Start Date: 7th May 2018 (8am GMT) End Date: 7th June 2018 (8am GMT)
It hadn't been long by any means, but the vast majority of the most senior members of the pride had been in agreement. While grief was still very apparent within the royal family, this didn't mean that everything had to come to a grinding halt. Some measure of normality needed to be maintained and as the weeks had drawn by, it had been the Pomithi and Pombuka that had raised a gentle reminder...
It was that time of year again; a moment in which the ocean was often at its calmest and therefore its most benevolent. It was the time in which the cubs and all those who wished to be truly Bahari presented themselves to the waters and waited patiently to determine whether or not they were deemed worthy.
In the past there had been those who hadn't been worthy. In fact, some of the royal family had also been judged unfit to be called Bahari in those moments. That didn't necessarily mean they would remain unworthy indefinitely, but it did mean that they had been required to work harder to prove their intentions were good. Some had already taken to the seas before now in order to ask for its blessing but it seemed there had been others who had chosen to wait. Thus, while acknowledging the struggle of Ram's family, the heads of each rank had agreed that on this occasion the show must go on.
The Bahari'mtoto had never succumbed to overwhelming loss before, instead they had gathered their strength and carried on. Today they would do the same and perhaps the gods would favour them, a reassurance that for now at least, the pride was safe.
It was with this agreement in place that the message had been conveyed and the budding parents and newly salted blood had been given a chance to prepare themselves, or their offspring. They'd been given more than enough time to explain or learn the nuances of the ceremony and as the sun rose to kiss the white sands of the cove, the dawn of the Ba'Ushufo began...
Posted: Sun May 06, 2018 5:38 pm
Important IC Notes
At this time, Shui has not taken up his father's mantle. He's simply too grief stricken and less inclined to lead. The Bahari'mtoto are currently lead by a 'council', this is comprised of the Senior Ranks such as the Nyangumi-Maji/Bumani-Maji. This council maintains the status quo, they have no interest in changing or altering the pride at this time. The normal Rites of Passage apply, there shouldn't be any deliberate drama on this occasion! As always, all allied prides and rogues are welcome... They just have to make sure they play nice. Yep, that even means Stormborn despite what they may have accidentally done!
Important OOC Notes
If you want something dramatic to happen, you may RP among yourselves to achieve that. There will be no coups please! How your lion has responded to the events leading up to this is up to you! If they're neutral that's fine, if they're distraught/upbeat etc, it's entirely up to you! Not everyone responds to these things the same way after all.
General Thread Etiquette Notes
Where possible, try to let someone else post after you before posting again. Where possible, do not meta-game/god-mode etc without the explicit permission of the other player! Where possible, try to have your post consist of more than a sentence. This should help others respond to you and help your RP along, additionally, it will help to ensure you meet any RP requirements you're aiming for when breeding!
Baharimtoto Pride
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Baharimtoto Pride
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Posted: Sun May 06, 2018 5:39 pm
The Rite of Passage
Anyone who would like to participate in the Rite of Passage simply needs to have their lion enter the water and submerge themselves. Of course, in order to supply that little bit of uncertainty you will need to do the following when you make your first post: Roll a 10-Sided Dice If you roll (1-7) the sea has accepted you. If you roll (8-10) the sea has favoured you.
That's right, this means that for this specific Rite of Passage no one will be spurned! It seems on this occasion the sea is going to be feeling benevolent after all, but how your lions react to this is entirely up to you.
After all the participants have taken part in this Rite there will be a rather large feast to celebrate!
Something nice and easy just to get you settled in to things again. <3
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Prize Pool
In order to win the little cub below you will need to meet the following requirements: Participate in the Main Meta thread (this one), totaling one complete RP, this means you need five posts. Participate in a SRP or PRP over the duration of the meta. This can be on any subject you like, it doesn't have to specifically be about the meta! Meeting the above requirements will grant you one raffle ticket. You can receive three more tickets by participating in more PRPs. In order to receive these tickets you will need three separate PRPs. SRPs are not permitted for the extra tickets as we want people to try and socialise! Don't worry, Epine will keep an eye on the on-going RPs so you won't need to post anything. At the end of the meta, Epine will tally up the raffle tickets and post a final list. This will be the chance for you to send her a PM if something is wrong!
The winner of the raffle will then receive the only boy out of this lovely litter:
Afina had been one of the first on the beach that day, the early morning sun gave her pause and time to think. A lot had happened. The loses of their king had hurt the whole pride, may were in mourning, the royal family seemed to be in a bit of disarray but the council had stepped in. She was glad. She was also glad that the Rites were going ahead. They were an important part of a young lions life.
Of course her mind was else where today. Though she felt the sadness and the sting of the prides loss, she was also happy. Her belly had started to round out and having told Xenon that she was expecting their third litter she was happy. The great circle of life, some died and new life was born from the sadness.
The deep blue lioness settled herself close enough to the water that her paws swiftly became damp. She couldn’t deny she was happy about her condition on the other hand she was most irked about Tarni. Her youngest sister had managed to get herself pregnant. Afina clicked her tongue and shook her head every time she thought about it she felt angry. Tarni was her youngest sister of course but, they were from the same litter, it felt, so irksome to her that a relative of hers would, fling. Taking a deep breath she threw away these thoughts, this was a day of celebration, she should not and could not dwell on the silliness of her sister, and really, what ever cubs were born would be welcomed and loved even if she had to move Tarni in with her and Xenon. That conversation would definitely have to happen.
Again a shake of her head as she brushed away these thoughts. She of course was here as support for any cub, adolescent or even adult, that needed to go in to the waves. This was a day of celebration.
—-
Kelpie had come down to the beach to perform her rites. She had waited. She had been ever so patient about it. Though she had wanted to try again, on her own, when ever she felt the need to something pulled her back and set her on her paws.
She had come today though, she was here on this beach, surrounded by younger lions and older lions alike, ready to become a full fledged member of the bahari.
The green backed lioness had made a promise. When she stepped out of the sea, an adult in the eyes of the pride, at last, she would find Shio and finally tell him how she felt. She heads wanted to tell him for the longest time. But, every time she thought about it she had stoped herself, he was her best friend after all, they had spoken about everything from the foolishness of hermit crabs to the stars in the sky. It had taken her an age to realise she was in fact deeply in love with the pale male and then the war happened. A fight that changed everything. She hadn’t even managed to tell him she was sorry for his loss, she had barely spoken to her best friend.
She was determined though, this time, this time she would come out of the waves victorious and she would find Shio and tell him how she felt. She just had to get in the water first.
Tagging everyone as Liviyathan is taking the cubs down to the water!
AstoriaFallen
Lightning Shadow X
KasaiLoki
ChiSohma
Tisiphone
When the war broke out, it had been terrifying. Her babies were so young and it had taken every ounce of strength to get them down to the sand. They had a lot of help. It had been terrible. Though Liviyathan hadn’t really known the king very well, he had been forgiving of her transgressions and he had allowed her to stay with her rogue born cubs. Cheveyo had of course adopted her first litter as his own and she couldn’t have been more grateful but this, her youngest brood belonged to them.
They still seemed to tiny to her, and of course they were, their little legs sank in the sand as they ran around as children were wont to do. They were just so beautiful. She was glad to have them, they pushed away much of the sadness that she felt at the prides loss. It was after all important to raise these babies right, they had to know peace and the beauty of the sea.
When the rights of passage had been announced to the pride she had insisted that her newest litter would go even though they were young. Her first litter had seen their rites under the old king her new under much more somber circumstances but they had a right to go to the water and hopefully be accepted.
Capricorn darted about happily, his silver coat and bright coloured markings dazzled in the sun. His mother had never let them go near the water before. She had explained how scary the sea was and that it was not to be trifled with. That they should never, ever go alone. He had taken this mostly to heart though he had peeped and poked and looked out over the dunes to see the great crashing waves that lulled them to sleep every night.
Today his mother said this was a celebration a time to become one with the water and he leapt and cajoled and frolicked with his siblings, too young to understand that despite the celebration it was quite the somber experience for many. “Hurry hurry!” He called pouncing at his mothers tail his eyes dancing an excited dance. He wanted to go in the sea. ((Roll for Capricorn))
Shio let out a long, slow breath as he approached the beach once again. As of late he'd been taking a lot of walks down here to clear his mind, occasionally running into others and sometimes getting the quiet he sought. Today he knew he was coming down here with a task - that task being to finally re-enter the ocean and see if his growth both literal and mental had changed its perception of him. He hoped that this time he would succeed, for rejection twice from the ocean would be too hard to stand at a time like this.
The sands were already crowded with young and old alike. Many had been present last year when he and his brother had been flat-out rejected by the waters. He hoped he'd see those who had failed last time present, although he was looking for one familiar face in particular...ah! There!
A smile crossed his weary face as he moved in Kelpie's direction, glad to see she was finally allowing herself to enter. They had talks quite a few times about swimming together to see if the sea would accept them, but both had agreed to wait until the proper time, which was now.
"Nervous?" he asked as he approached his dark friend. "I know I am."
Syrius Lionwing
---
Ahe had been judged by the ocean a long, long time ago now. He had passed satisfactorily, perhaps not the most graceful in the water, but he hadn't sunk like the stones he moved around now. His latest den was complete and it was time for a break to watch the rite and to enjoy the feast that followed. It was only fitting to try to move passed the grief that still hung over the pride like a cloud and although he hadn't known the king personally, he did know Ram wouldn't want the pride to linger on his death.
Moana wasn't long in coming to join the festivities, either. She was always so delighted to see who the sea favored. During her own trial it had welcomed her with open arms, accepting her and favoring her to the point where she had felt as though water flowed through her veins rather than blood. Spotting Ahe, she bounded over to the large male, grinning all the while.
"Ahe! Glad to see you've come out of the ground to join us," she teased as she reached his side.
---
Eyes watched those gathering on the sands from the trees. They were not the burning, evil eyes from a month or two ago, though they were certainly not friendly. Hima sat watching the pride gather, a silent snarl on her muzzle and claws extended into the dirt beneath them. Ever since the death of Ram she had kept herself secluded from the pride, only interacting with those that dared seek her out, mostly her children. Her grief had twisted into nothing but pure, unadulterated rage and any that crossed her path was at risk of being attacked for no reason other than as an outlet for the pain in her chest. Hima had never taken herself to be a sentimental lioness but it seemed everyone had their weakness and Ram had been hers. Now she was alone once more despite being surrounded by grown children who were more than willing to try to help her. Nothing could, though. Her grief was still far too potent to even attempt to soothe it.
(OOC: Please don't put me in the raffle! Spread the Tethys love! X3)
Posted: Mon May 07, 2018 8:45 am
SilverLutz
“SHIO!” She yelled as he appeared out of no where. She realised of course, he hadn’t appeared out of no where, he’d come down the beach, just like the rest of th lions that were now milling around the waters edge. She’d just been so intensely concentrating on the waves and thinking about him at the same time that when he appeared she was faced with shock and a blush that luckily was hidden by her dark fur.
Levelling her voice she cleared her throat and dragged her brain out of where ever it was cavorting to answer the simple question. “Yes.” She sighed, Shio understood, he’d been here last year, he’d been in exactly the same situation. They’d both waited so patiently for this day and the sea seemed so calm and welcoming.
She smiled at her friend, he looked so tired and she wanted to say something to him, something to maybe comfort him but she coudn’t find the courage to just say sorry to him. Instead she sidestepped the conversation and pressed her shoulder against his, her fur was the complete oposite of his but standing next to him in this moment, just felt right. “Lets go in together okay?” She whispered looking up in to those pale blue eyes, she wanted to succeed with Shio and she wanted to exit the water and tell him everything. First though, they had the mammoth task of becoming adults a feat they had failed before.
Tiny black body danced through the boughs of sand, her papa not far behind, as well as her older brother. The blue male chuckled as the small cub stumbled face first into a mound of the soft, wet, grains and spit it out with a shake of her head. "Be careful, you don't want to breath in any of that. We'd have a hard time getting it out." It was words of warning but he said it in a light tone since she was just excited and having fun. "Okay Litty, I'll be careful." She responded to her brother and looked back at her father. "Go up there with your little brother and mother. It's alright." Cheveyo ushered her along with a nudge on her rump as she dashed towards her silver and pink brother. She looked over at her mother and then her brother, if he was in there then it must be okay for her to be there! "Are we going to go in?" She asked as she looked up towards their mother and then at the water curiously.
Syrius Lionwing
Litanu looked about for a moment, his eyes were searching for someone special to his heart. He knew this time must be tough on her and he hadn't wanted to pressure her in any way. Her father having died, the feelings that were going through her must be monumental. Still, he hoped she showed up, socializing might be good, if even for a little while.
Pili and Aza where sitting back towardss the edge of the sands, a solemn expression upon Pilis face as she sat next to her friend. "I'm not sure how I feel about everything it's so much to take in, especially in this small amount of time." Aza gave a nod of her head, she could understand in some level what her friend must be going through given the amount of time she'd spent in the pride. "It's alright to be uncertain of how you feel." She tried to reassure her with a paw on the shoulder. "Just give it time."
SilverLutz
I feel so bad for you XD You have so many lions in this pride. My two are looking around for their loves <3
Felyn
If you wanna throw him in here and have him roll for the rites of passage XD
Posted: Mon May 07, 2018 9:20 am
Kawai wasn't far behind her brother in joining the pride on the beach. She glanced around, surveying those that were gathered, before spotting a familiar face. Litanu had just followed his little sister close to the water and was looking around himself. She headed in his direction, glad to see him already here. The past few weeks had been rather rough for her family - she had some still healing claw marks on her rump to prove it - but the kind-hearted lioness was probably taking it as best as any of them could.
"Glad to see you here," she said, her voice happy and light as she reached Lit, nuzzling his mane fondly. "It's a big day for your siblings, mm?" She glanced towards the little hoard of cubs, laughing softly at their antics.
---
Dabadye had made his way through the jungles of his home pride, fully intent on watching the rites today. It would be a nice way to try to get back to normal after all the craziness that had been happening lately within the pride. Emerging from the foliage he strolled out onto the sand, his eyes catching sight of a pretty face before he even glanced at the sea. Redirecting himself, he sauntered over to Pili and Aza with all the swagger of a male trying to impress the ladies. He only had eyes for Pili, though, and as he approached he noticed she looked quite somber.
"Morning, ladies," he said as he sidled up to them. "Nice day for the Ba'Ushufo, don't you think?" He gave Pili a little wink and a smile, trying to cheer her up a bit.
AstoriaFallen
---
The exclamation of his name made Shio chuckle softly. Kelpie was always so full of energy and excitable, he couldn't help but smile because of it. They were just as different in personality as they were in appearance. Kelpie's contrasting coat mimicked her bright and bouncy ways, while his own subtle pelt echoed his methodical but calm and reasonable personality. Together they were quite complimentary if he did say so himself.
"Me too," he said, lowering his head a bit so he could give her a fond headbutt. He didn't want her to feel anxious about trying again and hopefully his own thoughts would rub off on himself, too. He was the head of the guards now, after all, and he needed to appear confident at all times.
"Of course," he added as Kelpie pressed against him. The water was already lapping at their paws almost in an invitation to come in. "We'll do this together just as we've promised."
Syrius Lionwing
---
Ahe's ears turned in the direction of his name being called and a tiny smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as Moana approached him. Her comment made him shake his head in amusement and he shifted to face her rather than the sea.
"I'm not always digging, you know," he said in his low, soft voice. "I do enjoy the sunshine as much as the next lion."
"Puh, I'll believe that when I see it," Moana teased, reaching out to shove the male with her paw. "Whenever I find you you're always nose deep in a new den! And I mean that's not a bad thing, especially with all the cubs that are running around now, but you gotta breathe air to survive!"
The comment made Ahe chuckle again, rocking with the little shove even though it wouldn't have made him budge if he hadn't decided to move. He didn't reply to the comment, instead leveling Moana with a steady gaze and a raise of his brow.
---
Hima's eyes darted back and forth as more lions gathered on the sands, spotting more of her children and a bunch of the new cubs that had been born recently. Life went on despite hers grinding to a halt and the thought left a bad taste in her mouth. She should be pleased to see the pride still thriving and pressing on despite Ram's death, but she couldn't. She wasn't ready to let him go yet, angry at his sacrifice despite knowing he had done it to save his family and the pride. Hima herself would have gone down fighting as well, that much she knew, but it didn't make her any happier knowing Ram had been noble in his death and had succeeded in pushing away the threat. All she felt was loss, pain, suffering, and grief. Nothing would help.
SilverLutz Crew
Offensive Hero
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Syrius Lionwing
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Posted: Mon May 07, 2018 10:32 am
SilverLutz
Kelpie smiled a nervous smile at her friend and after taking one final deep breath she moved in to the waves. The water lapping against her legs sent all thoughts of anything else out of her mind, all thoughts except for the shoulder that was pressed against her own.
She was frightened, terrified even that the waves would push her back to the beach. That the sea would not accept her. The sea was calm though and the length of her legs seemed to be providing her some purchase, stability even.
The sea pulled instead of pushed against her as it seemed to do the last time they had been here. As she moved further in to the sea her paws left the sand beneath her holding her calmly for a moment her shoulder left Shio as the sea embraced her, accepted her, welcomed her. She had been accepted, her paws slowly started to move through the salty water. She laughed happily, her voice hopping across the calm waves. “Shio! Shio!” She called swimming around happily her tail acting as a rudder as she struck back towards the shore. She had promised, as soon as the sea accepted her she would tell her best friend how she felt. Hunting for fish could wait, she needed some solid ground to fullfill her promise.
Posted: Mon May 07, 2018 10:44 am
AstoriaFallen
Liviyathan smiled at her mate as he came down the beach, she met him with a friendly headbutt and nudged her black and rainbow coloured daughter gently “Yes my loves, you are going in the sea.” She laughed happily watching as her tiny children cavorted towards the waves. “Careful now.” She purred following closely after them, just because they ere going in didn’t mean she couldn’t follow them. She had to make sure they came out safe after all.
Capricorn looked back at his mother with a grin. He was so excited! He really couldn’t believe that they were going to the sea. He wondered what it felt like to be in the waves. It seemed he wouldn’t be that far from finding out as his toes found the edge of the sand. His pink tipped toes were met with the cool sea foam and he looked up surprised. The water was cool to touch and wet, as expected, he wasn’t sure why he hadn’t expected something more from the terrifying sea. “Can we go in?” He queried looking for his father for confirmation.
Leading up to today, she had been excited for the Ba'Usufo. After all, Anya had joined after last year's event had come and gone, so this would be the first time she could participate in it. It was especially important that this event went well too, after everything that had happened recently.
That said, now that the day was here... maybe she was a little bit nervous. She wanted to actually do the rite of passage today, rather than earlier in the year like others had done. She wanted to see for herself how the sea viewed her, but she hadn't really thought of what would happen if it didn't.
Well, not much aside from her needing to work a bit harder this upcoming year, but.... that didn't stop her from worrying. Could she have done more? Was she really worthy of her new title?
Taking a deep breathe, Anya started making her way towards the shoreline.
Epine de Rose rolled 1 10-sided dice:
10Total: 10 (1-10)
Posted: Mon May 07, 2018 11:37 am
"You're apprehensive," It wasn't a question, so much as an observation as Ijiraq watched her brother regard the water ahead of him.
"A little," Siarnaq replied with a mild grimace. After all, they had been raised as Solomon's children but when they were old enough they had been told the truth. After all that was said and done, they contained the blood of the Stormborn who had inadvertently caused a lot of unnecessary pain. He had every right to be cautious and he had concerns that on this occasion the ocean might punish those who were simply too close to the kingslayer.
Alas, his sister seemed decidedly more confident as she gazed out towards the horizon and shook her head. Even as a cub she had witnessed others who should not have been favoured, and despite their blood, the ocean had expressed its love for them. She had a firm belief that on this occasion it would be no different and they would either be reminded of their mortality, or they would be given a warm caress.
"It'll be all right, dad wasn't too concerned this morning after all," Ijiraq pointed out with a wry smile. "All things considered he was in a pretty positive mood," she added thoughtfully.
"To be fair Iji, nothing really bothers him," her brother pointed out with a cluck of his tongue and with that in mind he began to wade in to the ocean. "If I don't come out, you can have half my stuff," he added as he glanced over his shoulder.
"What about the other half?" She wasn't indignant, just curious.
"Charity!" He replied curtly as he carried on. "I want to be remembered for my generosity so those at the pearly gates don't give me a slap on the paws."
"...I'm not really sure that's how that works you know," his sister murmured quietly after him as she afforded a glance towards the gentle waves herself. She supposed in the grand scheme of things she should probably make a start herself...
MangoMeow
Tis Ijiraq that's headed to the Mwezi!
"So we literally just jump, right...?" Raziel lifted a brow.
"And then sink, then eventually swim," Kvasi confirmed with a small nod. "Least that's what mom told me, but she didn't exactly clarify the point at which you're meant to swim," he confessed.
"So we jump, sink...and then swim," Raziel continued to sound skeptical, if only because the instructions were so unclear that it sounded as if Zephyr's main intention was to drown them both. "I'm going to assume that we probably start swimming as soon as we hit the ground," he mused and shook his head. "Otherwise we'll drown."
"Speak for yourself, I can hold my breath for days," Kvasi remarked, it was something that he received no verbal response to, but Raziel certainly conveyed his views through other means.
"Regardless, I personally don't want to drown so... I'll jump, see where it takes me and then uh... head back to the shore," he nodded, if only to reassure himself.
"That's the plan," Kvasi gave a nod as he joined him at the edge of the rock pools and gazed into the sea below. "Although let's be real this is more like walking into the water rather than jumping, there's no height to it at all; it's more like...stumbling with grace."
...Raziel elected not to dignify this with a response as he weighed up his options.
Meera had arrived just in time for the festivities, it seemed, not that she knew what was going on when she walked into the area.
The beach and the sea were some of Meera's favorite areas in the stories she heard growing up. So of course it was one of the first places she would go on her journey. It took quite a bit of travel, stopping to ask others for directions, but when she began to take notice of the change in terrain, she grew excited. It was warmer than she thought it'd be! There was almost a wet feeling to the air, but it was a nice wet. The ground steadily grew more unsteady as she walked, and she'd thought it was the sand she had been told about.
It was, kind of, but now that she had reached the beach, this ground was a whole other thing entirely. This is what she imagined sand to be like.
Her first reaction was startlement over the amount of lions gathered around here. Goodness! Well, she'd managed to find the pride living here, it seemed. Her next reaction was to freeze in pure shock, her jaw dropping. Was that... was that the ocean? It was huge and loud and so blue! She LOVED it already!
The cheeton's eyes were practically sparkling by this point. She wanted to play in it, like those other people were doing.
But first.... maybe it was best to ask permission.
Bouncing forward, Meera ran to the first people she could get to - a brother and sister, by the looks of it. They were both staring out at the ocean, discussing something or other that she couldn't hear. "Excuse me, what's going on?"
Epine de Rose
razz I knew I was forgetting to throw someone else in here! I typed up Anya's entrance, and then sat here for like 10 minutes trying to remember who else I was going to throw into this meta. -shot-
