[ORP] The Restless Dead

[Nezi-ozu]

It had started off as a small murmur in the Catacombs, nothing that the Amoosu wouldn't have heard before and nothing that they would have been overly concerned about. Their lives revolved around securing safe passage for their ancestors, and when that had been done, they tended to what remained. 'Voices' and whispers were often par for the course within the unseen depths of the catacombs and whether that was from something divine or simply the echoes from the outside... It was never something that caused panic or concern.

Itiri had always left the remaining Amoosu to their own devices in that respect, their strength lay in the catacombs and it was not for him to interrupt them in their ministrations... But when those odd whispers and those wisps began to appear outside the Catacombs, he was soon given cause for concern.

The N'ezi-Ozu knew little of the world outside and the strange anomalies that occurred in lands far beyond their borders. They knew nothing of the wars in heaven or the deities tumbling from the sky, expelled from their own homes... All they knew was their caldera and their own mythos. What had once slept peacefully in the catacombs appeared to have woken up and while the creep had been slow, those wisps had now reached quite a distance from where they should have been.

Now families reported they could hear the murmurs of what they thought were their long since past loved ones.

They could see what they thought were their loved ones, and yet the images were fleeting.

Others reported that what they thought had been benevolent appeared to be far more nefarious. Those wisps that they had once thought were loved ones might well be criminals; there were stories of those within the pride that had followed the wisps as they had danced down the paths, only to find themselves in trouble soon after.

These events could no longer be ignored by the Onyeisi or the pride as a whole. Itiri had been given no other choice than to summon the remaining Amoosu for counsel and by extension, the rest of the pride so that they might aid the priests in what was arguably a very complex set of circumstances - while the Amoosu may be masters of the dead, they were going to need more than just their small number to quell the spirits.

Itiri wasn't sure if there was genuinely a way to silence the spirits and return them to their sleep, but he remained open to guidance and as such, he made himself comfortable as he waited for willing volunteers to answers his summons...

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OOC Information

• The wisps are the same ones mentioned in the God Meta, they don't really take distinct shapes and the voices remain incomprehensible.
  
• Your character is entitled to respond to these whatever way they wish to, it's up to you!
  
• If Amoosu want to participate they get free reign on the methods they might use to quell the spirits, we'd like to see your ideas if you have any.
  
• Any N'ezi-Ozu can participate, it's all hands on deck.
  
• There will be directional prompts if we feel they're needed, these will be posted by the pride mule so they're easy to see.
  
• Ded and I will determine if/when the wisps vanish in this RP or at a later date, just to keep things fair!

 

[Z o m b i k ii]

Krysin

Epine de Rose

Rai was not at all looking forward to this gathering. The pale female had considered staying curled up in the warmth of her den and ignoring the summons altogether, but as the time approached she become restless - until her legs had begun to move involuntarily, carrying her to the area the meeting was to be held. Now she was here; there was a small part of her that wanted to run back to her dark, little sanctuary. A deep breath filled her lungs and she held it there as the other lions came in sight, releasing it only as she saw some familiar faces.

There would be outsi- new members present, it was her first step in breakin down that wall.

“Afyaaaaa~!” A sing-songy voice called out, and not one, but two heads turned to look at her as she approached. It brought a soft smile on her face and a chuckle rumble in her throat. They were so silly, and the way Afya was growing - there would come a time where it really would be impossible to tell the difference between daughter and mother. The smaller black female turned and rushed towards her pale aunt, greeting her with the same enthusiasm that she had done since she was a cub.

“Auntie, you’re here?” She asked, puzzled. Afya was not used to seeing her aunt at gatherings and was skeptical about how social she used to be in the past. Her mother often told her that there was a time where Rai was the life of the party - but that was far from the female that had raise her. The older lioness nodded her head, running her face against the adolescents forhead in greeting before her vibrant eyes flickered to her old friend. “How did date night go? Pretty lady?” She called over with little care to who was listening, or how the children would react.

Nyarai was a bachelorette and wanted all the gorey details.

The cream female did not have to look to know another child was looming nearby, so just sent her getting into the air so it could find her. “Hello, Femi.” Her tail flicked as if she was expecting an attack, the boys would not be far behind either and they had not grown out of sneak attacks.

All too suddenly she felt overwhelmed by the familiar faces, but at the same time, it hardly felt like she had been away from them. Her eyes drifted to look around those already gathered; they were early? It seemed. Orange orbs landed on her oldest friend once more, rolling her head as if to suggest Afya follow (and tell her all about her date as they walked).

Rai did not know if this was the right time to introduce Afya to her newest friend, but Itiri had said on multiple occasions that he wanted the Pride to know he did not bite. Whilst things remained quite and only a few were present, she wanted to start breaking down that barrier. “Onyeisi!” She called out, looking over her shoulder to make sure Afya (and children?) were following. And if they were not, shooting them a disapproving look before looking back towards the black male.

She bowed her head slightly in a semi-formal greeting, and smirked.

“No rest for the wicked, huh?”  

[Krysin]

"Go home," she had tried to tell her daughters only to have her words rebuked and the adolescents following her regardless. Even their brothers had decided to trail behind the family to answer the Onyiesi's summons. Afya had witnessed the spirits themselves, though she was loathed to let anyone know such. Her experience had not been pleasant, nor had she exactly handled it well. She had sworn herself and Kione to secrecy over the matter. Not even their children knew, which was for the best, because they'd like share that information with the entirety of the pride. Afya's pride would never recover from such an embarrassment.

Afya was in the middle of trying to tell her children to behave when she heard Nyarai's voice singing over the lions gathered. Her daughter, aptly named Afya, seemed to sprint away to visit their 'aunt'. Well, at least she had someone to split the work of wrangling the children with today. "Good day, Nyarai," she greeted the cream colored lioness with a slight smile. That gesture alone was more than what she gave most other lions. It wasn't that she was unfriendly, but rather just hard to get along with in general. Afya had learned over time to not press for companionship from most.

She just had been unable to ignore Nyarai. There was something about the lioness that was so endearing that made Afya open up to her. "Femi!" her voice snapped in the air so sharply that for a second most of her children shut up. It was a mother's voice, and one thin on patience.

Femi had circled around Nyarai, crouched low to the ground with a look of pure concentration upon her face. Nyarai's tail was inches from her faces, and if not for the fact that Nyarai had sniffed her out and her mother had caught on to her actions, Nyarai would have been victim to a sneak attack. "Hello, aunt Nyarai," Femi answered dejectedly. Her ears flicked back against her skull, revealing her dismay at her fun and games being disturbed.

Afya rolled her eyes, deciding not to make a scene out of her childrens' misbehavior. "Straighten up and come along," she ordered her little rascals as she marched alongside Nyarai. At the lioness' questions, Afya not so subtly dodged any specifics whatsoever about the so-called date night. "Mmm, it went well enough. Thank you for watching the children for me.

Onyeisi," she greeted with a respectful bow of her head, and waited (impatiently) for her children to do the same.

Z o m b i k ii

Epine de Rose

 

[oo Ded]

Nchekwube did his best to move quietly as he arrived to where others had already started to mingle. He did his best to avoid immediate attention, though it was something that he long since reconciled as unavoidable. He did his best to not look tired. To not look worried.

He had, of course, heard the voices. Seen the lights deep within the depths of the catacombs. At first he didn't really think anything of it. He'd be lying if he hadn't heard sounds, seen strange sights, within those passageways. The darkness and the focus would do that to you.

And then he saw them outside. He heard things that sounded like whispers in his ear even after he emerged to the surface world. Perhaps he had gone mad? And then others heard them too.

Some isolated hallucinations perhaps he could put behind him. Widespread sightings of things unknown? That was another story.

The Amoosu tried not to speculate. Not to others, at least. He had a sort of voice of authority, now, and he couldn't just be putting wild thoughts into the heads of his pridemates. That being said, it was hard not to wonder why this was happening. Why were the ancestors making their voices known? Were they upset, or were they trying to give blessings? Was something disrupting them? And, most importantly, how could they be appeased?

When Ngcono arrived at the gathering, he did so trailing behind his mother and sisters and he did so alone. His mouth pressed into a thin, pursed line and his grey eyes squinted as he looked over the individuals that had gathered so far. On each of those not in his family, Ngco's eyes seemed to pause consideringly, especially when it came to the rogue-blooded.

First the border was opened to outsiders and now this? He might have been young, but Co wasn't daft enough to consider this all just a coincidence. So the glaring question remained:

Was anyone going to do anything about it?

But maybe that's what this whole gathering had been about. At least, he hoped so.

The adolescent snorted, squinting lastly at the rogue-blooded youth before settling along the outer rim of the gathering. He watched as his family approached Nyarai, then the Onyeisi. His mouth quirked and he drew his eyes away, doing his best to avoid attention in an attempt to not get drawn in to the introductions. He wasn't in the mood.  

[MangoMeow]

It was with slow, precise movements that Kione made his way into the din of lions, head held high like the Nganga he was, though to be completely honest.... He was only here because of his mate. If he'd had his way, he would have stayed in his den and let the rest of them figure it out. He and Afya had already had their fair share of problems with spirits (that date night had been an utter disaster, and neither were quite ready to redo it yet), and they had a giant batch of kids to handle as well.

On that note, he wondered when he should be bringing up the cubs leaving the den to his mate. Granted, there were a few that he was fairly certain wouldn't want to leave, but they were growing up. Soon they would be adults and need to find their own place. He didn't mention it to Afya, but a little part of him was dreading that moment... and then one of them would destroy something and he'd remember that oh right, it was nice not being so cramped in one den. On the subject of their cubs though, they had "encouraged" their cubs to join them out here, to get a feel for their pride.

.... Okay.

Afya encouraged them.

Kione backed it up so he wasn't the only one suffering. If he had to do it, so did they.

A quick glance around him showed that little Afya and Femi were doing just fine, clearly not suffering, and judging by the strutting boy next to him, neither was Kokayi, he thought with a roll of his eyes. The boy had grown cockier from his younger self; a product of growing up surrounded by mini versions of his mother, he supposed.

Miniya, however....

"Mini, get out from under me." She was making it difficult to walk.



Purple eyes peeked out from behind the mess of a blond mane that she had on her head. She had taken to growing out her mane in such a way that it hid her face, to the chagrin of her mother. The adolescent very slowly started crawling out to stand between her father and brother, though she kept her head low and almost looked like she wanted to melt right then and there.

She didn't want to be here. Not just because of the idea of talking to people, but also just the idea of facing the unknown at all. People were saying that they were seeing dead people, which was an utterly horrifying thought for her. Her dreams already showed her dead people - she didn't need to see them in real life!

With a whine, she croaked back at them, "Can I go home now?"



Kokayi let out a snort at her, shaking his head. "We just got here, and we haven't even caught up with any of the others yet." He glanced around them, spotting his mother with Auntie Nyarai, but his lip curled when he noticed who they were talking to. Not that he had anything against the Onyeisi - on the contrary, he rather admired him for his leadership - but that was also a prime spot to get everyone's notice.

Hey, he may not be as anti-social as his father, but that didn't mean he liked going out of his way to meet new people either.

Shaking his head, he turned and poked Mini on the shoulder, "Come on, let's see if we can track down our other siblings."  

[SilverLutz]

Sawa had come to the gathering as had been asked of the pride, but she didn't see what the fuss was all about. Growing up she had heard little whispers and voices and she had enjoyed speaking with them, making this whole ordeal not too out of the ordinary for her. The only big difference was these voices didn't make sense to her and came with the occasional apparition of sorts, lights and shadowy outlines that murmured nonsensical sounds. Sawa didn't mind at all - in fact, she'd speak to them just as she would any of the plants she was so used to conversing with. She'd pause to let them have their say, and even though she couldn't understand them, would reply as best she could. Her new pride members did seem rather upset by these developments, though, so she kept the talking to herself when no one else was around. As it was now, she moved to sit beside a familiar if unhappy face, her shoulder bumping his as she sat.

"A somber mood, hm?" she said softly to Zuko.

The dark male grimaced slightly at the arrival of the bright female, her colors still a bit abrasive to his eyes. He had been interested to see that her personality was far more mellow than her bright, sunny colors suggested. She was cheerful, yes, but in a subtle way that he could appreciate. Sawa was still an outsider, but was slowly starting to grow on him. He had taken it upon himself to teach her the ways of the pride so she wouldn't make a fool of herself by doing or saying the wrong thing.

"It's a somber time," he said with a gruff voice. "Ancestors appearing, voices murmuring...clearly something is unwell. This has never happened before as far as I can remember." There were no stories of visions and voices floating about en masse like this and it was mildly terrifying to him, although he wouldn't admit that out loud.

"We'll see what the Amoosu want to have us do and carry it out as best we can. But for now, we wait."

One other joined the gathering group, although she kept to herself and remained silent, pale eyes following one of the wisps as it floated through the crowd. Ruaka watched its slow progression, moving in and out of the lions as it went, some of them cringing away from it and others literally getting up to move aside. She felt a bit badly for the wisp, she decided, as it floated through the crowd. What if it just wanted to sit with someone, to feel needed and wanted? As if on cue, the little ball of light floated to her, a whispering voice tickling her ear. She twitched it a bit to make the tickling stop, but she didn't move from the wisp as it floated around her.

Closing her eyes, the white lioness took a deep breath and let it out slowly, a sense of peace settling over her as she did so. She had heard stories of some of these taking on shadowy figures, outlines of loved ones long past and strangers alike. Some were just like the one still hovering around her, gentle and unobtrusive, but others were mischievous or even nefarious. Ruaka hoped for the sake of the restless spirits they'd find a way to help them, but she couldn't help but feel....at ease around them for some reason.

Opening her eyes, Ruaka watched as the wisp hovered before her for a moment, another whisper reaching her ear, before it floated off and away from the gathering.  

[Lightning Shadow X]

Isithunzi was a proud mother, since joining the Aguu family with her childhood love Mgbamizu they had both raised a family of many gorgeous cubs that she felt great pride in watching them grow. Even now they grew and developed their personalities, becoming more and more of the unique little lions she knew would make the Nezi as equally proud as she was. However when word of the muttering ancestors came about it had become harder and harder to hide that protective streak that followed in the dark female's wake, especially with her more sensitive of her children. One of which was being lead by one of her brooding little boys.

"Stay close, children and mind your manners with the other families."

"Uggggghhhhh mom I don't even want to talk to anyone here." The adolescent male dragging his paws groaned as he watched her mother inbetween walking beside his fiery coloured sister.

"Now now, the sooner we get done listening the sooner you can go back to your shadey spot," She turned and nudged her son's cheek as the adolescent huffed in response. "Besides there's a few around here your age, you and your sister might make a friend."

The male groaned again before watching as his blind sister just walked forward to nuzzle into her mother with a small testing nudge before being ushered to where the Aguu family could gather together.

"It'll be interesting to listen in." Jabu piped up happily and sat herself down once she finally settled herself down.  

[Nezi-ozu]

[Ded and I had no idea there were so few Amoosu in existence so for the purpose of the RP the majority can be considered alive for now, they're just going to be NPCs until we get our ducks in a row!

An NPC Amusu will work alongside any prompts Nche may give in regards to satisfactory rituals so please look forward to these, they'll be coming within the next few posts.]

There was tension in the air, albeit something to be expected in the given circumstances. There was no doubt in the Onyeisi's mind that he might be blamed for this, after all, it had all started to crop up after he had made his controversial decisions. Nevertheless he was confident that it wasn't those, based on the conversations he'd had with those who had very rarely passed their borders, there was something else at work.

He was grateful for the pride though, despite their reservations they had come out when called and seemed set to help. Well...the majority of those who had come out were there with good intentions. The disgruntled nature of some of their youngest members wasn't lost on him; to them this was too somber, too official and quite frankly a bit boring. However, Itiri was of the opinion that when it came to something as serious as this, the gravity of the situation needed to be impressed upon them.

He'd leave their ultimate fate to their parents, if they preferred the adolescent cubs return to their dens then he would permit it but in the grand scheme of things he hoped that there would be some who might take part in whatever ideas the Priests might have - some of which had finally started to make their presence known.

Nche had been the first, though his profile remained low it hadn't been lost on Itiri... And then there were others who had chosen to stand at a distance until they were addressed. Bleary eyed and clearly tired, there were some of them that had been up for far longer than was healthy. What was a concern to the Onyeisi had already been a concern of the Amoosu for some time now.

Ah, but he would grant them a brief respite as they took a moment to themselves. The dark male soon found himself in the company of others; rather than having to approach them himself he found what had quickly become a ray of sunlight in his otherwise mundane routine was now standing directly in front of him. Aha, and she had company this time round!

He would have assumed that this might be one of those she had in mind when she was playing matchmaker had it not been for the fact that one was clearly the mother of the other... Or was he to be a cradle snatcher in his future?

"Clearly," he replied with a wry smile and shook his head. "And who might we have here?" he asked at last as he regarded both Afyas and Femi.

"Friend no doubt, but I do have to wonder if they're who I think they might be..."  

[- Mynsed -]

Azmera had done it again; apparently, this time, she had simply been running to arrive on time for the family to go together. In her haste, she had gotten tangled in some string and tumbled right into a basket of harvest. Diallo had witnessed it all and had even announced to his mother that Azmera had been distracted while running as well. Promptly, Zobu had to interfere when they began to bicker at each other. Already adolescents and yet, still acted like cubs. The mother lioness sighed wearily, shaking her head, before ushering them towards where Budek had gone.

When she had arrived, she gave him an exasperated smile. ”Sometimes, I wonder if I really need another litter of cubs,” she jested, nuzzling her face into the red mane with a soft purr before pulling back.

Azmera had finished shoving past Diallo and grinned when she saw Isabis. Quickly, her eyes searched around, looking for a certain somebody, before she moved up, bumping her sister lightly. ”Where’s loverboy? Asked him out yet?” she teased. ”Maybe these wisps will somehow help you have the stones to ask.”

Diallo rolled his eyes before giving Azmera a scolding expression. ”Leave her alone, ‘mera. Just because you were rejected doesn’t mean you should take it out on others,” Diallo retorted, lifting his chin.

Zobu’s ear perked and a soft groan escaped her. ”Children, please. Behave today?” she whispered frantically, heat raising to the cheeks at the few nearby eyes they did manage to bring.

Astoriafallen

 

[Krysin]

He wouldn't have come if his mother hadn't dragged him out of the den by his ear. Kabili was one of the less confident youths, second only to Miniya who stuck to their father like glue. The pale adolescent fell back behind the rest of his family, hoping that if enough distance was made between them he could make his way back to the family den. His mother had instilled a healthy sense of caution over the rogue-blooded families, so heading to a place where everyone had been invited made his stomach twist from anxiety. How his other siblings could be so fearless was mystifying to Kabili.

Unfortunately for the introverted male, there was no way he could slip away from his mother's watchful gaze. They arrived, and soon the family split up to rejoin with familiar faces or go off on their own. He would have followed after her mother, but she was headed straight into territory he was not comfortable with. His father, likewise, was preoccupied with Miniya. Kabili, however, did not want to be left to his own devices here.

He found his vict - brother, Ngcono unaccompanied. His brother's grumpy expression was per usual, and Kabili had at least learned to not pay attention to the permanent glower upon his brother's face. Kabili skidded around the edge of the crowd, dark blue eyes fixing on his monotone sibling. "Ngcono," his voice reached his brother quietly. His presence was at times hard to detect, Kabili had mastered blending into the background long ago. "Everyone seems... rowdy."

oo DeD

 

[- Mynsed -]

Azmera scowled at Diallo and stuck her tongue out at Isabis’s back as she left, but said no more. Not with their mother’s sharp warning and their father’s threat to intervene. ”Yes, sir,” Azmera said sullenly, a pout coming to her mouth. Diallo echoed her with the same phrase, knowing he was also being scolded. It was easy to play coy and sweet with her mother but her father was quite stern with manners.

Sighing heavily, she sat down, eyeing the crowd before studying one of the wisps. How odd. Diallo took a seat next to her, smirking at her sidelong. She bristled, scowling back up at him. ”You got in trouble too, you know,” she whispered in a hiss, trying to keep her voice low; she really didn’t want their dad stepping in.

Diallo’s expression fell and he frowned back. ”When are you gonna grow up? You heard them talking about another litter, you won’t be able to act like a baby forever,” he whispered back. Azmera gave a quick glance to her parents, making sure they were preoccupied, before she wacked Diallo with her tail.

Zobu really tried to not listen into the whispering. She would rather pretend ignorance. If they weren’t being obvious, it was fine by her; she would rather have a nice outing with her mate rather than ruffled and him upset. Settling next to him, leaning her head on him a bit, she smiled as she watched the wisps. ”We’re definitely going to have another,” she chirped happily. ”We’ve got to make up for lost time and I don’t want to be bested by anyone,” she added. She didn’t bother clarifying that she wanted to mother the most of his cubs; it should have been obvious. Even an adult and a parent, Zobu was still quite competitive and insisted in being the ‘best’ in several things, still.

Astoriafallen

 

[MangoMeow]

Miniya gave a whine at her brother's words, shying away from his prodding and once again merging herself against Kione's leg. Her other siblings would be just as bad right now, she was sure, all ornery or excited (or both) at being here, and would likely be the center of attention because of it.

No thanks, she'd stay well out of the way, thank you very much.

Instead, she sent another pleading look up at their father, who just gave her a flat look back, before looking back at her brother... who had lost patience and left, apparently. Before she could do much else, her father also started walking away, and Mini gave a tiny yelp before chasing after him.

He'd watched idly as Kokayi moved to disappear into the crowd, though he was sure he'd see him again at some point. Their cubs tended to gravitate around them.

Or, in some cases, just stuck to them like glue. He wondered if he could pawn Miniya off on Afya, but then again, she already had two of their kids with her, and she was likely to just foist them off on him if he got near. So instead, he started wandering the crowd, trying to see if he could find a good place to just hide away without it being obvious that he was hiding.

-----

Kokayi, meanwhile, had just left the two of them and was instead watching the crowd for anything interesting. As he moved between a pair of lions chatting amongst themselves, he spotted the little wisp floating through the crowd. Curiosity piquied, he edged close enough to watch it flutter around another adolescent girl that he wasn't sure he recognized. She was older than him, he was fairly certain, but beyond that, he had no idea.

Eyebrow raising, he wandered closer until he was standing nearby, head tilted to the side. "Not scared of them, huh?" A far cry from his parents, he thought with an inward chuckle. They were almost jumpy about the subject.

SilverLutz

 

[SilverLutz]

Sawa listened politely to Zuko as he spoke, a placid look on her face as always. The majority of the lions here seemed very spooked by these voices and she didn't want to give them any reason to distrust her. It was a bit like her life before now, always hiding the fact that she liked to carry on full conversations with normally mute things - plants were her preferred conversation partners - although now it was a bit different. To her, the plants spoke back. These wisps were definitely making themselves known visually and audibly to everyone.

"Hopefully soon," she agreed if only for the sake of the pride. With everyone on edge something was surely bound to do more than just ruffle feathers.

"I'm not sure it will be," Zuko said dismally. Nothing like this had ever happened before as far as he could remember, so the Amoosu would have to figure out what to do with no history to draw upon for advice. One of the wisps floated by his ear and he visibly cringed away from it, eyes on the ground. If they were ancestors they were very pesky and he didn't want to offend any of them.

"Have you seen anything like this in your travels?" he asked, his voice nearly a whisper. Did he want to know if this was a common occurrence?

---

Ruaka glanced away from the wisp as it floated off, her pale eyes resting on a dark male about her age. She tilted her head just a bit as she considered his question before finally shaking it. No, she wasn't scared of them.

"If they are the spirits of our ancestors, there's nothing to fear," she said in a measured, calm voice. "I don't wish for them to be so restless, so I thought letting one stay a while instead of rushing away from it might help it to relax." The wisp had gone off somewhere she couldn't see, but hopefully it was returning to the afterlife and the peace it offered.

"I'm not sure if that's working, but it's worth a try."

MangoMeow