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Your Name: ~Twilight...Angel~
The Tribal Soquili's Name: Glinil
Their Temper Wise
Brief Personality: Glinil is very wise amoung the Kawni tribes horses. Though she isn't as old as some, she has an old soul. She often knows what the tribes will do in relation to situations and acts upon what she knows, rather than waiting for it to come to pass. She is seen as reckless for these things, but has never been injured in her actions.

How did they come to the Kawni Tribe?: Glinil was born into the Kawni tribes horses. She was born of two greats. Her father was a war horse and her mother was wise beyond her years. During the great fire and the chaos that followed, she lost track of her parents. She knew that she saw them in the midst of the fires, helping to put them out, but started putting out and helping others on her own. She hopes that they escaped on the other side of the village, but she will never know until she finds them.

How did they handle the great fire that ravaged their village? What did they do? Where did they go? Were they a hero or a coward?
Glinil was released from the small stable with her parents as the fires started raging in their area of the village. Her parents led her to the areas where the fires needed the most help, starting to kick up dirt and sand at the flame while members of the village started trying to put out the fires with any water they had available. Her parents continued onward into the worse parts of the village while Glinil went in the other direction to help members of the village carry whatever children and goods they could to safety.
When Glinil was done helping with what she could for the villagers, she turned into the flames to see if she could find her parents. Finding a safe path throught the village was almost impossible, but she made it a good distance in. She HAD to find her parents. They were an important part of the village...
As she came up closer to the other side of the village, the fire was too high to get past. There was no way for her to check on her parents. To find out if they were even still alive. As she strained her eyes, she saw figures moving on the other side of the flames. Two looked like her parents! She watched a bit longer before trying to yell over at them. The roars of the flame were too loud to hear even herself.
Crack! Thump!
Glinil looked to her left as she heard and noise and moved just in time to avoid being hit by a burning log. The log had caused the wall of fire to grow and she knew she had to leave before she was trapped forever in the flames of the village. Racing out through the only open areas of the village, she made it to the clear end. There were lots of other Soquili and village members. Gathered to watch what they could not save.
As they stared at what was left of their village, the skies opened up. They had been dealing with fires in neighboring villages for days. It was an irony that the sky opened with the rains just as what was left of their own homes bruned and smoldered.
She knew she coudldn't stay there any longer. She had to find if her parents were alive. It was something that she simply had to do...

Now that the village is coming back together to rebuild, how do they feel about that? Though she has grown up in the Kawni herd, she doesn't want to return. She would much rather go out and explore the great lands she has heard so much anout. Meet others who are just as wise as she and spread her wisdom. She is also hoping to meet the mother and father who left her so long ago...

Your Name: Cajmera
Your Soquili's Name & Cert: Elizabeth Swann
Is This an NPC? No
How did they feel about the ongoing drought in the Kawani Plains? Did it effect them at all?: For years, Elizabeth had lived a quiet, companionable life with a Kawani woman named Cajji in a tepee a short walk outside of the village. Having been born and raised in Europe, it had taken her some time to get comfortable with the 'rustic' life of the Kawani; that was to say nothing of adjusting to the reality she had been brought overseas and eventually sold by the son of the human family she had loved as her own. The Kawani lifestyle had been very different to anything she had ever known before, and for a time she had clung with almost perverse stubbornness to her old ways, including wearing a full-body-covering humanesque gown!

Cajji had been amused at her new Soquili's 'unique ways,' but had done her best to be patient and understanding. Although the Kawani had purchased Elizabeth, from the very beginning Cajji had treated her more as a friend or child than a beast of burden. Initially wary of the Kawani's motives, Elizabeth was won over in time by Cajji's kindness. Though a far cry from the life of opulence she'd known in Europe, the simple life of the Kawani came to be a balm for Elizabeth's spirit and she eventually came to find peace with herself and her life....for the most part.

Though devoted to Cajji and fond of the numerous Soquili friends she'd made in the Kawani plains, there was one thing which remained missing from Elizabeth's life: a lifemate and, more importantly, children. Family had always been the most important thing in her life, and leaving her parents had been the hardest of all the sacrifices she'd made in coming to the Kawani lands. She'd done her best to make peace with the loss of her parents, but as the years passed with no lifemate making an appearance, she once more began to droop into the quiet resignation that passed for her depression.

That all changed when she met Ambroise, a disciplined, serious stallion from a herd high in the mountains. Though he was younger than her and lived a far different sort of life, after a few brief meetings he offered her the life she had been dreaming of for years: that of lifemate and, hopefully, mother. Though she was being offered a lifemating of convenience rather than love, she leapt at the chance to be a mother and to once more have family of her own. The only wrench would be leaving Cajji, the Kawani who had been so good to her...

~~~

As the years passed, Elizabeth's life continued to change in ways more positive than she had ever dreamed. What had started as a lifemating of convenience gradually shifted to be one of mutual respect and affection, which later became one of love. In her new herd, Elizabeth served an important role as a healer, gather, and lifemate of the herd's heir. She met and loved her in-laws, much as they may have originally overwhelmed her, and, in time, she was bless with the arrivals of her two sons, Wyeth and Raines. Through it all, she grew in confidence and serenity, happy that life was going her way after so long a time.

~~~~

Though she remained loyal to Cajji and did her best to see her as she could, the trip down to the Kawani village was both long and challenging for one without wings. Her sentiments remained as kindly as they ever had, but the visits became fewer and farther between as Elizabeth became more and more involved in the doings of her family herd.

~~~

The first she learned of the drought in the Kawani Plains was in the late summer, when one of the herd's scouts mentioned almost in passing how challenging the winter might be for the lowland Soquili with how poor the summer's harvests must have been. Being in a different elevation with weather naturally harsher than the lowlands to begin with, Elizabeth hadn't once considered the fact that the lowlands might actually be experiencing inclement weather themselves. As it was late summer, she was already busy collecting and drying reserves for the Summit herd's winter, but she resolved to make up a large bundle of supplies and make the trek down to see Cajji as soon as she was finished with the current batch of preserving.

When the great fire happened, did it effect them or their family in anyway? Did the news upset them, did they care, did they laugh?

However, before Elizabeth had a chance to even start down the mountain, news of a most horrifying nature was brought to the Summit Herd: the drought had given way to a raging wildfire, which had destroyed a huge swatch of the plains area...including many of the villages. The reports were incomplete, given the minimal interaction the Summit herd had with the Plains dwellers, but what she heard was enough to fill Elizabeth with ice-cold dread. How many of her old friends lived in the Plains? How many of them lacked the wings to flee?

Leaving the preserving to other Summit members, Elizabeth quickly threw together a small emergency kit and took off down the mountain as quickly as she could, escorted by her son Wyeth. Ambroise might not approve of her haste, but hopefully he would be understanding when he knew she hadn't taken off alone.

~~~

She had been glad to have Wyeth's company before they'd made it far into her old stomping grounds. The lushes grasses and flowing streams of her past were now blackened ash and dry bottoms. Even the sight of uninhabited meadows charred beyond recognition was almost more than her gentle heart could bear...and that did nothing to prepare her for her for her first sight of death.

Though she didn't know anyone from the first village personally, it didn't matter. She had to look away from the small forms of children and foals who hadn't been fast enough, from the sight of families huddled together in death. The flames had blazed hot here, leaving little left to identify, but it had been enough.

~~~

"Mother...are you sure you're up for this? You can go back, and I'll finish this for you." Her son's voice had been gentle and filled with concern as he stood, awkwardly trying to console her as she once again burst into tears at the sight of an unknown death. It seemed as though she had constantly been weeping since first hearing the news of the fire, and her poor son was the one who got to deal with the tears. He was such a sweet boy, her son...both her sons. How easy would it have been for this fire to sweep over the Summit? It could easily have been her own family lying together in death, and that thought alone was enough to set off her tears afresh.

However, through the tears she shook her head at Wyeth, giving him a somewhat mangled smile. "No Wyeth...I love you for the thought, but I can't leave it to anyone else to check up on Cajji. I should have come to see her so much sooner...I never should have waited until a tragedy happened!"

~~~

As they neared the Elizabeth's old village, Elizabeth's tears began to dry, replaced instead by that now-familiar tightening in her chest. Everything was blackened and burned, even the stands of catttails at what used to be the edge of the lake. How many times had she walked through them, picking the strongest, most supple stalks for Cajji's basket weaving? It was all gone now, nothing but ashy stubble.

Everything was gone...

~~~

Wyeth would have gone on ahead and made the confirmation on his own. He would have accompanied Elizabeth and provided moral support. Really, he would have done anything, if it would make it easier on his mother.

But gently, Elizabeth had stopped him, bringing him to a halt with a horn to his chest. She had left him standing there to watch as she walked up to the ashen circle that had been Cajji's tepee compound, the four tepees identifiable only by charred leavings. She ignored the metal spokes, the hollowed rock vessels, the half-burned wooden supports; her attention was focused entirely on the partially burned bodies of a human and a Soquili, pinned under the fallen supports of the largest tepee. She didn't know the Soquili, at least not from the remains, but she knew the human.

There were no more tears, the grief and guilt far too strong now for such a paltry display of emotion. In total silence, Elizabeth pushed aside the supports, gently extricating the fallen forms. With the greatest of care, she cleared away the excess ash, then arranged them in a simple fashion. Without looking up, she called out to her son, "We will need rocks, Wyeth...lots of rocks."

Now that the village is coming back together to rebuild, how do they feel about that? Do they wish to aid the Kawani or leave them to their own devices?

Elizabeth stood beside the newly-erected teepees, watching Wyeth disappear into the northern sky. He hadn't been pleased with her decision, but having been unable to change her mind, he was on his way back to the Summit to find and explain to Ambroise why Elizabeth wouldn't be returning for a while.

When Wyeth had passed beyond sight, Elizabeth sighed and turned to look at the temporary village. There were far fewer people here than she remembered; far fewer elders, far fewer children of any species. It had been years since she had last been among them, but there were many faces she recognized, and that had recognized her. She had joined them in grieving the losses, those of people both known and unknown. And, for now, she would join them in rebuilding. She loved her home in the mountains, she loved her herd, and she loved her family, but she could never, would never, forget the first friend she'd ever had in this strange new world.

For Cajji's sake, she would stay and help rebuild, lending her strength, her knowledge, and her healing abilities to help Cajji's people reestablish what had always been most important: a home.

Your Name: Mahogany Sunset
The Tribal Soquili's Name: Millaray ("golden flower" in a Mapuche language, a reference to the golden healing flower of the Rapunzel fairytale)
Their Temper Selfless
Brief Personality: Millaray is, in a word, selfless. Born and raised a healer, she was taught to give her life for the tribe, if necessary - whether it be through the strain of healing or through risking her life to save another. She carries out her duties in meek obedience, never questioning. To others she may seem weak-minded, almost robotic, but she truly believes that she was meant to help the Kawani people in times of need. Since the fire, however, rather than going where she is bid, Millaray has begun to grow more pushy about where she believes she is needed the most. For example, rather than healing the wounded, she would have rather hunted for those left stranded in the burning village. While she eventually helped heal those in need and let the others handle the stranded villagers, her heart protested the whole time, for her grandmother was lost in the flames. Her priorities have now begun to split, rather than being one and the same as they were before: do what her heart tells her or follow the lessons of obedience that were imprinted in her mind.

How did they come to the Kawani Tribe?: Millaray came to the tribe as a basket with her family, who were all healers, as well. The small unicorn herd learned some of the Kawani's ways and stayed for a time, bonding with other soquili in the village. However, all but Millaray's grandmother eventually moved on. Grandmother stayed and raised the filly that had been left to the Kawani as a token of love and friendship to heal the hurts they might suffer.

How did they handle the great fire that ravaged their village? What did they do? Where did they go? Were they a hero or a coward?
The fire leapt around her, dancing and flickering and snapping, lapping up the sides of skin teepees. Millaray could hear screaming and choking, coughing, hacking sounds coming from every direction as smoke filled the village and spilled like ink from collapsing structures. She'd run, at first, as Grandmother had bid her, galloping to the edge of the village where so many other soquili and Kawani tribespeople waited for their loved ones to emerge in ash and flame, somehow unharmed. But as she waited and watched and was bid to heal this scrape or that burn, Millaray saw no sign of Grandmother. The mare had been old, but strong; she should have come out by now.

Unconsciously taking several steps back toward the flames, Millaray heard the Kawani calling her back. Surely she could save a life or two... Other soquili had been rushing in and out of the village as it slowly blackened, ferrying humans and guiding their own kind. Surely Grandmother was still in there, clinging to life, trapped under debris... The thought was almost to much to bear, and Millaray felt tears leak down her cheeks, not just from the stinging smoke anymore. Unconsciously, she took another few steps. Her heart was straining in her chest now, leaping every moment another shadow flew toward the crowded outskirts of the village, hoping that the shape that cast it would be Grandmother, or perhaps one of the soquili she had come to see as brothers and sisters, who remained unaccounted for.

But no one came. No one who went back into the flames came out again, and no one else emerged. The flames were twisting higher, the villagers calling her back. Others were struggling to keep screaming horses and humans alike in check.

The flames were too bright to look at now, the heat overwhelming. They were calling her name. She wanted to stay, to search the shadows a little longer for that silhouette she knew so well, but hope was lost. They were lost. Turning back, Millaray went to the villagers that were wounded. She held down her own wracking coughs, though her body protested: the villagers had enough to worry about without her, as well. How would they rebuild? How would they survive these damages? She shook her head at herself. That was not her concern. Her concern was the matter of these villagers who so clearly needed her.

Her job was to heal, though her body was weak and her magic struggling. Her job was to take care of her people.

Now that the village is coming back together to rebuild, how do they feel about that?

Millaray breathed deeply, feeling the cool air combat the tickle and phlegm that resided deep in her lungs. It had been days since the fire, and the smoke had finally cleared from the air. Her people were stronger now, though they still mourned. She still mourned. She had found her grandmother in the debris, brilliant blue horn smudged with soot and once-flaxen mane charred by the flames. A villager had been draped over her back when they had been hit by a beam, or so it looked - what was left of it had been reduced to cracked charcoal. She hadn't screamed or wailed or cried; she'd stood there in silence. She had been hoping that Grandmother had fled in the other direction, to the other side of the village, where they had found a few others, but she had been absent from that group. So Millaray had resigned herself to the task of finding the matronly unicorn on her own, somewhere in what remained of the village.

The grisly scene had nearly churned her stomach at first, as the Kawani struggled to identify their dead. They buried those they could, sending them to the afterlife with what few belongings they could find. Now they were tasked with building new shelters - hunting down buffalo if they could find them, deer if they could not, for new skins. Trees were scarce now, but like the other soquili, Millaray had been harnessed up to pull them once they had been felled. In whatever way she could, Millaray helped: she healed as much as she could, a scraped knuckle here, a bad back there. The Kawani had turned her hardy, and when she heard of a wound, she was there, whether they protested that they didn't need help or not. She threw herself into her work, aiding other healers, asking nothing in return, for if she did not live for others, what did she live for? Her family was gone, some of her friends, and much of her tribe. The human she had begun to bond with had vanished, as well.

It will be fine, she told herself. They will survive. And I will help them to do it.

That night, Millaray smelled smoke as she lay on the rain-soaked ground beside a newly crafted teepee. When she looked up, she was once again staring into the flames, heat licking at her face. This time, however, she could not force herself to turn around. She stood there, villagers and soquili all calling for her to come back, but she was frozen. She felt her fur begin to singe, her flaxen mane began to curl and blacken, and her nose filled with the scent of burning hair. Her world turned red, and the flames engulfed her.

Waking with heaving lungs, Millaray looked around her. The village was quiet, and the quiet breathing of others surrounded her, but she was drenched in sweat, her hide darkened by it. Coughing a few times to get the rattle out of her breath, Millaray laid on her side to look at the stars. Their fires gleamed just as bright as ever, the smoke of the night they emitted blanketing the blue sky. Restless, Millaray watched the stars until she fell into a fitful slumber, hacking every once in a while.

((Eventually, when rebuilding has been completed and there isn't much left for the soquili to help with, Millaray will bond with another human, likely a hunter who's accident prone so she can heal him. She has permanent lung damage and will cough and hack for the rest of her life, though she tries to ease it with herbs. She will also have night terrors.))

Your Name: vballlvr5
The Tribal Soquili's Name: Canace (meaning "daughter of the wind")
Their Temper Gentle
Brief Personality: From birth she has had limited eyesight. She is able to distinguish shapes and has a keen eye for color, but subtler details are beyond her eyes capacity. Because of this disability she became dependent upon the good nature of those around her, and rather than being wary of those that could do her harm, became open and trusting putting full faith into them. A tender hearted mare she responds to malice with kindness - at first because she possessed little means of defense should she rile up an opponent, but slowly benevolence crept into the essence of her being.
She also possesses a strong sense of empathy and is sensitive to the pain and passion of others. These emotions often cause her to act in a way that seems selfless, but it is also for her own benefit to act on the behalf of those being harmed because if she does not she will feel an overpowering, gnawing sense of guilt and shame.
How did they come to the Kawni Tribe?: Canace was born into the tribe. This gave her an advantage over where she would have been with limited sight had she been born outside of the tribe.
How did they handle the great fire that ravaged their village? What did they do? Where did they go? Were they a hero or a coward?
Canace was lightly napping when the lightning that set the village afire struck. It was not the thunder that woke her, for the stable in which she was resting was heavily insulated, but the scent of smoke. She was sniffing a wildflower when its pink bloom turned to ash and the scent filled her nostrils - startled awake she was disturbed to find that the smell was not a creation of her mind, but continued to fill her nose. Quickly she stood. Alone without a guide she made her way to the lit up blotch across the room that she had come to identify as a doorway.
Without swiftness she shuffled onto the dusty path. Murky shapes flashed past her. Sharp noises struck her ears like a mallet. A dizzying sense of dread sunk deeply into belly.
She opened her mouth - whether to breathe or cry for help she cannot recall - but words could not exit nor could air enter for the only thing that possessed power around her was ash and dust. It fell onto her face and crawled its way into her mouth. The ash slid down her throat like a writhing eel. It felt as though this ashen beast had wrapped itself around her stomach, wrenching it about. Get out. Get IT out.
Her already weak eyes stung and watered as she stumbled and groped about. Out. I need a way out.
Through a mixed blessing she managed to escape the wrath of the flames, but was left with fear and shame as her only two companions. She could hear the cries as others fell in the distance. The moaning of the injured. But she could not move to help them. Would not. She could hardly see in clear light she rationalized, but still she felt ashamed for she felt their pain like it was her own.
Now that the village is coming back together to rebuild, how do they feel about that?
Far too gentle and far too kind Canace felt the each of the wounded's injuries like lashes on her own back and every loss like an iron ball chained to her ankle. Shackled to this day she cannot move forward. She does not wish to forget the pain and suffering and fears a future where she is released from her chains because she does not believe she deserves to forget. She looks at the crisped edges of her heart, not like a trophy of survival, but a reminder of what she did not save - what she could have saved.
She inflicts mental pain upon herself by frequently remembering this event and refusing to move on. Because of her shame she may choose to aid in the reconstruction of the village as an act of penance. Though afterwards she may leave in the hope of aiding others to compensate for the ones she failed to save, and maybe along the way she will be able to forgive herself.

Consider this thread closed!

Anyone who posted after the hard 6:00pm deadline will not be included in the judging. :c Sorry!

Edit: Due to Daylight Savings Time and me (Uta) derping. . . . Um. . . I should have posted MDT time, not MST. So Musica's the last entry and I'm sorry I theoretically closed this an hour early to anyone who was still on MST time.

Either way, it's now closed and everyone counted and I'm sorry for the time zone and Daylight Savings Time confusion.

According to my clock I closed it when I had wanted to, but . . . I forgot we switched to MDT.

There are a slew of entries so . . . please be patient with us while we discuss.

1. AstoriaFallen
2. Cheyriddle4
3. kaliskanny
4. Kyrieko
5. Yushika
6. Kara Asumie
7. Divena
8. spelldancer
9. stormflower
10. Jynk
11. SwordOfTheDarkOnes
12. LydaLynn
13. RockerWolfie1616
14. ArashiX
15. Nyx Queen of Darkness
16. Moxxiie
17. Cricket2008
18. o-Elixir-o
19. XBlind-DarknessX
20. Epine de Rose
21. ~Twilight...Angel~
22. Cajmera
23. Nemesis Valkyrie
24. Mahogany Sunset
25. vballlvr5
26. musicaloner7

That should be everybody. Remember, whomever I roll has the option to pass this up . . . and it will not count as a pass or you won't get penalized for turning down the pony. This was a secret surprise!

If someone passes, I'll re-roll until somebody claims him. . . . or we run out of people to roll. xD

All the uncerts!


(+ bare)

*Dies and grabs her new boyo* OMG, was NOT expecting this! owo

Sankyuu for the interesting contest, and grats rest of the winners~! owo