The Lost Islands
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Your King
Asmodeus
Your Queen
Nyimara
The Second
None
The Herd
Name, Name, Name
The Sub-Herd
Name, Name, Name
Allies
Name (Land)
Enemies
Solomon (Cove)
The Rules
  • There will be no fraternizing with enemies. If you put yourself knowingly in danger, don't expect a rescue.
  • We are only as strong as our weakest link. See to it that you are getting stronger in some skill that is useful, whether it is battling, recruiting, charming, etc.
  • The King and Queen have final say in all matters.
STRENGTH AND HONOR


The Gladiator had found himself dozing off, hip cocked to the side. The world around him was sharp and clear, but he’d turned himself off. A stiff wind blew the sand around his hooves, stinging dully against his thick hide. His dark head lowered to his chest, hanging around midway. Even the set of his ears is neutral, hanging softly in the dry heat. Everything seems so crisp, so clean. He’s glad that he came when he did. If any more time had passed, things would have faded into summer and become unbearable. The Gladiator has time to adjust, and that makes life all the better.

His mind is far from this place as he stands and as he thinks. This desert isn’t so different from the last. He’d known a lot of places like this, vast expanses of sand with very few spots where one could find water and shelter from the heat. They’d been encampments, places to simply stop over between battles and sieges and everything that else came with a war. The Gladiator had been asked to fight. He’d been asked to stand by the side of his father’s best friend, so he’d gone. The young man was smart, was brave and had a good head on his shoulders. He’d been so young then… how things changed.

Sweat brought a sheen to the stallion’s pelt. He was baking in the sun, but at least he was close enough to the water. It was almost humid here, though, and that could pose a problem. The Gladiator lowered his head, lipping at some of the grasses. There was a slogging through the sand not far off, an ear flickering backwards to catch the sound. By the time the stallion had turned to see the source of the shifting the scent hit him as well. It was the woman that had covered the Desert in her scent… she was still here. Dully, the black stallion was surprised.

She said something, and he puzzled over the way it sounded. It wasn’t the Spanish or Italian his parents had used when they didn’t want the young man to know what he was saying. It wasn’t the Greek that their fearless leader had slipped into when he wasn’t paying enough attention to what he was saying. Before The Gladiator could think through much else, the woman was surging to meet him. Confusion colored the creature’s expression as the woman dug her teeth into his flesh, an attack he wasn’t expecting. He twitched backward, eyes showing their whites, a cry in his throat.

The Gladiator moved himself backwards as quickly as he possibly could. He didn’t want to fight the woman, not today, not in this heat. He was quivering slightly; skin reacting as if it would twitch off a fly. His muzzle moved to the assailant’s mouth, moving to knock her away gently if she was still attached. The Gladiator’s outcrying was one of surprise as he found his skin pinched, the blow to his foreleg glancing. He stumbled slightly as he moved to the side, trying to regain his bearings. “What the h—“ The Gladiator caught himself. Though he was a soldier, rough around the edges as they would come upon occasion, he wouldn’t swear at a woman. His voice was deep and full, a bit of an implacable, mottled accent trembling through it.

He moved off, unsure of what was going to come of the encounter with this woman. At the distance the man now stood, he would be able to tell if she was coming in for another attack. Today wasn’t a day for fighting… he wanted something he could celebrate. The Gladiator realized now that there was rarely time to rejoice. He would find it eventually, but it was harder than usual. “What was it you said?” It was what was left to weigh on the stallion’s mind, and it was the only thing he could find to say. No, he wouldn’t swear at the woman.
what we do in life
hound’s
echoes in eternity




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