Welcome to Gaia! ::

::Basic Info::

Name: Tarina
Meaning: "Story" in Finnish; also goes by Spider
Obtained: RP Contest
RP Color: Darkorange
Theme Song: "The Joker", Steve Miller Band (tentative)
Distinguishing marks: Markings of a red-knee tarantula
Pride/Pack: Nchi'Mahadhi

History: Tarina has always been a rather odd lion, even as a cub; she tended to stay on her own, straying often from her family, and danced to her own beat as it were -- although, in all truth, she didn't do much dancing at all. The spider-marked lioness was a bit clumsy and not overly gifted with musical prowess, something which caused her family great anxiety but never bothered Tarina. Indeed, nothing much at all ever bothered Tarina, and she happily remained in her own thoughts most of the time, daydreaming away her childhood.

When tragedy struck the pride, she was nearly oblivious of it. Indeed, everything happened in such a flurry of activity that she was hardly aware of what was going on, and only learned of her parent's death later, in a sort of hazy unreal way that never quite sunk in to the young lioness. When the old Kima'baba took her and two other cubs away from the pride, fleeing for their safety from the plague that was spreading, Tarina simply decided -- consciously or not -- that she had no family, and moved on.

She continued to spend most of her life with her head in the clouds. She's certainly been trying on their patience; she isn't precisely lazy, but has always had a tendency to start a task and never finish it, and her companions quickly learned that she was not one to entrust with anything important. Still, it was hard not to love the upbeat lioness and she did her part in keeping up morale even during the darkest of hours by amusing her companions with stories.

Now that they are grown, Tarina and her companions have found their way back to the pride, and she is happy to find a place waiting for her as the pride's Sheha -- for storytelling is, in truth, the only useful talent the daydreaming lioness has.

Personality: The thing you have to know about Tarina is that if her lips are moving, she's probably lying. That doesn't mean she's untrustworthy or in any way evil; quite the opposite, she's actually the best lion in the world to tell a secret to because you're guaranteed it will be kept (or at least anybody who hears it won't have a clue what she's talking about). No, the problem is just that Tarina's idea of reality is much more...fluid...than most people's, and she doesn't see anything at all wrong with changing The Way Things Happened to better reflect on The Way Things Are.

In other words, it's a good thing that there's such a position as Sheha (storyteller) in her pride, because otherwise Tarina would never be able to do anything right.

This lioness is upbeat, optimistic, playful and throws herself 100% into everything she does; she's loyal to her pride and proud of her heritage, and will go out of her way to make strangers comfortable. She's flirtatious and sensual and usually the life of any party, and has no shame: she'll do just about anything, so long as it will bring a smile to someone's face. Still, she can come off a bit odd; it's hard to get to know the real Tarina, because it's pretty much impossible to get a straight answer out of her about anything, and her story is always changing. She can't seem to differentiate between stories and true events; in her mind, they are all the same thing, and she doesn't have any problem at all changing the story (be it a factual account or a pridal myth) depending on her whims -- and because, in her mind, there is a larger, more universal Truth that can be ascertained if you cast aside the more mundane accurate details of life. For Tarina, everything is one huge metaphor.

As far as relationships go, Tarina is an easy lioness to befriend and a difficult one to stick around. She tends to prefer the company of cubs to that of adults because cubs tend to be much more forgiving of her pathological lying -- and some even truly understand about Truth.

::Friends, Family & Foes:

::Miscellaneous Errata::

*I loosely based her character off of the Nancy family in Neil Gaiman's Anansi Boys (which is an amazing book) and also off of the Pooka class in Changeling: The Dreaming (which is one of the best tabletop RPGs ever). If you're familiar with either of those sources, you'll have a good idea of what you're getting into when you meet this lady.

PLOTS WANTED

::RP Logs::

A Long Awaited Reunion -- Tarina and her companions return to pridal lands
Sister Spider Spinning Webs -- Tarina offers some unorthodox relationship advice
Settling In -- Tarina meets some of the younger pride members
Disturbing Thoughts -- Tarina tries to cheer up a younger member
There Could Be a Story Here -- Tarina just...bein' Tarina
A Summer Nap -- Tarina meets a pirate

::Basic Info::

Name: Kuhanja
Meaning: "to wander", Swahili
Obtained: Thread event
RP Color: Yellowgreen
Colorist: Ecavi
Theme Song: "Wherever I May Roam", Metallica
Distinguishing marks: Bright green coloration; stripes on legs and cheeks. Red eyes
Pride/Pack: Rogue, looking for a pride

History: Born one of two surviving cubs to a rogue lioness that wasn't quite "normal" mentally, Kuhanja grew up with a very hands-off upbringing that allowed her to become extremely independent...but also instilled in her some rather strange habits. Life wasn't easy for the cub growing up; her mother provided well enough for her and never let her go hungry, to be sure, but she was plagued by a certain paranoia about strangers and the outside world that colored all of her interactions with the world around her.

Kuhanja and her sister were taught to distrust everyone and to avoid all contact with other lions. While her sister took this lesson to heart and became as withdrawn as their agoraphobic mother, Kuhanja could never escape the burning question of why. Why avoid other lions? Why stay away from the world? Why hide and cower and creep under cover of darkness?

She didn't understand it, and spent most of her young life testing her boundaries until, finally, in her adolescence she slipped away from her mother and sister and began wandering, never to return. She missed them, from time to time, but the burning curiosity was enough to keep her from going back -- and besides, she was half certain that if she did return, her unsettled mother might just kill her on the spot.

And so Kuhanja, armed with pitifully little knowledge about the world, set out to discover everything she could...although it didn't always work in her favor.

Personality: Kuhanja has a burning, insatiable curiosity that borders on nosiness, rudeness, and a complete disrespect for personal boundaries. It's not that she means to poke her nose where it doesn't belong, it's just that everything is new and exciting and puzzling and she can leave no stone unturned! Kuhanja is the kind of lioness who could ask "why" a thousand times and never be satisfied with the answer, and is equally as infatuated by the workings of nature as by the complicated world of politics.

Because she was raised in an unorthodox setting, Kuhanja never learned certain social cues and is completely clueless about how to interact with others. She's an optimist and gifted with a childlike love of everything, having been so sheltered as to never become cynical or jaded about life, and she genuinely believes that any creature she meets is a friend-in-the-making.

::Friends, Family & Foes:

::Miscellaneous Errata::

::RP Logs::

Well Aren't You a Strange One -- Mutual culture shock for two very different sorts of lions
Come Here Often? -- Trying to make friends
Onward Wanderings -- Kuhanja runs into two brothers

::Basic Info::

Name: Mele'ahe
Meaning: unknown
Obtained: Rehomed by Fairymount
RP Color: Black
Theme Song: "Survivor", Reba McIntyre
Distinguishing marks: White pelt; gold markings around extremeties
Colorist: Meepfur
Pride/Pack: Rogue

History: Mele'ahe is very tight-lipped about her past. In fact she's rather tight-lipped in general, being a cheetah not very prone to making conversation and spending the majority of her time alone. What is known is that she once had a family and a happy life, until something terrible happened to change that. Now she is alone and cautious -- a caution tending towards complete antisocial behavior as she chooses to trust very few others. She has an especial hatred of hyenas.

Personality: Emotionally distant, cold, distrustful, wary, cynical. All these are words used to describe her, but they don't paint a full picture. She's beautiful and she knows it. Powerful, too, and fully capable of handling herself. She's caught forever in the horrors of her past, but she is also strangely at-ease with herself and who she is at this moment. It would take a lot to shake her from her identity. And, yet...beneath her cold exterior...there lurks an impenetrable sadness.

::Friends, Family & Foes:

::Miscellaneous Errata::

::RP Logs::

Sun Goddess -- Mele meets a young, naive lioness