[EVENT] State of Affairs [Closed!]

[Talencia]

Kero had followed the crowd at a distance, not caring to be embroiled in the middle of the crowd facing this supposed Ambassador. Plain and simple, she didn't trust him. Granted, she didn't trust anyone, really. Trust was a painful thing to give, even more painful to have betrayed. Thus far the Firekin had been predictable and reliable in what she needed from them, and while she wasn't exactly proud to be one of them, she was accepting and fulfilled by being Firekin.

So when the voice rang out in question, her answer was immediate and heartless. "No, I do not trust them." It was not the first she'd spoken out, and her first words had not been heeded, but she spoke loudly this time, while she had stayed quiet the first time. "They have not earned the right to speak amongst us." The only words she cared to hear was that they were submitting themselves to justice for their crimes, and would become slaves to those they'd wronged. Her tail lashed behind her in agitation, her face stony. This was war, not politics, and should be treated as such!  

[Andranis]

The red-striped lioness gave a scoff. "What use would it be if we let him speak? He'll just tell us things we already know!" She stepped toward the regents, head high and ears slightly back. "I say we just keep him prisoner! There's more than enough of us to handle him here!" And he made Elcca uneasey... She wasn't sure why, but Aurinko found that it made HER uneasy that this lion made ELCCA uneasy. Was he hiding something? He surely had to be.

Kosuke frowned, brow furrowed. "He should be kept prisoner, yes... I do agree with that much." He walked closer, staring the other lion down. So puny... "But I think we should hear what he has to say... Perhaps he may say something that will be news to us. And whoever this Godlum is... He can come here HIMSELF if he wants his son back so badly." He swatted sand at the strange black lion. "No self-respecting father would send someone ELSE to fetch his offspring if he's not the pride's leader." He'd go into battle for one of his own cubs, after all.  

[Light Atago]

Aquila was excited for the strange dark lion to come here- she'd love to get a good look at his face, if she got the opportunity to do nothing else. "Letting him come here and run his tongue can't be any harm. I agree, though, letting him go too could be quite unwise. Who knows, he might slip up and tell us something new." Aquila liked the Regent's attitude towards the situation. However unlikely it was for him to give information that was new. "It seems to me like we have enough warriors here to keep him in check if he decides to pull some sort of foolish stunt. Unless they can appear out of nowhere, I don't think we have anything immediate to fear from him." She also felt that, should he say something infuriating, he'd be cut off from speaking by roars from pridemembers- an annoyance for him and a pleasure for her, at least.

They certainly didn't owe it to him to let him talk, after all, and if it went South, well... His speech could easily be cut off.  

[mouselet]

Huozin looked around as the pride gave voice to their opinions. He could see merit in what had already been said...but the white lion disagreed on one fundamental point. Couldn't they see it?

"I vote we listen to what he has to say...but we should not take him prisoner," he said aloud. "That would make us no better than the Nergui, and do we really want ourselves to be seen on their level?"

The Nergui had shown themselves to be a wretched group, capable of great cruelty and little honor. Why should the Firekin degrade themselves similarly?  

[magnadearel]

Akane

Once they left to retrieve the 'ambassador', Akane waited impatiently. Her head kept turning toward a half heard conversation, first here, then there. While she was waiting she shifted her position closer to the regents. She was happy to get herself nearer to the front, and closer to the bottom of the Regent's platform. Her head turned as she watched Morag return. Akane made a face of dispproval as the black lioness suggested he be allowed here to join the discussions. That was not what she wanted to hear.

She thought hard about the Regent's question. Did she? What good would it do? What harm would it do? Akane wasn't positive that there could be an alliance between the Nergui and the Firekin. She might not want to listen to him, but she didn't want to take him prisoner either. If he was prisoner, then there'd have to be his guards, which meant they'd listened if he talked. Foul lies and rumors could so easily tear them apart.

"I do not think we should give him the time. He could poison us with foul lies, and turn brother against brother. Send him off! Let him see as little of our lands as possible."



Plamen

He purred and pressed fondly against his father. Plamen couldn't resist puffing out his chest a bit when he heard he had guard blood in his veins. He wanted to make his father and family proud of him. His ears flicked and he craned his neck in an attempt to see his grandfather. "Maybe we should go up and help?" He asked hesitantly, not absolutely sure he'd be any real help.

Somomnly he nodded. He'd watch any Nergui for tricky whenever he spotted one, the cub promised himself. Plamen glanced up at his father to see what he thought about allowing the ambassador leave to join. He wanted to see what a Nergui lion looked like, and maybe hear their reasoning.
 

[Whimsical Blue]

Morag lifted her head high as she jumped down from the rock. Apparently, she'd been speaking too loud if her father had heard what had only been meant for the Regents. Nothing to do about that now.

"I say let him speak. We are a fair people. We don't need to provoke hostility, but we don't back down from it either. If your hearts are so weak that meer words can turn them, then better we know it now and bring it into the open." She raised her voice loud enough for the pride to hear her. "All information, good or bad, is worth having. And if that information brings us to a peaceful conclusion, then it is all the more precious. The decision, in the end, is yours."

Her job was not to lead the pride, but to protect it... to find the danger lurking in the shadows and the twisted paths of manipulation... offering her opinion now was all she would allow herself, this time. Morag glanced at the Nergui, wondering what his reaction would be. Perhaps now was the time to make a stealthy exit, there was certain information she wished to obtain.  

[SilverLutz]

Lots of lions! Some she knew, some she didn't. Mate'moto knew better than to go get into the thick of things, though. She perched on a rock at the outskirts of the huge meeting, watching and listening without really understanding. She titled her head a bit, trying to pick up on all of the conversations going on.

Adults were so silly sometimes. They got all worked up over nothing! What they needed was a good wrestle. If she weren't so tiny, she'd have offered to do just that. Unfortunately she was still such a tiny cub that anyone she offered to play with usually just laughed. Oh well...she'd be big someday. Maybe then she'd understand why the adults all grouped together to talk about boring things. And if not, she'd have lots of friends to play with.  

[Mimsey]

No frowned, debating the even split the pride seemed to be under. She could understand the rage, but she was also intensely curious as to what this fool had to say. Impersonating one of their ambassadors, coming alone onto enemy territory... nergui or not, that wasn't something for the faint of heart. Even more balls to think he could just saunter in and give his speech.

"I appreciate the hesitation," No rumbled. "But I have to agree. Any information is good information...although I caution taking him at his word so easily. As for whether or not we let him go..."

That was not something she was too keen on. But perhaps it would be best to leave that to the wills of the pride. After they heard what he had to say. "Bring in this ambassador. He's come a long way, hasn't he?" There may have been just the hint of fangs in her smile.

There was a pause as the crowd relayed the information. Then, the small group of guards split the crowd. Hraga at front, and Tarsa bringing up the rear. Sandwiched in between was the ambassador, who seemed about as pleased as the cat who ate the canary.

Elcca followed on the outskirts, giving the black lion a wide berth. Her face still like she'd seen a ghost.

"We've decided to let you speak, Ambassador," No crooned.

Tarak gave a sidelong glance to Morag, but seemed otherwise unphased. He made a move to climb up one of the stone 'pedestals', but was quickly hurried off by the guards.

If he wanted to speak, he'd have to do so from the ground level. "Such a lovely home, you all have here. I think if it were not for this desert, our first meeting would have gone... much differently."  

[Light Atago]

Aqui's ear flicked and a hint of a smirk grew on her muzzle at Morag's words. The dark lioness was absolutely right- if you were so easily swayed and weak of mind, then where exactly was your place at this summit? She was too new to state that opinion, but... Well, Morag had put it nicely. She gave a small sage nod as the dark lioness finished her words to show her agreement. She shot a quick glance at Akane before turning her attention back to the Regent.

No's smile kept the smirk on Aquila's face- she looked forward to seeing the Nergui. Her cold eyes traced him as he approached, adequately surrounded by guards and now even more surrounded by the pride.

She scoffed quietly. Small talk? He came all this way, went through all of this trouble, for small talk? Just from that, she could get the beginnings of a picture on how this particular individual was. He liked to hear himself talk- that was her judgement. A bad trait for a messenger, she thought. She would have hoped for someone more to-the-point, hearing him drawl about the lovely weather wasn't exactly what she was hoping for. She had to wonder... What first meeting? And what did he mean? She did not know enough herself to manage to pull the meaning out of it. Her face didn't show it, though, merely her irritation at his small-talk and lollygagging style.  

[Kimaria]

Roho's eyes darted back and forth and then, at last, she wrenched them back to Nawvlee. She was clearly unhappy, her ears laid back against her head, her hackles up. She curled a lip up to bare a fang. "What I think doesn't matter. They've made their decision." She shook her head and said in a lower voice: "They should have killed him, Nawvlee. He can't be trusted."

She took a step forwards and then stopped in her tracks, her whole body tensing as the Nergui appeared. Her head swung back to look to her fellow Hongshan. "This is very wrong." She could feel it in her blood. In her very soul. They should not have brought him here so close to the lands.

Talking had never helped the Hongshan.

--

Heti smiled at his son's fearlessness and yet felt great sorrow that he should be born at such a precarious time. A cub should not have to be on guard within the heart of his own pride. "We can be of greater help watching from here, I would think. Too many lions up there might cause panic and confusion if something were to go wrong."

Perhaps another father might have sent their cub away but at this moment in time Heti felt safer knowing that Plamen was close to his side. He wouldn't let any Nergui hurt him, that was for certain.

"Look, here he comes." He looped his tail around his son and gave a nod in the direction of the black lion. "Let's listen to what he has to say for himself."

--

Kidondo shifted at last, seeming to come back to himself. His head came up, ears and eyes alert. The black lion's lack of fear bothered him. This situation could have been akin to a zebra making a daring cross through a crocodile-infested river and yet there was none of the fear. None of the hesitation. In fact, on the contrary, he was confident.

Kidondo thought of the Hongshan's experiences with these people. A massacre. Is that what this black lion had meant? Or did they mean something else? That perhaps it hadn't needed to have started with an attack on their borders?  

[Zosie]

Mwale'kono kept rocking tentatively on his paws, his muscles flexing. He may never gain full sight in his eye after the episode with the Greenwood monster, but this ensured that his other senses were peaked. What did the desert have to do anything? Would an intruding army have survived better in a lush land? Probably. The desert was their home, and they could thrive here. It was an advantage.

This stranger wasn't letting on much information though, and Mwale'Kono was losing his patience. No had only just granted him permission to speak, but yet he seemed to toy with the idea of releasing information. Maybe they should have just attacked. As Tarak made to move onto one of the pedestals, he let out a low growl.  

[Whimsical Blue]

Morag grinned toothily at the Nergui when he glanced her way before pointedly lifting a paw to study her toes. Hraga had said she was the Regent, but she had never actually said who she was or given her name to him. Any small thorn she could jab at him with was welcome, though she recognized it as a childish feeling. Still, there was merit in it. If he was uncomfortable or surprised, he was more likely to make mistakes or give himself away.

When the speaking began, she slipped to the side quietly, moving to draw the least attention she could while she took her leave of the proceedings. Her watchers could do their job, she had another one to do.  

[Mimsey]

"I appreciate being given the chance to speak with you all," Tarak continued. There was little tension on his face, something that was far from what one would consider 'normal'. In fact, if it was not for his easy manner of speaking and general pleasantness, one might suppose he was cut from the same cloth as Miah.

"I came before you today to say this: As we speak, our horde moves further south. If it has not come up in your fact finding missions, I shall explain our structure," his paw moved to the side, as if to indicate more than just his shadow. "We are a large group, but we do not travel together. The conflict in the Motoujamii is not the only conflict we face. We have many lands and many prides."

"Yet, despite numerous holdouts we could pursue, Graos Oma has chosen this land as his next personal project. There is a convergence here. Not just in this desert, but the other lands south of us. Of this, all his kaars agree," he said. Despite the reverence in his voice, there was something else too. Almost a barely feigned amusement. Like just beneath all of this carefully articulated persona, was a person laughing. "I only say this because you should know we do not intend to back away from this land."

"But we needn't be enemies," Tarak continued. "You are not like the others. You do not follow false gods or weaken the power of the One. Its quite rare that we face a group that would not have to undergo much conversion. The same could not be said of your allies."