Scarlet Peaks Herd
A stallion stands alone on a peak, overlooking the quiet darkness of the world around him. Stars began to sparkle, the moon rising ever slowly to show the beginning of night. The newly set sun turned the colorful landscape a dreaded red, then let the darkness of night envelope everything. He turns to leave the peak he stood at, head held low, to continue his journey alone.
Background into Lore:
A great darkness once ruled over everything; the lands, the sky, the stars and moon, even the mighty sun. This darkness went by the name of Draimiat. Draimiat wanted to ensure his absolute rule with creatures of darkness and shadows only visible by their big red eyes of fire took out all life that ever tried to come to existance. Any creatures that did survive the dark monsters would hide anywhere they could in hopes of survival. Until one darkness - Reinma - grew attached to a small horse born of pure white with red eyes that resembled her own. The horse was blind, and she was born with frail bones that were mostly broken coming into the world, but something about it captured Reinma. Entranced her. Reinma vowed to protect the small, frail horse with her life. The family of the horse didn’t hold the same fate... and were all killed by dark entities shortly after the albino baby was born. Reinma hid the foul, fostered him as her own, and eventually fell in love with it. She named the foul Soul as he grew older, though he never lost his frail bones and weak body. As Soul grew older, more and more shadow creatures came after him to complete their tasks and to kill Reinma for not following her duty to hunt and kill all life. With the threat of Soul being killed growing every day, Reinma left him to find Draimiat and kill him before he could kill Soul. The two fought for many long hours, turning to weeks, until Reinma was at the point of collapse. She died to Draimiat, but with her dying breath she cast him out of the world and into the sky. With Draimiat’s exile to the sky, his shadow creatures were taken with him. They created the stars, constant reminders of the age of darkness when they reined and how they try restlessly to get back to the world. Soul died in this transition, defending a group of new mothers protecting their families from darkness trying to get their last kills in before exile. When he died those mares held a funeral that sent him to the afterlife in the sky with Draimiat to continue his battle as a being of light. He became the sun, all the creatures killed in the age of darkness making up the clouds in the sky. Soul and Draimiat fight every day and night to protect the world fostering life. Scarlet Peaks tells of a time when shadow creatures will come back to the world and begin their purge once more for their master to come back and defeat Soul.
Ranks:
Sachem: The leader of the herd. His job is to sacrifice himself when he reaches 100 moons to give Soul the power to continue battling Draimiat. The day the Sachem is sacrificed there is an election held to determine the next Sachem. The Sachems are usually horses between 30-40 moons.
Sagamore: The second chief of the herd, also a male. He is elected from a group chosen by the Sachem on the night of election. This horse steps up whenever the Sachem is unable to and will run the rank ceremonies. A Sagamore will retire to become an elder when the Sachem is sacrificed.
Woodpeckers: The mates of the Sachem and Sagamore. They hold a position in the Council of Leaders and run meetings.
Council of Leaders: A council making up leaders of the lower ranks. There is a Raven leader, Eagle leader, Owl leader, and Turtle. They decide on what happens in the herd and what ranks the fouls will grow into.
Raven Leader: The leader of the Ravens - a warchief. He is in charge of the ravens, which are the warriors of the herd. They protect the herd from dangers and will be the first ones on battlefield against the darkness or enemy herds.
Eagle Leader: The leader of the Eagles - a huntress. She is in charge of the hunters of the herd. They go out gathering the food for the herd and distribute it to the members of the herd. They also are the peacekeepers when war is a danger.
Owl Leader: The leader of the Owls - a patroller. This horse is in charge of the patrollers of the herd. They go out daily in search of signs of the darkness returning. They are the line of defense for the young and elders if any attackers come to the herd.
Turtle: The head elder of the herd, often the former Sagamore. He helps maintain order in council meetings and provide wisdom to the leaders and woodpeckers. He is in charge of educating the fouls before they go into their ranks.
Shamans: The healers of the herd who gather herbs, fix ailments, and help with giving birth. They aren’t allowed to have fouls of their own and consist of only white horses.
Feathers: The horses blessed with foresight - most often made up of blind or majorly disabled horses. They are sacred to the herd and work most closely with the spirit of Soul and the Sachem.
Ravens: Warriors.
Eagles: Hunters/Gatherers.
Owls: Patrollers.
Trainees: Fouls old enough to begin the training the council has assigned to them. They train here until they are tested by the leader of that rank and given their rank and official name change.
Cursed: Pure black horses who are seen as omens of the coming darkness. They help any rank needing help except for the council and leaders, but when not needed they fend for themselves.
Mothers: Mothers.
Fouls: Fouls.
Elders: Elders.
Lore:
•Soul is like the god in this herd’s lore. His constant battle with Draimiat is a reminder that all life is sacred and meant to be fought for.
•Draimiat is like the devil with his evil minions of stars. He shows that with unchallenged power there leads death and destruction.
•The clouds are spirits of fallen horses from the herd. The spirits of the ancestors guide the living to ensure the darkness don’t return, and will give their strength to Soul when needed. The fallen Sachem will never be here for when he dies he becomes a part of Soul.
•Rain is an omen from the clouds that new life will come from the darkness nearing. It is a good sign.
•Snow is a sign of death and hardship. It is a bad sign.
•Clear skies show the ancestors have left to battle off the dark minions of Draimiat and the herd is on their own.
Environment:
Crimson Runners Herd lives in the harsh mountain ranges with many cliffs and pines. There is a clearing in the middle of some mountains that has four waterfalls filling a big lake that all creatures drink from, and a meadow off to the East end of the territory. The lake is sacred to the horses and used by Feathers to communicate with Soul at night.
Naming System:
When a foul is born, they are given names that descibe their pelts. Like black, painted, spot, etc.. Once they become Trainees, they get -feather tagged onto the end of that name. Like Bayfeather, Halffeather, etc.. Once the foul is officially accepted into their rank they are given a complete name change to an animal that represents their spirit. Live beaver, bear, fox, pidgeon etc.. These names can be anything except Woodpecker, Owl, Raven, Eagle, Turtle. Once the horse retires to elder, Fallen- is tagged onto the front of their name. Like Fallencrow, Fallentrout, Fallenmouse, etc.. Horses in death are only recognized by their animal name, not their Fallen- prefix.
Cursed horses harbor names of storms and weather and when they become elders they get the -chaser suffix tagged on. Like Rainchaser, Tornadochaser, Hurricanechaser, etc.. In death they maintain their -chaser suffix.
I request be starting horse not have any black on him please
