Welcome to Gaia! ::

By invite only. To participate, you must have a soquili (or familiar) in the Thunderbird, Shadow, or Firestorm's herd.


Underneath each user name is the soquili that are involved in this RP, as well as forms for easy reference for the participants showing how capable the soquili is in combat and how injured the player is willing to have them get, as well as whether or not they are OK with capture.

Sabin Duvert
Thunderbird Herd Members Participating: 9



Firebird/Shadow Herd Members Participating: 14



Kamiki
Thunderbird Herd Members Participating: 15



Firebird/Shadow Herd Members Participating 4


OTHER : 1


II--Gen3sis--II

Thunderbird Herd Members Participating: 1


Tefla

Thunderbird Herd Members Participating: 3



Fatal Irony

Thunderbird Herd Members Participating: 1


Nymphalidae

Thunderbird Herd Members Participating: 5


Firebird/Shadow Herd Members Participating: 1



CitrusCupcake


Firebird/Shadow Herd Members Participating: 1


KESMI


Thunderbird Herd Members Participating: 2


She Ra of Etheria


Thunderbird Herd Members Participating: 1


[+Katch+]



Firebird/Shadow Herd Members Participating: 2

Hoof after hoof, Firestorm strode forward, his expression fixed into one of smoldering rage blended with manic anticipation. He had waited for this day for longer than he knew it was coming. Revenge. Conquest. Taking back what was rightfully his. He glanced over his shoulder at the army that followed in his hoofsteps... and this was just half of them.

It was a long, twisting route up the hidden path that led into the Thunderbird herd. When he was a foal, when he had still been in the herd, Balrog's golden child... he had been shown the path. He had been instructed to commit it to memory. And that was why he was with these soquili - soquili that once upon a time he wouldn't have dignified with a conversation. Those born without wings or at least the capability to fly. There was one route through the mountainous terrain that led into the alpine valley of the herdlands that could be taken on hoof. THEY made sure of it. Jealously guarded the borders of their territory. Orchestrated rockslides and barriers to make certain that there was only one way in and one way out. And the only reason that was there was in case one was stranded outside of the territory and injured. So they could get home.

But that concession, that hidden emergency route was going to be their undoing.

One step... another... one step closer to taking it back. If the timing was right, they would be getting to the herdgrounds right at dusk. There were many with him who could use the fall of night to their advantage.

And The Thunderbird herd would have no idea what hit them.... Not until it was too late.





Taraxippus strode alongside Taraxippus, ravens perched on his shoulders. They belonged to his herdmates - their familiars, but they would send the signal to attack. There was another group, the second half of the army, those that could fy, poised to attack as soon as they received the signal.

His own heart quickened in anticipation. But not for personal reasons like Firestorm. No, he had been wanting this change to prove the strength of the herd he had meticulously gathered and groomed. Not only to test their loyalty in the crucible of war, but to spread their mounting influence. ... his influence... his kingdom ruled by fear and respect.



Infernum, ever dutiful, waited steadfast beneath the rocky outcropping on the other side of the thunderbird herdgrounds, beneath the raging waterfall as it fled over the cliffs. Firestorm had shown him this location over a week ago now. Told him of how this very river fed the herd and the lush mountain plants that they ate. How he and his family had been cast out of the herd grounds, and joined the waters that, too, had been cast off.

But Firestorm had realized the strength in this location for the attack. The raging cascade drowned out any noise that the gathering of winged soquili could make in anticipation of the attack. The outcropping of rocks formed a sort of umbrella high above that shielded the group from sight from patrols that the herd had regularly sent out.

It was the perfect spot. Not only were they going to be making the attack from two sides, but it was the perfect location to lie in wait.

He knew his instructions. He knew the signals. As soon as Firestorm and Taraxippus made it to the end of the path, they would send the ravens. They had already worked out the timing it would take the birds to reach his team. Fifteen minutes after they sent them, Firestorm and the unwinged soquili would spring into action. Hopefully, precisely at the same time that the birds arrived at his group. As soon as the birds reached them, Infernum would lead the soquili with him to attack.

For Taraxippus... and for the family of his new bride.

Not a shadow of a doubt lingered in the thick, fiery stallion's mind. The only thing that burned in him was loyalty and confidence.

He looked back to the others gathered with him and smield. This very night, he would lead them into battle.




- Phase one is SET UP ONLY. DO NOT START FIGHTING!!! The "Signal" to attack will not begin until Phase 2 starts. Do not have a Shadow/Firestorm herdmember start fighting, and do not have a Thunderbird herd member notice the incoming attack.

- You may describe what your Thunderbird herdmember is doing before the attack, or you may describe what your attacker is thinking/how they are approaching the thunderbird herdgrounds.

- This phase lasts TWO WEEKS (it ends at the end of the day, April 19. Some time April 20 I will make another post officially begining Phase 2.

- Once Phase 1 has ended, if you missed the phase, you can still summarize in a post what your soquili did, but do not do any kind of action that would retcon or otherwise require someone to respond to what you did in a previous phase.

- THERE IS NO POSTING ORDER. Post whenever you feel like it. You may post UP TO twice per soquili in phase one, but you can post once or not at all if you prefer.

Dubstep weaved in and out of the gathered members of the herd, listening to the snippets of conversation that he caught as he passed by. The air had a palpable edge to it, and uneasy sense of foreboding. He couldn't help but feel ill at ease in his new surroundings. He had only recently joined the herd and hadn't yet established solid relationships with anyone save for his mate, Euphrates. Determined to assert himself more in the herd, he decided to strike out and strum up conversation among the other members. However, with the friction he felt in the air he was more concerned with trying to figure out what was going on.

He spotted a herd member off on her own grazing peacefully. He thought perhaps she might be a good first stop. She was clearly of kalona descent, but Dubstep wasn't one to judge too quickly, particularly since she had been allowed into the herd in the first place.

"Hi there," he said as he approached, flashing the mare a disarming grin. "Are you new to the herd as well? Do you have any idea what's going on? Everyone seems to be on edge." He motions around them, encompassing the herdlands. Surely she could feel it too.



((I figure his established location can be just chatting with Wynter and anyone else nearby? lol))

Megaera couldn't be prouder. She follwed her son, Infernum's heavy hoofbeats as he had led the way to the ambush point. He walked with purpose, with strength. He impressed Taraxippus, and that, in turn, made Megaera even prouder. She had followed Taraxippus's instructions when she bred with Sheol - the smart match. And Taraxippus had been right. He was everything he wanted him to be.... everything SHE wanted him to be. She did not love her elder dauhgter, Pysche any less... but Infernum... infernum made her heart swell with pride.

She waited beneath the rush of the waterfall, letting the wind whip her fiery mane around. It felt... important. Like she could feel the anticipation hanging in the air. Megaera wasn't the brightest mare, but she knew how big today was to their herd. And of all the herd, Taraxippus had chosen Infernum. Her Infernum.

Ashfall stretched his wings before folding them at his sides. He stood on one of the many small outcroppings in the peaks that overlooked the general herdgrounds. This was the place he always felt most at peace: watching, vigilant, but just removed enough for the chatter and din of conversation of the large herd to bring him a peaceful silence. Here he could think and reflect. And now was the perfect time of day. The late slow part of afternoon just before evening. The setting sun cast long shadows and it wouldn't be too long before the sky was painted in glorious colors of reds, pinks, and violets. Colors that were echoed among the myriad soquili below him.

This was his home. Born of the two elder alphas of the herd, Ash was used to being treated with deference and respect, but stil... it was nice to separate himself ... every now and then... just to watch.

Canaan had been assigned to keep an eye on Wynter Fury; as a guard is made sense; it was his duty to protect the herd, and if Wynter was a threat, there would be no one better to be around than someone equipped to handle the situation? But he didn't like being regulated to a spy.

Instead, he tried to pass off his nearly constant presence beside Wynter as more of an ambassador of sorts. Someone to help show her around the herdlands. He had tried to be a friend, but give her space when she needed it. He showed her where the best watering holes and foraging grounds where, and talked to her a bit about the different roles in the herd. He wanted her to feel welcome; after all, if Stormwild trusted her, than he did.

Maybe, just maybe, she would open up to him one day.

As he followed her into the clearing, he saw another brightly colored male approach; another new stallion; one who hadn't been born into the herd but had come back with his older sister, Euphrates. "Hi," he said. He didn't mean to interject into the conversation, but he felt maybe having an established member of the herd escort Wynter around, she would feel more integrated.

There was a characteristic smile on Zion's face as he stretched his four wings and came in for a landing . It had been an absolutely beautiful day, and the verdant, green grass was springy under his hooves as his momentum slowed after he touched down. Gorgeous. Everything was absolutely gorgeous. Spring was probably his favorite time of year, though it was difficult to pick one. Each season brought with it different wonders of nature. But just something about the new life of this time of year brought such promise and openness about the future.

He gave a nod to one of the newest arrivals to their herd, a grey mare with horns, and another to the avian 'daughter' of Thunderbird. Zion had a big heart, and had absolutely no reason not to trust every soquili that had joined this herd implicitely.

He had no idea what was brewing, nor would he have believed someone that told him that that very night his calm reality would be shattered.

Cataclysm finally seemed to understand it. As fillies, her and her sister, Maelstrom, had been inseparable from each other - two little twin terrors who seemed like two hands of the same mind. But as the grew up, they had grown apart, but it was Maelstrom who seemed to have broke away first.

She had been the first to find love, to start spending more time with a stallion than with her sister; and for years Cataclysm was all the more bitter for it. She missed her true soulmate, her sister... but several years and foals later and the tides had turned.

Maelstrom's mate showed up and less and less. Cataclysm never asked for the gory details, because a part of her was happy to have her sister back. But at the same time, the winter before last, a stallion had blown in with the winter breeze that struck her in ways she had never felt before. And soon, she was inseparable from Frost as Maelstrom had been with her mate.

And now, she finally understood. She didn't love her sister any less, but the love she felt with Frost was much different than what she had with her sister. Equal in power, but different in drive; she thought she had known love when she came across the spooky Angeni that led to the bird of Onibi Storm and Stormfall, but it wasn't until Frost came around - his level head and deep respect and gentle nature - so different but at the same time, seemed to complete her soul like puzzle piece.

This past winter had been harsh and dreadful, and only he had kept her sane. As she milled around the main, lush valley high up in the mountain peaks, Frost at her side, she felt a kind of peace and contentment she never thought she was capable of.