he follows @Olive and the others to the lagoon, steps hurried as they cut across the valley towards the beach pride.

in any other circumstance, he might think this place would be an ideal place to live with the swaying palm trees and the gently lapping waves. if only there wasn't the problem of about the entire valley beating the shit out of each other to think about...

aspen makes sure to stay on his mom's heels, following her up to where @Elodie stands looking almost shell shocked. they aren't close friends by any means, but he remembers her friendly nature and beaming smile from when she had come to the borders of the pride with her family. from what aspen had heard, his sisters had raved about how awesome the new kids were. of course it hadn't been long after that when their massive den began to empty out - him included.

he follows her widened gaze, ears flattening as he sees dragos in the middle of a vicious battle. shit... "i'm sorry." they weren't condolences for a future death - in fact he had full faith in the guy - but aspen felt bad that elodie had to watch. "i'll stay with you, if you want?" though he could understand her needing some space... and wanting not wanting a stranger to stick around and watch her life fall apart.

coding by daanyen | art by rabbit

well avarice wasn't going to be the only one left behind!

despite her father's stern warning to stay in the den, avarice is on his heels almost immediately. it's only a minor side quest chasing dragonflies in a flowerbed that keeps her from getting there before @Fury. walking up to her sister and @Septima, real eyes go as wide as saucers. {"holy shit."} she breathes looking over all the people gathered.

an ear flicks at septima's instructions to watch. did avarice look like the watching type?! {"that's boring."} she declare with a huff. {"who are we fucking up?"} she echos her sister's demand for more information, still scanning the crowd for a target should septima not provide one.

as luther slinks off with a fair number of the pride with him, kjartan cannot help but follow behind. orange eyes narrow as he sights the red woman - their prisoner, a sigrún witch - traipsing about the lagoon as if she was free to do so. vater is obviously right in putting her in her place. in an instant, everything seems to blow up with lions streaming in from all sides and launching into battle.

for a moment he considers remaining hidden, his father's words from before the challenge for the mire ringing in the boy's ears. he recognizes the summit queen and the lagoon queen as they both arrive - witch, witch, witch - and on their heels come apparitions. lions who are both there and yet not.

surely a ploy by their coven to make it seem like their numbers had swelled - to run off their enemies with such trickery! pathetic! kjartan sees right through it, lips curling in disgust. they would erect such abominations in fear of his father's inquisition? unnatural, vile, disgusting. he would not fear such witchcraft, such women. with that, the young tike stalks forward to join the fray, eager to do his part to snuff the witches out.

kjartan has a pre-plotted fight with mavka, please do not attack him.

This content might touch on topics that are sensitive or triggering for some readers. Trigger Warning for mentions of general gross misogyny things

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Please do not attack him yet - plots are plotting~

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Tryink to have a party vithout me?

Harsh, Germanic tones announce the Jarl's presence as the beast heaved himself up onto the ledge so violently vacated by Luther and his pets only moments ago, moonlight glimmering off of pearly fangs exposed in a sharp grin.

How hurtful. He speaks to everyone and no one and most importantly, himself a single icy eye roving cheerfully over the shambles of what might have once been a celebration, the remnants of food and drink not yet trampled by agitated paws not going unnoticed by the glutton.

Dinner and a show - wasn't he lucky?

For this, he supposes he can forgive his cousin for rousing his attention at such a late hour just to drag him back to this beach. The Rike shall celebrate where the Sigrun and their dogs could not, and if any of them were lucky enough to survive this, they could take notes on what a realparty looked like.

Could you even call it a revelry if blood didn't flow like alcohol? Truly, these lions were the most uncultured of heathens!

White paws sink slowly into the shifting sand as Rainer deliberately pushes himself forward to into the chaos of the bloody battlefield, long claws flexing with the yearning to partake. The sight of Morrigan is a given at this point, though his reflexive sneer quickly eases into a smirk once he recognizes the youth currently harrying her. There might be hope for Peregrine yet, if only the boy could overcome his crippling vulnerability to old men and their canes. Why, he might even have a chance to win! If you squinted. With only one eye.

(In truth, he could care less about the boy's fate. He only wishes to see the bitch broken down bit by bit until she all but begged for Rainer to strike her down. The slow demise had always been his favorite.)

Quick flashes of white alert Rainer to the presence of his sons when he bends his skull to snag an hors d’oeuvre from the forgotten feast (what, should he just let it all go to waste?), much to his amusement. Grimm has picked an ambitious target - the Lagoon Queen herself, if he wasn't mistaken. Just as was expected of his firstborn. A shame he's fighting to steal some wench and not her crown.

A tantalizing tangle of red and blue catches the whole of his attention next, when he raises his head to swallow. Dark lips curve deviously when he thinks of how of how he and Arcania had tag-teamed their prey once before.

Should they do it again?

Oh, but never mind. He continues his previous monologue aloud as he circles around the titillating catfight, eye gleaming brightly towards the gilded flower that had captured @Arcania ♔'s attention, muscles tensing with the intention of pouncing should @Diomedeidae break free from her cage. I zink a kiss from ze bride should be enough to earn my forgiveness.

If she didn't want to be borrowed, then she shouldn't have worn blue.

It's just a shame he hadn't noticed the behemoth coming his way.

@Roarke

Art + Code by Dee

This was chaos and he hated it. Why Miaran had brought the pride here was beyond comprehension for there had been no real reason for them to march onto the lagoon lands that benefit them as a pride. Not that he could see. The reason he was there was because he came to protect @Khadija. Who when Miaran had came and spoke for them to leave he sighed in relief but then the High Queen charged and attacked an elder and another lion joined into the fight making it one verses two. Hearing the words of @Rose he growled. Not at her but the whole thing. "I won’t let you go get hurt. The cubs need you." He said to his mate so in order to protect her he did something he didn’t want to do. He went to help Miaran beat up a couple of elders.

-FIGHT HEFE-

Charging in he attempted to slam himself into Roan's hip. "This is madness what are you doing Miaran? Attacking the elderly isn’t good for the pride nor does it give us a good light!" He might have been fighting on her side but he was clearly protesting while doing so. Finishing his words quickly he would attempt to open his jaws and grab the older male by his back leg though he wasn’t putting too much force as he wasn’t trying to severely hurt him.

Milano @Miaran vs. @Roan @Hanneth
dominance match
Round 1 of 3
Hits:

Rolling 5d20: 3 + 16 + 12 + 10 + 14

Dodges:

Rolling 6d20: 13 + 19 + 2 + 10 + 4 + 8

Luck:

Rolling 6d20: 9 + 14 + 6 + 19 + 10 + 17

For Caladan Cove:
- Khadija - Medic Master Perks: Healing expertise keeps all pride-mates in peak physical condition (+1 luck for pride-mates in fights when medic is present, once per character per thread)

code by corvus & art by Rabbit

Morrigan, I’m getting too old for this.

He’d said it in passing, a joke, as they’d scaled down the Summit towards the Lagoon. But he would push himself for a party, any excuse to drink and relax on the soft sands, and when Morrigan insisted on going despite her state there was no question that the giant would be on babysitting duty once more. He didn’t offer to carry her, though; he didn’t want to get punched.

They don’t get all the way there before the cries for aid and battle reaches their ears. The valkyrie senses it first, and then she’s taking off before Roarke even blinks, before he can stop her. He curses, forcing his creaking bones to pick up the pace to catch up. And he arrives not at a party, but a battle scene.

Morrigan is already targeted by that same black lion, young and naive. Stupid. Morrigan can handle him, surely. Even wounded. But Roarke remembers the other one - the Rike - that had seemed so keen on sending the younger male after the Summit lions. So where is he?

Sunset coloured eyes land on him almost immediately. There he is, prowling around another fight, ready to pounce on an unsuspecting woman.

How do you kill a monster?

Cut off its head.

Roarke crosses the battleground, sidestepping fight after fight.

The Rike dog will keep sending his horde, using them as meat shields and claws, over and over. Until they destroy every shred of good left in this world. Roarke isn’t good - he will never claim to be a knight, a paladin. He took no oath and he swore no vow, but he has found himself on that side, somehow. A hand extended to him the times he needed it most.

It's time to repay that debt. End the war.

“I zink a kiss from ze bride should be enough to earn my forgiveness.”

"She’s busy," Roarke snarls as he keeps moving, intent on closing the quickly shortening space between himself and Rainer. His lips curl back into a sharp, wolfish grin. A heavy paw lifts, claws extending to swing hard at the male’s blindside cheek -

"How about a kiss from me?"

Roarke vs @Rainer
For Death
Round 1
Hits:

Rolling 8d20: 15 + 9 + 18 + 14 + 10 + 13 + 6 + 2

Dodges:

Rolling 5d20: 7 + 5 + 10 + 17 + 18

Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 13 + 11 + 3 + 5 + 1

artwork • coding

Aphrodite might have been cowardly once, but she’s intelligent, and she catches on quickly. And so, they dance. Haakon is careful to keep his attacks light and placed on tough, meaty parts of her body. He jerks his head at the last second, ensuring it looks like her teeth barely miss him.

"You were right -" the viking whispers, "about Miaran." He is careful to keep his lips as still as possible, facing into the black fur he is ‘trying’ to bite. "She’s insane. A witch hunter - whatever that means. Admitted to slaughtering her own family. Her own children."

And that - that is something Haakon cannot abide.

"But I will not leave Caladan unchecked in her hands." And so he will not leave, he will play the dutiful heir.

Haakon vs @Aphrodite
‘Minor Maim’
Round 1
Hits:

Rolling 0d20: 16

Dodges:

Rolling 0d20: 11

Luck:

Rolling 0d20: 8

art © drifty | code © hinter

reel me in

and just send me off

He had no lion dog in that fight. It was enough to keep Lorant away for so long, yet not long enough. He stalked through the darkness with eyes peeled and head lowered watchfully, guided toward the setting sun by the utter chaos carried by the wind. For that moment, he was grateful for the dissolving of the silly rainforest borders – grateful that no one could command him to go charging forth for petty lion matters. It seemed the same could be said for a sad few of the cats gathered at that lagoon.

Lorant twitched his whiskers thoughtfully as he walked across that isthmus. It occurred to him as he walked, peering this way and that, that he could see no other way in or out of the land. That certainly made for easy fortifying apart from the sea beasts. He opted to linger near the sand bar, intent to be able to witness anyone who went in or out of the frenzy. He never could understand why their kind was so afraid of a bit of water.

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|| december y12 | ten years | lone creature | at scilla lagoon | hiding | unaffiliated ||
+20 - Find a notable landmark in a territory (double xp via Peregrine)
+20 - Explore a territory and find something useful in it (double xp via Peregrine)
+10 - Use the terrain to your advantage (double xp via Peregrine)

code by corvus | art by max

Her lungs rattled with the deep-seated ache in her chest. This was surely no place for a cub, at least not right now in the middle of the throes of battle. But the sounds of war drums beating in the distance had lured the maroon cub from her hiding within the hollows. It had awakened something within her, like calls to like perhaps. She moved from home, from safety and security, and headed straight for danger. Throwing caution to the wind, Onyx climbs up and out of the hollows. The first thing she noticed was the bite of the cold air against her face. Her breath came out in puffs before her and her eyes would dart upward, immediately landing upon the vague outline of the moon behind the clouds. For a moment she might have lingered, to catch just the faintest view of it, but again those distant sounds pulled her from her childhood wonder. She was intrigued by the snow underfoot, after all she had never been anywhere but within the hollows since birth. But now, she was untethered, and she intended to explore. The walk to the Lagoon was pleasant enough, different. And though the cold seemed to make her chest tighten impossibly further then it already was, she continued onward. By the time she did make it to the Lagoon she was a wheezing mess, her nostrils dripping the faintest trickle of snot from the cold. The girl would dart across the sand, determining a hiding spot between a few spare debris and shrubbery. Her eyes didn't know really where to look exactly as everything was plenty chaotic. But there was a hum of approval and curiosity zinging within her. She cared not for any other cubs present, hell she wasn't even sure if either her parents or siblings were here. Instead, all she could focus on was the bloodshed, and there was plenty of it. Her gaze did manage to land on @Xander in the crowd, tangled up in his own mess of a fight. Onyx wasn't sure she'd consider him a friend but an acquaintance, of course. He was the only individual who had bothered to speak with her, so she found herself unable to tear her gaze from his tussle. Secretly, she hoped that he would win.

Onyx is attempting to hide!

@Vladizmir @Serafella - giving you guys a tag if you'd like to try to find her or follow her, up to you c:

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Assassin Exp Doubled (from Peregrine)
+10 - Practice stealth
+20 - Sneak into another pride's territory without getting caught (Scilla Lagoon)_{BG — ART — CODE}

She catches the way his body turns toward her and causes for her forelegs to instead wrap around the front portion of his body. Her breath catches and is pushed out in a rough exhale at impact, nostrils flaring as they sucked in more air to help inflate her lungs. Isla feels dissatisfied but will take what she could get, especially when her teeth still managed to find purchase upon their intended target. She attempts to bite down harder and chew, trying to cause the most amount of damage in the short span of time she knew they would be engaged.

The Queen feels a jab in her chest as he lurches forward, not enough to leave a bruise but enough to bring a soreness to it. Isla is attempting to continue to have her hold around the male, claws still attempting to dig into whatever skin it could find underneath them even when she feels the slashes of claws at her left side near the back of her shoulder. She hisses through blood and flesh, tasil lashing wildly behind her as it continued to help aide in her balance.


isla vs @Grimm
for @Cassandra
round i ii iii
hits

Rolling 8d20: 15 + 2 + 1 + 12 + 14 + 18 + 6 + 11

dodges

Rolling 6d20: 12 + 7 + 6 + 10 + 19 + 5

luck

Rolling 6d20: 10 + 15 + 9 + 16 + 5 + 17

*Pride Tier 4: Bonus to members participating in fights in their pridelands (doubles the level 1 bonus of their master trade) - paladin
*From Heloise - Medic Sub-Master Perk: Healing expertise keeps all pride-mates in peak physical condition (+1 luck for pride-mates in fights when medic is present, once per character per thread)

ART BY NAVARRE, CODE BY DEE