The Roleplay

[abalancedbreakfast]

A bit of structure before we begin. The general post order for now is going to be Me, Lyon, Me, Dirge, Me, This Land. This is to ensure that there is even spread of participation and to ensure everyone gets the information they need.

You all have received your pre-known information for your characters in DMs. Be sure to play to that information when we're starting off.

This Land will be absent for the first few posts, so we will skip him until he feels he is ready to join in. 

---

The humidity made the air thick enough to swallow as the Royal Hill, a hill separate from the main pride, buzzed about with activity in preparation for today's feast. Trudging along the marsh grasses and log bridges with very little completely dry land made the walk a somewhat miserable one for Inri, the Baroness of Hyenas. But, she had something unusual in her step. Someone unusual at her side.

"Oh, and I swear to god, if I have to put up with Baron Laffi's pretentious snobbery for five seconds at this feast I am going to go berserk. Always doing his face up in strange dyes and acting like he's higher than anyone else. Well, he... he is, technically, because he's a giraffe, but, you get what I mean! Ugh... at least Baron Mako is going to be there... he's the only Baron I can enjoy passing time with. And he's a damn crocodile."

The hyena sighed to herself, but then leaned up against Asali for comfort. "I just... I really hope I can do something to help my image tonight, darling. And I know you understand that." She turned to the lion and licked his cheek. "And that's why I just need you to play along like you're my assistant tonight, okay? They can't know about us."

[Lyonize]

"And that's why I just need you to play along like you're my assistant tonight, okay? They can't know about us."

"Oh, but why?!" Asali playfully feigned a theatric, sing-song voice. "I'm in love, I'm in love and I don't care who knows it!" He paused, his tongue lulled out to the side. He straightened himself from the dramatic frivolous pose he had ended up in. "Seriously though, you don't have to remind me why we keep this a secret." He bumped his hip against hers, as they walked in stride. He glanced around, making sure nobody noticed. They were nearing the hill so it was probably best if he put on the assistant act soon anyway.

"Alright. I think it's about time." Asali slowed a bit in order to fall behind Inri and took on a slightly more subservient body language.

[abalancedbreakfast]

Meanwhile, in the hospital den, work was busily stirring in the quarters. All manner of fish and fruits were being prepared by various servants. Dykuma hadn't frequently gotten headaches in the past, but the dazzling pigments and colors of all the entertainers and monkey trapeze artists and singers gave his eyes so much stimulation that he hardly wondered how one could take it all in without going blind.

These Delta Kingdom animals... they had it way too easy. The fact that they even had enough resources to host a party like this could sicken one.

And the companion next to him, the so-called "assistant to the mistress of the hunt" Leifa, didn't help his aching head. Her bubbly babbling on numbed his mind and rattled his brain.

"Oh, and after that, our very own Prince is going to participate in a duel! You'll love to look at it, there's a sandpit in the middle and him and the other fighter will be wearing these really fancy costumes, oh dear it'll just be so exciting! I think he has a suitor over today as well! All the way from the Shoreline Kingdom, and-"

A rather frantic looking monkey tapped her on the shoulder before she could keep babbling on. "Leifa, have the huntresses gotten all the food ready? We need that ready to go to the dining hall, stat! We have too many important guests to be screwing around like this!"

Leifa recoiled away from the monkey with a tinge of fear. "Oh, dear, I'm sorry Master Mono, we'll get it sorted out! I think it's almost ready."

The stressed noblemonkey slapped his forehead in embarrassment before taking a deep breath. "My apologies, Leifa. It is uncouth and uncultured of me to snap like this. It's just stress, you know. Hey, get your guest over to the dining hall soon if you can, there's a table for him. And kid?" he said, turning to the thin, wirey lion in front of him. "What's your name? Ah, I must apologize, little time for manners right now, just enjoy the show."

Leifa tugged on Dykuma's shoulder. "Come on, let's get to the great hall, the show's about to start!"

(Dirge's Turn)

[Dirge]

Dykuma nodded to Leifa and pulled himself to his paws. The lion limped over to the lioness and stumbled over a rock, barely catching himself. His head swam from the sudden movement and ached even hard for a moment before the pain ebbed back to it's previous intensity. He gave a pained, sheepish look to Leifa.

"My apologies, I must be slowing you down. I think," he paused, straightening himself up and closing his eyes for a moment before opening them again with a smile, "I think I should be fine to continue now. You can tell me more about about the prince and his suitor from the Shoreline Kingdom as we walk if you don't mind the slow pace."

[abalancedbreakfast]

Inri snuck her leonine companion into the banquet as a servant and a guard. Occasionally, she'd give him a half-hearted order to follow, but other than that, his job was to look menacing, which, to be honest, was not a convincing look for this wirey lump.

This much was made apparent when Inri lead Asali to the other Barons at the hall's entrance, who looked down on the stringbean with suspicion. There was one crocodile, a giraffe (certainly Baron Laffi, as his face was caked with gaudy make up), a crocodile, a zebra, a gazelle, and a jackal. All of them seemed to interact with professional courtesy masking a deep distrust.

Laffi, snob as he was, decided to speak first. "So. This is your bodyguard? He leaves much to be desired, I must say."

The hyena furrowed her brow. "Well, I suppose there are many things in life that lead much to be desired, Laffi. I'm just glad I didn't have to put on any makeup today" she said, clearly a pointed comment.

The giraffe snorted and raised his skull before the crocodile spoke. "You two, I know there is always animosity in the Baron's court, but can you at least try to appear civil? We are in public, for god's sake."

Laffi snorted again. "Oh, now you're concerned with public image? What a surprise, I didn't take you for the type, dear friend."

The crocodile growled in subdued anger. "Great. You know what happened, I know what happened, the whole damn kingdom knows what happened. WE, the Barons, can have a private conversation away from the prying eyes of a servant later. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to be an adult for once."

The quickly degrading conversation was only barely saved by Minister Mono, the monkey, skipping up to them and telling them it was their time to enter and take their seats.

The room fell silent as the group entered, Inri quickly shunting Asari to the back of the line so he wasn't mistaken for a Baron.

In the middle was a sandpit, and nobody entered it. Must have been the stage, the animals assumed. A raised platform sat empty above the rest of the feast, and a very well painted and decorated lioness sat among the distinguished guests seats.

And finally, food was already being passed out to distinguished guests. Fish was served to the carnivores, as it was the least offensive meat to serve in the presence of herbivore guests. And it looked like the monkeys had worked their charm here too: The meat was cooked to perfection, a very rare luxury indeed. As the commoners looked on and received their portions in awe, Leifa quickly shunted her injured friend Dykuma into a seat. "Show's about to start! You'll love it. Feel free to get up and move to see all the different things going on once it starts!"

A hush fell over the room as several very decorated lions filled the raised platform. It was the royal family, but there were whispers around that one of the lions was missing. Never mind, the King continued as normal.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the rainy season has been kind to us this year. The marshes and rivers have brought with them fish and fertility, but there have been no floods to speak of. The months to come will be months of celebration!" Out of nowhere, an elderly-looking owl swooped in and landed in front of the king with a sharp salute. "Master of Wisdom, Sancho, here, sir, reporting that the moons do indeed indicate that the rainy season is over and your assessment is wise."

The King gave a polite and restrained nod of happiness. "Thank you, my most wise advisor."

A muscular and lithe lioness stepped to the middle of the sandpit to a massive cheer from the lay-animals. "Sir, Mistress Jaya of the Hunt. Our food supplies are in abundance. It would be wise to give these stores to the people to avoid spoilage."

The King nodded. "A wise council from my best huntress. Let it be done." Another cheer from the crowd.

Then, a massive lion covered in scars and decorated in wooden armor strode to the side of the lioness. "Sir, General Joko, Master of War. The land is secure, and still under watch. We are not at war, and our troops remain vigilant for any threats to our animals during this feast."

The King again responded. "A decisive action by my warmaster. Carry on, General Joko!" he said with a sharp salute.

Finally, a trapeze flung itself down from the ceiling, monkey attached, as the fancified primate did a backflip off of the trapeze and landed flat on his feet in front of the king. "Master of Culture, Ecce Mono at your service! Everything is in order, sir! Let the festival begin!"

All at once, a flurry of actors and drums and servants bringing food of all kinds flooded the room in an explosion of hyperstimulation.

(PERCEPTION ROLL FOR LYONIZE, 13, DETAILED IN ROLLS SECTION)

However, through the intense noise and pageantry, Asali notices two things. First, a bloodstained lion, juvenile, was talking to a guard in a suspicious manner across the room. Second, the fact that two of the Barons, the croc and the giraffe, had somehow vanished and excused themselves out a nearby door. Only Mako's tail gave an indication of where they were.

(Lyon's turn)

[Lyonize]

Asali listened intently to every conversation he could but couldn't help but notice the two barons that Inri had mentioned earlier excused themselves suspiciously at close intervals and in the same direction. Casually, he followed them and attempted to listen in.

[abalancedbreakfast]

(PERCEPTION ROLL FOR DIRGE, 18, DETAILED IN ROLLS SECTION)

Dykuma paid little attention to the festivities and pomp, and for his focused attentions, he caught many things that most others had not. He noticed that servant boy of the hyena baroness sneaking out of the festival cave to follow the crocodile baron. He noticed the strangely intimate grab at his shoulder by said hyena baroness, a grab she retracted quickly before looking around as if to make sure nobody saw. Then, behind him, he noticed two of the guards that were previously assigned to the exit of the cave starting to walk out down the hill and to the east. And in close pursuit, she noticed the monkey who kicked off this whole ceremony quickly duck out of a window before landing on one of the guard's shoulders.

Clearly, this party had some kind of sleight of hand going on.

(Dirge's Turn)

[Dirge]

Dykuma took note of the goings on during the event, eyes lingering in the direction Minister Mono headed with the guards. There was something off about that monkey. He turned to Leifa with a smile, "This is amazing! There's so much happening! I'm going to go look around! If I can't find you after it's over, I'll head over to the hospital den!"

Dykuma got up from his seat and limped away, ambling around and stalling for a bit before slipping out the unguarded exit in pursuit of Minister Mono and the guards.

[abalancedbreakfast]

Asali quietly stalked the Crocodile and Giraffe to the outside. The Giraffe bumped his head on the cave exit and complained about some thing or another under his breath, before the Crocodile stopped, looking at the Giraffe wordlessly.

The Giraffe, who Asali knew was Baron Laffi, decided to get the first word in. "Well, what do you intend to waste my time with, Mako?"

"You know exactly what we're here for. You made snide comments about it outside before the ceremony."

"I gave my erudite opinion on many things which you and the other Barons seem to have no education on. You'll have to specify."

Mako furrowed his brow and took a step closer to the giraffe in annoyance. "Laffi. This is about my wedding, you know it, I know it."

Laffi scoffed and raised his head in indignance. "Quite right, and the whole world knows about it now! A crocodile of your status attempting to marry another male in secret? I refuse to work with anyone who attempts such an affront to nature!"

"Hardly a change of pace, you refuse to work with anyone at all. All you do is whinge and complain about your status and how much you hate the King, the other barons, and the Crown of the Savannah!"

"Do NOT try to shift the subject away from your wrongdoings-" The giraffe stated, puffing his chest. "Don't you know the precedent that your little stunt sets?"

"My romantic life is not a stunt, giraffe"

"Oh really? How do you intend to gain an heir then? The King will never ratify this secret marriage of your's!"

"That's not your problem!"

"You're right. It'll be your's when I tell the King about your vile habit!"

The crocodile made a slight grin. "My vile habit? Oh, well, King Kufa will be simply ecstatic to hear about your undertakings last week by the Hasim Creek."

Laffi quickly went pale in the face from the accusation. "What undertaking?"

"I don't know, the one when you decided to trample a servant Zebra for fun, to 'teach her her place'? I'm sure that both King Kufa and Baroness Karifa will have words enough to make sure you leave court without your title."

The two looked at each other harshly before Laffi spit on the ground next to him. "Disgusting creature. I'll keep your little secret for both of our sakes, but don't expect any favors from me in the future!"

"I wasn't counting on it. Now go back to the festival and try to make at least an acquaintance for once" The crocodile said as the two turned around to catch a glimpse of Asali's head poking around the cave entrance. 

Laffi charged around the corner and tried to back Asali into a corner, bumping his head on the cave entrance in the process. "Ow! Come here, boy! Didn't Inri ever teach you not to snoop around!"

Mako, the level headed of the two, shut the giraffe up. "He just started a month ago. Give the boy time. You'd have known him to be a novice if you'd actually bothered to talk to any of your colleagues beyond pompous gloating." Mako then turned to Asali. "Look, Laffi may be harsh, but he is correct. You should be more careful here- much of what we discuss is incredibly private."

The crocodile then looked Asali up and down. "Come, you can sit aside me at the banquet hall and we can discuss matters further. You seem like you have much you want to learn about the way business is conducted here."

The giraffe got immediately jealous. "How now, young little upstart! Don't listen to this absolute fool of a crocodile! If you want to learn what's what, come and dine with someone highborn like me! Trust me, you'll become far more cultured!"

The two animals looked at each other in disdain before looking to Asali.

[Lyonize]

"Look, Laffi may be harsh, but he is correct. You should be more careful here- much of what we discuss is incredibly private."

"My sincerest apologies. I didn't realize the privacy of your conversation." Asali placed a paw on his chest, adding sincerity to his already honey-smooth voice.

"Come, you can sit aside me at the banquet hall and we can discuss matters further. You seem like you have much you want to learn about the way business is conducted here."

Asali opened his mouth to respond but Laffi interjected before he could get a word out.

"How now, young little upstart! Don't listen to this absolute fool of a crocodile! If you want to learn what's what, come and dine with someone highborn like me! Trust me, you'll become far more cultured!"

"You honor me, my Lords." He bowed his head humbly. "But as her assistant, I feel a responsibility to stay by Lady Inri."

[abalancedbreakfast]

The giraffe snorted and raised his head. "Taking the easy way out. Hm, I pegged you as one with no potential. Good little servant boy," he snorted haughtily before bumping his head on the ceiling again on accident. With a grunt of pain, he stiffened his neck tall again, and carried on while muttering to himself. "Exemplar of elegance, Laffi." 

Mako rolled his eyes before turning to Asali. "You're wise to want nothing to do with this, young one. This court is a pit of vipers that uses our sorrows as currency. Let's get you back to Baroness Inri. I need to discuss something with her anyway." The crocodile walked on back to the banquet hall. "And if you ever do wish to visit my barony, you'd be a welcome guest. Any friend of Inri is a friend of mine. Don't tell her I said so, but... I see her as a kind of daughter to me." With that, the crocodile stiffened himself up again and put his emotional guard back up.

---

Dykuma stalked close behind as the guards carried the monkey down a trail which looped around to the back end of the cave-riddled hill which made up the royal palace. 

"Oh, my, what a trainwreck of a backstage. All kinds of clambering and bumping about from the performers, it's a miracle the king didn't notice!" The monkey frantically said to himself. 

"Well, if it means anything to you, Minister Mono, I liked it quite a bit." One of the guards said respectfully.

The monkey breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, why thank you. You've no idea how good that is to hear."

"How's the family, anyway, Minister?" The other guard said, trying to ease the nerves of the monkey he knew to be rather neurotic.

"Very good, thank you. My son is turning out to be quite the craftsman! He won't stop playing with the little carving tools King Kufa gifted him for his first birthday. Oh, here we are, the Armory-Caverns!"

Before the group sat a cave entrance guarded by two other guards who sat silent and unmoving. The strongest two lions of the pride, even stronger than General Joko: Clearly these were the very elite of King Kufa's military. The monkey hopped off of one of the lion's back and grabbed a nearby palm leaf, tying it to the head of one of the jewel guards and grabbing his mane to pull him into the cave with him. A whole 10 minutes passed before the pair emerged again, and this time, the blindfolded lion had it.

The jeweled and painted skull of a giraffe: What little unpainted bone their was was perfectly white, and it fit snugly onto the head of a male lion with a simple vine strap on the chin. Diamonds, Emeralds, Sapphires, and Rubies all adorned the thing, and the bone between the spaces of these gemstones were elegantly carved with plant motifs.

One armory guard stayed behind along with one of the two guards that escorted the monkey out: It seemed that only an armory guard was allowed to carry the Crown of the Savannah out of its cave, and even then only because it was far too big for the monkey to carry. 

The guards started to walk back in the direction they came from, but once they got back to the festival, they took a hard left at the entrance and went through thick bushes that blocked their path and made all kinds of noise. 

It seemed that this was the farthest Dykuma would stalk them. 

[This Land]

It had taken Kikome many days over the brutal dessert to get here. No matter how much survival training one receives, a dessert can easily kill you. Not only that but the long trek had made Kikome no way near as presentable as he should be. His once fine slim golden mane had turned messy and full of sand, paws still stained red from an opportunistic kill and he was incredibly thirsty.

His target, the river Delta Pride was now in View, the night was dark but he dare not venture too close yet until he made himself look presentable. He was in the shadows for now but his all over yellow colour would attract attention quite quickly as he got closer and he needed to be on his best game.

A Welcome small pool of water gave him the opportunity to quench his thirst and clean his paws. He gave his mane a good shake, giving off a large cloud of sand. He then splashed some water on his mane to flatten it down, slightly unsheathing his claws he ran them through his mane to finish off for that final neat look.

Right, now he looked the part, time to act the part. He took a deep breath then confidently made steps towards the Pride boundaries, reciting the story in his head for when someone questions his presence.

[abalancedbreakfast]

The guards at the front door stopped him briefly before Mistress Jaya noticed him, knowing him (at least due to the time of day) as her foreign guest. "Stand down guards. This is dignitary Kopesh, he's here to make military observations." She then looked him up and down. "Come along, we are having a festival at the moment. You can relax for the night, and my assistant, Leifa, will take care of you." With that, she lead him into the cave's large chamber.

Kikome walked into a scene of absolute scorcesian excess: A lion painted red all over was fighting another lion in the sandpit as monkeys beat on drums. Servants of all different species rushed to and fro bringing along food for the guests. The King talked idly to his wife throughout the process, and there was so much movement and talking throughout the ceremony that one could hardly keep track of all of it.

Leifa found Kikome quickly. "Oh! You must be Kopesh! Hi, I'm Leifa, I kind of take care of the hospitality around here for new guests. Come, have a seat! There's another outside guest here at the party! Poor thing hurt his hind foot a bit ago. He was sitting right- Hm... Where is that guy? Dykuma couldn't have gone too far."


(Dirge's Turn)

(Turn Skipped due to Lack of Activity)

[abalancedbreakfast]

Baron Mako slithered on the ground, making his way back into the main cave where the party was in full swing. Walking up to Baroness Inri, he gestured to the small-framed lion. "Baroness, I believe your aide du campe here got a bit lost. I was just talking to him, seems like an upstanding young man."

"Oh dear. Asali, why are you constantly getting lost? Sorry about that, Baron Mako."

"It is no trouble, Baroness. He just got the runaround from Laffi anyway. How goes the prince's courtship ceremony?"

The Hyena looked back to the fight going on in the pit. "The prince is winning, of course. He's a good fighter but I doubt one of his own guards would try to make him lose in front of the Princess of the Costal Pride."

(PERCEPTION ROLL FOR LYONIZE, 16, DETAILED IN ROLLS SECTION)

Asali directs his gaze over to the fight in the center of the large cave. The Prince is winning of course, and as the Baroness said, the guard was going easy on him. At the very least, the princess of the Costal Pride did still seem interested in him, as her smile and obvious oogling at his muscles betrayed. The Prince, for his part, kept the intensity of the fight down and at least wasn't trying to murder the guard, which would have been a lack of restraint Asali had witnessed before at ceremonies like this in other prides.

The young lion was well prepared to leave it at that and tend to the fish dropped in front of him by a monkey servant. However, a brief moment of the fight caught his attention, a moment so subtle he had to question for a moment if he was just seeing things: The prince and guard were locked in a grappling struggle, each both tossing their weight into one another, until the prince managed to throw his head under the guard's chest and invert him onto his back, pinning him to the ground. This alone would have been nothing unusual, but as the prince pinned the guard down, both had a tiny flush in their cheeks, almost imperceptible. This, combined with the look in the prince's eye and the hitch in his breath as he did this, simply didn't sit with Asali as a normal wrestling moment.

(Lyon's Turn)