Post by Zazu on Oct 26, 2006 20:41:35 GMT -5
Pridelands - Grassy Plains
Here we find a diverse range of savannah, from the red loamy soil in the west supporting tall, thick species of grass, to the nutrient-rich dry volcanic sand in the east. Trees are dotted throughout--in the west, the tall jackalberry with its horizontally grooved trunk--in the east, the gnarled, blackish-gray umbrella thorn acacia. The animals found here are numerous and just as diverse. Some, like the zebra and gnu, are grazers. It can be fascinating to watch those species that prefer the longer grasses mash and trample them, only to be followed by those that relish the shorter grasses left accessible in their wake. Others, like the bongo and kudu, prefer to browse the leaves of trees. At times, up to four different species of browsers can be seen nibbling the bark, leaves and fruits of the same tree, at different heights to avoid competition.
Here too, of course, we find the lion and other predators, all of whom know well which lands are most beloved of the herbivorous ungulates that serve as their bread and butter. Often, a lioness or two can prowl easily among the herd animals without arousing a panic, as they know she is there and are ready to run should the need arise, and besides, where would they run to? Only the slowest or sickest will be taken, and everything they need is there.
Exits:
[South] to the Floodplain
[East] to Pride Rock
[North] to the Herd's Plateau
Present:
[LRP] Kiziah
[ZZZ] Thandiwe
[ZZZ] Gwala
[ZZZ] Jolani
[ZZZ] Kinyalitu
[ZZZ] Deadeye
[ZZZ] Chakua
% . dunnn, dun!
%% . # 5.. 2 @ dunnnnnnnn, dun!
[OOC] Kiziah gasp!
@#(8 2 $ . o . 0 . o . O DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN
[!] Kiziah has changed their status to 'TP'.
[OOC] You say, "Look out, Kiziah!! It's Talmaleki!"
[OOC] Kiziah hides in... somewhere!
[OOC] You say, "There is noplace to hide but the real world! Pose!!"
There's a certain thrill to sneaking out alone at night. As a cub, Kiziah is barely able to see, thanks to not only the dark, but the shroud of grass all around. With only her ears and nose to guide the way, the little lioness is trembling with fear and excitement. Adventure awaits, /somewhere/ out there.
Closer than she thinks. There's a fallen tree out in the savannah here, one of the few black acacias that dot the grass. It's fresh, and seems to have been downed by lightning. And unknown to Kiziah, it's where a certain departed spirit has chosen to take his repose.
After pressing on for a while or so, Kiziah finds herself nearing the wrecked acacia. To most, it's a mere hindrance to avoid, nothing worthy of a second glance. But to the youthful Kiziah, it's a potential plaything. The cub stares at it for several seconds, before bounding forward and preparing a leap, unaware of what she's heading into.
The bark is softer and further gone than it looks. It crumbles under the cub's paws. At the same time, a whoosh of air is displaced...and then silence. The tree is nearly hollow...strange, for the fact that it still seems moist, and can't have lain dead for more than a week or two. And the wind...the wind is picking up.
When the bark crumbles, Kiziah loses any footing she had on the tree, and lands back on the ground with a soft thump. "Stupid log..." The cub fusses, before her concern turns to the wind. Despite the eruption of shivering beneath her fur, Kiziah readjusts herself and makes as if to attempt another jump. But something stops her just before. It's a sense that things, somehow, are not all right here.
That's right. The air is cold out there, the savannah is hard to see and smell, and something feels wrong about it. Better to stay in here, where it's cozy and safe. Right?
In a manner similar to frightened rabbit, Kiziah's ears flatten against her head, and she moves closer to the ground. Yes, it /is/ cold. The cub glances back the way she came, but already the path seems to have vanished with the movement on the grass. Wait... she's not getting afraid, is she? Kiziah frowns and regathers herself. And then, as if she had something to prove, the cub springs once again for the top of the fallen tree.
The treetop springs like a mongoose's spine. It buckles easily under Kiziah's weight, and then recoils, shooting her up in the air!
Kiziah barely has time to cry out in surprise. She makes a near perfect arch, before coming to a sudden stop in the form of landing hard on her back. In the time it takes for her to reclaim the air that was knocked from her lungs, Kiziah reflects on what just happened. Slowly, the cub peels herself up and growls. "You stupid tree." An angry swipe is aimed in the direction of the bark.
It crumbles to bits, leaving a stain of pitch upon the lion cub's paw. A blast of chill skims her back, just missing her trunk. The voice is barely audible, a gentle but irritated baritenor. "A small thing like you shouldn't be out alone on such a night. You'll catch cold."
After sniffing at the residue on her paw, Kiziah wrinkles her nose and stiffens, trying not to let another wave of quivering from overtaking her. Perhaps this little venture wasn't a good idea. The cub is very ready to go back, especially when the voice is picked up. "Wh--what?" Kiziah scans the immediate area. Nobody was present a moment ago... were they?
It's coming from only one direction at once, but the direction washes all around Kiziah...around her, over her, even under her. Who knows where the owner of that faint voice is? "Is this how they regard cubs at Pride Rock these days? As expendable rovers they can afford to let be picked off? Hm." There's a scent to the voice, too...it's regal and of another age entirely.
The fruitless search for the speaker, coupled with Kiziah's inability to fully comprehend what's being said, leaves the cub very baffled indeed. For a second or two, she entertains the thought that this is somebody from the Rock, intending to scare her. If that were the case, it's certainly working. She ducks close to the dirt, as if it could offer any protection at all. "What do ya want?" Kiziah questions, barely any louder than the faint voice she's listening to.
A burst of unusual coolness wafts by and hugs the cub's underside. "I want to learn," comes the affable answer. "So cubs are no longer regarded as the treasures they were in my day. Well. Very well. Let me think." A branch of the felled tree creaks and slowly snaps off, the leaves rustling and blowing largely away, some of them toward Kiziah. "Do your parents care about you?"
With a thin frown, Kiziah presses herself even closer to the ground, just barely restraining herself from curling into a ball, to stave away the cold. "Learn? Learn about what?" She lifts a paw, blocking her eyes from the breeze-driven foliage. "You... you mean my mom?" But, in any case, the cub knows not how to answer that.
"Never mind. You don't know anything, do you? It's just as well...you may be happier with those Palandasya bairns. Strange of me to care, but..." The wind now tangles with Kiziah's face, sneaking up inside her nose and down into her ears. It itches...
The frown dissolves into a grimace. While the cub tries to make sense of this, she's hit with an unpleasent feeling, not quite like anything she's familiar with. "Just leave me alone. I'll--I'll go home... okay?" Kiziah gives a light sniffle, and then paws at her nose.
"Of course! For a while, anyhow...go right ahead. I'll be seeing you soon. You do know where the Valley of the Great Kings is, don't you?" The air is a little warmer...because it seems like all the cold has been sucked right into Kiziah's cranial cavities.
Kiziah starts to tremble. Not like the minor shivers of before, but a genuine quake. Her concern is less on the voice now, and more on her current condition. "Think so." She murmurs in reply, pushing herself up with great care. But even still, it almost makes her light headed. Which way was home again? "I feel kinda funny..." There's even an accusing edge to her tone, however mild.
The voice is correspondingly light, for all the heaviness in the young lioness's skull. It wafts far away, its direction now clear. "Please don't cry, little one. Don't sniffle. You'll be all right...so long as you visit the valley when the moon completes its first quarter. Come guarded or alone! And now...we wait to see what becomes of the little stray." With that, a big chunk of the black acacia, which was hanging over the hollow, cracks off with a noise far too loud for what it is, and shatters upon the wood below. CRACK!
You page, "%%% Congratulations! You've just been cursed by Talmaleki! Until the curse is removed, you will get more and more sick, especially in superficial ways that clog your cavities and make your head feel miserable. And for all anyone knows, it's contagious! %%%" to Kiziah.
Kiziah's eyes make another determined sweep, but once again find nothing. She begins to back up, tail twitching nervously. If there was going to be a response, it's cut off by the sudden noise. The fur along her spine bristles, and Kiziah is up just like that, turning to haul herself away from the hollow, and hopefully back along the way she'd come. She's never coming out at night. Ever again.
Here we find a diverse range of savannah, from the red loamy soil in the west supporting tall, thick species of grass, to the nutrient-rich dry volcanic sand in the east. Trees are dotted throughout--in the west, the tall jackalberry with its horizontally grooved trunk--in the east, the gnarled, blackish-gray umbrella thorn acacia. The animals found here are numerous and just as diverse. Some, like the zebra and gnu, are grazers. It can be fascinating to watch those species that prefer the longer grasses mash and trample them, only to be followed by those that relish the shorter grasses left accessible in their wake. Others, like the bongo and kudu, prefer to browse the leaves of trees. At times, up to four different species of browsers can be seen nibbling the bark, leaves and fruits of the same tree, at different heights to avoid competition.
Here too, of course, we find the lion and other predators, all of whom know well which lands are most beloved of the herbivorous ungulates that serve as their bread and butter. Often, a lioness or two can prowl easily among the herd animals without arousing a panic, as they know she is there and are ready to run should the need arise, and besides, where would they run to? Only the slowest or sickest will be taken, and everything they need is there.
Exits:
[South] to the Floodplain
[East] to Pride Rock
[North] to the Herd's Plateau
Present:
[LRP] Kiziah
[ZZZ] Thandiwe
[ZZZ] Gwala
[ZZZ] Jolani
[ZZZ] Kinyalitu
[ZZZ] Deadeye
[ZZZ] Chakua
% . dunnn, dun!
%% . # 5.. 2 @ dunnnnnnnn, dun!
[OOC] Kiziah gasp!
@#(8 2 $ . o . 0 . o . O DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN
[!] Kiziah has changed their status to 'TP'.
[OOC] You say, "Look out, Kiziah!! It's Talmaleki!"
[OOC] Kiziah hides in... somewhere!
[OOC] You say, "There is noplace to hide but the real world! Pose!!"
There's a certain thrill to sneaking out alone at night. As a cub, Kiziah is barely able to see, thanks to not only the dark, but the shroud of grass all around. With only her ears and nose to guide the way, the little lioness is trembling with fear and excitement. Adventure awaits, /somewhere/ out there.
Closer than she thinks. There's a fallen tree out in the savannah here, one of the few black acacias that dot the grass. It's fresh, and seems to have been downed by lightning. And unknown to Kiziah, it's where a certain departed spirit has chosen to take his repose.
After pressing on for a while or so, Kiziah finds herself nearing the wrecked acacia. To most, it's a mere hindrance to avoid, nothing worthy of a second glance. But to the youthful Kiziah, it's a potential plaything. The cub stares at it for several seconds, before bounding forward and preparing a leap, unaware of what she's heading into.
The bark is softer and further gone than it looks. It crumbles under the cub's paws. At the same time, a whoosh of air is displaced...and then silence. The tree is nearly hollow...strange, for the fact that it still seems moist, and can't have lain dead for more than a week or two. And the wind...the wind is picking up.
When the bark crumbles, Kiziah loses any footing she had on the tree, and lands back on the ground with a soft thump. "Stupid log..." The cub fusses, before her concern turns to the wind. Despite the eruption of shivering beneath her fur, Kiziah readjusts herself and makes as if to attempt another jump. But something stops her just before. It's a sense that things, somehow, are not all right here.
That's right. The air is cold out there, the savannah is hard to see and smell, and something feels wrong about it. Better to stay in here, where it's cozy and safe. Right?
In a manner similar to frightened rabbit, Kiziah's ears flatten against her head, and she moves closer to the ground. Yes, it /is/ cold. The cub glances back the way she came, but already the path seems to have vanished with the movement on the grass. Wait... she's not getting afraid, is she? Kiziah frowns and regathers herself. And then, as if she had something to prove, the cub springs once again for the top of the fallen tree.
The treetop springs like a mongoose's spine. It buckles easily under Kiziah's weight, and then recoils, shooting her up in the air!
Kiziah barely has time to cry out in surprise. She makes a near perfect arch, before coming to a sudden stop in the form of landing hard on her back. In the time it takes for her to reclaim the air that was knocked from her lungs, Kiziah reflects on what just happened. Slowly, the cub peels herself up and growls. "You stupid tree." An angry swipe is aimed in the direction of the bark.
It crumbles to bits, leaving a stain of pitch upon the lion cub's paw. A blast of chill skims her back, just missing her trunk. The voice is barely audible, a gentle but irritated baritenor. "A small thing like you shouldn't be out alone on such a night. You'll catch cold."
After sniffing at the residue on her paw, Kiziah wrinkles her nose and stiffens, trying not to let another wave of quivering from overtaking her. Perhaps this little venture wasn't a good idea. The cub is very ready to go back, especially when the voice is picked up. "Wh--what?" Kiziah scans the immediate area. Nobody was present a moment ago... were they?
It's coming from only one direction at once, but the direction washes all around Kiziah...around her, over her, even under her. Who knows where the owner of that faint voice is? "Is this how they regard cubs at Pride Rock these days? As expendable rovers they can afford to let be picked off? Hm." There's a scent to the voice, too...it's regal and of another age entirely.
The fruitless search for the speaker, coupled with Kiziah's inability to fully comprehend what's being said, leaves the cub very baffled indeed. For a second or two, she entertains the thought that this is somebody from the Rock, intending to scare her. If that were the case, it's certainly working. She ducks close to the dirt, as if it could offer any protection at all. "What do ya want?" Kiziah questions, barely any louder than the faint voice she's listening to.
A burst of unusual coolness wafts by and hugs the cub's underside. "I want to learn," comes the affable answer. "So cubs are no longer regarded as the treasures they were in my day. Well. Very well. Let me think." A branch of the felled tree creaks and slowly snaps off, the leaves rustling and blowing largely away, some of them toward Kiziah. "Do your parents care about you?"
With a thin frown, Kiziah presses herself even closer to the ground, just barely restraining herself from curling into a ball, to stave away the cold. "Learn? Learn about what?" She lifts a paw, blocking her eyes from the breeze-driven foliage. "You... you mean my mom?" But, in any case, the cub knows not how to answer that.
"Never mind. You don't know anything, do you? It's just as well...you may be happier with those Palandasya bairns. Strange of me to care, but..." The wind now tangles with Kiziah's face, sneaking up inside her nose and down into her ears. It itches...
The frown dissolves into a grimace. While the cub tries to make sense of this, she's hit with an unpleasent feeling, not quite like anything she's familiar with. "Just leave me alone. I'll--I'll go home... okay?" Kiziah gives a light sniffle, and then paws at her nose.
"Of course! For a while, anyhow...go right ahead. I'll be seeing you soon. You do know where the Valley of the Great Kings is, don't you?" The air is a little warmer...because it seems like all the cold has been sucked right into Kiziah's cranial cavities.
Kiziah starts to tremble. Not like the minor shivers of before, but a genuine quake. Her concern is less on the voice now, and more on her current condition. "Think so." She murmurs in reply, pushing herself up with great care. But even still, it almost makes her light headed. Which way was home again? "I feel kinda funny..." There's even an accusing edge to her tone, however mild.
The voice is correspondingly light, for all the heaviness in the young lioness's skull. It wafts far away, its direction now clear. "Please don't cry, little one. Don't sniffle. You'll be all right...so long as you visit the valley when the moon completes its first quarter. Come guarded or alone! And now...we wait to see what becomes of the little stray." With that, a big chunk of the black acacia, which was hanging over the hollow, cracks off with a noise far too loud for what it is, and shatters upon the wood below. CRACK!
You page, "%%% Congratulations! You've just been cursed by Talmaleki! Until the curse is removed, you will get more and more sick, especially in superficial ways that clog your cavities and make your head feel miserable. And for all anyone knows, it's contagious! %%%" to Kiziah.
Kiziah's eyes make another determined sweep, but once again find nothing. She begins to back up, tail twitching nervously. If there was going to be a response, it's cut off by the sudden noise. The fur along her spine bristles, and Kiziah is up just like that, turning to haul herself away from the hollow, and hopefully back along the way she'd come. She's never coming out at night. Ever again.