Roku the Protector of Ballance's Den

The story of Dario the Great, the first king

A lots of seasons ago a lone lion walked on these lands, looking for a decent territory to call home. He had no pride before - his mother was chased off when she was pregnant.
Acacia was forced to leave the safety of her pride, and was exiled into the desert. She gave birth to two cubs, a female and a male, and named them Skye and Dario. Life in the desert was tough enough, but when the dry season came, things turned out even worse for the family. Food and water was nearly impossible to find, the heat was unbearable, and when the cubs got big enough to walk, Acatia had to bring them with her for there was no hideout safe enough she could leave them for their own. All these odds seamed to be too much for Skye, and the little lioness couldn't make it. It was only Acatia and Dario afterwards.
The lioness decided she wouldn't let his son die as well, and soon they found a little oasis in the middle of the desert. It had water, shade, and it lured the prey, so Acatia thought it was a good idea to stay there for a while, at least until Dario got stronger.
As the cub got older, his mother started to educate him about prides and the qualities of a great king, and brought him back to the desert to make him tougher and stronger against the odds of nature. The training was successfull, and Dario grew into a stong, clewer and goodhearted young lion.
When Acatia saw her son was ready to survive on his own, she sent him off to found his own pride. At first Dario was resistant for he was worried about his mom, but the lioness convinced him that it was okay, also, young lions had to find their ways on their own.
So Dario was wandering alone, looking for an uninhabited territory what he could mark for his pride. He was roaming through the rocky hills, when something caught his attention. Hidden between the rocks, there was a big, roomy cave, shaded by a very old, strange looking tree. He started to examine the place. There was no sign of any lion-presence, and he couldn't smell any king or male lion nearby. He climbed to the top of the cave, and looked around. He saw a river, but the cave was high enough to be safe from the floods. There was water, and if there was water there had to be food as well. Dario marked the place, and after a quick explore he decided to make this land his territory. He survived the desert once, these rocky hills would be a pice of meatpie for him. Shortly after he met his first lioness, Cleo, and together they founded this pride.

Dario was a great king, his pride was always happy and well-fed. Therefore, Cleo insisted to add a little addition to his name, to feel more regal, so every creature would know they were looking at a real king when they saw him. The lionesses of his pride gave him the name "Dario the Great". At first he felt it arrogant, but in time he got used to it and made it into tradition.

The separated bloodlines

Once upon a time, Dario the Great left the cave to exlpore the lands, as usual. But this time, he bumped into a very unusual phenomeon. In the border of his territory there were two cubs, surrounded by a pack of hungry jackals. They were all on their own, the male was hissing and trying to seem scary, while the female was hiding behind him in terror. She was bleeding, probably one of the jackals bit her. He sneaked closer, waiting curiously for the next move of the cubs.
Suddenly, one of the jackals charged at the little lions, but instead of freezing in terror, or running away, the male jumped right into the face of his attacker and plunged his claws into it's face. The jackal squicked up in pain, and tried to shake the lion cub off his face, while his packmates were too surprised for a moment to do anything. At this moment, Dario made a decision to save these youngsters and let out a terrifying roar wich made the jackals leave immediately.
The cubs were abandoned, and they met at the Giving Tree, but since they became such good friends, they were afraid to get separated, so they ran away together. After hearing this, Dario brought them back to the Tree, and made a deal with the old Monkey, so he could adopt them both.
When the cubs grew up, Rani became a fearless huntress, and Haden became Dario's first subordinate male. He was standing beside his king despite any odds, and was his most important adviser next to the Queen. He even fell in love with Lena, a lioness who was born in the king's first litter.
When Dario's reign came to it's end, he chose Haden as his heir, and named him "Haden the Brave". Since then, Haden's descendants are ruling over this pride, but maybe one day, the two bloodlines become one.


Laws and Traditions:

1: When a king is close to retirement, he chooses his heir out of his submales. The heir has to be young and well-trained to be fit for the throne.
2: On the day of the coronation the old king gives his successor a new name which containes the name he got from his parents and a quality which describes his grace and glory.
3: Although a king can mate with all lionesses in his pride, he has to choose one to be his queen. This lioness has to be around his age, and will be his greatest ally, support and advisor in the pride. She can wear some jewellery to show her royality among the other lionesses.
4: All other lionesses except for the queen can bear other king's cubs, if the king sees it fit. This way, the bloodline of the pride gets refreshed from time to time. However, the decision completely belongs to the king, the lionesses has no choice but accepting their fate.
5: Submales are the soilders of the pride, they answer for the safety of the territory, and they are bound to fight alongside their king, if the pride is under attack. They can have mates in and outside the pride, but they are not allowed to produce offsprings with the pride-lionesses. During the reign of Regalys the Glorious, submales earned the right to leave the pride if they wanted to, but only if there was a young replacement for them.
6: When the pride has a new member, the king has to climb up on the Holy Tree above the cave by the next full moon, and roar into the sky to ask for the blessings of the ancestors. If the blessing was given, the new member will get a guiding spirit in the form of another creature which will be with this lion until the day they die. These spirits are only visible for lions and lion hybrids. If the creature doesn't appear by sunrise, the new member has no place in this pride, and has to leave as soon as they're ready.

King Dynasty

Pride Dynasty

Achievements

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