[PRIDE] - Jua'Damu [Cannibals - WIP, open]

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.... Just bear with me xD This is what happens when you put Felyn, Pip and myself in a chat. Shenanigans.  

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History & overview

Once there was a pride- a great empire that worshiped the delicate balance of life and death. For many and more generations, the pride thrived, but as is the way of things, the conflicting worship of both life and death created a rift in the pride. There were some in the pride who believed life deserved more due than it was given, and that the pride gave too much to death and created an imbalance. There were others, however, that believed they had unlocked a secret of death that would allow the pride to flourish and become kings and queens of every pride living, if only they gave death its due.

And so began the greatest battle the pride had ever known. Legends say it began overnight- the Lions of Life were taking cubs and slaves and attempting to smuggle them away, but they were not nearly subtle enough. The great Warriors of Death found them and thus began the great reckoning that ended the once-great pride. Those mighty warriors who found those attempting to flee slew every one of them and gorged themselves on their flesh and spirit. Once they had finished with the cowards, they began a great culling, returning to their home and calling their allies to purge the pride of their weakness.

Led by the great first king Mauti, the golden city ran red, and the Warriors of Death stalked the night, slaying and consuming any they found not of their ranks, and when the sun finally peaked over the mountain, there was nothing left living but the powerful Warriors of Death and their new king. Mauti led them from the jungle that had bred such weakness in their once-great pride, settling his warriors in a new city, a city of stone and bone that overlooked an equally harsh kingdom, and here is where the descendants of these great warriors remain.

Territory

The Jua'Doma make their home in the crumbling ruin of an ancient civilization. Perched on a stony mountainside, the ruined city overlooks a territory vibrant in color and bleak in resources. Red clay makes up the earth of the badlands, making the territory closest to their mountain inhospitable, but the edges of the territory flattens into sparse savanna where large game herds can be found. The pride is kept somewhat separated from the outside world by a canyon that makes up one border, but unfortunate rogues may find their way into the badlands when the cross the river that flows from the mountain and out into the roguelands.

There is a second level to the Jua'Doma's territory, however. Beneath their mountain stretches a labyrinthine cavern system that provides secret travel through the territory and hidden water sources.  

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Belief System


Cannibalism

The Jua'damu believe that every time you kill and consume another living being, their attributes- their strength, grace, cunning- become yours. They believe this is a gift given to them be Death itself, to consume one's soul when you consume their flesh, and so the pride has taken not only to participating in cannibalism but encouraging it as well, to steal the strength and abilities of lions who are not of the Jua'damu.

This practice is not only used on lions outside of the pride, however. Many more serious challenges- punishment for serious crime, or a challenge to dethrone the current king- also result in the losing lion being killed and eaten, so that the victor may take all of his strength and spirit for himself.

This is the fate of every Jua'Doma lion, in the end. Whether one meets their end to a challenger's fangs or natural means, any healthy Jua'Doma is consumed on their death so that their strength may continue to serve the pride, even in death, strengthening the surviving pride members and their bones join the bones of every Jua'Doma that ever lived in the boneyard. The only exception is when a lion dies of disease- this is viewed as a terrible curse and their body is deposited outside of the territory so that decomposition can purge the impurities before their bones join their ancestors.


Challenges and Honor

Challenges are the peacemakers of the Jua'Doma, allowing a certain amount of freedom to the members of the Jua'Doma as well as providing their judicial system. Challenges may be declared on anyone, for any number of reasons- a Slave may challenge their master for their freedom, the King or one of his Mauti'Shujaa may challenge a law-breaker for punishment, or a pride member may challenge another for any reason they so desire, from looking at them wrong to being interested in the same mate.

Challenge terms are decided entirely by the parties involved, however, battles to the death are uncommon, as it weakens the pride as a whole- as an alternative, the winner often tends to the loser's wounds, as the consumption of blood carries the same properties of feasting on flesh, but to a lesser extent. Thus, the winner will still receive the loser's strength as well as the pre-determined spoils, even if there is not a resulting death.

The only challenge that is guaranteed to be to the death is a pride member challenging the king for his throne, in which case the member will have to battle each Mauti'Shujaa and the king himself. Each of these battles are to the death, as the point of the challenge is to test the would-be usurper and gauge his strength and worthiness to ascend the throne. Only challengers with proven strength and many lion souls to their name will be accepted to challenge the king.

Unless the challenge is for kingship, or a slave challenging his master for freedom, a lion may call upon a champion to fight for them in their stead, if the called-upon champion is willing to fight for them. Such an act, however, is considered cowardice and dishonorable, as there is great pride in one's strength and the general point of challenges is maintaining your place in the pride and proving your strength. Breaking the terms of the challenge is even more dishonorable, and is considered one of the greatest crimes one can commit- even if the lion who committed the crime survives the king's challenge, there is such an intense social stigma that the offending lion will, at best, be a social outcast for the remainder of their life, and at worst be target of attempts on their life.


Slavery

Slavery is a common practice in the Jua'Doma, and unless a lion joins the pride after proving themselves in battle, where any joining outsider will inevitably end up. It is not unusual for free lions to travel out of the pride bring back slaves to replenish the pride. The treatment of slaves is entirely up to their masters- while unclaimed slaves who service the pride as a whole have a general blanket of protections to maintain their usefulness, the moment a master claims them the only protection they have is what their master gives them, so while they have nothing to fear from other slaves or free Jua'Doma, their masters are free to treat or mistreat them as they see fit.

Generally, slaves are not mistreated- most have uses that injury would inhibit, such as hunting for their masters, keeping their living areas clean, or even in some cases simply looking pretty for their masters to enjoy. However, there are lions with darker inclinations, so while this is the general rule, outright abuse of one's slaves is not punished and it's not very uncommon that once one has grown bored of their slave, or their slave has outlived their usefulness, they end their service as dinner for their master and their family.

Any cubs borne by two slaves will suffer the same fate as their parents, and be raised as the slave of whoever the slave belongs to- or as an unclaimed pride slave, if their parents are unclaimed. However, if they have a Jua'Doma parent, their fate is entirely decided by that free parent. If they remain illegitimate, they will be raised as a slave. However, if the free parent claims them, they will be raised as a free cub, and if their mother was a slave they will be taken and placed with a surrogate mother.

At the end of the day, while individual opinion on how slaves should be treated differs depending on the individual, the general consensus is that until you prove yourself by defeating your master in a challenge, you are barely even worth considering a lion.


Gods and Demigods

The fact that gods exist is considered just that- a fact. The Jua'Doma, despite their religion, hold no delusions in that respect and individuals are even free to worship other gods, if they so choose, so long as they accept Death is the pride's patron and chief god and worthy of the most praise and worship.

Demigods carry a certain respect and expectation, which carries over if they prove themselves in battle when joining, and would be considered exceptional and revered members of the pride, thanks to their heritage. The opposite would be equally true if they fail to prove themselves in battle- they would be regarded with disgust, squandering their natural ability and there would be a pride-wide challenge to see who could manage to fell the child of a god, and claim such strength for their own.


Non-lions and Hybrids

As a lion pride, anything not a lion is prey. Death blesses only lions with the ability to take the spirit of what they kill, and so, anything not a lion is not even fit to keep as a slave. Beyond that, the stronger the creature is, the more prestigious to hunt- and the chief of these creatures are other sentient carnivores, and so any Hyena, AWD, Leopard or Cheetah that strays too close to the pride is just as likely to be hunted down as any non-Jua'Doma lion, but without the chance to win their way out of the hunt.

Hybrids are a more delicate issue- since they are half-lion, there is room to believe that Death might bless them as well, but rogue hybrids are even more uncertain than rogue lions. With this under consideration, any rogue hybrid will be treated as non-lion, however, if a Jua'Doma brings home such a disgrace of a child, the cub will be allowed to grow into adolescence, at which point they will have to enter a challenge- if they lose, they are killed, but if they win, they will be considered a full lion and have earned the disregard of their weaker blood.  

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Ranks


Royalty is earned- a son may succeed his father, but only after defeating his father. Genetic links are important only for creating the strongest children- you will never take a rank simply because you were heir to the one holding it.


Royalty

King - The ruler of the pride, and thus far, has only ever been a male. The strongest lion of the pride, the king must prove himself collecting the power of many lions before he can challenge and defeat the current king and his Mauti'Shujaa.

Consort - The mate, or mates, of the regent. There is no weight to the queen consort's word in ruling, they are simply a figurehead of the pride, but the position awards them the liberty of no formal duties being required of them, so that they may enjoy the security and comfort of the life their mate has secured and focus solely on raising the king's cubs.

Mauaji'Kichaa - This rank is held by Maua and Maua alone- in the event Maua dies or disappears, this rank will remain unused. Since her appearance, the Jua'Doma have noticed Maua's effect on their pride. Their warriors grow stronger, their enemies weaker, their shamans' powers are heightened, and so Maua is now second only to the King in power. She is free to come and go from the pride as she pleases, but so long as she is in the pride, her word carries more weight than any other's but for the king. It's common to seek the Mauaji'Kichaa's blessing in challenges or other pursuits.

Mauti'Shujaa - The king's guard. A potential usurper must kill every Mauti'Shujaa before they may fight the king. They are the king's guard, his closest confidants, and his counsel, and come into power with the new king. There are only four Mauti'Shujaa at one time, one to lead each rank, and each must have many lion souls to their name before being appointed to the position.


Pride Members

Hunters - The lifeblood of the pride, hunters are fairly self-explanatory. They work in squads under an experienced hunter in order to take down the larger game the pride favors. Hunters are usually adorned with horns, skulls and the pelts of prey to bring out the abilities of prey eaten to assist in the hunt.

Warriors - The tooth and claw of the pride, Warriors work as guards and patrol the pride border, as well as fight in staged battle for entertainment when challenges are not frequent enough. Skulls, claws, fangs and the pelts of predators are often worn to bring out strength and ferocity.

Shamans - Shamans are the memory of the pride, seers or lions wise and cunning enough to do their duties without the inborn talent. Shamans are healers of the pride and the crafters of accessories designed to remind the body and spirit of it's gained talents, be it the strength of consumed lions, or the speed of a rabbit, or the steadfast nature of a wildebeest. They are also religious leaders, reading omens of the future in the entrails of the dead or the blood of the living, and caring for the bones of the prides' ancestors. Accessories of all types are worn by shamans, for a shaman needs the skills of many creatures.

Denkeepers - The heart of the pride, Deenkeepers are mothers, expecting or nursing, nursemaids and teachers. The male who takes this rank is generally seen as coward or a fool, but it is not closed to him- it's just female-dominated. Feathers of songbirds, the pelts of rabbits, or simply shiny stones are the most common accessories in the Deenkeeper rank.

Apprentices - The future of the pride, Apprentices are adolescents who are no longer under the care of the Deenkeepers. They train under one of the member ranks until the day they become an adult, at which point they take their place as a full member of the pride and all the responsibilities that gives. Apprentices rarely have accessories, for they are still unblooded and have not killed.

Bairn - The pride's newcomers, the freeborn cubs. Cubs are the responsibility of parents and Denkeepers until they reach adolescence, at which point they become Apprentices and begin contributing to the pride.

Serf - The slaves of the pride. Their duties consist of whatever their masters tell them, and if they have not yet been claimed, it consists of doing anything that any free pride member commands of them. They have no right to dress with any accessory, for they are not yet a lion. Female serfs kept for their looks rather than use are alternatively referred to as the Odal.  

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And I guess it's open if you wanna comment or whatever XD Feel FREEEE - there is no form, but if you have a lion interested in being a part of this, I mean, go right ahead and toss it in~~

Also, no, there will be no ic death without ooc prior consent, unless you willingly toss a lion into the fight for kingship, in which case. Well, yeah.