"For every brother you bring to our
midst, you may keep a trinket all to
yourself. She will not be sullied or traded, unless you deem otherwise. But should you bring a mare here without a new brother first, then I will consider her property of the Lagoon as a whole and do with her as I see fit." - Garmr
The Offspring
None
Rules
• The Lagoon is where homeless stallions come to live as a brotherhood. Mares may not live here except as captives or companions for the Leaders.
• Soldiers keep mainly to fighting, Thieves keep mainly to raiding, and Associates may do both, neither, or act as diplomats. Members may issue their own battles and raids, but should generally consult the General, Marauder or Boss for permission.
• All major decisions are determined by vote, but the Boss maintains order within the Lagoon and has the final say.
• Elections for leadership positions will be held every TLI summer, provided the qualifying criteria are met.
• You can find detailed information about how the Lagoon works on the Rules page.
• Upon election, the Boss can issue a rule for members to follow during their tenure. It is up to leadership to enforce.
take what you can. Posted on May 10, 2020 at 06:43:21 PM by Rade
to live and burn is
the most exquisite form of self destruction
The golden stallion felt something that had evaded him for a long time, too.
For years he had been living in a sort of half-conscious state, shuffling along beside his brother as they wandered the vast landscape on the mainland. Mountains that touched the sky, forests that had lived and grown longer than time itself, plains that seemed without end - he had seen it all without feeling even a small spark of the life that filled him now. Purpose. That was what brightened the golden eyes that had dulled and filled aching limbs with renewed vigor, despite the ruin that surrounded him. Rade was made for the life of a bachelor as he had never been made to gather mares and sire foals, and his return to the Lagoon was like resurfacing - like that instant of blessed relief when air filled his lungs once more - after an eternity spent drowning.
There was no surprise in the older stallion’s expression when Fiero revealed the full extent of his brother’s crimes, though fury churned in his belly. That Cullen had enlisted the men he ruled into a war that was not theirs to fight , and then abandoned them when the time of reckoning had come. For all that he proclaimed himself to be a selfish creature, Rade would have fought. And if he had lost, he would have faced the consequences of his decisions alone, rather than leaving others to suffer in his stead. With another hot pulse of anger, Rade remembered the time that he’d spent watching his children grow, waiting for the promise of greatness - and how he had concluded that Cullen was the most likely of them all. It seemed that he had been right. The boy had eclipsed his sire - in all the qualities that had once brought him to the brink of ruin.
”Fear is for lesser creatures.” Rade replied after the worst of his rage had passed, golden eyes boring into his son’s. Though it was a relief to see the boy had developed a spine, Fiero still had much to learn. ”Alone it will not protect you from harm. Look around and see what it has wrought in the Lagoon - what Cullen has won you on fear alone. Those you oppress will only rise up stronger again and again, until you are defeated.” As one who had been alive to remember when Thane had reigned in the Lagoon, the palomino roan had witnessed the sort of empire that terror built in his youth. And after he’d wrested control of the Lagoon, Rade had known the temptation to regress to those tactics as a response to the Peak’s constant harassment. But the bachelors would never win by repeating the past; it was time to think of the future.
”Seeking to return to the past is a fool’s errand as well. I will never be young again, and the Lagoon will never be as it once was.” The once-mighty empire had fallen, and it seemed that there was no viable means for them to exist and thrive as they once had. But Rade would not slink back into the darkness and embrace extinction. No, if there was no longer a place for him in this world, then he would simply change it. And for all his talk of age, Rade still appeared vital, impressive even as he faced down the dunalino’s unflinching gaze with the same confidence that had always been his. ”But I can bring you the future - if you are bold enough to earn your place in it. Nothing is without effort or cost - a lesson you’ll learn when we next meet.”
That said, the roan stallion turned abruptly and threw his body forward with a powerful thrust of his hind limbs. And as the form of Fiero was swallowed by the shadows, Rade allowed the rage within him to rise to the surface, charging from his once-home in a reckless flight not unlike the one that had delivered him there. Heart pounding, blood rushing through his veins, and cold air burning in his lungs with every breath. Yes, this was living. And though they would undoubtedly be the end of him, Rade wouldn’t trade the struggles ahead for all the years he’d wasted in indolence.