VoK: SALT Prompt Thread

[Andromeda]

SALT Main Thread

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Founder
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T-01 - T-02 - T-03 - T-04


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[Andromeda]

Founder Prompt: 144 words
10/03/2021
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The southern most part of African plays host to some of the most beautiful sand beaches, speckled with shells and colorful stones and home to a vast assortment of flora and fauna alike. Towards the south-east, where the Indian Ocean is less rough than the Atlantic, lies a span of light colored sand, dotted with large stone formations and abound with hidden coves and caverns. In a particularly large maze of these coves lives a pride of lions, their fur crusted with a layer of salt, their coats somewhat thinner than that of your avergae lion. These salt lions live amongst the rocks and ancient corals, moving to higher up when the tide comes in, and lounging in the sand when it goes out. They hunt primarily fish and any other animal that approaches the shores, including wild boar, rodents, sea birds, and reptiles.

[Andromeda]

T 01: Create a map of your territory

10/18/2021

The Salt Coves
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These are the rocky formations that dot this area of the beach. The pride calls them home and sleeps on the higher levels of these stones to stay safe when the tide comes in. They store fresh water in high-up divots that also collect rain and small caves and holes are used to store other items they find useful such as seaweed, meat, furs, and bedding material.

Little Pool
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While not that little, this small inlet is riddled with tidepools and coral formations. The lions primarily hunt here as fish get stuck in the pools when the tide comes in and leaves again. They also find various seaweeds, shellfish, and land-animals that come to hunt, such as sea birds, rodents, and small reptiles.

Deep Green
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Deep Green is a nickname given to the nearby jungle that borders the pride's beach. Often times, lions will be sent into the dense flora to collect fresh water from streams and pools. They may occasionally hunt there and take to the trees to sleep when the tide on the beach is especially high. The jungle here is dangerous for the pride, who have historically been exposed to poisonous insects and arachnids as well as dangerous wild boar who have no problem targeting a lone lion.In times of bad fishing, some lions will forage for vegetarian sustenance like berries and edible grasses, though this is last resort.

The Dune Spot
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The pride rarely ventures this far from their home, however this curious spot has not gone undiscovered. Among the rolling sand dunes is a half buried ship. It is known to be foreign to the natural geography and therefore the pride typically stays away from it for fear of unnecessary danger.

Blind Cave
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This mysterious spot is host to one of the pride's oldest traditions. Being a mostly ocean-centric pride, the cubs must learn to swim as it's crucial to their survival in the present and the future. When the tide goes out as far as it can, the hollowed out cove is visible on a small secular sand bar. Two adult lions accompany the new cubs to swim to the spot and then the real tests begin, though more on this elsewhere.

[Andromeda]

T 02: Explain what natural resources are located within the territory, what is easy to obtain and what is more difficult to find.

241 words
10/18/2021

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These lions use the ocean around them to bathe, coating their fur in a layer of salt which they’ve found helps to prevent insects from biting them when they need to travel into the Deep Green, a name they’ve given to the jungle bordering their residential coastline. Everyday, chosen lions are sent into the thick foliage to find fresh drinking water to bring back to the pride, and to hunt for larger prey if it’s found. Transporting the water is the most difficult and dangerous task. They use large shells, moss, and palm husks to bring the water back, however this renders them helpless if they need to defend themselves, unless they want to drop their precious cargo and begin the journey all over again.

Luckily the large rock and coral formations around their home provide them ample shade, and deep divots in the rocks provide available storage for the fresh water they collect. However, they need to be sure they are storing it high up enough that it isn’t tainted when the tide comes in, but low enough that the sun doesn’t reach it and dries it out of existence.

Hunting in this pride is never a problem. Fishing techniques have been passed down through the generations and they are never without land-based prey when it comes to the coast to cool off in the water. With food, water, and a place to safely sleep, this pride continues to thrive.

[Andromeda]

T 03: Explain the geography/natural formations of the terrain within your territory and how it impacts your character's lives.

240 words
10/18/2021
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The coast the pride calls home stretches along southern Africa. Their beach is dotted with large rock formations that create countless caves, coves, overhangs, and multi-leveled platforms. When the tide comes in, water reaches 2 feet up the rock, driving the pride either inland or higher up the rocky formations. The receding of the tide often leaves plenty of seaweed along the beach for the pride to use in various ways such as bedding, wound wrapping, and food if they’re experiencing a hunting drought (though it isn’t preferred).

The sandbar stretches roughly 700 feet out into the ocean, revealing itself as the tide goes out. The water is much deeper here, however, and offers better fishing. It’s also very dangerous due to the occasional riptide. Senior lions know the educate their cubs at a considerably young age to not swim out too far from the sandbar.

The jungle just inland of their beach, nicknamed “The Deep Green” by the pride, is thick and littered with vegetarian food options as well as dangerous foes. Poisonous snakes and arachnids hide under every leaf and some large animals post a threat to the lone lion, such as warthogs and elephants. It is never advised to go into the jungle alone.

When the tide comes in, the pride will sometimes abandon the beach and reside in the Deep Green. They typically stick to lounging in trees high off the ground and away from danger.

[Andromeda]

T 04: Explain the typical climate/weather of your territory, how do the seasons impact your group and their lifestyle?

231 words
10/18/2021
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The climate in the area of South Africa where these lions reside is pretty mild for most of the year. The temperature fluctuates between the low 50’s in winter and the high 90’s in summer (Fahrenheit). The area experiences heavy summer rainfalls and drier winters, but nothing unbearable and leaving the pride without fresh water. Thankfully this doesn’t typically affect the pride, however drought seasons do occur leading them to walk much further into the jungle than they normally would to find sources of drinking water. Not only does this pose a problem with transporting the water back, but it often results in the lions traveling as a pride in the Deep Green, constantly exposing them to a threatening environment.

On nights without rainfall, the night sky is as clear as can be. The stars reflect on the still ocean waters and the moon casts a warming glow across the beach, though admittedly bringing with it some eerie shadows. The pride considers the moon to be the absolute life blood of their world. They have picked up on stronger tides and larger waves on nights when the moon is at its fullest or not there at all, and calmer waters during the in-between phases. Due to this, they worship the moon and thank it for bringing a steady cycle of fish and seaweed with each coming and going of the tide.