Pride of Neve (Valley of Kings) Writing

[Light Bringer]

Cimmerian approached the site of some supposed crumbled rocks. She had overheard rumours and talk all throughout the day and, after hearing it all that time, she decided that it was worth a look. After all, why would there be so much fuss if it’s just a regular pile of broken rocks, she supposed. Her dark fur glistened in the sunlight but the second she got within the shadow of the ruins, she was rendered near invisible. She immediately saw what all the fuss was about. It was clear that these rocks weren’t destroyed by any normal events. She began sniffing around, trying to pick up any unusual scent.
She crept, belly to the ground, as she tried to find any clues as to what happened but was abruptly stopped when something within the ruins caught her eye. Cimmerian crawled inside the ruins, struggling to fit but eventually managing to squeeze her muscular body in. When she looked up, she let out an uncontrollable gasp. Old runes littered the inside of the ruins, stretching across and around and above Cimmerian. She tried to read them or make sense of them, but she was unable to view them as anything more than confusing scribbles. After hours or trying and failing, to find anything that’d help her solve the runes, she decided she needed help and knew exactly where to go.
Perched up in the side of a mountain, sat the Plains of Neve, a territory home to Vice. Vice was an expert in languages and Cimmerian figured that if anyone could decipher the runes, it would be him. The journey to the Plains had taken an hour, for the ruins were rather close to Vice’s territory. She climbed up the mountain and trotted up to Vice, who was watching over the land from a little way up the mountain.
“Vice! I need your help!” Cimmerian called, slowing to a stop, and waiting for a response. She panted, not noticing her exhaustion until her body had a chance to rest.
Vice made his way down and greeted Cimmerian by rubbing his neck against hers. “Welcome back, Cimmer. Now what is it you need from me?”
Cimmerian explained everything, from the rumours, to the ruins and finally the runes. They had begun walking about halfway through Cimmerian’s explanation however, by the time they had gotten back to the ruins, the sun had begun to set. They had about half an hour until sunset, where Vice would no longer be able to work.
“Vice, you have to hurry! What do they mean?” Urged Cimmerian, showing Vice the runes. The two inspected the markings until the sun had set, neither of them saying a word. Cimmerian was crushed, certain they had missed their opportunity, as they began heading back to the Plains.
“They said something about a prophecy.” Vice finally announced, staring into the night sky. “A story about the end of something. It was incomplete though.” The two pondered that though, both silently praying that it wasn’t anything too bad.

[Light Bringer]

Cimmerian panted, exhausted from her training. She had taken today to build up her speed and stamina, primarily through running exercises. Her fur was matted with sweat, and her ribs seemed about to explode with the expansion of her lungs. She was running along the beach, using the lack of traction from the sand to really push herself and test her limits. She heard scurrying from the side of her and turned her head, without slowing, to have a look.
It was one of those tiny rock creatures.
Cimmerian rolled her eyes and, as she swerved slightly towards it, she caught it with a swift sidekick from her hind leg. She chuckled as the tiny thing flew like a struck golf ball, making a tiny rocky screaming sound as it slowly shrunk and disappeared into the distance. She shook her head, trying to snap herself back into focus. After all, this was a matter of life or death. There was no time for messing around.
She continued running, paws sinking into the sand before flicking the grains into the air in her wake. She was determined to train herself up and save everyone and didn’t have time to go chasing all the rock creatures. She knew that was a task that would simply drain her of all energy and leave her useless against the real threat. Although that didn’t stop her from taking one out when it crossed her path. Most were small enough to kick aside without even interrupting her training but others…
Her thoughts got interrupted by an eruption of rock from just ahead of her, over a small sand dune. She rushed over the dune and was greeted by one of the biggest rock monsters she had seen yet. It was at least three times her height and as wide as it was tall.
Cimmerian skidded to a halt, eyes widening at the behemoth of a rock monster. She had to think fast. She had to stop it. One like this would pose a real danger to everyone. At least this was some valuable training, she supposed.
After a moment of thought, she came up with a plan that she only prayed to Sekhmet would work. She ran between the legs of the beast and ran towards some rock pillars in the distance. She kept watch of the beast over her shoulder and whenever it seemed to be losing interest in her, she kicked a stone towards it and yelled, “Over here, you overgrown pebble!”
She led the monster to the pillars and rushed up it, scrambling to make her way up the steep rocks and boulders. Holding her breath so that it wouldn’t fall and crush her. After some scurrying, she made it to the top and looked down at the creature.
“Look at you!” She taunted. “You’re nothing! You can’t even get me!” She laughed loudly, before sticking her tongue out at the monster below.
Enraged, the stone beast took a swing at the pillar, hoping to knock Cimmerian off, but little did the beast know that he had just sealed his fate. The stone pillar leaned towards the rock monster and began building up momentum as it fell.
Cimmerian waited till the last moment to jump off the pillar and into the ocean, saving herself from broken bones from the impact. The salty water stung her eyes, but she waited under the water for a moment before swimming up and looking at the damage. The rock monster had been buried under the massive pile of rubble and, from what Cimmerian could see, there was no movement.
“A job well done.” She chuckled to herself, as she began trotting back to her training grounds.

(619 words)

[Light Bringer]

“Okay, so guys! Here’s my idea!” Cimmerian exclaimed excitedly, jumping up to her feet and taking the stage. “We need traps, right? I got the perfect trap…” She said, pausing for dramatic flair. She couldn’t hide the enormous grin appearing on her face, as though the next words to come from her mouth are going to be the proudest words of her life. “A giant. Paper. Bag.” She paused, awaiting the praise and cries of “Brilliant!” and “Well done!” but the only response was stunned silence.
Vice shook his head and sighed. “We’re doomed.” He muttered, standing up and walking beside Cimmerian. “Cimmer, that’s not going to work-”
“But paper beats rock!” Cimmerian argued, the heartbreak from the lack of support evident on her face. She was certain it would work. She could just see it now. I giant paper bag with something at the end as bait. She pondered what that something could be and eventually decided that scissors would be a perfect option. After all, rocks hate scissors, don’t they? Of course, they do. Because that game says so. “Look, just let me try it out. Please.”
Vice sighed and dropped his head slightly. “Fine. Only if we had some kind of backup. Just in case the paper bag plan doesn’t work. Because there are lives on the line here.” He urged that point, needing to ensure Cimmerian understood the severity of this new threat.
Cimmerian nodded her head excitedly. “Yes, of course! What do you think our backup plan should be?”
Vice pondered for a moment before responding. “Giant pitfall traps.” He suggested, still deep in thought. The beasts will fall in there and be trapped and then, when another beast falls in, it’ll crush the first. Or even better, they destroy each other.” The pair looked at the awaiting group of sea, sky and land warriors and nodded. “Let’s get to work then.” Vice announced.
“You and you, come with me. I need help making the paper bag.” Cimmerian said, pointing at a couple of lions in the crowd. She turned to Vice and smiled. “You can have the rest. You’ve got a lot of digging ahead.” She stated before beginning to head off in the direction of the nearest human settlement, with the two lions following close behind her.
Vice turned to the remaining lions, held his head high and let out a mighty roar. “Let’s get to work everyone!” He called out, marching with the rest of the lions to softer soil, where there’d be little difficulty digging holes. Vice started the holes, making sure they were far enough from each other to prevent the walls from collapsing in on each other. Where Vice had dug the start, the other lions had rushed in to dig it down.
“Keep going.” Vice urged, turning around to get a few vines from a tree. He was gone for a few moments and returned with three long, thick vines. As the lions dug, Vice braided the vines for strength and, once one hole was deep enough to fit several larger stone beasts, Vice and a few other lions lowered the makeshift rope and helped the lions out of the pit.
The lions did this until they had three large pits and whooped and cheered, for they had done it. “Well, we did it everyone, now let’s-” Vice was interrupted by the rustling of paper and Cimmerian cheering joyously. He turned around to see the three lions dragging the largest paper bag Vice had ever seen. He was impressed to say the least.
The lions helped set up the large paper trap beside the pitfall traps and all the lions went to bed for the night. Vice and Cimmerian fell asleep before their heads even hit the ground, as did many of the other lions, they were sure. They dreamt of victory all through the night.
Many hours later, when they had all awoken, the lions had gathered by the pits and saw that there were a few of rock beasts in each. Rock beasts of all sizes, large and small. There were even some rock creatures, much to everyone’s surprise, trapped in the paper bag. Cimmerian was right, to some degree, paper does beat rock.
Vice and Cimmerian returned to the pits and peered in, watching the rock monsters struggling to get out.
“What happens when these get full, Vice?”
“Well then we’ll just have a lot more digging ahead of us.”

(745 words)

[Light Bringer]

T 02: Explain what natural resources are located within the territory, what is easy to obtain and what is more difficult to find. 150
Within the Plains of Neve are many natural resources, some difficult to find, others easier. Many medicinal plants are found in the region, with snow fungus and snow flowers being rather difficult to obtain from Heaven’s Peak, which is a dangerous terrain for a lion to navigate. Only highly specialised gatherers are allowed to travel up to Heaven’s Peak to gather the resources found there. Within the Forest, are also numerous plants, although with the threat of bears, wolves and the vengeful spirits of the forest, the evening primrose, milk thistle, echinacea, timber, feathers and bones that are found there are only for the bravest lions to obtain. Some of the safer resources are found by the Beach, and the River of Life. The resources found in these locations include beach bean, pemphis, sand, clay, lemongrass, turmeric, and a safer source of evening primrose. Within the Village and the Ruins, man-made resources such as cloth, baskets, and hides are found along with access to fire. Access to the Village is also dangerous and restricted to only a small group of trusted gatherers. All these resources are highly sought after and used in traditional medicines and construction within the den.
(199 words)

[Light Bringer]

C 02: What sort of faith does your group have? Do they worship ancestors, gods, ect? 150
The Pride of Neve worships the warrior and healer goddess Sekhmet. This goddess, derived from ancient Egyptian mythology, is a warrior with a softer side and the ability and compassion to heal. The Pride of Neve first discovered the existence of Sekhmet, many generations ago, from within the nearby ruins, where they found ancient carvings and runes featuring the goddess. They felt a loyalty immediately, for the goddess had the head of a lion and the strength and love to protect the pride. Whenever a member of the pride is wounded or sick, the pride prays to Sekhmet. They pray by a statue carved from wood many generations ago. In fact, none of the remaining pride members were alive during a time when the statue was not present, adding to the godliness of her. Just as the pride worships Sekhmet, they also respect her for who she is. They bow their heads in respect when passing her statue and never say her name in vain, as well as teaching the cubs about her from a young age. Perhaps one of the most mysterious parts of Sekhmet is a prophecy spoken of from a shaman long ago, claiming that, from within the Plains of Neve, a cub is to be born and that cub will be the reincarnation of Sekhmet, who appears to protect the pride and help them rise to glory. Although that prophecy is beginning to die down in popularity, there are still many lions who hold their breath during the birth of cubs, praying to see the godly eyes of Sekhmet looking back at them.
(267 words)

[Light Bringer]

C 07: What is the group's tradition to prepare for battle? War paint? A battle dance? Roaring at the sun? 150
When the warriors from the pride find themselves in the need to battle, there is a tradition that they all follow. It is a well-known tradition throughout the pride and is commonly performed during play time for cubs. The adults in the pride encourage the use of the tradition amongst cubs as they believe it prepares them to be powerful and brave warriors when they grow. The tradition occurs the day before battle and involves a bonfire with singing and dancing around the fire. As the singing and dancing is occurring, each of the warriors takes turns speaking with the shaman and getting their individual personalized warpaint. The war paint is personalized, symbolizing the individual strengths of the lions. The pride spends the rest of the night before battle sharing stories, laughing, and eating together, they forget all their worries, trying to avoid thinking about the possibility that they may lose pride members the next day.
(156 words)

[Light Bringer]

Vice had a great fear of the water. A terrible fear of what lurked in the depth just out of eyesight. The thought alone made him shudder. Although, if he was going to be honest, he was more scared of heights. Nothing was going to get him up in the sky city. Vice shakes his head at Cimmerian. “I can’t do it; I need to stay.” He announces at last.
Cimmerian shakes her head. “No, Vice, it’s far to dangerous here. You need to go to the sea city, where it’s safe.” She urged, eyes pleading.
“But there’s monsters down there and the sea lions probably wouldn’t like me and then the monsters would get me. The sharks or whales or…” Vice gulped. “Or the sea monsters.”
“Vice, it’s not like that.” Cimmerian stated, tenderly. “It’s just like it is up here. The lions are friendly, and the animals won’t harm you and there’s no sea monsters.”
Vice believed her, but only slightly. After all, it would be different for a stranger to be visiting the city. Cimmerian was never a stranger. Well… Vice thought about it and figured that Cimmerian had indeed been a stranger. She had been a stranger to land.
Perhaps, Vice thought, if he did go down there, he might make a friend. One like Cimmerian. He liked her. Or maybe there’d be ancient ruins and shipwrecks. Perhaps he’d find ancient runes or pieces of writing for him to decipher. Vice loved deciphering unknown languages.
He let out a deep sigh of defeat, and a hint of suppressed excitement. “Alright fine. I’ll go. Only if the situation gets bad enough.”
(274 words)

[Light Bringer]

Cimmerian knew she was different to the pride. She didn’t feel like Vice. She didn’t speak, or think, or act like him. Her strength was constantly challenged by her naivety. Her assumption that the city on land was much like the city in the sky or under the sea wasn’t helpful in her case. She was now, however, beginning to believe something much worse. Something that had begun crushing her spirits. Cimmerian was now beginning to question just how safe and good the city on land was. All she has seen is the death and destruction and chaos, what’s there to suggest that it’s not always that bad. Although, if Cimmerian was to admit it, which she never would, she rather likes the chaos. She loves having something exciting and dramatic to do, for she does not have one slow or relaxed bone in her body.
Cimmerian also had wisdom, buried deep within the naivety. For she had something that the pride of Neve didn’t. Experience. She had walked among and known two other cities, both drastically different. She knew customs and traditions and ways of life that the pride of Neve couldn’t even begin to imagine. Cimmerian was able to borrow aspect from those other ways of life and use them on land, making her opinion and actions extremely different, even questionable to some. Although the ideas didn’t always work, as life on land was unusual and unlike that in the sky or under the sea.
Despite her differences, Cimmerian felt as though she was able to call the pride her home. She figured that every lion was different in some way, why should that stop her from feeling like she belongs. Her experiences and knowledge, when paired with pride knowledge and opinions, will only make them stronger. It’ll help them reach and overcome new obstacles, some new to the pride but known to Cimmerian, others known to the pride but things that Cimmerian had never even heard of before.
On top of those personality and mental differences, Cimmerian was also growing aware that she had physical differences as well. For she seems to like the water where other lions would fear it. Her stamina and endurance also seemed to rival that of the most physically healthy land lions. She shrugged that off but supposed that it could have something to do with the transitioning between different atmospheric levels, with breathing being easy to her in the sky and the sea, so she figured that would make it much easier for her to breathe on land. And the more oxygen she can get, the more she can be physically active for.
(442 words)

[Light Bringer]

The natural formations found within the Plains of Neve and the prides surrounding territory both provide assistance and challenge to the pride from a day-to-day basis. The Den is positioned halfway up the mountain, something that keeps most threats away, especially from the cave, which only has one entrance point and is well hidden. The Den was chosen, primarily for its security, to keep the young, old, and sick safe and is responsible for a low infant mortality rate and a low rate of illness related deaths. Although the mountain provides security, the steep slopes can be a danger to young cubs, so the pride appoints nursers to watch the cubs when the pride is doing work. The River of Life also impacts the pride as it separates the pride from the Village and keeps the humans mostly away. It also supplies fresh water, food, and supplies; however, many lions are unable to cross the river unassisted, meaning the pride must stay mostly on their side of the river unless for a reason approved by Vice. The Forest is more of a danger, as the trees can hide large threats until too late and, for lions daring enough to go into the forest, the abundance of trees and uneven soil results in the threat of falling trees.
(217 words)

[Light Bringer]

In the Plains of Neve, the climate fluctuates dramatically with the seasons. Summer typically brings a stream of water trickling down from the melted snow and ice from Heaven’s Peak. The pride had learnt to adapt their way of living to incorporate the seasonal stream, often using it to grow resources that would otherwise die in the summer, such as turmeric. Pride members frequent the Beach during summer when the heat becomes too unbearable for most. When Autumn comes around, all the leaves from the trees in the Forest fall, this results in a lack of cover in the forest. The lack of cover makes tree dwelling animals easy to spot, however, it makes the lions just as easy to spot. The pride had learnt to use fallen leaves as bedding material and typically cart baskets full of leaves back to the den. During winter, the fruit growing plants stop producing fruit and medicinal plants are harder to find. Many animals hibernate so food is scarce. Snow occasionally falls during winter and, as a result, snow fungus and snow flowers are increasingly common in areas other than Heaven’s Peak. Winter is harsh and many lions spend most of the season huddled amongst each other in the Den. In spring, the population of prey animal booms, making spring the season of hunting training for the cubs. Medicinal plants and fruits are also readily available, alongside the abundance of prey animals around.
(240 words)