Amaryllis
Amaryllis   Pride Lands   Illyria Summit    [BIRTH] bound by blood

Hello There, Guest!
or Register
IC News

October 11, 2024 Something is happening in the Scorched Wilds. There is a battle raging between a familiar force and an unfamiliar one. What will you do? Help or hinder?

October 1, 2024 Spooky things are happening as the afterlife start walking among the living once again.

September 30, 2024 Louve Dieudonné manages to keep Wolfbron Bluffs in the family. What will happen between the Bluffs and the otherwise peaceful pride of Lorien Plains?

September 20, 2024 Ilarion Rurik challenges for Wolfbron, will the Dieudonné lead pride fall?

September 8, 2024War broke out once again in the Lagoon when a wedding had some uninvited guest arrive. The war results in the most death matches the island has seen at once. The Summit was challenged by Brighid with Talisa answering the call. After many years of the Summit have the same two leaders, the Summit changes hands. What will this mean for the balance of Amaryllis? A witch hunt has started by Luther and Miaran which seems to be turning things on an island that is full of magic.

August 25, 2024 War broke out in the challenge for the Lagoon after Cassius tries to take the Lagoon from Isla. The Cove remains with Miaran. The leadership of the Mire switches from Sigrún hold to Rike when Luther comes back to take his birthland back. Elephants push into the Rainforest and push out the lions there. Soon after Lucifer lays claim to his birthland and takes over the Rainforest.

June 27, 2024 Conflict and tensions rise as prides come head-to-head with one another across Amaryllis - just as Pyrrha and Cassius take the leap to try and claim (or reclaim) their own thrones.

May 24, 2024 Rulers continue to shift, family strife ensues, and, per usual, tensions seems taunt and always lingering on the horizon.

April 24, 2024 Things are rocky within Amaryllis as the Dieudonne clash result in three deaths and forces a shift in the rulership of Firnen Rainforest. With Caladan Cove freshly overturned as well, what will the consequenecss of these events be?

March 30, 2024 The lull has ended as a long standing family, the Dieudonné, launch death matches against their own. The Plains sees a challenge from a new comer, Aphrodite, and the quite pride is pushed into the spotlight.

March 19, 2024 A momentary lull has overtaken the lands of Amaryllis as its inhabitants attempt to find their footing and rebuild after a string of challenges. How long it will last, however, nobody can be quite sure.

February 11, 2024 The Mire has fallen from the Stärke family and is now held by Luther Rike. The change has stirred but the fighting nature of those on the island. The Brook finds a new leader with Icefang and Isla takes over the Lagoon after a storm pushes out the old leader. Reti finds himself the leader of the Hollows after Alexander is hurt. The Oasis finds a new leader in Léonie who is soon tested by Harou.

January 8, 2024 The snow has finally begun to melt anew, which means that the world is slowly returning to the much-anticipated summer season. With the various holiday activities and the other jests put on by Nafasi also coming to a close, it is safe to say that winter is finally over.

December 5th, 2023 Nafasi had pulled a cruel trick and has sent Amaryllis back into a renewed winter season! But it's not all bad, because the lands will also see a handful of holiday-themed events popping up as a result. To make things more interesting, a wayward trio of travlers have also arrived and are facilitating a mass competition between the prides, bands, and rogues -- formally dubbed the Amaryllis Winter Games.

December 2nd, 2023 The spring air brings forth a number of pride challenges. A familiar challenger for the Cove and the Oasis arrive to try to earn what they want. The new leader of the Lagoon is tested in battle as well. What changes will come from the challenges? Who will remain standing and who will find their world turned upside down?

November 27th, 2023 In a challenge between mother and daughter, the leadership of Wolfbron Bluff changes for the first time in 5 IC years.

November 22nd, 2023 Two death matches, one resurrection, and an almost-war later, the lands find themselves in a constant state of turmoil and calamity. Families have been torn apart and endless blood has been spilt; but how is it all going to end?

November 3rd, 2023 The lands stir violently as a death match rages on between Aeistrios Saxe and Morrigan Greyflood. Observers spill into the pit in droves to witness what will no doubt be a historic battle -- and it is clear that this familial fued is far from over, no matter who wins and who dies.

October 12th, 2023 With winter comes the surge of more pride challenges; Ludivine challenges Ryker for Firnen Rainforest and is victorious in her endeavors, meanwhile an outcropping of maims breaks out on the sidelines. In a shocking turn of events Luther returns to challenge Bruno for Ecrosia Mire, will the former heir prove victorious or has Bruno got what it takes to keep his brother's ambitions at bay? This has undoubtedly shaken things up as Bruno declares war against Andal Oasis and Allies in the process!

archive of old in-character news

OOC News

Quick Links - Major Discord Updates & Quick Fire Updates

November 24, 2024 Our Winter Events have been posted! Our Winter break will take place Dec 20th - Jan 6th. Please read more here

November 11, 2024 We have added two more weeks to the BWP! Also be sure to check out our Quick Fire Updates.

October 11, 2024 An important message to our members please take a moment to read it over. We are also launching our Mini-BWP! Echoes in the Ash

October 05, 2024 Check out our Fall update. There are a lot of changes and some fun new things!

October 01, 2024 Halloween has come to Amaryllis in the spring! Check out the Spooky Time Fun we have going on, complete with scavenger hunt and ghostly hauntings! There might even be something going on in the Scorched Wilds, for those brave enough to look.

July 15, 2024 We have released our official summer update/patch. It includes a lot of important information so make sure to read it through!

July 12, 2024 Our summer break is here! Learn more here! It will end on the 26th of July.

July 1, 2024 Our summer break is coming up soon! Learn more here!

June 27, 2024 The June Posting Raffle is coming to a close this weekend, so get your posts and ticket counts in!

May 28, 2024 Our June posting raffle is posted for sign ups! Sign up here. Be sure you vote for your favortie banner! Seasons banner contest voting!

May 23, 2024 The Guidebook has officially been updated with the new trade perks, as per the revamp. Please ensure that you are changing your trades or picking your perks from the pools (if applicable) in this thread.

April 19, 2024 We are entering the next phase of our trade perk revamp and testing with the launch of our soft opening, which includes the new perks going live and changes being able to be made to characters. Please read the thread in its entierty. Additionally, this is a reminder that you have until May 9th to exit your double exp threads!

April 01, 2024 Our Spring Update is a MASSIVE update! New trade perks are annouced, changes to leadership and prides, new ranks, and more! Be sure to read it over! After you are done, be sure to head to member testing to give the new trade perks a test drive!

March 19, 2024 With our site-wide double trade experience event now fully underway, the Admin team would like to bring our official 2024 Site Fundraiser to everyone's attention. We rely on our members to keep the site going, and are offering a wide range of gifts and prizes - please take a look!

March 1, 2024 Our double trade experience fundraiser is open for donations! Please read about the changes made for this time around.

February 13, 2024 It is time for our 2024 Community Check In. This survey covers OOC areas, IC areas, and a few other things that staff are looking to gain insight on. This is very important to us so please take the time to answer the questions. You have until March 11th to finish this survery. Once complete, you can claim an item from the shop or 150xp. More details are in the survey.

January 25, 2024 Site update! Please review some changes to the site here.

January 8, 2024 Happy New Year and welcome back from our site-wide break! We're looking forward to picking things back up, and hope that everyone feels refreshed.

December 2, 2023 Fa la la la la, la la la la! It's finally December, and we all know what that means — holiday events, woohoo! We will also be having a site break December 22nd - Jan 5th.

November 28, 2023 We are looking for input on the trade system revamp. Learn more about it and the raffle here!

archive of old out-of-character news

-->

Character of the Month
Pair of the Month
Thread of the Month

Pride Challenges
No fights in progress
Rank Challenges
No fights in progress
Maim Matches
No fights in progress
Death Matches
No fights in progress
July Y13
Summer
Summer is in full swing now, with clear skies, warm nights, and ample sunshine! As such, the deserts begin to grow dry, the shores remain a blissful escape, the north is spared with cooling winds, and humidity continues to rise in the jungle. Rain and storms are long forgotten troubles by now, which is both a virtue and a vice during the heat of the season.

Map & Calendar


Recent Posts

Outlaw Bands
outside the law

Site Time
The current time on Amaryllis is:

Credits
The bread and butter

All site-based items on Amaryllis are copywritten to the owners. Characters are copywritten and owned by their creators. Amaryllis is currently owned by Ice and Irish. Themes coded by Dusk. Full credits here.

[BIRTH] bound by blood
  Quote     |   #1
The air inside the den clung heavy with the aftermath of labor, the scent of sweat and blood mingling with the petrichor that seeped in from the opening. Outside, rain pelted the ground, but inside, the warmth from the bodies around her made the den feel thick and stifling. Anya lay still, her breath shallow and slow, her fur damp with exertion, eyes half-lidded in exhaustion. The birth had taken everything from her, more than she expected, and now, in the quiet aftermath, she felt both drained and bound by what had just transpired.

Five sons. His heirs.

It was done, just as Mamasha told her it would be all that time ago.

They lay nestled against her, fragile, their tiny bodies pressing into her belly, seeking warmth and comfort. Five cubs—the fulfillment of a deal, the one that freed her from the confines of Ecrosia Mire, which permitted her to claim power. The terms had been clear: bear him strong heirs, forge an alliance with Illyria's newest queen, and her freedom was secured. She recalled how angry he had become when she first proposed she serve as an envoy, how incredulous he had been. She had known then that she had a choice to make.

And she did.

For she calmed him, promising power over anything, and she had become his wife.

A choice made.

Now, she was more.

An empress.

A mother.

She had given him exactly what he wanted—no more, no less.

Her gaze shifted to the entrance of the den, her heart heavy with thoughts of what awaited her. She knew the weight of these cubs went far beyond the love a mother would feel. They were born of politics, a means to an end. Luther had other children, scattered throughout his lands, but none like these. None born of a printsessa, none of such fine breeding, none that would carry the power these cubs now held in their tiny, squirming bodies.

They were different.

They were hers.

Her breath hitched slightly as she shifted, her muscles aching with the effort. It had taken everything to bring them into the world, but now, a new weight pressed upon her. These cubs were not just sons—they were the chains that bound her to him, and yet, paradoxically, they were also the key that had finally set her free. A bitter irony, one she had long since accepted, if only because he too was bound to her.

They were her bargaining chips, as much as they were his, as much as they were hers. And her husband, she expected, would never know what power he had given her.

Just as she wanted.

Luther will come soon, she whispered, to Ingrid, the nursemaid who had seen her first through her journey in abandonment and now through her journey into motherhood, the words more for her own reassurance than anything else. Anya had no doubts he would arrive. He had demanded this, after all. Five strong heirs. Heirs born not of some common lioness, but of royal lineage. These cubs, more than any of his others, would carry the weight of his ambitions. She had fulfilled her part of the bargain, and now he would come to see what she had given him.

Her body still ached, the deep, throbbing pain a reminder of what she had endured. She had paid the price in blood, had given him what none of the others could. And now, she was free—free from the Mire, free to pursue power she could no longer wait to be given to her. Her eyes drifted back to the entrance, where the rain continued to fall, relentless and unforgiving. The storm would pass, eventually. The world outside would warm again, the flowers would bloom, and life would return to the lands of Amaryllis. But until then, until the rains ceased and the clouds cleared, she would wait.

For Luther. For the future she had birthed. For whatever came next.

She had done everything required of her, had fulfilled her promise to the letter. Now, all that was left was for him to see it. To see what she had given him—and to see how much she had gained in return.

@Volkov @Aleksei @Damyan @Hugo @Nikolai @Ingrid @Luther ♔ @Brighid ♔
  Quote     |   #2
(This post was last modified: 10-21-2024, 04:26 PM by Ingrid. Edited 1 time in total.)
There is something on the air. Something primal, earthy, bloody; the inexorable dawning of a new age. She recognizes it immediately; it is the process of childbirth, and Ingrid doesn't stray from Anya's side as the last of the cubs come into being, cradled in the soft embrace of blood-soaked earth. Anya is a mother. She can't believe it—Anya, so young and unwordly not even two years ago. The world had swallowed her up and spat her back out like some kind of bad seed, yet she rose above her adversities and surmounted them.

Two silver, two gold, one brown. Ingrid's eyes are misty and she chokes back a tearful laugh as she looks upon the large bundle of cubs. Perfect. They're perfect. She will make sure to enjoy their cubhood before they grow too old to mind her. Ingrid hasn't come unprepared; she reaches around and rolls an ashanti pepper towards Anya, to help relieve the postpartum cramping and the... less charming spillover effects that result from just having given birth.

"This vill help you recover from delivery." She smiles proudly, tenderly, and moves in to press her forehead against Anya's. "Your journey as a mother begins. I cannot vait to see ze many ways Maua blesses you vith these little ones." Luther hasn't yet arrived, but she makes sure her sentiments are passed onto him too, should he show up. She straightens herself, her emotions written plainly across her face as she gazes down at the newborns. "Welcome to the world, children."
code to pine

  Quote     |   #3
she paces.

back and forth, back and forth. the chill of the mountain seeps into her bones, the rain soaking her pelt and leaving her face near tear stained. brighid is not queen right now: she is sentinel, confidant and friend, a usual wicked simper tempered into a concerned frown as she waits and watches from outside the den.

the nursemaid (@Ingrid, was it?) inside is closer to anya than she ever will be and the queen's ear twitches whenever she hears the woman's accented words. she speaks encouragement, reassurance and life into the empress and brighid remains quiet until she hears those soft words spoken: welcome to the world, children.

brighid halts her incessant pacing, the trail of slush she's dug herself into abandoned as she lingers at the mouth of the densite. from where she stands she can see the five strong bundles pressed warmly to their mother and relief washes over her. there's a tenderness that is soft, fragile and beautiful that she's afraid to break with the overwhelming shadow of her presence.

the queen feels horribly out of place, reminded of the birth of her children that was harbored alone in the fright of everfrost. not to mention, she doesn't ever recall having friends in the yawning loneliness that had been her upbringing.

she is glad that @Anya ♔ does not have to suffer that same experience.

so, she continues to stand guard, slack jawed and mystified, a ghost at the entrance of the den as she marvels at the empress and the cubs that were meant for greater things than they could ever expect. there's a softness to her gaze, temporarily unburdened by the weight of a crown and the cruelties of life.
art by drifty, code by javs
  Quote     |   #4
The journey from the Mire to Illyria had not been an easy one.

Add a storm into the picture, and Luther stepped into the den damp from head to toe. Water clinging to his mane, pooling beneath his paws. The air was thick, suffused with the heady scent of birth and blood, and he inhaled deeply, letting it fill him with a strange, quiet satisfaction. His gaze swept over the scene before him, lingering on Anya—exhausted, fierce in her silence, her damp fur clinging to her body, her eyes like embers still glowing after the ordeal. She had done it. She had given him his heirs, his five sons, as promised. The culmination of their deal lay before him, nestled against her side, tiny bodies breathing in shallow, rhythmic unison. He felt the satisfaction course through him, a feeling as sharp and bright as steel. My heirs. My heirs. "Anya—"

He almost forgets himself and rushes right beside Anya. Almost forgot that @Ingrid and @Brighid ♔ were both present. Brighid stands at the entrance, and so before he can lunge further and forget about everyone else but him and his heirs, he gives the woman a curt bow of acknowledgment. "You must be Konign Brighid, a pleasure." He had much to say to her, but that was as much as he could spare now.

After all, @Anya ♔ had just given birth to not three, not four, but five boys.

He moved closer, lowering himself beside her, his gaze steady and unreadable as he surveyed his newborn sons. Surprise followed by awe, his pale green eyes burning with the vigor of pride. With the bright future, he saw laid out before the five new boys added to his dynasty. My heirs. There was a chain between them now, forged from ambition and necessity, one that neither could easily break. "Anya, Mein Schatz, you've done beyond well," He murmured, his voice soft yet laced with authority. He seeks to caress her cheek more gently than he has ever touched a woman. The Mire monarch was smitten with the wriggling, mewing creatures at her side. Anya had proven that her words were not meaningless, that she recognized her duty and so he would recognize her for the strong mother and diplomat that she was. His eyes followed the way one of the boys outsmarted his siblings to the teat. He smiled, amused. "This one is Hugo, for his sharp mind." That was as far as Luther's creativity went - he was not interested in their names, only in their blood. Only in their surnames. "You may name the rest," Luther declared generously.


Nov '22 Pair of the Month
Bruno & Luther
  Quote     |   #5
His touch was oddly welcome. His praise washed over her, cool and refreshing in the warmth of her whelping den. A purr rumbled in her chest as she melted into his gentleness, a sense of pride bloomed in her heart.

Her tired eyes shifted to the cub dubbed Hugo and a smile graced her lips. Yes, Hugo was a fitting name. There was a part of her that wished for one daughter, for then she might have named her. Such was the way of tradition.

She did not expect him to grant her the right to name his other four heirs. A smile pulled at her lips as she whispered a wordless thank you. What a reward it was to know how she affected him, how she convinced him to offer her kindness. She would enjoy the fruits of her labor.

@Volkov, @Aleksei, @Damyan, @Nikolai, she declared, pointing to each of them in turn, her eyes soft.
  Quote     |   #6
(This post was last modified: 11-24-2024, 10:33 PM by Ingrid. Edited 1 time in total.)
Luther finally arrives, barreling towards his children, and she quickly steps back to clear the path to Anya. He examines the cubs with a clincal neutrality, and Ingrid can't help but think of a man sizing up his elite livestock. A nameless dread engulfs her; an uneasiness she can't quite put her finger on. Her gaze is split between Anya and @Luther ♔, wondering if the king is displeased, and then his eyes seem to change, burning with a fierce pride.

The tension melts from the air and as he commends Anya for her accomplishment, Ingrid perks up, managing a smile. The brown boy is named first, and Anya provides the rest names that bring to mind images of the queen's snow-clad home. "Congratulations, Luther. Your boys are bursting vith health." She turns to him then. "Should your boys need a teacher... I vould like to volunteer myself." She had been counselor and friend to @Anya ♔ ever since she was a girl, and she won't scruple to protect her royal progeny in the same way.

The Illyrian queen is still waiting at the mouth of the den, and Ingrid turns to leave, her tail lightly lashing @Brighid ♔'s shoulder as she brushes past the alabaster queen. "Go see them. Better to enjoy zem vhile zey're young." She smiles warmly, assuming the lucky parents will call on her if they find themselves in further need of assistance. For now, she will give them the privacy to relish their newborns.

-exit-
code to pine

Forum Jump: