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--Cowards--
Which Coward are you entering for?: Pelt
Name: Maisha'uhaini (Haini)
Player: Talencia
Meaning: "lifetime of betrayal"
Description: (A short blurb for the Rival Member List) Born green with the heart of a warrior, this old lion is tired of being treated as a second class citizen.
Prompt Response:

His life had been long already, but not because he was a coward. Born into the pride with a full coat of the shameful color, he had been told from the beginning that he was untrustworthy... and outright unworthy. His mother had railed against the idea that her cub was worthless, but his father had resignedly accepted it. Now of course they were both gone.

He had suffered a life filled with trials and shame. Through persistent questioning, he found out that perhaps, if he worked hard for the pride and the spirits, he would be graced with a better color in his next life. As an adolescent, he had taken this to heart.

There was no doubt he'd had setbacks, however. As hard as he'd tried to be of some help, he usually was cuffed, snarled at, or ordered away. One of the few times he'd been of some use was during an attack from a roving pride. He had helped to defend the Sacrifices, his teeth and claws stained dark with their foes' blood. His reward had been a rotting pelt noone else cared for, since it was the unblessed colors of black and white. Still, as rewards go, it had been an honor to be graced such a thing, as a greenie.

Inspired by this reward, he had gone on to continue to defend their lands and pride members. He carried himself like a warrior... so long as noone else was around. A lifetime of insults and scorn had trained him to know his place, and to cower rather than strut.

But now... now he had a chance to change all that. Well, not in this life, but perhaps in the next. For here was a job well suited to his cowardly nature. Knowledge of the rebels was common now, and their thefts of the Sacrifices was becoming troublesome. Their Queen wanted this stopped. She wanted to crush this uprising and restore calm dedication to the spirits once more. And now he knew how best to assist her in that.

It was on a moonless night when he crept away, fleeing among the shadows and shades to lope in the direction he'd been told he could find them. These rescuers of Sacrifices, these succorers of the weak and insane, those who welcomed cowards and outcasts. he pinned his ears as he ran, tail tucked carefully beneath him. His next life depended on whether he could make them believe, make them trust. Trust a greenie.

HIs grizzled muzzle shook as he considered his chances. It was time to be the pitiful one, the put upon green, but he would have to balance that with usefulness. He pondered how best to offer help to the growing rebellion. His paws thudded softly as he pondered this. His best bet would be perhaps to offer to scout with another. Someone young and gullible, with the colors that could lend credibility to what they reported. Yes, that could be the key. He could offer to spy upon the 'enemy', all the while laughing at the joke noone knew.

His fangs flashed in the starlight as his jaw gaped in a silent chortle of anticipation. This fool would never see his demise in the eyes of an old, subserviant coward, oh no. He would not see the betrayal, the wile, the deceit. But the Queen would thank him when he reported to her in a moon's time what the plans were. When they planned to openly and truly wage war, and whom was assisting them. Their numbers, their strategies, their weaknesses. They would be his to offer up to his leader as payment for his past sins, and hopefully grant him reprieve before his dying day.

This old lion was going to win himself a pelt of gold in the life to come, or he'd die trying.

--Beautiful Dreamer--
Name: Mchana'kichaa (Kichaa)
Player: Talencia
Meaning: "daylight madness"
Description: (A short blurb for the Rival Member List) A more than slightly mad but very driven lioness.
Prompt Response:

The stars... she gazed up dreamily at them, mezmerized completely. They had led her here, those stars. She'd followed first one, then another, then another. That was after something awful. She frowned faintly, trying to remember, but the sense of calm and lethargy was too much for her to fight off enough to remember. Ah well, it didn't matter. After whatever that nastiness was, the beautiful stars had led her here, to a pride that didn't reject her.

Light began to grow to the east, obscuring some of the stars. She frowned, ears tilting back as her thoughts went back to rejection. What was it that made that so bad? Warm colors touched the sky, with stars still glittering brightly through the light. Yes, rejection. They had rejected her. That old pride, that high and mighty pride of lions and lionesses that frowned down at her as if she were some bug with a missing wing.

Insane. Yes. That was what they had called her. She frowned deeper. Such a nasty word, hurtful and cutting. But they had learned that wasn't the only nasty word that could apply to her. Bloodhtirsty had apparently also been applicable. With the sun high overhead, she recalled now, she had torn the throat out of the princess of the pride, the heir to the throne. On that blood-fed high, she had managed to fight her way out, fled. Only the stars ever comforted her. She gazed back up at them for reassurance.

She took a deep breath of the cool morning air, lacking the dust that often was carried on the evening wind. It was time to get moving. She rose, drank, and groomed herself carefully. After all, she wasn't likely to get another chance. As the sun rose fully above the horizon, her calm demeanor faded with the stars. Wild-eyed, she sought out her commander. It was time for blood to flow, she was sure of it! Nothing mattered now, only the taste of it in on her tongue! The feel of fur beneath her jaws! Even the feel of claws snagging her own hide was delicious!

With a screeching roar, she lunged into a lope, bearing down on their King. He was the one she relied on to point her in the right direction, to let her loose for a killing spree on his behalf! But she found him deep in conversation with his Queen. She slammed on the breaks, sliding on her haunches on the dry earth. Her ears pinned, the pupils in her eyes unusually wide. With noone to direct her, she began to pace, back and forth, round and round. As she paced, her tail lashed in agistation, and she snapped at invisible things to either side of her, lips peeled back in a snarl. Anyone near enough would have heard her apparently arguing with herself.

"YES! I know! I must wait! But I must have... must have...," and she'd trail off into mumbles and wordless growls, before suddenly shouting out again, "Don't tell me what to do! You are not the QUeen! She is!" A paw would point imperiously at the Queen as proof, and then she'd be off again, pacing and mumbling.

However, everyone knew to give her a wide berth when the sun was above the horizon. The path of the sun and stars were the only thing that dictated her moods, changed her perceptions. They knew that at night, she was as harmless as a newborn calf, and just as unaggressive. During dawn and dusk were the best times to approach her, for it was then that the two sides of her were balanced, lending sanity where there otherwise was none.

No, the Dreamer was not the most savory of members of the Dhati, but when it came to brute strength, mad rushes, and heavy loss of life, their King could count on her being right in there, in the thick of things, fighting for his side relentlessly. So long as the fight was while the sun shone bright as fire in her eyes and the colors on her coat.

Location Physical Description (biomes, architecture, etc): A Dyson Sphere, specifically a full shell built around a star. Outside the sphere it is equipped for docking with very large spaceships, and is shielded and reinforced to withstand whatever might come in contact with its surface. On the inside surface of the shell are two sections of livable land.

One section is highly industrial, with tall buildings, much metal and stone, and with many dishes and solar panels and other technological evidences. It possesses a space dock for numerous small spacecraft. Many types of transportation devices populate the space between buildings, as well as above and beneath them. Roadways, airways, bridges, and a few railways also clutter the space, making use of every available area. This half is predominantly one unending city, referred to by the name of the people who live there, The Audri.

The other livable section has been deeply covered in rich soil. Crops grow and thrive there, and the structures reflect a much simpler and older influence, often made from stacked rocks or basic wood. Roofs are thatched, tiled, or wood and tar. Overall, the land is quite flat, not designed for providing mountains, although there are very large lakes. The roadways are either dirt, fitted stone, or cobbles. The area this section covers is massive, so communities dot the landscape regularly, though they remain small, towns or villages instead of cities. This half of the sphere is also called by the name of the people populating it, The Arutae, but each township names itself.

There are additional details that are involved with the shell. Firstly, the shell actually has two nearly seperate halves, with sections open to space between the two. This allows for harmful gasses and any other undesirable elements to be vented safely into space. The Arutae often contend that this is abused by becoming an easy waste dump, and have endeavored to ensure as little solid material goes out these vents as possible. Crossing this section is too dangerous, so shuttles run to and from specified locations in order to convey anyone between the two halves.

Secondly, those who first built it gave it an ingenious large plate, which revolves around the sun, using the joint between the two halves as a means to circle the star. On the side towards the star, it is full of solar panels and scientific arrays. However, on the shell-side, it is smooth, with small breaks in the surface that let through tiny bits of light. The solar energy gathered by this massive plate is fed to the cities, and the more asthetic purpose of it is that it provides a pseudo-night for the residents of the sphere. An "underground" network system allows every household, Aurdi or Arutae, to have access to the stored energy.

Social Description (Races/cultures): The scientifically and technologically advanced Arudi originally made a slow and steady plan to leave their dying planet. The sphere was built over a period of generations, not only creating the shell, but bringing into it everything needed to sustain life. It was at this point that the Arudi began to have dissentions. Upon settling the sphere, the one race split into two. The Audri and the Arutae, the first clinging to their ancestral ways of technology and trading, the latter choosing instead a new way of life, learning to till the soil and live simply.

The Audri are a busy and organized people, thriving on each and every individual having a place, a pupose, and a future. Jobs are closely intertwined with life outside the paid career time. What they do for fun often is tied to and reliant on the very work they do. Their preferences in visual asthetics runs to shiny, metallic, brightly colored, geometric, and efficient. They believe in science, in tangible proof, and in themselves. What was good enough for generation upon generation of their people is good enough for them. They welcome travelers from afar and exchange technology and innovation, being reliant on these space merchants for base elements and raw natural materials that their manufactured home cannot provide. They completely believe that their work keeps their culture and their world thriving. They are led by the top inventors and scientists of the time.

The Arutae live life at a much slower pace. They take each day as it comes, dealing with what is necessary for the future, but not overly fretting about it. Despite living further apart from each other, these people have more of a sense of community, and are more likely to help one another than the Audri might. Each township or village has its own government of local patriarchs and matriarchs, making them individually autonomous from each other. Each family has their own plot of land, varying in size, though they still as yet have not covered the entire available space for crops, leaving plenty of room for expansion for each new generation. Undeveloped land lies fallow, covered by a variety of hardy species of ground cover, which was scattered before settlement began. Though they are involved much much less in trade with space-going merchants, they have wisely chosen to plant imported seeds, as well as adapt imported animals to keep as companions or work beasts. As time has progressed, the Arutae have become more open to the idea of there being greater powers than they that control things like fate.

Interestingly, if asked in reference to the sphere itself, no individual will know what to answer. They think of it in two very separate and distinct parts, and will respond with an inquiry as to which half you mean. They simply do not think of the sphere as a whole. However, any space-goers will refer to the sphere as the Arudi Sphere, calling it by the ancient race's name.

Despite the general separation of the two peoples, genetically they remain a single race. They resemble humans in every way, with similar hues of skin tone, eye color, and hair color. However, the two peoples are known to have a slightly wider variety in those colors. Hair color might range to be more intense, or to have hints of additional color, while their eyes might be less inclined to being muddy browns and hazels. (Example: Auburn hair that has maroon or purple highlights, and indigo eyes. Not terribly far off the human range. Brilliant blue hair and neon orange eyes would not exist, as it is too far from the human reference.)

Additionally, every individual, Audri or Arutae, has a marking up their right arm. It looks like a tattoo, and is always nearly black in color. The style of the marking varies by family and is genetic, but unique to each individual. When born, they only have a small marking on the back of the right hand. The older they become, the more the pattern appears. Those in great old age will have the markings no further than their shoulder blade.

Events of Note/History:
The Migration
The slow transferring of people and belongings to the sphere took many years. The first and foremost of those things moved were of course all the highly sensitive and cutting edge technology that the top scientists would need to continue their work. The more brilliant and important of those scientists were then allowed to choose their living spaces and settle in first, with this system trickling down the ladder of importance until a lottery was drawn for the rest of the population.

Meanwhile the planet was tearing itself apart. Entire cities were swallowed by gaping chasms, volcanoes burst through the planet's crust at predictable but devastating points. Debate became heated as to what was at fault for the destruction of the planet. Some claimed it was the natural course of creation and destruction, that it merely was the planet's time to come undone. Others insisted it was the ravaging of the planet's resources for the sake of science that did it. There was a great deal of heat and anger on the issue, but the migration itself solved much of that tension. With the ability to choose either half, the conflict between the two factions cooled, so that once all was settled, there was civil peace between them.

Prosperous Years
For many many generations, all was well between the Audri and the Arutae. While a large bulk of the original population had chosen to stay on the technological side, as the years passed, often retired scientists and engineers of all levels chose to move to the quieter, simpler side of the sphere. Both sides grew and thrived, providing for each other what they could not have done for themselves. The Arutae gave the Audri the fresh food, many herbal and medicinal base ingredients, and provided them with lovable living creatures to share their lives with. The Audri kept the Great Plate running smoothly, tended to the collection and storage of energy, and often were negotiators on behalf of the Arutae with merchants of all kinds that came to visit the sphere.

Despite this peaceful existence, certain stigmas did become attached to which side of the sphere you lived on. The Audri tended to think of the Arutae as the country bumpkins, with little to no intelligence and a penchance for a smelly, filthy existence. It was also whispered that Arutae women were nothing but baby-makers, spitting out kids left and right until they died. Of course, the Arutae had plenty of stereotyping concerning the Audri as well. They claimed the Audri were a cold, hard people who cared nothing for each other. There were whispers of artificial life taking precedence over those actually living, and of factories where people worked, lived, and died, never having tasted fresh, free air. Still, over all, each side chose to let the other side deal with their own problems instead of interfere.

The Undoing
After thousands of years of steady existence, it seemed that everything came undone. First people went mad. Sane, sensible people began doing things they would normally have died rather than do. Rifts formed between families that had once been close, and tensions began to escalate swiftly between the two peoples. Unsurprisingly this erupted into all out war between the Audri and the Arutae, though thankfully each valued different things for the most part. One of the biggest issues, however, was food and water, both of which the Arutae had in abundance... at least at first. The land was ravaged by pillaging Audri, or by vengeful and hateful people who wanted the Arutae to suffer. The Arutae were not very well equipped for attacking the homes of the Audri, but they excelled at boobytrapping their fields and homes, slaughtering the invading Audri. Much blood was spilled on both sides.

When the sickness came, technology began to abandon the Audri as well as the Arutae. No cures could be found. Soon the aquaducts ran dry, and the crops failed. Animals, plants, and people withered and died. All the youngest and oldest suffered at this point, taking years of knowledge as well as hope for the future away. How both peoples mourned and wailed! But when the crazed and nightmarish creatures came, it seemed as if everything else came undone. Entire sections of the Audri city came crashing down, many people were lost or killed. Eventually the Great Plate came to a grinding halt, casting constant shadow over some and constant light over others. Chaos and destruction reigned supreme.

And then came a sudden hush. All stilled, and many dared to believe it was over finally. With the Audri city in shambles and still collapsing due to unsteadiness, most people migrated to the Arutae side of the sphere. They gathered in the towns and villages, sorting out places and ways to live in the eerie quiet aftermath. But then the worst thing of all happened. The star disappeared. It did not die, as any of the scientists could have told you. There was no lingering, no sputtering, no growing massive and large in a great fiery death. No, it simply... stopped being. So now the peoples, once two and now one once more, huddle together and seek for answers they cannot find, not yet ready to define themselves as a single race again just yet, but needing to hold closely together in order to survive the long, long night.

Characters/NPCs of Note: While there have been many people of note through the history of the Arudi, as well as the Audri and the Arutae, it all has come to naught now. The most prominent scientists died. The most recognized village and town leaders fell in war or to the ravaging demons. Only the healthy and middle-aged have survived, none having as yet made enough impact to be considered important or of note.

How to Access it: Currently, the only access would be through the World Tree. When the Sky and Space return, spaceships may access it with reasonable ease, though docks no longer exist, so shuttlecraft would be ncessary, or landing on the inner surface. Portals may be assumed to work to arrive there, though at the time no known portal pre-existed to this world.

Reason for making this location: OOC, the idea of a Dyson sphere-world intrigued me, and the more I thought about the stunning impact this could have on it, the more I wanted to write about it. IC, this people would be ripe for turning to the Real Gods for help, for hope, for all that they cannot now provide for themselves. They have thus far been a rather self-sufficient race, and weren't likely to entertain the idea of deities. Now however they are basically a planet ripe for becoming devoted followers.

Entry for Goddess of Hunt

.:. Host Profile .:.
Name: Meander
Gender: female
Species: night elf
Age: early to middlin age? It's hard to tell with night elves.
Appearance: She has a tall, slender frame, with pale, powdery blue skin. Her face has an organic tattoo across her eyes in a deeper blue, and particularly long ear tips. Her eyes have no pupil or cornea, but glow a bright blue-white. Her blue-green hair is thick and long, usually unbound. She wears practical, muted colored leathers, with minimal ornamentation, though occasionally laced with chain mail. She carries a reasonably simplistic but very well-made bow at all times, quiver tucked along her back. A dagger and a small hand-ax are hanging from her belt.

Personality: Meander is a wanderer, as her name would suggest. Exploration is more her focus than doing tasks for others. In the end, she looks out for herself mostly, and those she cares about. Everyone else can suffer their own consequences as far as she is concerned. She doesn't mind the company of others, but never has taken well to being ordered around. She tends to have a very stiff-backed attitude towards those giving orders, which can be a problem. She has a soft heart for creatures, particularly of the feline sort, secondarily for those of the furred kind.

History: Her life was relatively simple. A cat at her side, a bow in her hands, and the wide world of Azeroth to explore. But soon the world's simplicity was shattered by the arrival of new peoples, and a gate that led to lands far above the surface of the planet. Intrigued by the new territories to explore, she willingly entered the gate and began familiarizing herself with the area. She had learned quite a bit about several sections of this new land when need called her back to her homeland. Trusting to magic to work as it always had, she stepped through a portal, expecting to arrive in her home city of Darnassus.

This was not to occur as it should have. A wrench within the portal warned her something was wrong, and moments later she and her feline companion tumbled through the portal, which snapped closed immediately once they were through. It had dumped them at an odd angle, above the ground, leaving them to fall in a tumble. To her grief, her cat did not survive. Alone, she set out to discover what strange land she had been transported to, and so learned of the chaos that originated there.

Anything else we should know about them?: During the weeks of Gehenna, I briefly introduced what then was my World of Warcraft character, a hunter named Meander. I hadn't done anything with her since, and frankly thought the domain of Hunt entirely too tempting for her. Perhaps it is cliche, but it suits her.


.:. God/dess Profile .:.
Name: Elta
Gender: female
Appearance: n/a
Domain: n/a

Personality: Elta is highly goal driven. She prefers it when she knows exactly what she is aiming for, so that she can plan and enact it. Obscurity and vagueness irritate her She prefers to get things done in an efficient manner. That being said, once the adventure is begun, she is able to bend with changing circumstances, not one to stop and replan for each unexpected circumstance. Elta can work with others fine, but is happiest hunting in the wilds on her own. That is her time for herself. She is not a tame goddess, being wild and fierce by nature. She would be most uncomfortable baking cookies, but quite at home gutting a deer. She prefers hunting beasts, but is equally capable of chasing down intelligent creatures as well.

When it comes to taking sides of "good" or "evil", she would qualify as neutral. She sees killing as a natural and logical need sometimes, but doesn't condone death for the sake of death. Thus, if the darker side made more sense than the light, she'd sway darker. She has nothing against the light either, and will stand firm beside those of the light side if they seem the more sensible to her. Practicality, the good of the many, and overall survival are her governing values.

Anything else we should know about them?:
She represents the predator, the stalker, the baying hound, the prowling cat, the striking raptor, rather than the fleeing rabbit, the bounding deer, or the fluttering quail.

.:. Prompt Response #3 .:.

She couldn't exactly say it had been unwelcome, but the world not ending had certainly seemed... anti-climatical. First she had been dumped here, stranded from her own home by a strange twist of fate. Then had come the fierce fighting for her life, and for any of those she'd come across. Then the sky had gone dark. She had found herself coming to terms with her own death in a way she never quite had before. Not that she had been pleased about it, of course, but she had acquired a peace of mind. She had found a place to hole up in, taking her strange furred companions with her. Quietly she waited, certain that the time had come for life to end, and the world to stop existing.

That time had never come. She had waited days in her hidey hole before the hunger of her animal friends had driven her out. The world had looked no different, no stars or sun graced the sky. Cold had definitely settled in, however, and so after letting her friends feast on carrion, they had set off to see what they could find. What was left of this foreign world?

It was difficult to gauge time in the darkness, but they had stopped to sleep twice before they found another living, thinking creature. Not just one, but dozens. Some were quite tiny, flitty things that shied from her large predatorial companions. Thankfully there were others with them, ones unafraid of speaking to her of the quest they were on. Over a meager fire that did not cast back the shadows fully, they told their tale to her.

Frankly she found it far-fetched. They claimed it was a war of the gods that had brought the world to the brink of destruction. Had her gods done such a thing, she'd have been furious at them. Instead, these folk were pilgrimaging to them to beg protection and to offer what little they h ad left in hopes of placating them. It was very odd to the nightelf, that gods should be so petty as to do this, then expect to be catered to.

She had left them, continuing in a different direction than they. It wasn't another sleep-cycle later, she met another group. These were more akin to herself. It was a small group, traveling lightly but clearly prepared for battle. They too welcomed her to their fire, and told her tales. She listened intently, finding their account oddly in line with the last group's, but with significant differences.

Indeed it was a war of gods, but not god upon god. Word of a dark evil unlike any other unleashed upon all worlds had reached them. The sky was evidence of the strife between gods and this enemy, or so they claimed. They too were heading to where the gods were said to be, but not to offer homage. No, this lot of warriors went to offer their services, to fight side by side with the world's only hope of surviving. Once again Meander was puzzled. What gods needed mortals to fight beside them? It all seemed very askew to her way of thinking.

This group was unwilling to merely bid her goodbye. They recognized her skills as being useful in their field of work, and strongly urged her to go with them, become a member of their troop. Torn, she hedged that she would travel with them, and decide for herself at some point. In this manner, she came to the sanctuary that is the Pantheon.

After so much dark and cold, it was like stepping into Paradise. The mercenaries she traveled with were equally stunned. There was light, life, warmth, and many, many people. It seemed to the dazzled nightelf that all peoples of this world must be present in some number. The forms of life were so widely varied. Many languages touched her ears, and many new smells were causing her companions's noses to quiver ecstatically. She calmed them absently and gazed about herself.

Though there was beauty, there also was tension. The band of fighters tromped off to select a camping spot, but Meander left them, choosing instead to wander through the area, listening and watching. She learned much by merely overhearing conversations. it surprised her that many of those here spoke of the gods with respect, but less awe and fear than she'd have imagined. She finally inquired where she might find these gods, and was given a blank look and a finger pointed to the structure in the center of the protected area.

As the simulated day sky overhead began fading towards a simulated night, she continued to explore the area around the building, but did not approach it. Not yet. There was still much to be learned out here, among the 'lesser' beings. She still felt skeptical and unconvinced as to the nature of this disaster, but that there were gods was undeniable. The one spoken of most highly, the one lauded most often, and the one spoken of with most reverence, though, was known to all. It took her time to gather that he had several names. The Twin Crown, or Lord Creation, and sometimes Lord Harmodius. By the time she found a place to lay her head for the night, camped at the edges of the shield that held them all safe, she thought that perhaps, just perhaps, this one of all was indeed worth the hope and joy so many seemed to assign him.

Tomorrow she was determined to learn more of him.