[MORP] Traitors in the Dust [closed]

[Ithambo hlabathi]

A Prophecy!

Time open has been extended! This thread closes on the 24th of September at 12 noon PST.

A seer has come to the pride bearing ill news. She speaks of a vision, one that involves the death of cubs. Within this vision, there are also sights of males, perhaps up leadership quality, and the fall of what can be assumed to be a current Umaholi. But most alarmingly, they appear to be linked to the birth of a lion who looks exactly like Biti.

Some are alarmed, others enraged. Disagreements have broken out, and now there is a group forming under the loud-mouth of a female named Ulaka to decide what to do with Biti.  

[Ithambo hlabathi]

How to ICly Vote

You may recognize this from the Firekin plot ORP; Mimsey has kindly let us borrow the format! The two prides are very regionally close and will, on rare occasions, come to have brief interaction.

Only pride-members aged adolescent-adult may vote.

To vote, please make an IC RP response in this thread in which your character makes their viewpoint known. Please bold the actual decision in the color that matches the decision they made.

Vote to Banish: Biti is held accountable for the deaths of the cubs, and the events thought to come true in the prophecy. Her children are to remain in the pride, to be protected and raised by the Bonelands, but she herself will be chased from the lands to fend for herself.

Vote to Pardon: Whether or not Biti is actually the true bringer of the disease, or harbors any ill-will, this vote keeps her in the pride as an equal. It will not change the opinions of the pride-members towards her, however.

Non-Vote: This vote follows what the other lions determine for Biti.

Modifiers: Modifiers should be in bold black! These are in addition to the three colored options above, and modify the vote made. For example, if a vote for pardon is given, a modifier could be added to say that Biti should be under close watch. Modifiers are not required.  

[Ithambo hlabathi]

Questions and Rules

If you have a question, please PM it to the mule.

I do not have a Meta-Character, can I still vote?
Anyone with a member of the Boneland's pride may vote, regardless of whether it is an 'official meta character' or not. If you do not have a Boneland's pride member, the joining application thread will be open throughout the meta, and you may submit female lions for joining.

What about alternatives?
Feel free to have your lion bring up their own ideas in the thread on ways to deal with the spread of sickness, etc.. They can be processed and considered by others RPing and may be used later, but the main decision here is simply whether to banish Biti or let her stay in the pride.

Is there a 'right' or 'wrong' way to vote?
Most definitely not. This meta is fairly lacking in 'right' or 'wrong' choices. Good and bad results will come of any choice.

How long, ICly will it take for a decision to be reached?
This IC discussion began in the afternoon, and arguments will likely last days. ICly An official 'decision' will not be considered made until the a mass majority of lioness' act on pridal views.

Can our Characters argue with other player's characters?
Absolutely! You may post in this thread as many times as you'd like, but only bold one choice per character. You may also start your own argument RPs outside of this one if you would like.

Rules

• The final decision will be made by majority. Yes, every vote counts!
  
• Only adolescents and adults may vote! Cubs can speak, but please do not bold their choices!
  
• If you wish your lion to be considered for an IC leadership position later, it is advised that you post in this (and other) ORPs.
  
• Two, pre-colored Bonelands characters will be given out in this thread. All names will be compiled and rolled at the end. The winner will be allowed to keep one, but will have to give away the other.
  
• Once made, do NOT change your vote!
  
• This is not long enough to be used as a breeding RP, but you CAN use it as a JRP to get your cert.

 

[Ithambo hlabathi]

[MORP] Traitors in the Dust

Public
Weather: Early afternoon. There are sparse clouds in the sky, and a heavy wind blowing dust into eyes and making tensions high.
Location: There is a steadily growing group of arguing lions in an open spot on the plains. There are no trees, and only sparse rock outcroppings nearby.

-

"I'm sick of this." It came from a relatively new member of the pride. One with a loud mouth, and even louder ideas. "You heard what the seer said!" Ulaka's growing shouts were drawing attention. "How can we be sure that whatever this outsider has isn't going to get to any of the new cubs?"

Near her, Nahmba's tail was moving rapidly and she was pushing air out through her nose. "We can't just--"

"Can't just what? She's not one of us. Who knows what hellhole she was drug out of. We can't trust her."

"But, her cubs!"

"So, we'll keep the cubs! Children don't have to pay for their mother's mistakes. You can't possibly think she's safe to have here. Who's with me?"  

[Jovi of Shadows]

Not far from the gathering lionesses, Dina grumpily sat with her back to the wind, determined not to get sand whipped in to her eyes by the gusts. She had been listening to the growing voices with as much restraint as possible, but the currently unfolding scene was enough to push her back onto her paws in a huff. One of those voices she recognized as Nahmba, a long term member of the pride, though granted Dina hadn't gotten to know her very well. The other, well the other voice was vaguely familiar, but she couldn't quite place it. Begrudgingly the umzingeli turned to face the group, and with it, the stinging sand that quickly found its way into her nostrils and eyes. With brisk steps, she found herself starring at the aggressor, the one who seemed to be fueling this argument with alarming speed. What was her name? Ulaka? Yes, that sounded right.

Closing the gap with a few well paced loping strides, Dina came to a halt next to Nahmba, eyes narrowed due to obstruction and annoyance from the sand. "You haven't exactly been one of us for very long, either, Ulaka. Just something to remember", Dina reprimanded, finding the busisa's loudmouth and treatment of an umzingeli distasteful. She may not have known Nahmba very well, but at least she had been here longer than Ulaka. According to Dina, it wasn't a busisa's place to go stirring up trouble in the pride, not when they were in a bad enough situation as it is! And to make matters worse, it was an outsider's prophecy! That had been a hard blow indeed for the stubborn lioness, and part of her wanted to believe that it wasn't true; but, outsider or not, she knew better than to question the word of a true seer. No matter how much she wished to chase her off and be done with it.

With a more stoic stance than before, Dina seated herself a few paces away, having bitten off and spat her grudge for the day. "I'll follow what the pride decides, but keep yourselves in check", in particular, the golden-orange lioness kept a hard, stern gaze on Ulaka and her followers. This could easily get out of control. Though, if Dina was being honest with herself, she couldn't rightfully banish anyone based solely on the word of an outsider seer, same as she could neither pardon Biti due the partial belief that the prophecy may be true. All in all, it was just a rotten situation to be stuck with.  

[Pearlyblue]

Amara happened to be standing nearby when the argument broke out, and it was all she could do to control herself. She had heard about the prophecy as well, and she had wanted - so bad - to be able to blame someone for the death of her cub. Her firstborn. For days, she had been distracted and distant, unable to understand how she should cope, how she should react. Her cub was dead. He might have been a boy, and he would have left the group sooner or later, but if he had lived... then at least he could have been happy somewhere else.

If it hadn't been for this disease. And now they were saying it was all Biti's fault. Biti, whom she had started to think of as a good friend. Ever since they had talked about Pôntàn's sickness, Amara had avoided the red lioness. Even when she heard that Biti had lost a cub herself. She just didn't know what to do or how to handle herself. But when she heard these lionesses argue, all her anger and grief somehow coalesced into a pitch black ball that settled somewhere just behind her throat.

She couldn't have stopped herself even if she had wanted to. Amara turned on the spot and walked right up to the argument, not caring one bit if she interrupted anything.

"You should be ashamed of yourselves!" She growled. "Since when do we let an outsider decide what we should think? Biti has been nothing but kind, and has been a welcome and useful addition to the pride, and she has been here a lot longer than this seer." She all but spat the last word.

"Who's to say that it's not this outsider who has brought the misfortune on us? She says Biti brough the sickness, she says an Umholi may fall, she talks of new males... She seems to bring us nothing but ill will, and if there were any real Umholi left in this pride-" Amara herself had hardly even noticed how much the recent rogue swap idea had annoyed her, but there it was, she was a traditionalist through and through, after all, "-then they would never let this become such an issue! Biti is one of us now, and she should stay that way! If anyone should be banished it should be that misfortune-spouting seer!"

She might have thought that she would have blown off some steam by now, but somehow speaking her mind had only seemed to rile her up further. Amara decided to end her rant before it got really out of hand and turned away from the gathered lionesses with a huff and a look that hopefully discouraged anyone from following her. The last thing she needed right now was to be goaded into a real, physical fight. She really needed to go somewhere else and cool off, and think.  

[Neon Fly]

Sitting beside her mother Simosihle had been there from the beginning, watching Ulaka attempt to stir up a frenzy and cause further chaos in their already battered pride. This, she didn't appreciate. If the lioness had issues with another member then she should have taken her concerns discreetly to the Umama of her affiliation or the Abholi if she really thought her issues that pressing. That was the way things were done here and anyone who couldn't respect that, especially a new comer like her, didn't sit well with Simo.

Honestly, what was the point of causing a riot? In the long run it served no purpose but to incite further divides between the members of the Ithambo when what they needed right now was unity. Glancing at the other faces that had been drawn by Ulaka's shouting cries for justice she was glad to find that many of those who had responded to the call had shown the same level-headed judgment that she herself possessed. Maybe our pride is more unified than I first thought..

That idea pleased the pale lioness, the tuft of her tail drumming against the ground almost as if clapping for the bravado of her sisters' stand against this loud-mouthed busisa. Though she had heard word of this supposed seer, bringing dark omens to their already shaken group Simo refused to put any stock in the words of an outsider, particularly where Biti was concerned. Raising her voice to once Amara and Yejide had spoken, though there didn't seem much left to say in her mind. You'll cause the pride more harm than good by trying to rile everyone up, Ulaka. Until there is legitimate proof of betrayal, Biti shouldn't be treated as the enemy.

Emphasis upon the word suggested that Simoshile did not consider the words of a self-proclaimed seer to be enough proof for conviction.

-----------------------

Jogging against the wind that grazed her face, carrying with it the familiar scent of many of many umzingeli that Njalo'sasa knew so well, the bubbly lioness picked up her pace to rise over the small crest of land to find that a meeting was being held. They seemed to be congregating at the urging of a stranger that wasn't immediately recognized. What's going on? Nja wooonders...

Musing to herself, the slinky huntress quietly closed the distance between herself and the group, affectionately weaving between Simosihle and Nahmba as she greeted them with loving chuffs, shoulder brushes and head bumps before making her way to nuzzle up against Amara's side. Ever since Amara had lost her sweet, little Pôntàn, the empathetic creature had worried for her and tried to spend some extra time just making sure that the mother wasn't suffering too much from the grief of her loss.

Settling down to listen in on the conversation, plush, dark ears swiveled attentively, trying to catch up as much as she could. From the sound of it, the loud lioness--ironic given her mousey coloring--was trying to gather a group to shove Biti out at the insistence of the newly arrived seer. She didn't appear to be having much luck though as the others resisted her suggestion rather bluntly. The fact that her family chose to stick together through thick and thin caused Njalo to giggle with amusement and bob her head happily. Njalo is glad everybody is in agreement! Njalo agrees too!
 

[Syrius Lionwing]

Onaedo had listened, she had watched and frowned and the surprise at the hatred of some, well it upset her. She saw no reason to believe this seer. The seer had not been born here, she had not been raised here and there was, above all, no proof that she even was a seer. She had heard, from males, from females whom had joined the pride, of the outside world, of the dangers and the individuality of the rogue. The want to care for oneself above others. Selfishness.

Onaedo had never been selfish, or at least she considered herself, selfless, and she did not care one jot for the seer. They could be lies, they could be twisted truths. She personally would not blame one lioness for the misfortunes of the whole pride.

"I vote to have Biti stay, she has done no one any direct harm. There is no proof, except a seers words." The older lioness nods and moves to the back of the crowd, she had said her piece, she would not be responsable for a lioness being cast out in to the cold.  

[Princess_Feylin]

Beru had known very few true seers in her life, but she had heard of them, and she respected the powers they were purported to have. That did not mean, however, that she was willing to trust the word of anyone who proclaimed himself - or herself - a seer unless she was shown positive proof of the lion's abilities. She did not know this seer who had cast aspersions on a lioness who supposedly resembled Biti and was a harbinger of death, disease, and misfortune, but she had heard the rumors, just as everyone else had Indeed, at the volume Ulaka preferred to discuss them, a lion would have to be deaf not to hear.

This new argument that had sprung up irked Beru. The pride suffered from too many divisions as it was, and she didn't think they needed a single thing more to fight over. Oh, she still thought the majority of them were wrong when it came to making the decision to relocate from their home, and she had no difficulty saying so, but she also accepted that the decision had been made and only another vote could unmake it. She was not in any position to bring the matter up, and even if she was, she wouldn't. Not at this point. The pride was too weak and fractured as a group to withstand another move, she felt.

So it was with a long, low growl that Beru got to her feet and began to make her way toward the group of lionesses who all seemed to have something to say on the subject. She wondered if Ulaka had bargained for this when she struck up this conversation. Certainly it had quickly become public, pulling in everyone nearby, including Beru herself. The thought gave her pause. She didn't like to be manipulated, and yet she was definitely forming some opinions that she wanted to voice. As usual, they probably would not be popular.

She waited until Onaedo had spoken her piece, agreeing with the lioness's ultimate vote, but for wholly different reasons. She was more irritated that the pride was taking the word of an unproven outsider than anything else, and in that she was more in alliance with Yejide and Amara's line of thinking. Then, when Onaedo had finished, she stepped more fully into view and made her thoughts known:

"You're all wasting your time. None of us has the authority to take any sort of action here unless we do it officially, and by speaking to the pride's leaders. Since none of them have seen fit to take any sort of action here, I don't see why we should, either. Think this really is a matter to be decided by the entire pride or our leaders, but not by a handful of lionesses who surely have better things to do. When the proper authorities come to a decision on the matter, and I'm sure they will, I suspect we'll all have to abide by what they say anyway, and that is what I intend to do."

That had actually come off rather pleasantly, to Beru's surprise. Unfortunately, there was more she had to say, and it would take a special sort of luck if she could say it without insulting anyone. "However, it would be a shame if we turned out to be wrong in waiting. So perhaps we ought to discourage all but a few volunteers from associating with Biti, and watch to see if they meet with more misfortune than the rest of us have done since making this stupid move."  

[Ithambo hlabathi]

The vote is, more than obviously, in favor of Biti staying in the pride!

Rolling to see who gets a pre-colored character for themselves and one for their friend. PMs will be sent out on Thursday to the winner!

1. ropin and riden
2. Pearlyblue
3. C.C.G
4. Neon Fly
5. Syrius Lionwing
6. Princess_Feylin