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:He is not a nice man."
"Not at all. But he is a great man."
--
Even among his family, Alekaii was an outcast. His father was the brutal king of the harsh, barren canyons to the south while his mother was an illicit mistress. For Alekaii, the youngest and smallest son, there was no shortcoming too small to punish. No accomplishment big enough to praise. After four years of constant strife, he was finally chased by his father from his pride and left to wander alone.
It was a long journey north before Alekaii reached the head of the great river that fed into his father's lands and kept them supplied with fresh water. It was a longer journey still of walking along it's banks before he finally split off, certain that his tracks would be adequately covered. Alekaii found his way to another river, smaller and calmer than the roaring rapids he had been following.
Alekaii chose to make the riverbank his home, determined to fill it with the sounds of life from his own pride.
It was hard at first. Due to his father’s negligence, Alekaii had no experience ruling a pride. He was a fast learner, however, and slowly but surely his fledgling pride grew under his developing leadership.
Alekaii, who now considered himself a great king, began his search for a young lioness to bear him a son, his heir to the throne. Furaha, one of the first females to join him as an abandoned cub he had found in the wilds now grown into a graceful and mighty hunter, was the one he chose to be his Queen. After many months, she gave birth to only one cub; a daughter they named Akina. Akina was a strong little cub, just like her mother, and Alekaii loved his princess deeply.
Deep down, however, Alekaii knew that only a lion could keep the pride safe. Not just from the attacks by other wildlife, but from roaming packs of rogues that would eventually dominate even an entire pride of lionesses. In time, Alekaii had become obsessed with the idea of a strong and capable son, one that could succeed him and carry on his legacy.
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Through luck or misfortune, there came a time where Alekaii found a young, orphaned cub hiding in the very edge of his borders. Even through the dirt covering the cub, it was clear that he was a handsome male, well-bred and strong. Despite misgivings from the pride, Alekaii himself rejoiced in finally finding a worthy heir to succeed him and took the cub in gladly, naming him Zakia and raising him as his own.
Fate, of course, was not as easily pleased. In a few years' time, when Zakia had reached adulthood, the Queen’s lady-in-waiting Kimaria, gave birth to a litter of three. One of the cubs was a very small male, the king's firstborn son. Even upon his birth, Alekaii could sense that there was a great destiny ahead of the young cub, a glimmer of potential yet reached.
--
Ishara was a strange cub. He was much quieter than his sisters and half-sisters, much preferring the company of himself or his father than the pride in general. Even from the time he could speak, he would be caught whispering to
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3/20/16: Rolled with 38 stats total.
3/26/16: Passed 100 stats at level 5
4/18/16: Passed 200 stats at level 9
5/13/16: Passed 300 stats at level 11
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