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Name: Means "little fierce one", derived from Old Irish "lorcc" (fierce) combined with a diminutive suffix.
[The cub that Lorcán was chasing let out a startled cry and fell through a previously hidden hole in the ground, making it all too easy for him to catch his "prey". He looked far too innocent. +4% training experience!] Points for planning ahead, I guess? ^^'
[You changed up the racing course when it was Lorcán's turn so he couldn't cheat this time. Afterwards, he sulked and stuck his tongue out at you, declaring you a “big meanie”. You’re also sure you heard him mumbling under his breath... now you don’t exactly feel safe.] Buddy he's a tiny cub and you're a huge Ferus 😂
[You couldn't help but wonder why everyone seemed to be snickering at you today. Is there something on your face? Lorcán looks a little too innocent.]
Lore:
At 8 years old, a Maltese-coated lioness with mismatched blue eyes and a harsh temperament decides she is finally ready to have her first litter.
Soon after becoming pregnant she makes the same decision as most of the pride's expecting lionesses: rather than bearing her litter in the Den, she'll temporarily leave, making a nest somewhere on the territory and returning with her cubs when they're old enough to travel.
All goes smoothly, and the lioness soon finds herself nursing 4 cubs. She quickly notices that two of them are slightly different than their siblings: one of them, a female, has the pure white fur and flushed pink skin of an Achromatic lion, and the other, the only male in the litter, has the signature bobbed tail and little fangs of a Primal. She can't help feeling rather proud of herself, for the large litter and the multiple cubs with rare mutations; however, once she recovers from the exhaustion of the delivery, she notices something concerning.
The Primal cub is a bit smaller than his sisters, and while he moves around and feeds as vigorously the rest of them, he's repeatedly pushed around as he tries to nurse, often losing access to his dam's milk. This was quite odd: the lioness, like many of the adults in the pride of the Ferus King Cobalt, had seen her fair share of newly-minted Primal cubs. While very cute and fluffy, they were almost always larger - even if only slightly - than non-Primal cubs, a hint at the muscular stature they'd develop as adults. She'd never seen a Primal that was smaller than the average cub, and kept a close eye on her new son's development.
A week later the cubs' sire, King Cobalt, visits the lioness to bring food. Not wanting to beat around the bush, she immediately tells him that there are 4 cubs, 2 with mutations, but one is causing her concern. They're all sleeping at her belly, and when she scoops the male up in her jaws, he immediately awakens and squirms around, mewing indignantly. She growls a little in annoyance; despite being such a tiny thing - for he had barely grown at all since birth - he certainly has a loud voice.
Cobalt watches curiously as his new son is deposited non-too-gently at his paws. The lioness was right - he is clearly a Primal, but is also apparently the runt of the litter. He assures her that this is likely the case: it's simply that none of the other Primal cubs he's sired have been born the runt of their respective litter, and this little one just drew the short straw. He can't help smiling as the cub crawls around blindly, tiny fangs bared, squeaking his disapproval at the top of his lungs. He suggests the name Lorcán, meaning "little fierce one"; the lioness grumpily agrees, hoping that the cub will grow to live up to his name rather than becoming weak and sick, as is the risk for runts.
Determined to make sure her first litter is one to be proud of when she brings them back to the Den, the lioness starts to focus on making sure the runt gets enough milk to aid his growth. She nudges his siblings closer together to make room for him when they're feeding, and encourages him to keep doing so when the others are crawling around, exploring the muffled and unfocused world around them.
At 2 months old, when the cubs begin to eat the scraps of soft meat that their father or one of the huntresses brings, Lorcán is once again pushed around by his siblings. While he had grown some due to his dam's intervention, he's still noticeably smaller than his littermates, and the other 3 send him sprawling when he attempts to get his share of food. His mother does notice, but she is reluctant to intervene. It's good for her daughters to learn early that pushing and shoving is how one gets the best parts of a carcass, and the runt should be doing the same thing, using dirty tactics if he must. And besides, for a few more weeks at least, he still has milk to fall back on when his sisters don't leave anything for him.
[You find Lorcán sniffling sadly. It turns out his littermates pushed him away from the carcass they were supposed to share, and now he's hungry. Poor little one! You scrounge up some leftover scraps for him, and he is delighted.] (👈 That's actually the flavour text that prompted his whole backstory, BC I was like "How is the Primal kid getting pushed around??" Lmao)
By the time the cubs are 4 months old, their mother has had enough of living in the temporary den. She decides it's time to bring her litter back to the pride, so the other lionesses can help watch them when she needs space - or better yet, she thinks with a smirk, their father can take a turn at being their caretaker. Cobalt seemed quite fond of Lorcán, making sure to bring a little extra meat just for him whenever he visited; the cub still struggles to compete with his sisters during mealtimes, as he has been growing, but he has only just reached the approximate size of a 3-month-old cub. Luckily for the cub, his mother thinks sourly, his sire hadn't had to put up with him day after day; for Lorcán had learned to get his way by putting his loud voice to good use, wailing incessantly until he got as much food as his sisters. He also refused to be intimidated by his mother's swats or warning growls, instead doubling down on his caterwauling.
[Following a beetle too intently, Lorcán wandered off from the rest of the group when you weren't looking, only to come sprinting back with an angry wildebeest bull chasing after him. You jumped into action and scared off the beast, but Lorcán was understandably too shaken up to continue training today.] ...Does that count as chasing training?
[Lorcán (#794187546761) got the following stat boosts from cub training: +14 STR +1 AGI +28 SPD +16 SMR +15 STM]
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