Vhagar's Den

The Mystic Pride

The Mystic Pride
The History of its Kings

Rekksha’s Reign

The Mystics are an ancient breed that existed before Time took hold and mortals took the soil they wandered. The Mystics walked alongside Deities and Demons, fighting against and beside them. They never favored a side, for they were free spirits that could never be tied to any such thing. And pity those who dared to try, for the wrath of the Gods is mere child's play compared to the wrath of these archaic beasts.

Millenia has passed since the last God had walked with the Pride, and Rekksha was the last of his mighty line at merely two years old. Waiting. Alone at the edge of the world. His familial Pride, having wiped itself out when a strange sickness swept their valley, lay buried beneath the earth at the foot of their sacred mountain. He had sat wondering if the Gods had gone dormant or vanished from this plain, leaving the Mystics to watch over the lands until their return.

It had taken some time, but Rekksha had rebuilt his Pride with a weak and wounded lioness he had stumbled across while patrolling his territory, Finnae. She had convinced her three sisters to settle with her here, and they were content with their small pride of five. They had been wandering through territories for months to escape the Blight of their lands, getting chased out by other lionesses or attacked by Hyenas before they found themselves in Rekksha’s territory. He promised to keep them safe and let them do as they pleased within reason, and he did precisely that when enemies came to challenge his power. He defended his Pride with a vicious tenacity that won over the lionesses. Eventually, all four lionesses birthed cubs, and the pride grew larger. Rekksha had taken in six sub-males to help defend his ladies while they were vulnerable, Bane being part of his fighting force.

Rekksha couldn’t believe how much his pride had grown when it had just been the five of them before Bane and his crew had joined them. Bane is an excellent brawler, one of Rekksha’s best, and he is fierce in defending his pride from enemy forces. Of the original six sub-males, Bane was the last man standing. His comrades have fallen in battle, sickness, or to Time itself. Bane has always been a kind lion, even though the large Primal Smilus looked much like a villain. The cubs never tire of hearing his war stories or adventures while on patrol, and the lionesses enjoy his banter and jokes. His other sub-males admire him, and the adolescent males are always keen to train with him. Bane is always eager to train the new generation.

After a long, long lifetime of keeping his lands and Pride safe and prosperous, Rekksha could feel Time weighing on him. He knew it was soon time to pick an Heir to lead his pride. There were many candidates, some of his blood, others he had taken in after finding them abandoned on his patrols. He had spent many moons training, teaching, and advising them. It was a difficult choice, especially between his son Saiyan and the cub he found at the Giving Tree, Keshra. The choice was difficult because both males were calm and relaxed; neither had a temper and spoke with certainty and authority. They both performed excellently during their training and fought with the same strength and ferocity as his familial Pride had when they fought beside the Deities long before the births of these males. It was especially difficult when his new, younger queen pushed for her son, Saiyan, to be heir, as it was his birthright. He could not deny his queen spoke the truth, that is usually how prides dictate leadership. But that had never been how the Mystics have done it. The leader of the Pride would be the one the Pride chooses, for who would follow a self-appointed king?

It had been decided that Keshra would lead the Pride, and though Rekksha took quite the tongue and paw beating from Blitz, she accepted it reluctantly, as he knew she would to keep her family safe. And for however Blitz was, she was fiercely loyal to her Pride, which had taken her in after Rekksha brought her home from the Giving Tree, her rogue mother dropping her at its roots when she was a cub and fleeing to unknown lands. Rekksha was proud of how far she had come from being the violent and bloodthirsty little brute he had met several years ago. Thinking back to when she had brutally mauled one of his poor broodmothers, was one of the worst moments in his Prides history. Never had he questioned his lionesses, thought of them as a threat to their very own pride. Ever since that day, he had carefully vetted any lions or lionesses that wanted entry to his Pride. And would continue to advise Keshra to do so as well so it wouldn’t happen again, among other things related to Pride matters, should he ask, well into his Grandpaw years.

Keshra’s Reign

Past Kings of the Pride

Rekksha
Keshra/Kaizer