he was finished with her, there might not be anything left for them to nurse from.

Cassius v @Isla ♔
for Scilla Lagoon
2/5
Hits:

Rolling 8d20: 18 + 4 + 15 + 6 + 10 + 1 + 14 + 7

Dodges:

Rolling 3d20: 6 + 18 + 8

Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 2 + 11 + 20 + 15 + 18

Art by Rabbit, Code by Minxy

They collide, pain blossoming in his chest. And though his fangs miss their mark, he is contented to shred her shoulders instead. Her blood warm and sticky against his paw pads.

Her head grazes his jawline, and in response, his own follows hers down. White hot pain strikes into his forearm but still he pushes down. Aiming to try and drag his claws through her flesh but also so that his teeth might find purchase in the back of her skull. Asbjørn attempts to grab hold there, just behind her ears. If he could, he would not hesitate to crack her cranium open like an egg.


Asbjørn v @Arcania ♔
Minor Maim
2/4
Hits:

Rolling 8d20: 16 + 20 + 10 + 13 + 14 + 12 + 19 + 1

Dodges:

Rolling 4d20: 3 + 4 + 15 + 14

Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 9 + 1 + 10 + 3 + 6

Pride Tier 4 Perk (+1 Dodge)
Lead Fighter Perk: (+1 Hit) when fighting on your pride territory

Art by Yumpy, Code by Minxy