She yields to the expectation of her rank with eagerness, following the whispers of a fallen leader. She had seen Scilla Lagoon’s queen fight to the death, she knew the woman was ruthless. Why had she left her reign? Surely not willingly. With as much of her own curiosity as a dedication to duty, Charax seeks to use the terrain in a way that might prove her undiscoverable.

Silently the marbled woman would slink between sand dunes and salty rock formations, noting the unique curve within the beach that created an undeniable bay. Obviously the source of the pridelands name. She sought to crouch behind a boulder, observing, aware.

**Charax is hidden.**

+5 Use the terrain to your advantage
+5 Learn something unique about another pride’s territory
+5 Explore the borders of a pride or group _code

The mist had closed in early that morning, stirring suspicion and chaos in the bellies of all the lions present. Panic and chaos ensued eventually, driving out all the remaining lions to flee somewhere where it wasn't covered by thick cloud cover - including Saga and her demigods.

Shiva eventually wandered back, finding the beach now covered with collected scents from various lions from throughout the lands. "What the fuck is going on?" Shiva murmured to herself as she waded through the mist, drawing closer to where the sounds of fighting occurred.

It was hard to see through the thick clouds, but as she drew closer, she could see that the two that fought on the sandbank were neither Saga, but Ragna, her daughter. The discomfort knotting up in her belly subsided just slightly seeing a familiar face defending what was left of their pride. Shiva looked around at the numerous lions on the beach and didn't hide her snarl. What were they doing here? "Get out!" she demanded loudly, letting her eyes rest on the confused faces of lions that caught her command between the snarls of the fighters and the muffled sounds beyond the mist. "You don't belong in the Lagoon, get the fuck out!" she snarled loudly this time, allowing her fur to stand on end. She took a defensive pose (just in case) and let her gaze sweep over those who stood near to her. Yes, she meant you, you, and you... and definitely you.

---

potential XP:
barbarian
+5 - observe a fight (maybe lol)

assassin
+5 - gather info about a character (either Ragna or Wal)

ART

BARBARIAN:
+5 watch a fight

How she missed the challenges, a big part of Amaryllis, that was pretty much an understament. It was amaryllis' blood, it breaths violence and the constant struggle for power and crowns. She could remember well how it was back when she came here for the very first time, and now as she approached she saw it didn't change a bit. Eyes of fire landed on each individual present, including the two fighters and the rest. All strangers. A woman yelled and she didnt mind, ignoring and taking a seat there to watch things go. Calm expression one that always hides the true self, the true monster. A beast who's wrath will come to life at the very bullshit someone starts with her.

((feel free to fight her))

code by tobi

What else does she have to do with herself? Outside of absolutely nothing, she was a curious woman. Thankfully, a pride challenge meant absolutely nothing to her anymore and she could enjoy the battle without any worries or woes. Naturally it was someone from Firnen, and a very fat Arjana was there to cheer her on. Rani resisted the urge to roll her eyes and simply settled onto her haunches by herself. There was no one here she wanted to interact with, and so she simply kept herself distanced in order to watch the show unfold. It was certainly entertaining.

^{_{CODE & ART BY D}}

The enemy caught a touch of desperation and slammed into her jaws. Killer instinct murmured that this was the death instinct of prey. It was not worth endangering her jaws and her life for prey, but prey were very fun to topple. Her jaws clasped closed with a swallowed snarl, abandoning her attempt to bite and leaving her with a line of bruising along her gums. With great eagerness, and blunt force stupidity, Walpurgis suddenly tried to ram upward into Ragna's chest. Her left shoulder was poised with its angle of bone attempting to lead as a battering object. Her tail whipped around to counterbalance. Her ears were held backward, quivering in pain as fangs delved deeper into her scruff, worsening the punctures and sending lightning bolts of pain along her neck and spine. Narrowed eyes barely glimpsed her other goal - trying to reach around with her right paw with a very, very big stretch, one not very wise, trying to hook extended claws around a rear knee. Topple the prey, yes?

+10 - use a creative move in battle (reach under topple)

Walpurgis vs @Ragna
Scilla Lagoon
3/5

Hits:

Rolling 8d20: 18 + 19 + 10 + 5 + 1 + 17 + 4 + 16

Dodges:

Rolling 4d20: 20 + 13 + 19 + 14

Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 16 + 3 + 6 + 14 + 12

Pity nobody wanted to gamble. Boring. Aurochs adjusted his posture to be slightly less askew, settling into plush sandy comfort with a grumble. Ice and rocks were still better. He cast his gaze over the gathering. The fight couldn't keep his attention for too long. He didn't have the stomach to really study it. Flash highlights, maybe. Maybe he'd gossip if he had a friend to keep him distracted. But he didn't really like seeing others harm themselves for the sake of a stupid patch of land that they had to pee on every day. It was stupid. Pointless. He huffed, looked over the faces again, and decided that next challenge he'd sit a little further back. There were a lot of lionesses he'd rather see the back end of.

One female @Shiva entered with her face puckered in the shape of an asshole, and she sounded like one too. His ears swiveled when she first looked at him accusingly; he tried not to wither. He resented that. Stupid barking dog trying to order others around. Claws rent. Sand shuddered. Pride bitch, thoughts glowered. Princess sort. Haughty shit. And... OK, what was hilarious, or what made him bark a laugh of relief, was that he saw others look at her and then just ignore it. Yeah. She wasn't scary. Just a bossy thing. "Who died and made you the Mist?" he ventured, a long and hollow jeer. Mist had kicked everyone out. Tried to. They were back again, like fleas.

+5 Observe a challenge and learn the results

+10 Remain undetected in a large thread (5+ characters)
+10 Sneak into a pride or group without getting caught

Though it was getting to be past the time where he should be making treks like this across the lands, he wasn't opposed to doing so when it was something important like a pride falling and gaining new leaders. Such information was always good to bring back to Roan, and so he went to the lagoon.

It had been quite some time since he had lived there, but he found it hadn't changed all that much if it had at all. Needless to say, it was simple enough for him to slip through the foliage and sand dunes to get to a place where he could observe the fight from a distance. Couldn't really pick up on any conversation, but there was plenty of yelling that he could easily hear, and he could still see both combatants.

Tobin settled in to observe the battle, waiting to see who would emerge the victor, though he was careful to keep an ear on his surroundings in case anyone might try to sneak up on him.

Parvati had spent less than a week hiding in their den before something ridiculous happened. 6 days, 14 hours, 37 minutes. Then the longest, most forlorn echo came across the lands, wrought all out of personal character and verse. Only meaning remained. Something that Parvati would not know if hearing it the first time. Enough challenges had passed that they now knew: a lion calling mine was calling for a territory to be High Sovereign of. Whether there was already a High Sovereign seemed to be a matter of no distinction.

Normally Parvati would set their lips in a harsh line and act foreboding like old father used to do, though the grey lion did not feel their sire's worldweariness. Normally stay put. Parvati would, actually, greater prefer staying put. And tried staying put. For like a second. Before duty gnawed at them. Duty from both sires and lines of kings (however nontraditional and inept). They could not remain while the Cove, former and longest home, might be in turmoil. Front limbs braced and they heaved a sigh, shuddering through all their thin bones. Maybe another week in the den would fix this later.

They were wrong. (Not about the den part.) Apart the part where it was the Cove. The Cove smelled fine. Parvati steered clear, noting the scent from a distance and feeling guilty a bit that they were close enough to smell but noting just the same that it still smelled like the smell of the latest victor. No leader change yet. This was something of a relief but they couldn't focus on that. A new mystery. From whence came the call? The answer was over a narrower stretch of sand and a greater view of the ocean. Parvati remembered a challenge here before. They stepped over the borderline, wondering if they were braver. No. It still felt wrong to trespass. Nonetheless. It was customary and if they kept their head down, they were probably safe. (This was probably not legal, or good, to be thinking this way.)

They ducked into the shade of the first stand of trees to take a breather. Under the shelter, moss grew along the palms. Fungi in one spot caught their attention. Brightly colored. Naturally alluring. These mushrooms were gnawed carefully from oddly spongy bases. Brought along within a wide-stretched non-grin. Then toward the. The everything. Parvati sheered away from the size of the group. They'd take a spot in the open, open to the sun and the salt spray. The fungi were dropped at their white paws and then disregarded. Not like they could go anywhere. This was not a desirable spot but it was better than company. For this should also be watched: the insight into anatomy that nonconsensual surgery provided. Flesh might rip and flash sight of innards.

+5 Collect herbs
+5 Attend a spar or challenge to assess the wounds
+5 Explore the borders of a pride or group

Snarls came in and out from their fight, a fight that she wasn't sure she was going to win but either way she was ready to give it all. She wasn't falling without a good fight, no Sigrun ever did. She felt her neck collide with @Walpurgis mouth, which closed before anything worse could happen there. But her eyed closed for a moment when she felt before sawing the fluffy woman slam upward. She aimed to be fast to back away but it wasn't enough to avoid it completely. Feeling the bony section of the opponent's should brush hard again the skin of her chest. Feeling a burning sensation but determined to keep going ignoring it for now. She would attempt to push downwards, wanting to use her weight to try pinning the woman which she was thinking wouldn't work. Jaws hardly pressing on the scruff. In one moment she felt claws on her left back leg. She felt the claws piercing the skin. But not willing to fall down yet, she would attempt to remain firm, to keep her ground as much as she could. Ragna vs @Walpurgis For SL 4 - 5 hits: Rolling 5d20: 5 + 2 + 13 + 17 + 19 doges: Rolling 5d20: 9 + 1 + 15 + 3 + 7 luck: Rolling 5d20: 5 + 19 + 2 + 4 + 3

table by koi // art

Sleuth EXP
+5 Practice hiding your scent

It was hard to miss such a large gathering of lions, all compacted into one small area. Well, leastwise it seemed a good amount, not counting those that went unnoticed as they hid in various locations. Asylum wished to observe the drama for herself, but would not go to special lengths to hide herself. She knew none involved and was a nobody to everyone else here. She supposed the Blacks might have done something to anger others, given their bite it was only a matter of time, but she would take precautionary steps just to be safe. En route to the place of battle, she would rub herself against various things, wishing to mask the subdued poison in her veins.

She would come to sit several paces from the nearest lion, observing them as much as the fight, perhaps curious to see if there was anyone intriguing to look at from a genetic perspective. With adulthood fast approaching, she had taken more of an interest in such things. She supposed it might be nice to actually come out of solitude and meet some lions for a change of pace.

image by moogle/code by saph