Cargon's Den

Lore

In summary...
-The Ghost Sea is a rocky valley adjacent to the Nile river, when the sun sets, it creates a mirage across the valley of a body of water, Luring unsuspecting victims directly to The Pride.

-The Pride of The Ghost Sea (or The Pride) refers to the first inhabitants of TGS valley, first established by Batu Api and then controlled by Roest and his kin.

-Batu Api comes from a shamanistic background, that originated to TGS valley.

-Vision is Batu Api's lone daughter that rose from the afterlife to help save The Pride. She is immortally portrayed as an Adolescent, but is much older than Tonto.

Pro tip:
-Lion's with their name's linked have exclusive interactions with Vision in their bios!

Ty for reading <3


2/25/19
"Tonto, Prince of Bones, son of Roest, present yourself"
This voice thundered like the Nile as it echoed along the rocky, bone littered valley. A young lioness stands with her back to the setting sun, she seemed to levitate lightly above the mirage of the Ghost Sea. Tonto, emerging from his den, lifts his lips into a snarl, his bone armor rattles as he padded out to the banks of the Ghost Sea.
"Who demands it?"
The lioness strides forward, Tonto leans back on his haunches, preparing for impact. Instead the Lioness slinks to his side and raises her maw to his ears.
"I do not wish to embarrass such an appraised king in front of his wives, let us speak in private."
He snuffs out a chuckle, a grin rising to his face, yet it falls to the sight of her singular, white, soulless eye staring deep into his. He could see the light from his own reflect and dim, and there in the dimming light he saw the lion he once was. He wired his jaw tightly, and pulled his face away from hers. The strength in his voice and body was seemingly escaping him.
"I will... show you to my den. We will talk''
The Lioness started before him, and entered into where he had come.

Later that night...
It was long past sundown when the Lioness left Tonto's den. The chill of the wind through the barren valley could not compare to the chill the king felt within. Words she spoke stuck to him like locusts in a swarm, the heavy words wore away at him...
"Your lines have run muddy, mud begins to clot and the river runs dry."
He stretched across the cold floor, wriggling away from what she could possibly have meant...
"A forgotten king never forgets"
Bile rose in his throat, struggling he clamored out into the night and across the valley. Stones turned to pebbles and pebbles to gravel. He slowed his steps when he approached a patch of dirt with a lone, broken tree stump. Batu Api's grave, just adjacent to his own father's. He placed his paw on the trunk, tracing his father's claw marks through Batu Api's name.
"This pride of the Ghost Sea is nothing to be proud of, where is you ruthlessness? Your determination? Your bloodlust? Pathetic!"
The lioness's words rung in his ears, lulling him into a trance-like sleep. He awoke to a familiar scent rising from beneath him, spitting in disgust he rose...
...Death

Tonto held back a shriek as he tumbled away from the now animated corpse of Batu Api. He felt as if he was a cub again, desperately searching for safety... He dug his claws into the ground to level himself. The corpse pulled his decaying body from the earth and realined his jaw with a crack. His body heaved with newfound life in his expired body.
"Tonto!"
Batu Api struggled to successfully produce clear words. He staggered towards Tonto and in return Tonto reared away from him.
"You disgust me, you and your father Roest. I've been warring with him since the day you buried him here. I took him in, I raised him as my own son! He repays me by murdering my kin to rise to power? Claim this land as his own?"
Batu Api roared, flies escaping his mouth.
"That bastard kept my Queen alive long enough for her to have a Son and Daughter of her own, the impudence!"
Tonto scoffed and staggered forward.
"I had nothing to do with any of that"
"Roest lives on within you, but this land lives on with another..."
Batu Api situates himself against his tree stump. A smirk rises to the functioning side of his face. He continues.
"...With Vision. Look around you Prince, remains of the unworthy litter this earth. Lions born of other lands. This land belonged to me... and now belongs to Vision..."
Tonto snarled at this, pushing his claws deeper into the soil.
"Your land? I am king, Batu Api, this is my land."
Batu Api shook his head.
"This is the Ghost Sea and you are not of this land... I cannot change your fate, only you can. You have until November... The Pride will rise, with or without you, Tonto."
A dense fog fell over the valley, blocking all light. Somehow it was darker than even the Locust plague itself... yet somehow, leaning against the elephant skull that marks his father's grave, Tonto fell into a deep slumber...

2/26/19
The sun rose over the valley, warming the air and bringing life to The Pride. Tonto awoke in his den, where he had drifted off after the Lioness had left. Foggy renditions of the night before splotched his mind like patchwork. He took a long stretch before joining his pride in the center of the valley, ready to begin his day.
His mother approached him first, complaining about the way his 'gorgeous' mane stuck out in unappealing ways. To his disconnect, she spent a good portion of his morning grooming his mane.
All felt fine as he ordered Huntress Talusa and her party on the hunting trips of the day. Soon after a wave of hyper cubs paraded him. He told them stories of fine warriors until they were bored and decided to bother someone else.
He sighed in relief and started towards Mitos to arranged a patrol of the valley. Instead, Mitos nearly drove Tonto to death with his complaints of the new lioness. In all honesty he didn't listen to a word of his whining. He stopped him short and explained he had important 'business' to attend to. He turned and slinked away to his hoard. He nearly fainted at the sight of the Lioness's white eye peering through a skull.
"You met my father?" She prompted, plucking the teeth from the skull,"You know... the dead one?"
Tonto gulped as memories of the prior night flooded back to him. She smirked.
"You've got until September Skully, can I call you that? You know, like, bones?"
"I- No you can not!" He swiped the skull away from her, she snarled,"Until September? To do what?"
"Reintroduce The Ghost Sea bloodlines, before you figuratively drown,"She furrowed her brow an looked on,"Well not figuratively for you..."
She trailed off for a moment before snapping her gaze back to his.
"To stop the Ancestors from reclaiming the land? He was supposed to explain all this."
she frowned and he huffed in bitter resentment.
"Listen," He leaned over her, his maw inches from hers, eyes locked," I don't know who you are or what you did but my pride is not under your control, and neither is this land."
She clicked her tongue in disagreement," Well, I'm Vision, Batu Api's first born, last remaining heir to The Ghost Sea. Only problem is i died when your father hunted me down after i escaped my family's murder..."
She gave him a light slap, he snarled in response.
"...Are you listening? This land is cursed and I am the ancestor's only attempted to warn you before they murder everyone you know and love!"
Tonto's look on his face would make a lioness go out of heat two days early... He opened his jaw to speak but only a wheeze escaped.
"...Murder?....Cursed?"
The words squeezed through his lips just before a crackle of laughter ripped through his maw.
"Girl you crazy crazy," Laughing, he got up and turned away, heading for his favourite lioness,"I swear these NCLs ain't worth the ques-"
He was cut short by a sharp pain in his neck, Vision had leapt onto his back and dug her foreclaw into the base of his neck. The last thing Tonto saw was her one, white eye"
With this, she showed him everything...

3/2/19
Tonto blinked, soft moonlight cast over his face. He was laying on cold stone tablets, Herbs and feathers surrounded him. He felt a warm presence behind him and felt long claws comb through his tangled mane. He purred and turned to see his favorite lioness, Talusa, instead he was once again greeted by Vision's ghastly sight.
he grumbled and rolled away from her, looking around,"Where am i?"
"The Shaman's den, My father hid it from your father, he was fearful of his power." She moved closer and played with the tip of his tail,"Even though your father was in no way 'in tune' with the ancestors."
"well neither am i," Tonto said wearily.
"Your mother is of Liche decent, you have the potential your father lacked and i have the knowledge to teach you"
Tonto was silent for a moment,"Everything you showed me was true?", Vision nodded,"Well where do we start?"
Vision smiled,"You must prepare for your heir, she must be the strongest you've ever bred and the most powerful"
Tonto hesitated,"She?"
"Yes, 'she'," Vision rolled her eye,"The queen of the Nile, if you'll have her."

Later that day...
Tonto began his quest of finding the new accommodations for his Heir, he explored and gathered with a cub-like light. His appearance at the trading center was becoming more frequent as he strode towards his goals. By the end of the day he gleefully stumbled into The Valley crawling with silver and gold beetles. He had also picked fresh Herbs for Vision and ecstatically went in search for her.

He checked every den and asked every lion, most were oblivious to her existence and others were simply annoyed to hear her name. Finally he spotted her, sitting closely with Huntress Leona, he slowed his pace until their voices grew quiet and their laughs diminished. Vision stood and said goodbye. She started immediately for Tonto as if she knew he had been there the entire time. He smiled at her perked ears and high tail, she seemed pleased with his progress. As if she expected something, she stood promptly infront of him.
"Oh!," Tonto chimed, snapping back to reality,"I brought you somethings"
She gratefully took the bundle of herbs.
She raised her maw to his cheek and whispered,"Thank you my prince"
His mouth turned up into a smile and she brushed him with her tail as she passed. Tonto watched her slip away into dusk before turning to speak with Leona who had a quest of her own.

3/10/19
This morning Vision brought Tonto news. He was making steady progress on his quest and she hoped this wouldn't derail him.
"Tonto," she called cautiously into his den,"I need to tell you something."
Tonto padded out and sat with her, he studied the lines on her face when she furrowed her brow.
"Huntress Tilva has passed", Vision looked away, "No one knows yet, none have tried to wake her. Many of your huntresses see the end coming, don't take only them to bury her. Tilva was a Relic we all cherished."
Tonto said nothing and only nodded, he touched noses with Vison before heading towards the Nobel's den. Vision's small frame shook with emotion and she slinked away to her den, away from the grieving pride.

3/13/19
The pride suffered another loss of a valued Huntress. Leona passed peacefully in the night, with vision at her side. There was talk of Vision being an 'Angel of Death' but Tonto assured the weary pride she had no control over their passing, Vision explained she only helped them cross over peacefully and aided in the process of reuniting with The Pride.
Vision expressed a loving description of the reunion to Tonto and spoke of his Grandmother Khepri inba calm light. She was able to keep The Pride at ease, explaining the normalcy of The Passing to the heavens. She shared kind words with the younger Huntresses, even showing them a few tricks her fellow huntresses in the Heavens had taught her.
Not long after The Pride functioned as Normal, Talusa lead her hunts with her last two Huntresses until they could hunt no more and turned over to the younger huntresses.
Life was moving, and The Pride had to move along.

13/14/19
The night had been quiet except for the wails of Mother Yanna, she knew her time was up. Vision had lulled her to sleep and made her passing easy.
Vision was not the same in the morning, 18 moons had passed since she joined The Pride again, she had seen many pass on. The ancestors welcomed them graciously, but she knew that it wasn't going to hold forever. Her father's wife had made space for Tonto & Roest's pride, but their patience was running thin.
For most of the day after Yanna's death, Vision slept in Tonto's den, hiding from his pride and her own.

3/28/19
Tally death

4/16/19
Bonita death

5/26/19
Niya death

5/31/19
Nammeia death

6/1/19
Today the chaos of the Egyptian summer began.

Vision woke everyone up early and ecstatically rambled about some Serpent and Anubis, the god who had helped her ancestors in bringing her back to this life.
She urged Tonto that this day marks new beginnings and endings. He, of course, took his high throne of doubtfulness and didn't step down. It wasn't until on he was on his daily exploration that he finally believed Vision's gibberish, the earth tore apart and flurries of sand and stone encased him! Deep within the dark of the earth slithered a great beast... one that slithered it's way into his mind late that night...

For in his dreams he had an unexpected visit, the goddess of fate reached down to him, speaking much of the same as Vision had earlier. She directed him to Anubis, Vision's proclaimed "second father".

Vision was quite too excited for her own good at the news, although, Tonto could tell she knew everything that is and will be. He spoke to her hours, feeling closer than ever before, her white eye no longer appalled him and her rough voice was as good as any lullaby...

That night the stars surely aligned

6/2/19
Dawn filtered its rays into Tonto's den. He stretched in Vision's, reaching for her warmth. Instead his paws reached only cold stone. His heart sank deep in his chest & the feelings he felt that night slightly faded, Vision had merely fulfilled the prophecy last night and run off.
His mother informed him Vision had a quest to fulfill before returning home... Tonto had no faith in her word and spent the better part of the day upset.

6/16/19
Mitos has passed.

6/19/19
Mitos was resurrected in place of Huru-Hara.
Panna has passed.
.
6/20/19
A quaint Lioness stumbled into the valley of The Ghost Sea on night in search of water, to her dismay she only found rocks and bones... Lion bones. She held her breath and crept around the barren basin, a hint of food tingled her nose, but so did the scent of many lions... She soon came across a large elephant skull adjacent to a tree stump with the name Batu Api scored deep into it's bark. A flash of cream dashed beside her, the lioness froze. A young lioness pounced onto her shoulders, "Tonto! one of your play things got out again!" The young lioness hollered to a lanky Lion with a fairly messy mane. He approached with a bored expression on his face,"Never seen her before," he huffed and walked away. The young lioness unmounted the traveler and peered into her white eyes with her own, blind, white eye.

"You've got secrets don't you? I like it, come with me I'll show you around!" The young lioness took off, calling back to the traveler,"I'm Vision by the way."

6/21/19
Lady Naur and Princess Vooraltijdmeer have passed.

6/23/29
With the gruesome reasoning in your head, you approach the lioness, resting in the outskirts of your den. You attack with brutal force, killing on the spot and feeling last breath wither away under your teeth. You monster.

Goodbye daughter of Bonita, mother of Anmut, you served Tonto well.

7/2/19
Keith passed

7/4/19
The Pride's Queen Mother has passed. Tonto took the day and night to mourn her passing, another queen has joined the ranks among the stars. His mother was a fine warrior and Queen and will be mourned by all who cherished her. Vision spent hours with her in the climb to the Hyena Lands, to reunite her with her sisters. Khepri was most excited to see her and there in the presence of all former queens, Vision was named Queen of The Pride of The Ghost Sea.

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