When night falls on the full moon the beach is plunged into a darkness made celebratory and solemn by the presence of three salamanders, dozing in a blazing heap. The red of their flames and the shimmering blue of a pair of ethereal wings bring Bitterleaf's weathered, angular face into clear focus for all those assembled. She stands on a high outcropping of stone, the sea breeze tossing her salt-matted mane, and to one side stands Jasper, forever watchful, forever silent, and to the other her daughter and the assumed successor of her title: Waterside, beautiful and sturdy and carefully neutral.
"Tidewalkers," says Bitterleaf, and the silence falls almost immediately, trailing at its end the distinctive laughter of Fen, cavorting with a new foal. When the stillness is total, she continues.
"Tidewalkers," says Bitterleaf. "It has been a long time and many generations since I and my son first arrived alone on this shore, and from its inhospitable teeth we have pried a life. We have tamed the ocean."
The applause rises up in a roar, hooves beating against the sand and the stones, and she permits it, but no flicker of pleasure passes over her face as it does over Waterside's. Instead the matriarch is troubled.
"Our victories have been hard-won," she continues. "But our challenges remain. Not here. We are vast. We are mighty. It is not in us to conquer the masses and subjugate rivals, as the tribes in the old stories, nor is it in us to cow the weak or otherwise to assert our strength over the lowly. We are like Tatterhide: we have nothing to prove, save to ourselves, and that is the noblest goal.
"But what have we left to prove? We have harnessed the river; we have outwitted the storms; we have defeated the waves themselves and the stinging sea-spiders and the sharks and the marlins are all of them conquered by our hoof. We are mighty, as I say, and even to ourselves there is nothing here left to prove.
"This is a home to us. We have made it ours, taken it from the wilderness. But it grows crowded, as many of you know. And perhaps that is a sign, my children--" and she uses the word fondly, almost affectionately, a strange tone in that gravely, harsh voice "--that we are called elsewhere.
"Beginning tomorrow we embark on a hunt for new challenges. In no way do we seek to dethrone existing chieftains or take claimed land. Instead we will pool what we have learned in our long patrols--because the patrols were to test, yes, but they were also to learn--and the land we take we will fight from the jaws of the Swamp itself, because there is no other foe worthy of us. Where there is a sawgrass plain impassable that left our first patrols bleeding, we will establish an outpost. Where the northern border orchards give way to sand and brutal aches, we will establish an outpost. Where the cliffsides on the eastern fronts are impossible to scale and barren of life, we will establish an outpost and we will thrive.
"There is food. There are music and good company and stories to be had, and young ones to teach, and hounds to run with. Ours is, when the Swamp is willing, a good life, and all too well do you, my tribesmen, know that this is true: we enjoy the good things of life so much the more because we push ourselves. Tonight is no exception. Feast. Compete. Laugh. These are our prizes, hard-won, and we will enjoy them as is our right.
"But approach me, and tell me of the places you have seen, and how you might conquer them, and who you might conquer them with. I want parties organized tomorrow, either to scout or to begin establishing outposts in known places. I want scouts and couriers in each party to bring word back to me or Waterside on progress made.
"This is not a life for the weak of heart, but children, I grow old. I remain strong, but the White Doe comes for us all. We stand on the brink of a new era."
Here an uneasy rustle passes through the crowd: for there have been rumors, long lurking, of unrest in the question of who will succeed when Bitterleaf succumbs to the age she is so clearly showing and which she so clearly refuses to soften for. So long it has been naturally assumed that Waterside stands to succeed, but among the Tidewalkers, nothing is a given.
"We will be known, still more already than we are," she says, the living Legend, the flesh of old stories, her eyes blue suns. "But it is not for this that I make these demands: I make them for you. You know, Tidewalkers, what it is to conquer, and what it is to prove oneself."
Another roar rises, and among it, peaceful, unruffled, completely unmoved by the adulation, Bitterleaf stands, flanked by her favored children, and waits.
About this Tidewalker ORP
To get Bitterleaf's attention and gain an audience, please quote Rejam. Please do this one at a time and keep interactions brief--to a few posts at most. All proposals will be considered, and you might be approached separately by Waterside/someone else (might be played by someone other than Rejam!) to keep the RP moving and free up Bitterleaf for more proposals.
Feel free to OOCly/ICly negotiate "teams" to set out and conquer new swaths of Swamp. Teams should aim for a balance of skillsets, but do whatever you like!
Feel free to mingle with other Tidewalkers members as well, and quote anyone whose attention you're trying to get! Also feel free to start offshoot threads labeled [Tidewalkers] to start up riddle games, storytelling contests (IC), etc. if you're feeling overwhelmed by the thread.
At the moment, guests and non-Tidewalker relatives are not welcome. These should be considered closed proceedings despite the festive atmosphere. However, high-ranking delegates from other Tribes are welcome to attend! If you aren't running your tribe, consult the person who is before arriving. Delegates can propose areas of Swamp for clearance, designate areas off limits to Tidewalker trespassing (although they'd better have a damn good reason!), or just mingle. If you are a non-Tidewalker, please in some way label your posts as such.
IC attendance is close to mandatory. OOCly you don't have to post if you don't want to--you can assume your character was here or was one of the ones who for whatever reason couldn't make it.
Who is a Tidewalker?
At this point the pool of definite and potential Tidewalker members is HUGE, both ICly and OOCly. The beach is crowded--that's the whole point of this ORP!
Most Tidewalkers are related by direct descendancy to the "core" Tidewalkers group (Bitterleaf, Longstride, and Waterside's lines, along with Undertow's line since it got huge). There is a core group of early arrivals who may not exist within this bloodline, but all other Tidewalkers are in some way related to this core group. There are members besides the four listed--ask if you aren't sure. Feel free to post in the main thread asking for help identifying potential bloodlines.
But being blood related is NOT enough to become a Tidewalker. Tidewalkers are subjected at a young age to a very grueling series of tests, including long, hard journeys, pilgrimages, and other demonstrations of value. Every Tidewalker doesn't just endure hardship: she craves it, with every fiber of herself. This is non-negotiable. Tidewalkers are hard, and must prove themselves and demonstrate a constant aptitude for and willingness to work as security, providers, scouts, and more. Those that are or take after Acha are particularly hard-pressed due to tribe-wide discrimination.
If your character fits the above criteria, you may assume that they are a Tidewalker, whether they are a permanent resident of the beach or an honorary member who comes and goes as he pleases. Permanent residents are granted slightly higher status, and those closest in blood to Bitterleaf and Waterside, especially the Waterside/Longstride unions, tend to have positions of greater power. Bitterleaf, although she is aging, is still a formidable physical and intellectual force behind the group, and is the undisputed matriarch--although unrest is growing in the question of her successor, so long assumed naturally to be Waterside.
If you have another character you think qualifies as a Tidewalker, please contact me (I prefer AIM: thaumatropes) and we can discuss them. I can only do this so many times so I am sorry for anyone I have to turn away suspension of disbelief @ their numbers is already becoming strained.
