|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2006 11:03 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2006 11:05 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2006 11:30 pm
 |
|
|
|
Maeryn
Elder, Alpha of Black Skull Herd
 With the loss of her mate, Maeryn is truly feeling her age. For a time she was a mere shadow of her old self, but with the introduction of young Keiran into her life, the venerable mare has slowly begun to regain her strength and determination. Black Skull was a vision she shared with Rötschreck, the lifemate torn down by the ravening hunger and madness of Skinwalkers, and she considers it to be his legacy. Maeryn has grown to be a wise, compassionate mare with a core of steel. She is fierce in her protection of her family, and utterly ruthless and cruel when the occasion calls for it, but no longer full of bitterness and loathing. It is her great purpose in life to see the revival of the Kalona, and to that end she will press unrelentingly. The darkness of the Kalona calls to her, and she answers it with every breath, ready to fight through increasing age (and the pains that it brings with it) to defend her herd and kindred.
Regarding Black Skull Herd
The story of the Black Skull herd is actually a love story at its core. Two Kalona with the same dream came together years ago to create a new world for themselves; a mare whose foalhood had taught her the cruelty lesser Soquili displayed toward her kind, and a stallion who had the strength to stand by her, and the courage to challenge their opposition. Maeryn and Rötschreck formed the Black Skull herd with what pure Kalona they could find who shared their ideals, or for whom the protection a herd offered was too great a boon to ignore. At the time of its formation, the herd was a controversial thing; indeed, what Kalona would submit to join forces in such a way, subsuming their individuality beneath the yoke of the herd?
In time, the untrusting Maeryn approached Rötschreck with the concern that theirs was a dying race, dwindling in numbers as time went by. Together, they brought foals into the world, and in time their uneasy truce blossomed into an unspoken love. They raised their children to be proud of their lineage, and to be vessels for the ideals of the herd. Together, they could surely protect the foals that might otherwise have died or forgotten what it means to be a Kalona. At that time, few among the Kalona had been raised to adulthood by their parents-- the idea was revolutionary, and met with resistance by and large.
Still, there were those who believed as the couple did, and slowly the tides turned. No longer was it unheard of for Kalona to raise their young, to imbue them with the strength of a herd. When Maeryn and Rot’s children grew into adulthood, they were cautioned to remain true to their parent’s ways. The herd-- or rather, the family, for that was what it was in truth-- was close knit, and banded together to face many trials. As the founding members grew older, a greater danger arose in the form of the Skinwalkers. Even true Kalona were not safe from the ravening hunger and madness of that evil, and it threatened the Black Skull Herd from its very inception.
Nothing is ever built to last, and one day the vigilance of the herd was not enough. The Skinwalker Wyrm challenged Rötschreck, hunted him the way Kalona hunted lesser creatures. The stallion fought bravely to defend his home, but in his advancing age his strength was not enough to surpass that of the Skinwalker’s. With his last strength, he managed to drive Wyrm off, but at the cost of his own life. As he lay dying, his family found him, and he shared his last moments with his mate and children. With his dying breath, he named Nemesis, the eldest son, as the new Protector of the herd. As Rötschreck died, Maeryn at last confessed her love, but too late to truly share it with him.
Now, shaken to their very core, the herd is pushing past its grief to swear revenge on the beasts that dared to cross them. To do that though, they will need more than their dwindling numbers at present.
Maeryn's Story
In the time that Maeryn was born, there were no such things as Kalona herds-- or if they were, they were the stuff of legends, whispered of but never seen. So it was that the young Kalona grew up alone, whether her parents had simply abandoned her to survive on her own as so many Kalona sires and dams do, or whether they had been slain in her infancy. She was alone, as so many were. Being a lone young Kalona presented innumerable dangers, not the least of which came at the hooves and teeth of regular Soquili, who had no understanding or compassion for one so dark so young. Of certain, there were those few among the Soquili who would have sheltered and nurtured her, but young Maeryn had already grown to be wary indeed of those Soquili she later came to view as ‘lessers’.
From those first lonely moments, she grew to become a strong, independent mare. With hooves and teeth, and horns, she made her way. Her heart was strong, though tarnished by a hatred for male lesser Soquili in particular, and her existence was, as always, a lonely one. Though she had no way of knowing, that was about to change. For the first time since her infancy, Maeryn came upon her own kind. They were... different than she, in some ways, and in other ways so much the same. In them, she saw a pride and power that few could answer.
There were so few Kalona at that time, and through the battles she waged with non-Kalona, Maeryn began to see the plight of her people. Without foals, they would surely die out, outbred by the far more numerous lesser Soquili. It was a concern she shared with a stallion who at first was met by the same wariness and caution that all stallions were treated to by the young mare. At first, their interactions were stilted, colored by Maeryn’s distrust-- for how could she trust even one of her own kind, when all others had betrayed her?-- but in time they came to an agreement; they would raise a family together, producing new blood to add to the Kalona.
Theirs was a simple partnership, a duty. The foals Maeryn bore were a part of that duty, and they defended them fiercely, refusing to allow anything to harm their growing family. Maeryn’s cold heart began to soften and melt, though outwardly she gave no sign of it. The proud mare showed few signs of her shifting emotions, protecting and defending the herd, and acting in nearly all ways unchanged. Still, Rötschreck stood by her as a constant, silent guardian.
Maeryn fell in love. Slowly but surely, spanning years of time, Maeryn fell in love with her protector, the sire of her foals, who she watched nurture and protect their children from their very first steps-- and he with her. Their partnership had developed into something sacred, a lifemating of a kind that Maeryn had scarcely believed herself capable of. His dedication and devotion taught her that not every emotion need be anger or bitterness, and in time she came to relax enough to disperse small crumbs of open affection among her family, rewarding cleverness just as she rewarded strength and skill.
Then came that terrible day when Rötschreck lay dying, when Maeryn saw her heart pooling into the earth with his lifesblood, and it nearly broke her. She was no longer the quietly arrogant, clever mare who had dared so many dangers in her youth. A shell of her old self, Maeryn wandered the Soquili lands, and spoke to thin air, perhaps imagining that it spoke back, in the form of her glittering, ruby coated lifemate. At times she would return to the place where he had died, and visit his bones. When there was nothing left, not even the cleanest picked bones, Maeryn laid herself down beside that fateful spot, and dreamed of him.
It seemed that she might at last fade away to join him, but then something truly incredible happened; Maeryn found something that needed her enough to overcome Death’s siren call. At first she thought that she had dreamed it-- surely, there could be no Kalona foals nearby the mewl at her, to cry out their hunger to the night! But when her faltering hoof falls carried her to where the sound had originated, she discovered that she had been quite correct, and somehow before her was a lone Kalona colt.
He was as alone as she had once been, and Maeryn’s heart warmed and softened once more, breaking out of the sleepy slumber in which it had laid dormant since Rot’s death. It was almost as though Rötschreck had sent her a lonely heart just as much in need as her own, and from that very moment onward Maeryn’s vibrancy returned, and Death no longer called to her so loudly. Certainly she was young enough, it seemed, that she was able to feed the foal-- although whether that was her own doing or a miracle of some nature, Maeryn never knew. She never questioned it, simply sending silent gratitude to the sleeper who yet held her heart in his hooves.
An Elder
The renewing force of Keiran in her life reignited Maeryn's inner spark, endowing the aging mare with the incredible strength of her race. She felt almost young again, and all the more determined to bring about the change she has so long felt that Kalona needed. One day, when her youngest son had grown to adulthood, great Kalona himself called her away. She heeded that call, wandering into the wilderness for what seemed like days, existing in a dream-like state. She was certain that at long last her time had come, but in that she was mistaken. For Kalona had another purpose for Maeryn, or rather perceived in her the same purpose that she had brought into the Kawani Lands with her arrival.
Rather than meeting death in that strange half-existence, she found life. When she returned to herself, it was to a form that was energized and renewed. Now young-old, and granted the shadow magic of Kalona, she returned to the Black Skull lands full to brimming with determination to see her kind flourish. In a way, Maeryn had always been an elder, at least to her own kin, but her focus now extends far beyond her herd. The existence and dissolution of the Great Herd has provided new opportunities to succor Kalona, and she will go to great lengths to ensure their survival.
Kalona foals are not particularly well liked among what Maeryn would consider to be lesser Soquili. They are rather vicious, impetuous little creatures, and inclined to cause all sorts of havoc when left to their own devices. That is generally the plan, as far as adult Kalona are concerned. A few foals even wander far away from their parents, and some grow up entirely without them. Maeryn was one of those foals. She was feisty, and impulsive. She picked on other Soquili when she could, and generally acted just the way you would expect an evil little Kalona to act.
That was all well and good (well, not good, but you catch my drift), until a few Soquili stallions took it into their heads to teach the argumentative, implacable child a lesson. Perhaps a mare or two would have protested against their rough treatment of a youngling, but they were subtle enough with their taunts and tormenting that it went unnoticed. Of course, the Kalona herself did not take kindly to it. And, as time went on, and she grew older, she grew to hate males, especially males of other races and breeds.
There was no one to protect her, because her parents had either gotten bored with her, or had long since died in some fight or another. She took it very, very personally. Her childhood battles have made her very passionate about her race, and its survival. To this day, Maeryn looks about lesser stallions with suspicion, and believes them to be a threat to any and all Kalona foals. They are inferior to her own race, and that is why they stoop to abusing those of her own kind at such a young age. That is only the cornerstone of her ideology.
She sees her kindred to be strong, intelligent, fast, brave, conniving, visionary, and above all evil. As a Kalona, she values these traits more than any others. She will do almost anything to keep her breed intact, and has even formed a herd with Rötschreck, who acts as the Protector. Her interactions with Rot in that capacity have led her to believe that stallions of her own race, at least, are not completely untrustworthy. She has little trust or liking for them still, but considers them to be superior to the 'beasts' she grew up around.
Approach her at your own risk.
Roleplays
♥ A Mare's Old Tricks x Maeryn & Haxan x Tagged
♥ When Love Lies Slain x Maeryn & Shizukii x Tagged
♥ I Will Never Be The Same x Maeryn & Keiran x Fin
♥ What Comes of Age x Maeryn & Ariston x
♥ Looking At Life Through A Loaded Gun... x Maeryn & Shishio Gen x Fin
More to be added. |
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2006 11:37 pm
|
|
|
 |
Arianwyn
Pretty Pretty Princess 
Arianwyn is the granddaughter of the leaders of the Ghost Claw herd of Kalona. One day, many years ago, Arian's mother and father disappeared, leaving the young filly behind for reasons beyond her comprehension. Certainly so at such a young age! Raised by her grandsire and granddame, she was spoiled flat rotten from the very beginning. Prideful, willful, and vain, little Arianwyn is quite a handful for the most capable of minders. In the Ghost Claw lands, it is dangerous to be a Kalona, for other Soquili, deemed lessers, consider her kind a rot to be eradicated at its root. Though she knows it not, Arianwyn's grandsire left to find her father and mother, and to reunite the sundered herd.
Her parents left to explore the world, and discover a place where it would be safe to raise their growing family. They took the little filly's older siblings with them, but left behind the delicate, fragile seeming youngest child with no explanation for why they had gone or where. They thought it best, in case they never returned, to leave her with no hope of it. As it turned out, she was too young to understand, and her memory of their departure is hazy at best. After all, she was only a very little foal at the time. In their absence, she was the apple of her grandsire's, the herd's protector, eye, and got away with quite a bit of mischief.
In a desperate bid to rein Arian in, she was taught the herd's herbalist ways, a study and a practice that has largely kept the young mare quite occupied. Rather than finding two leggers repugnant, Arianwyn enjoys their seeming awe of her, and trades herbs in exchange for the beautiful jewelry that they make. It is traditional for Ghost Claw mares to adorn themselves, and the proud little filly took great pride and pleasure in doing so with such flair. In recent times, she has kept herself safe by pretending to be a ghost among the aspen trees that shroud her little cave, frightening away any who might menace her. For, I'm afraid that Arianwyn is a bit of a coward.
Roleplays
♥ I Dare You to Move x Arianwyn & Keiran x Fin
♥ Unintended Consequences x Arianwyn & Keiran x |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2006 11:38 pm
|
|
|
|
Ashriel
Blind Warrior
 Ashriel has a rather complicated relationship with his family. ... Well, no, not quite complicated, precisely. His relationship with his immediate family, in general, is fairly straightforward. He loves his parents, and his siblings... even Reaper. However, his relationship with his brother Reaper is somewhat more complicated, due to Reaper's initial turn to the "dark" side. For a long time Ashriel struggled with how to deal with his brother's seeming defection, but at long last he begrudgingly admitted to himself that even darkness could not overcome his love for his brother. It merely gave Ashriel a reason to truly strive to help his sibling. Ashriel is a young stallion who truly believes in the power of good, and despises cruelty wherever he hears of it.
He is stubborn to a fault, finding it very difficult to change his mind or his ways. When faced with something new and unprecedented, Ashriel can occasionally became flustered, and retreat behind those long bangs of his. He does tend to hide his eyes, aware that his blindness is not something all Soquili are comfortable with. That forelock acts as both a shield for the angeni and a mask. Any shyness he displays, however, should not be taken for weakness. Ashriel is not weak. He is, however, full of compassion that he tries to conceal. Though he may not like to admit it, sometimes he can become very zealous as he tries to right wrongs, and gets very caught up in his quest to remove evil from the equation.
In his travels, he has been accompanied by the stallion Iki'ryo, who ironically is the son of an old foe. While Ashriel may consider his companion's father to be the scum of the earth, he has a deep bond to his friend, and would willingly lay down his life for him. Ashriel can be a little naive in his pursuit of justice, and it may be a little too easy to convince him of goodness where it does not exist. Though he cannot see his enemies, he can hear and smell them, and he fights with a conviction that is hard to shake. When Ashriel is in peril, Iki'ryo is at his side, ready to put down anyone in his path. As hero and sidekick, they attempt to right wrongs, and bring good into the world wherever they go... or so the angeni believes.
Roleplays:
♥ To Serve in Heaven x Ashriel & Shyam x Fin
♥ That's What Friends Are For x Ashriel & Iki'ryo x
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2006 11:39 pm
|
|
|
|
Desdemona
The Spider in the Web
 Desdemona, to put it lightly, is absolutely stark raving mad. She is obsessed with destroying what she finds to be weak, unfitting for the world as she sees it. In short, she seeks to see a sort of Hell on Earth. That would be her ideal. She likes to toy with the minds of others, to test their mettle and tear them apart if they don't fit her very exacting standards. She has only met one other Skinwalker who she found to be worth anything, and that is the pure Skinwalker Wyrm. Every other such encounter has been a crushing disappointment to the mare.
Once a gentle, soft spoken mare before her cursing, Desdemona is truly a wicked, spiteful creature. She is cruel, crazed, and inclined to use her cutting tongue as much as she is her sharp teeth. Do not mistake madness for a lack of intelligence or cunning. That mistake is liable to get you wounded, maimed, or killed. Her wits are as much a weapon as any other part of her. She is a proponent of disorder, an agent of Chaos if you will. What she can do to lay waste to the peaceful community that comprises the Soquili Lands, she will.
Again, like I said, she was not always that way. Some years ago, when she was a young mare, she had a normal family much like anyone else. She had parents who loved her, and friends as well as siblings. No longer. She was targeted for her sweet and kindly nature, twisted beyond any recognition of the filly she once was. In her changed state, she killed off every one of her family members, and what friends she had left that did not flee at the time of the event.
Sometimes, the spirit of that lost mare haunts her, but she is buoyed by it, believing it to be nothing more than a reminder of what weakness can be, what those foolish, sentimental types can become. She will never revert to her past self, but it is a land mark by which to measure her... ahem... progress, if one can call it that. Beware, stallions, for this is a mare who will harm you if she can, and one who becomes too caught up in fighting to realize that she is wounded. She will fight longer and harder than she should, because the adrenaline distracts her entirely from the pain for a time until it finally fades.
Approach with caution. Be intelligent. And most of all, be evil.
Roleplays:
♠ Title x Soquili x Status
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2006 11:40 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2006 11:41 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2006 11:43 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2006 11:44 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2006 11:45 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2006 11:46 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2006 11:47 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2006 11:48 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
