+10 Observe a challenge and learn the results - Alaric vs Roan (1/2)
	+10 Observe and study a new scent (1/2)

The yearling, like much of the pride, had been quietly tucked away within the tunnels when the earthquaking call rocked his world. Hiccup had scrambled onto his shaking paws and with his heart thundering in his ears, he’d quickly made his way through the Hollow, eyes scanning the darkness for … well, anyone. He hiccuped as he dashed down the obsidian halls, kicking gravel and sand behind him along the way as he ran along, searching. He wanted to find his pride before he did anything else.

A furious roar reached his ears and clued him in — Roan had already responded. Behind that, Hiccup heard the ruckus of the crowd, which made him hiss through his teeth. He approached the scene with his ears back and worry etched deeply etched through his features. The boy’s mercury gaze found @Avana, who had already been joined by others from the pride. Hiccup, of course, moved to do the same. His eyes remained on Roan’s form as the Sovereign battled for his crown, worry filling the gaze of his young supporter.

He was quietly hiccuping when he slipped in next to @Tobin — unfortunately, he had no choice but to seat himself on the elder’s blind side. The yearling flicked his ear, wondering if anybody knew something about the challenger …

While he waited, he breathed in, picking through the air for any scent that might identify the pride he was from — if he had even belonged to one. “I don’t recognize— hic!— his scent,” he remarked in a murmur. There was something there, but Hiccup had never encountered it before. He didn’t yet recognize the Oasis.

coded by flea | artwork by ale-tie

Things were moving quickly, and while Rorik had traveled to this location sure he was prepared, he finds himself struggling to keep his nerves in check now that it was actually happening. The boy had been kept mostly free from real danger thus far, but already gathered were more lions in one place than perhaps he has seen so far in his young life. The story of what happened at the last challenge the Rike had attended was clear. Logic dictated that if there were Sigrun then, there would be Sigrun now too. Their advantage was that it was a non-rike who was fighting, giving them an element of surprise.

Would it be enough?

He prepared on his way here with a bath and a good coating of dust, to hide his scent. He knew the others were around, but not exposed. Never exposed.

Mom had been exposed. The thought flashed across his mind often and was always unwanted. He buries it down and waits, idly cleaning the sheaths of his claws in silent preparation.

He creeps behind outcroppings and into the bushes where he could see the action without compromising his position, staying quiet and low as he watches Alaric battle for them. Dark gaze scans the crowd. He only sees @Eulalia, but he knows there are more of them here than meets the eyes. The sea of faces were all unfamiliar, some jeering for the invader to lose and many anxious-looking. Let them fret.

Rorik is hidden

_{ART BY KOAFOX — CODE}

servatis a maleficum She followed @Seneca, leaving the Oasis and kept swift at his heels. He seemed to settle, his attention heavy on the matter at hand. She had began to settle before spying a familiar face. Greeting Seneca first, she gave him a brush of her lip to his chin as she passed. Winding the outskirts of the fray and it’s audience, she placed herself at her acquaintance’s side. I wondered when I might see you again. low, a subdued jest offered as she leaned into his company. Her cheek tilted towards his, offering the greeting towards @Amaroq’s ear. Her eyes remained trained on Alaric and his opponent. She wondered what this might mean for the Oasis, should Alaric leave them for greater things, of who else meant to migrate in his wake. She gave it but another moments thought, before flashing a winsome smile towards her hunting companion, savouring their reunion. Are either a friend to you?

code // art // do not use without permission

With the fight well underway, the crowd grew larger with each passing breath. Specifically, Avana took notice of the strange males that encroached on their territory, fearful that any of them might simply jump at the opportunity to fight someone or something. The strawberry lass was so caught up in the gravity of it all that she barely noticed @Faelyn's approach until her sister-in-law pressed into her. "Hey," she offered quietly while the look in the Lead Hunter's gaze held all the fear she was feeling for her brother. Avana could easily assume that Fae was probably feeling the same way. Both of them were all too familiar with watching the mauve man fight, and seeing their family get attacked. Granted, this was not a targeted attack on Roan specifically, but it was still some stranger trying to take away their home. Avana was not okay with that.

@Tobin then came up on her right, nearly making the maned girl expect her father as the large black lion took a seat. His straw colored mane, though, put a quick shut down to that thought. "I don't know the challenger," Avana offered, trying to be helpful, before casting a gaze over the rest of the crowd. No one else was familiar aside from the male that Roan had fought with for the Hollow in the first place as her gaze trailed over @Keir, but Tobin had been present for that, so she didn't mention the Ecrosia lion. As she looked over the group, though, would the maned girl's mismatched eyes happen to meet that of @Hambone. The expression on his face was a bit unsettling, prompting Avana to quickly return her attention to the fight.

All things considered, the Hodari felt a lot better watching this fight than she had while watching others. She felt she had the support of her pride and family behind her as they gathered together. @Lotus came up alongside her next, asking much the same as everyone else. "Never seen him before," the huntress answered with a light shake of her head. Avana didn't even flinch at the term asshole because she wholeheartedly agreed with that classification. Anyone who wanted to take away her home was definitely an asshole. @Hiccup then joined them with nothing else to add either. "I think he's from the Oasis, so he's not an ally..." But he was definitely now an enemy. The Hodari knew so little about the pride, though, that she didn't know what all to expect from its members. Would they seek to rip apart the Hollow like Wolfbron had done to Ecrosia? Or was this just one lion who happened to be in a pride wanting his fifteen minutes of fame? Whatever the case, Avana remained on high alert as her pride continued to gather in support.

Table & Reference by Amanda | Base by Drifty | Background from unsplash

She creeps along the edges of the scene, curious and distant and absolutely coated in both dried and wet mud. It was wet, and she was - as usual - uncaring of her appearance. Or perhaps Echo just liked the anonymity it provided her. The last challenge she was at had traumatized her, but Echo was determined to work through it.

She does so by hiding as a passive observer, telling herself whatever happens today is the will of Odin. He demanded blood and combat, and the lions of Amaryllis never ceased shedding it. She imagines him a fat and happy God - if Odin even could be sated.

She watches the combat with interest, not knowing either party. She hadn't known anyone last time either, but last time she had been in the middle of it and this time she was determined to stay away and simply observe. More than anything, she just wants to be okay with the violence - even the possible bloodshed that may break out like last time. Hopefully, it would not. But if it did; she was okay with it.

This is the way it is. Accept them for how they are. She says to herself in a mantra.

Echo is hiding

To be honest, he hadn't been particularly fond of how the last match had played out. Not for the bloodshed, Leviathan was completely fine with bashing an eye or two out on occasion when the fancy strikes him - what seasoned warrior doesn't? He was a gambling man after all, and what was a maim but a gamble?

No, what he disliked was that he knew - just knew - that Calypso was going to be there and she would tell him some awful story about some piece of shit landlubber and this time, he wasn't sure if could himself back from killing him - whoever he may be. for once, he wished she would let the pride politics be and stop knowing every god-damn lion on the island.

Not that it would prevent him from coming, of course. In fact, it guaranteed his presence today.

Just as he predicted, @Calypso is among the crowd and he surges forward, pushing aside anyone who might be between him and her. Thankfully, she was on the outskirts. "What'd this guy do teh ye?" He asks lowly, for once not shouting. "We can drag him back to the brig, you and me right now." His tone is joking, but his question is serious.

Art by Ale-Tie

@Squid edit to close open italics tag

i declare war on anybody standing in the way //
the call for the hollows beckons her; they might not be fast allies as of now, but saga knows that hrefna's betrothed resides in the once-sigrun stronghold. she feels for the man, challenged again and again at every turn of the corner, and as she readies herself and rises from where she's been lounging, she makes a note to speak with roan after the challenge. after his win, she hopes, to find about securing an alliance. or at the least remaining on friendly terms. with hrefna wanting to move to the hollow they'd need to remain peaceful, lest magnus go on a father-induced-rage. she doesn't feel particularly amused when she catches sight of the masses in the distance; on any other day she might have smiled with the edges of her lips and slithered in among the crowd to find a familiar face to sit with. today there is a dark cloud looming over her shoulders. the results of her conversation with asteria sits heavily on her shoulders and dogs her every thought. she gnaws the inside of her cheek relentlessly, only pausing when the taste of copper floods her tongue. "{fuck,}" she mutters, ears laying back, as she pauses to spit a mouthful at her feet.

her gaze swings back up and latches on eulalia.

the rike idles at the outer ring of the assembled lions, roan and his challenger tearing into one another near the mouth of the caverns.

she goes stock still, ears still laid against her skull, and hackles standing on edge with her sudden rage. her jaw tightens hard enough she can hear the creak in the muscle, pupils dilating until her single eye is a sea of black with the smallest ring of brown at the edges. her claws are unsheathed, and her toes slowly draw back along the earth the tear small furrows in the ground as she grips it. the world has given that vellen-awful lurch, again, and she feels as though she's standing on a mountainside, fighting to remain upright.

everything.... is their fault....

every little problem boils down, at its core, to the rike.

she takes a ragged step forward and then another and another- until she's surging forward, a silent wrecking ball.

//////// start fight ///////

she barrels straight for him, where he stands with his back to the outer realm. her claws are already unsheathed, tail streaming behind her to help with balance should she need it. with a narrowed eye and ears slammed back to her skull, she loosens her jaw and dives forward with one last surge of her haunches. her open jaws attempt to slam shut on the back of his right haunch, just above where the muscle meets the elbow. simultaneously her outstretched claws reach for the flesh near the base of his spine and the place just in front of where her jaws seek to grab - she will treat him as nothing more than prey, to be hunted as a zebra, because that's all he is to her.

today, the rike will f a l l.

{Saga v @Eulalia
for death
round 1/7
Hits:

Rolling 6d20: 15 + 2 + 5 + 19 + 12 + 4

Dodges:

Rolling 6d20: 16 + 15 + 11 + 19 + 5 + 2

Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 18 + 3 + 20 + 14 + 13

}

A familiar face or two meandered by, nameless and unmemorable to Eulalia. The only faces he cared about were Sigrun mongrels, which so far had not yet deigned to show their faces. There was still time though, and the jarl was aware the Rike were more exposed than ever. He had yet to see a fellow Rike show, though no doubt they would be waiting in the shadows. He remained vigilant, musing that the events of the last shindig they attended might repeat themself.

It was hard to miss the snow white lioness who had come on scene. With the increased number of swarming bodies Eulalia did not think much right away. This soon changed.

The thundering of paws alerted the jarl before he saw her, as the white lioness hurtled towards him almost faster than he could react. His marred face suddenly contorted, a vile snarl creasing his muzzle. Sigrun.

Come meet your doom.

There wasn't much time to think. The jarl squared himself, jaw parted to protect his throat. He did not expect her to go for his hindquarters though, a swift move that caught him slightly off guard. Ears pinned back, he uttered a snarl as her jaws clamped onto his right hind haunch, her claws raking a score across his back and downward. Instantly he swung his hindquarters around to the left away from her with as much speed he could muster, hoping to dislodge her before she could clamp down too tightly, keeping his hind legs squared beneath him for balance. Now twisted in a slight half-circle, Eulalia strikes a heavy blow with his right foreleg, aiming for his claws to meet the right side of her face at her eye and cheek.


Eulalia vs. @Saga
for death
Round 1 / 7
Hits:

Rolling 8d20: 3 + 10 + 20 + 9 + 16 + 18 + 11 + 17

Dodges:

Rolling 3d20: 18 + 19 + 5

Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 19 + 16 + 17 + 8 + 7

""

The Butcher

Unholy water - Sanguine Addiction, those silver bullets a last blood benediction

A call to arms. A throng of blackbirds burst from the overgrowth. Gauthier, stirred from the northern path through the valley of the granite mounts, turns his attention to the southwest: where the sun sinks beneath a desert rough, and the rind of the horizon is given to the rolling fall of jagged spires. From there rise a canticle of voices, murmurs, growls, and raptors begin to circle overhead, their marble-eyes glassed with hunger. The world was a cold place, after all.

A grin rolled steadily across his lips. His eyes, too, gleamed with a hunger.

There is the promise of meat and the taste of iron in the air when he arrives, and when his eyes cast on the titanic sway of two great males battling over the mouth of a cave, his interest is not piqued by their display or even the trail left by his brother. It is the stirring warmth at the pit of his stomach when he sees the striped form of @Aidoneus, luxe and buxom, at @Amaroq's side. A mysterious hunting companion, he expects his fortunes doubled by her appearance.

Gauthier moved to her side opposite his brother and looks over them both with a puckish grin that wrinkles the soft tissue of his scar. "Who do you favor?" he rumbles with a chuckle, roguish and toothy, but when casts his gaze over the two contenders again it is shirked roughly in a double-take over the form of @Esmerée. She basks in the bloodshed, (a queen, godly, framed in bloodspray and duskglow) lounged on her perch in all her ravishing babylonian splendor. A garden grown for parched eyes, Gauthier is not civil when he looks her over from toe to crown and lips to tail - and his smirk ripples with the swiftness of a wink from across the battlefield.

That is, before his sight is obstructed by another fight between another set of strangers.

Gauthier is observing.
+10 for observing a fight (Alaric vs Roan)
+10 for observing a fight (Eulalia vs Saga)
double exp via Calypso

She knows she isn't supposed to... Hillevi knows, and still she cannot help herself. She'd heard the call ring out, and a number of her family members have vanished over the borders, and without her mother here to stop her -- well, the young Sigrún is tired of always doing what she's told. She won't learn anything from sitting in the pridelands and waiting for tragedy to find her, and this time, she doesn't wait for an escort like she had all those months ago when the Mire was challenged for.

She moves across the sands at a steady clip, knowing much of the scenery on this route from her numerous trips between the Lagoon and the Oasis. As she nears the mountains, it begins to get unfamiliar, but she picks up the trail of her family leading the way, and weaves her way through ascending trails. Unlike her cousins, Hillevi had not been born in the Hollows; she has only known the ocean, and then the desert.

Nearing the growing crowd, she hunkers low to the ground and finds the familiar scent of @Voluspa, following it through the shadows of crumbling rocks. Hillevi pauses at the outskirts, her ears pitched back against her skull as she catches a flash of movement from the corner of her eye; her mother, boring down on a stranger. She shudders and continues on towards where she finds her cousin lurking in the stone pillars, melding into shadows just as easily as Hillevi does. Trembling, she presses hard against Voluspa, her wide eyes never once leaving the quickly escalating fight between her mother and who she can only assume is a member of the Rike family.

There is a soft, distressed noise in the back of her throat -- a lump that she swallows down. She can tell, even now, that they are fighting for their lives, and there's nothing she can do. "Vinsamlegast, Vellen," she whispers, far too quiet for anyone other than Voluspa to hear, but the plea is broken and cracked, strangled behind the weight of her fear.

hillevi is hidden

image by cas-tello, code by koi