[center][h1]The Last Pride[/h1][h3][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsudB6dR_E0]The Calling of Cats[/url][/h3]
[I]"I had foreseen the red moon,
I have walked in its crimson shadow,
I was stained with its life,
I am the blood upon the earth."[/I]
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[hr][h3]Introduction[/h3]
It is that hour of darkness wherein mankind and magic have fallen to the furthest reaches of their despair. That time where the kingdoms of men tear themselves asunder in turmoil and their people repay debts with the last which they have to offer. These wars however, are not of what concerns us, but what these powerful men dive straight into blindly; the very jaws of annihilation. Gaping as they are, these foolish souls seek power which they can no longer so readily tap, just as thirsting as they were before. Where in the time before mages cast spells through a myriad of forms, the ousting of their gods has destroyed their nigh infinite power... and it is for these reasons they have turned to the world as a resource, set to strip away anything and everything they know - we know - to feed their existence.

But we are predators, not prey.

They flense the land for its rarest of riches, those of stone, wood and worse yet, flesh. They have stripped your brothers and sisters bare; the fur torn from their pelt. Their power comes from our power and that of others, gifts that are unique to each, all stolen and twisted to serve mortal magic. Just as quickly and as hungrily one carves their kill, they too pillage their magical reagents. But no more will this be allowed, for we were few, now too fewer yet. We are not alone in our suffering, but there is little for animal, earth or man we can do against these fell minds.

All it is we can do is hunt, just as we always have, but our means are not so limited by numbers. There exists a source of power which we may drink from that they can never truly touch; their own. For each of these monsters of men we destroy, we take from them what was ours all along and with our eventual demises, so too will it return to the earth from which we were formed from. All things will once again be made whole.

But until then, we are the last pride - the one last hope our kind has, lest we become nothing more than the animals they see us as...
[hr][h3]Overview[/h3]
[i]The Last Pride[/i] is a savage fantasy roleplay wherein the player characters are some of the last enchanted animals of the entire world, brought together by the mythic [i]Calling of the Cats[/i], a summons that demands all those that can hear it arrive ready with claw and fang to battle. They are faced, as the last pride, with an insurmountable enemy as their foes are not just men, but mages; those who wield the arcane craft as a science or art. Whereas sorcery calls upon a magical spark within, these wizards manipulate their power through immensely rare components, words and gestures... some of the greatest of which call for the harvesting of obscure resources; thousands of coin in diamond, years of growth for a flower's petal, or worse yet - portions of scarce living things.

It is a time of turmoil where kings and their council struggle against those others of the land in the wake of the loss of their gods. No longer hearing their voices, answers to their prayers, or signs of their deeds, they run scared with little insight beyond their mystic viziers' knowledge. The world itself, no less, descends into a period of extended darkness where the daylight lasts shorter than ever before and great illness has blanketed the mortal world with plagues. Creatures of strange origin, monstrous things, lurk in the darkness or even the day, some merely only horrific but others truly diabolical.

The last pride however, holds one great boon over their enemies, for just as any predator partakes in the food their kill provides, these fierce things draw upon magical essence to expand their own. But for now, these great cats of many different spots or stripes and walks of life face their first challenge in their calling. Rare as they are, they are forced to work together, as their enemy is a king driven mad by want of a breath of life to extend his coming end. The only thing with such a gift?

All of them.
[hr][h3]Information[/h3]
This roleplay is intended to have [i]three to four[/i] other players who are comfortable with a Casual-to-Advanced work and able to portray realistic individuals, specifically big cats granted magical boons. There is no collaborative posting or use of colored font permitted. This plot, as strange as it might be, is intended to be played entirely straight; it is not a comedy or to be taken lightly. The only limits imposed on graphicness are those of "Sense of Decency" standards that the Guild as a whole abides by. Players have a maximum of forty-eight hours to post unless they make an announcement of a delay otherwise.

All questions not made in this topic should be forwarded to [@The Harbinger of Ferocity].
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[hider=Disclaimer]
[i]Disclaimer: 
The above interest check is the result of delirium brought on by dark dreams, fatigue, feline fascination and an undetermined amount of influential material both physical and potentially chemical. It is intended to be a bleak fantasy made up of mature roleplayers who hold a credible amount of understanding on the matters of sword and sorcery and savage animal tendencies; it is not a story for those who think it will be a lighthearted romp full of adorable, furry woodland creatures and men in pointed hats across a fantastic world of fiery dragons. A character in this setting is a killer, through and through, fed by the work of their red claws and fangs. Nature is inherently violent but not without reason. You will kill creatures, and mortals, badly. This is a setting about hunting spellcasters.

If you are not fond of felines and cannot imagine playing an intelligent beast with vicious unnatural potential waging war against the mortal world, you should look for another roleplay. You are not the "good guy" in this story, not the "bad guy" either; you are an animal, a magical beast, whose very existence is threatened by powerful men who either seek to capture, corrupt, or destroy you. The only blows being pulled here are those the Guild mandates, meaning it is going to be fairly descript without being excessive. Death isn't finality for a character, but it won't be fun coming back... at least not much more fun than dying is in the first place.

If you disagreed with any of the much above, turn away.
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