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 Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 9:30 am
Sickness! Your last day to vote is today! The thread closes on Monday, at approximately 6pm EST
A pride-wide sickness has struck! The cubs and elderly have fallen, and continue to fall, ill. One cub has already been reported to have died. Most adults are not showing sickness (yet), and if they contract signs, they are only ill a day or two. Given that there are few cubs as it is, this is causing widespread worry amongst the pride.
They are faced with two, main choices:
The pride can stay, and continue to battle the drought and the potential that the sickness is limited to the area.
OR
They can gather together and leave for what will hopefully be better ground. There is potential for the sickness to come with them, and it is possible for the journey to take lives of both cubs and adults.
The pride has gathered together to discuss the matter and come to a decision.
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 9:40 am
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 Move: The pride picks up and leaves. The long journey will likely result in more water and better hunting, but there is no guarantee. In addition, this may result in deaths of members who cannot keep up, or who get injured along the way. There is potential to alleviate the sickness issue by moving.
Vote to Stay: The pride decides to try and wait the drought out, and hope that the sickness does not spread, get worse, and fell the entire pride. If they live through the sickness, the cubs should not encounter any more problems.
Non-Vote: If a lion cannot decide which choice to vocalize, they can always decide to go with what is decided by the rest of the group. This vote has no standing influence.
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 9:48 am
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 move or stay.
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 will last from the morning to the beginning of the afternoon. The actual decision of the pride, however, will ICly take a few days to a week to be completely established and accepted.
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.
Posting in this thread may offer other perks later, as well (items, other SoA characters, etc.).
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.
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 10:00 am
[MORP] The First Big Decision
Public
Weather: Warm; early morning at dawn. It promises to be an excruciatingly hot day. Dust clings to lion's coats.
Location: The pride has gathered underneath the shade of a few clustered trees towards the North of their current ground. Several tall rock formations allow all lions of all ages to be able to get a view of the centrally located Umholi. - Matifu's eyes were hardset on the foreground. His eyes passed over confused faces, hardened faces, and those who were clearly angry and frustrated. His own tail flicked and popped in the growing buzz of quiet comments passed between themselves.
"Enough," he finally spoke. His words were deep, from the chest and they returned to his ears after they had reached the surrounding rock formations. The large male settled onto his hind legs, digging the claws of his left paw into the ground for a brief moment.
"If there are any that are not here to speak, pass word to bring them." He waited, then, for the questions about who might have been missing to die down.
"We are sick, and we are thirsty, and soon we will be hungry. If we leave, there is no guarantee that either of these will change. Keep this in mind." There was a moment of pause as the male lion took in a long breath. "This pride has led itself well in the past, and it needs to do the same now. The problem is now open for discussion."
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 10:52 am
Tapa stepped forward to let her opinion be heard.
"Traveling can be hard, but it is not harder than sitting here, waiting to see if the sickness hits us and watching the water to dwindle. We do not need to stay away forever; we can go and search for water and let the sickness die with nothing to keep in alive, and return in a season or two when the drought breaks and the sickness has been starved with no lions to infect. We should move and search for water now, while we are strong enough to do so, and to help the weaker ones. I vote that we move."
Tapa had never been one to hide her opinion, and she wanted to get her point across quickly. She had traveled a lot, and although this pride was her home, she was much more attached to the lions then to the land. They had a better chance of finding clean water on the move, then hoping rains came and the sickness vanished.
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 11:12 am
Bẹ̀rù was still yawning as she made her way to the meeting place beneath the trees. Slow to rise despite the importance of today's event, Bẹ̀rù was not one of the lionesses fortunate enough to get a place in the shade. She shrugged her resignation as she came to settle beside her friend Tapa, giving her a quick nudge with her shoulder to let her know she was there. She did not immediately see Iyo, but she didn't doubt Tapa's sister was there somewhere.
As she sat in the rising sun Bẹ̀rù's tongue tip protruded very slightly from her mouth. Having a dark coat like she did made hot days like the ones the pride had endured lately made her lot a fairly miserable one. Just the same, of the options Matifu presented the pride she could really only choose one, and that one was unlikely to ease her present suffering any time soon. She would have to cast her vote with those who wished to stay. These lands were the pride's.
It was a pity Tapa didn't share her beliefs, but she was not born to the pride. She had not grown up drinking its water and hunting its lands. It was not as much a part of her as it was a part of Bẹ̀rù. When Tapa finished speaking her piece Bẹ̀rù gave her an apologetic look, knowing that what she said would contradict her friend's opinion, but feeling strongly that it needed to be said.
"A drought is a thing that will spread in all directions," she observed. "There is every possibility that if we leave this place we will still encounter drought conditions while subjecting the sick to additional hardships. Not to mention the likelihood that in our absence some other group may move in."
Bẹ̀rù glanced over her shoulder at her friend, checking her reaction before summing up her thoughts. It wasn't that her friend's reaction would change Bẹ̀rù's words or opinion, but she did want to know what to expect when the council ended.
"This place is our home, and I vote we stay. This will pass with the season."
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 12:04 pm
Amara blinked against the already burning sunrise, and groomed herself thoughtfully while she pondered the difficult decision that lay ahead of the pride. She listened with respect to the Umholi, and considered the opinions of both Tapa and Bèrù. When she found a good opportunity to speak, she took a tentative step forward and chimed in:
"As I see it, the problem is the sickness. As a pride, we have waited out droughts before. It will be hard, but the waters will return, and with it, the herds. But we are letting the threat of sickness scare us, this time, and I think that getting so worked up about it is really doing us more harm than good. So far, the sickness seems to be attacking the weakest of our number. Elderly. And cubs. I'm sure I don't need to remind anyone here of how dangerously small the number of cubs in our pride already are. But the only way that the sick will have a chance to weather the disease is if they can rest properly. If we leave, the hardships of travelling will kill more of us than the disease alone would. I vote we stay." She stepped back again, her ears flicking as if to get rid of a pesky fly. She certainly hoped no one thought she was saying this just because she was herself the mother of a sick cub. That was certainly not her only reason to cast her vote as she did.
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 12:17 pm
Amanzi sat silently for a while, carefully calculating the situation and hearing some of the other lions' opinions. With the combined force of drought and sickness, it was certainly tempting that a more pleasing place could be found. But what if there weren't such a place?
Traveling was hard, Amanzi knew, and even going across the borders would be a challenge in itself to those sick. Some sort of....compromise could be made, however.
She stepped forward, "I vote we stay as well. However, I find it in our best interests to consider an alternative. The sick are too weak to travel, so why not simply send out a few of our strong? A scouting party--they can seek out better lands, and return with word of what is or isn't out there. Then we won't have to worry about finding nothing, nor losing our sick to the harsh conditions of hard travel."
This, she thought, was the soundest approach. It could be arranged simply and resources divided well enough based on skill so that the scouting party could survive alone, as well as the pride left behind.
The dark coated lioness took a step back to hear what others had to say.
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Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2011 5:18 am
Dina lay curled under the sparse corner of shade she had been able to wrest away for herself, listening carefully to the opinions of the others. It wasn't often that she was at a loss for the right thing to do, but with careful consideration she would come up with something, she always did. Better not to be impulsive about this decision, after all it did involve the preservation of the pride, and Dina wanted her vote to count. In heavy thought she rested her chin against her forearms, bright blue eyes jumping from speaker to speaker as they let their opinion be known. Truth be told, they all had valuable points to access.
There was one heavy issue that remained with the lioness; however, and that was how willing they would all be to sit around go thirsty while cubs died and hungry bellies growled. The tip of her tail flicked as she was reminded of how little she liked waiting, and how she hated feeling helpless even more. Finally the lioness sat up after Amanzi finished her statements, turning to address the group as wholly as she could from her spot in the shade. ”I cannot imagine waiting idly by in this barren land while we hope and dream of the drought’s end. Hope will not end the sickness, and dreams will not fill our bellies. I vote we move on, to make some sort of attempt at bettering our position. Anything is better than simply waiting it out,” and then Dina paused in consideration, inclining her head in Amanzi’s direction. ”At the very least, we should consider Amanzi’s alternative. If nothing else.” With a finalized nod Dina returned to lay amongst the dust and the dirt, though her ears and eyes remained focused to see what the others had to say.
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Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2011 4:47 pm
Kamal was thirsty. This was of a most pressing concern to him. Sickness...not so much. As far as Kamal was concerned, he was incapable of becoming ill. He knew this because one time, when he had been a child, one of his siblings had gotten sick with the flu and his mother had said as much. This was the sort of logic Kamal operated upon.
He wasn't sure what all the voting was about though. Lazily, the large male scratched his ear. This is why prides failed. Too much time spent talking about problems and not doing anything. When he was a rogue, if he was hungry, well he just left! Although now they had all these women to deal with. "I vote we leave. Why wait around and do nothing? Doesn't seem smart. Not to me, anyways."
That wasn't really saying a lot.
"No, we have to stay!" A stern voice interrupted him, and stepped past the lounging male. It was Kapera. Despite her new status in the group, she didn't seem afraid of speaking her mind. Which was typical of the sandy creature, if anything else. "This isn't the time to be moving around. If things are bad here, how do we know if they're not just as bad- or worse, elsewhere? I've seen prides vanish by acting too hasty. If we move from here, we could very easily set ourselves up for a rival group to step in and take our homes right from under us."
She paused, and nodded her head. Her dull eyes seemed most severe. "It just...it isn't wise to act just yet."
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Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2011 9:58 pm
It was warm, stiflingly so, but Nikonkoni had not bothered to squabble over a patch of shade. Instead, she sat proudly on the edge of a patch of coolness, her eyes narrowed against the light of the rising sun. Her coat was dusty, but that was currently of little concern to the lioness. Dust would come off as it did, she’d groom if she had to, but if she were going to speak she had no interest in coating her tongue in the stuff. Not when she was already a bit thirsty… not that she was in any way going to succumb to the heat like that. No no, she may have had a lovely dark coat, but that only meant she was stronger than those who panted in the deeper parts of the shade.
Her impatience at the proceedings showed in the occasional flick of her tail, sitting still bored her. She would much rather be out and about, doing something. Still, this was important. She could wait a while, hear some opinions, and then make one of her own.
She had, on more than one occasion, hunted rather close to the borders. She was more than confident that the lands beyond the pride’s boundaries were not all that much different than those within, save that they might possibly have more variety of prey, or even more water than the dry, hot place they called home. Moving felt a bit like running away, and Nikon disliked that notion These were the lands she had grown up on. But staying felt like giving up and hoping for things to just get better on their own. Sitting around doing nothing? Just waiting for everything to do its own thing? For how long?
“I think we should move on,” she announced after a, very brief, moment of thought. Sit around? Or take action? Not a difficult choice for this particular lioness. “If some can’t travel, well…” she trailed off with a shrug and a glance at the pale-furred Amara, not intending to seem callous or heartless in the least. That the other had cubs probably impacted her decision, and just because Nikon herself had none… Well she had been considering it before hadn’t she. Contemplating adding fine, strong, dark-furred huntresses to the pride. Of course, that had been before the drought got bad.
“…perhaps Amazi’s plan would be an acceptable one. I’d be glad to go as one of the scouts.” At least it would be doing something. Even if she were to be the best at sitting around, what pride was there to be had in something as pathetic as that? She felt sorry for the weaker members of the pride, who were suffering from the illness, and she didn’t mean to sound harsh. But to just wait and wonder when things might get better? Why leave it up to chance like that?
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Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2011 3:28 am
Umoya had been sitting close to her father while the meeting went on, ears perked to listen but most of her attention was on her paws as she groomed them. She could not believe already how many of her fellow pride members had voted to stay in these lands. How did lands make a pride? Umoya could not understand it. Sometimes she could not understand a lot of the ways of this pride, but she had accepted them. This she could not accept, especially when the other females were saying things like being afraid of a sickness was ridiculous. That was just stupidity! How was it wrong to be afraid of something you could not see and did not fully understand? Being afraid of a hyena was silly. Being afraid of a crocodile was silly. Those were things you could see, could fight if need be. But sickness? Drought? You could only flee from sickness and drought, and sometimes they followed.
"Eh, the only thing teh do'ere is leave. I vote we move and if we have teh send scouts out 'forhand then so be it. I'm willin' to go ahead with others, to seek out a place this drought hasn't touched." She left off the yet that so desperately wanted to attach itself to the end of her sentence, her teeth clicking shut as her tail thumped against the ground in almost an annoyed manner. Why take all of this time to vote? Couldn't they see it was best to move on and away? She did not even voice the thought of leaving behind some of the sicker members, perhaps with care-givers. It might have been thought of as cruel and hard, but Umoya saw it as a way of survival. A way many others would not take kindly to, so she kept quiet about it. For now, at least.
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Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2011 3:56 pm
Aaaah! She was late! Simosihle could feel herself shriveling with embarrassment as she bounded towards the gathering of familiar faces--and those who were still relatively new to the pride. Most of them had their backs to her and she wondered if maybe she could slip into the crowd without being noticed. Act as if she'd been present the entire time and hope that she'd at least made it to the congregation before a certain dark pelted lioness.
Or at least it had first appeared that way.
Wiggling in beside her mother with an innocent expression, as if that questioning glance had been completely unwarranted, it didn't take those warm brown eyes long to notice Nikon at the center of the circle, giving her opinion as if it were clearly the most practical. Damnit! Not only had she been beaten to the meeting, but her rival had been first to speak as well!
Perhaps their constant games shouldn't have come into play during such a serious event, but Simo was already devising her own plan to best her opponent. If she couldn't be the first to speak, she would just have to be the more eloquently stated speaker! Not something that should be too difficult, right? Considering the sable lioness had always proven rather lacking in the department of social graces, this should be a breeze!
Simo was so enraptured by her plan, that she barely noticed when Nikon had finally left center stage, leaving the floor open to the next member to speak their mind. Startling to find that Umoya's voice had suddenly taken over.
What?! No! It has to be my turn! For some strange reason the idea of being separated from Ni made her uncomfortable. They always did things together! Really. It should have been both of them up their, arguing the validity of their decisions. To have this.. this brat step between them made the grey female feel somewhat disconnected from her best friend. Then again, their views already made them disconnected. Didn't they?
Huffing a sigh of dismay, slender shoulders sagged as the grown lioness pouted and waited for her turn. Shooting Umoya a dirty look when finally she had fallen silent. Practically shoving her way into the circle to speak.
Clearing her throat, the female took a few seconds to gather her thoughts before finally lifting her voice. Offering the group a unified look of certainty. I wholeheartedly believe that if we stand together, we can survive this. We can move the entire pride closer to where the water is until the rains come and they have to come eventually! They do every year! The sick can be be quarantined so as to minimize the chances of others catching whatever disease they've been inflicted with. If we find out what caused them to be sick in the first place, maybe we can keep others from contracting it.
Those of us who are still strong could always leave the lands to find food that we could bring back to the pride. With enough of us we could herd an entire group of zebra or wildebeest into our lands that way we don't have far to search for food. They're weakened by the drought as well, I doubt they'll put up much fight! Turning around in her place a second time, she hoped to rally their spirits. They could do this if they worked together. It couldn't possibly be so easy for them to just pick up and leave the place that had been their home since--well since Simosihle had been born. Personally, the soft-hearted umzingeli couldn't imagine leaving behind the lands that held so many memories for her. There must have been a thousand stories of her and Nikon's crazy antics in every bush and rock and tree and couldn't picture raising her cubs and not passing these landmarks and recounting the tales for their enjoyment.
I know we can can do it, if we try and just think of how proud our future generations will be to know the story of how we fought to keep what was ours, despite what appeared to be insurmountable odds. From the poised and elegant speaker she had started out as, a voice touched by sentimental emotion threatened to quake as she searched the crowd for Nikon, meeting her best friend's eyes when she spoke. A-and that's why I can't possibly understand why you would ever want to leave.. and why I vote that we stay. Thank... thank you.
Awkwardly, Simo averted her gaze. Managing one last hopeful smile for the crowd that had gathered before returning to her mother's side to wait for the final decision to be made.
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Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2011 5:08 am
Mimo lay silently in the back of the group, her mind going over a thousand different thoughts as her ears took over the listening. It seemed the vote was pretty well split, but that didn't mean much. She wondered if it was worth stating her own opinion; if it would actually be listened to. With her light coat, it wouldn't be much of a surprise for her to be taken of little importance. But then, this was a pride wide decision it affected each and every one of them. Perhaps now Mimo didn't have cubs of her own, but what if she wanted them in the future? Would they still be stuck in this barren wasteland? Unable to support of a new generation of members without death being a sickening fact.
Shifting her position to a more stern, and sincere sitting stance, Mimo cleared her throat in an attempt to draw the attention her way. "I vote we move on - It's a risk, but it's a risk worth taking. This drought, and this sickness may not perish with the season, and if it doesn't what are we to do then? Rely on our hopes alone to pull us through? No, it's much better to move now. But we don't have to move all at once, Amanzi's idea can work. We just have to utilize it correctly. Find a balance between our strongest, and send a split. Half of our best go, the others stay behind. We can't leave our futures unprotected."
Pausing after her long rant, Mimo looked around at the faces around her, she noted some faces that she figured for good scouts and others she wouldn't bet her life on. But the pride could take what they could get. "I can offer myself for the scouting mission, but I can also stay. I will leave the choice up to our decision tonight."
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Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2011 11:20 pm
It had been an early morning for Njalo'sasa. A little too early as the bubbly female that amidst the crowd, shamelessly using the nearest lioness as a pillow as she snoozed lightly. The Abaholi had called this meeting in the early hours of the day as a way to avoid the pride suffering the midday heat during their discussion--a thoughtful gesture that had gone well appreciated by much of the pride it seemed. And though Njalo would never think to act in a manner that was ungrateful, she was having trouble staying awake!
Plush, indigo black ears flicked gingerly, attentive to the sound of Matifu's voice as it raised over the silence. When it was apparent that they were mostly gathered, save a few stragglers, he opened the floor for the pride to speak their thoughts upon what should be done about their current strife. Unfortunately the first few to step forward to speak their mind hadn't quite captivated the faded dusk hued lioness, lids drooping heavily with exhaustion. With the drought and sickness, Nja had been staying up later and later running errands two and fro and helping out her pride mates as much as she could in the past few weeks. The wear was beginning to show.
As the debate began to grow more heated and tensions rose with an increasing split between views and opinions, brilliant yellow eyes blinked open. Lazily at first, but with increasing interest as the discussion continued into the morning. Everyone thus far had made fair arguments thus far and Njalo, personally, didn't see a right or wrong answer either way. She certainly didn't envy the Ahaboli and the difficult choice they would have to make, but trusted that--in the end--what came to be would be in the best interest for the entire pride.
Because a pride wasn't the place you inhabited, but rather those who inhabited the place.. or so was Njalo's simple-minded view.
Feeling the tension becoming overwhelming present amidst the group and being the optimistic peace-keeper that she was, Njalo decided it was finally time to add her own thoughts to the melting pot and perhaps soothe any feelings of animosity that had begun to stir. Lifting herself to her paws, a quick shake loosened the thin layer of dust from her fur as she took center stage, nuzzling Mimo affectionately as she passed the gorgeous golden and white female. A devoted and adoring smile was immediately offered to the faces that surrounded her. She loved each and every one of them and only wanted to see her pride happy and unified as they had been before the strain of this endeavor. Nja..
There was a careful pause of thought before she finally dove into her speech head first. No one could ever accuse this girl of being a coward. Nja thinks that everyone has made a good point so far! And she doesn't want to see everyone become broken apart by this decision. Whatever is decided, Njalo will make sure to help as best she can so that nobody feels as though they haven't been heard! Nja will make sure that nobody is left behind if we decide to move.. and Nja will make sure that everyone has enough food and.. well.. Nja can't promise to make the rain come, but Nja will bring water to those who can't reach it themselves. So.. so don't worry. Nja's not worried.. she knows whatever happens, things will be okay!
Things had to be okay. The pride had to survive. If not.. who would be there to help her cubs grow? Extending a glance towards Matifu she smiled at the Umholi and then back at the circle of mostly familiar faces. Njalo has faith in everyone. So Nja is going to leave this to everyone else. Nja will support our pride no matter what is chosen.
Well, that certainly summed up how she felt about their current situation, though perhaps not as eloquently as some of the others. It remained to be said that Njalo was every bit the manifestation of the Ithambo's fighting spirit. Determined to burn brightly until the last ounce of strength was gone. Rather satisfied with her announcement, she sought out a comfortable place amongst the group to settle again and wait out the rest of the voting. A white chin resting heavily upon extended forepaws.
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