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Darkseeker
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Herd: Diverged
Every year, from about February to the End of May, the Plains Herd spends the foaling seasons in the large valley in the mountains known simply as North Valley. This year wasn't going to be any different for them, they make the same journey every year to the Valley, their Lead Stallion and Lead Mare working together every year to ensure their safety.
Unfortunately, the fates decided things would go differently. About half way through their journey, a terribly rockslide separated the Herd from its Lead Stallion, forcing the herd to move on towards the valley without any assurance their Lead Stallion was even still alive.
Its been months now, with no sign of hide or hair of him, and with May setting into the valley, the Bachelor Bands are arriving, their intent clear. While there are other herds in the Valley, the Plains herd is the only one without a Lead Stallion to protect them. A small herd with only a Lead Mare at their helm is ripe for the picking from the Bachelor Stallions.
With New Foals and Yearlings to protect, the mares will have to decide, do they wait in hopes that their Lead Stallion is still alive and will arrive to take them back? Or do they decide to accept a new stallion in as their Lead, so at least they'll have protection as the warm weather draws in, bringing with it the last few foals and more dangers to the herds.
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This is a new Rp for me! I hope everyone enjoys it, and if you have any questions, please feel free to Pm me, ask here or the discussion [once it's made]. |
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Darkseeker
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The Roleplay Rules
Follow all of Eve's and WPs Rules
1. Please be Active. Rps are only successful if people stay active.
2. Semi-Literacy is the Minimum Requirement for this Rp. Which means full paragraphs for Sign Ups where required and for Rp Posts.
3. Stock Images and Artwork are allowed to be used alongside Description Appearances, HOWEVER, you Must follow WP's Rules to Use Images.
4. When I check forms, I check Images first, so if I tell you to fix your images, this doesn't automatically mean your accepted. Please put the duplicate number in your form, but hide it.
5. Currently I do not have a Maximum amount of Characters allowed. However, do not take on more than you can handle, and leave spots for others too.
6. Read Everything. I'm trying too keep things as short and simple as possible. So do your part and make sure you read all of it.
7. We are somewhere between Semi-Realistic and Realistic in this Rp. Some stallions might be a threat to newly born foals, while others might not be.
7. Orphaned foals are allowed, but they cannot be orphaned for more than a few days. All the foals are, at maximum about 3 months old and still reliant on their mother's milk. So anything past a few days would likely leave them too weak to do anything.
8. Reservations will only last 3 Days. I will allow for 1 Extension, so long as you ask for it before the 3 days expires. Once it fully expires, the spot will be reopened.
9. If you've read everything, please put your favorite Horse from Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron in the Other Section of your Form.
10. Have fun!
The Herd Rules
1. Stick together. Do not run or wander off, especially not alone. If you need to move away from the herd for anything, don't go alone.
2. Foal close to the herd so that we can keep you guarded and safe.
3. Treat all stallions, right now, with Caution. If any are getting close to the herd, be sure to alert either the Lead or Deputy Mare.
4. All foals and yearlings are too be protected.
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Darkseeker
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The Plains Herd
The Plains herd is a smaller herd, of about 5-7 Adult Mares, maximum, plus their yearlings and foals. They've, up until now, have been lead by a singular Lead Stallion, and have lived relatively easy lives by horse standards. They spend 3/4's of the year in the plains and forest South of the Mountains, and then move to the North Valley for Foaling season from February to the End of May.
There aren't many threats in the North Valley at the beginning of the Foaling seasons, but as the temperatures warm a few predators always make their way in. This includes the one resident Mountain Lion who lives on a Mountain Nearby, but only ever seems to enter the Valley periodically. The main threat, though, as May sets in, is the Pack of Wolves that patrol the Southern Range [where the herd lives most of the year] and through the Mountains to include the North Valley. They know most of the foals are born by then, and can be easy meals with the right tactics. However, they rarely show up before may because they have better hunting areas during the colder months.
With it now being May, all but one or two of the mares will have given birth already to their foals. Those mares will now have to decide to either wait and see if their Lead Stallion returns and mate with him, or accept a new Stallion instead.
The Herd Hierarchy
Lead Stallion
Lead Mare
Deputy Mare
Herd Mares
Yearlings
Foals
All foals will be 3 Months or less in Age, whereas Foals will all be about a year in age, with the previous year's yearlings already being pushed out.
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Darkseeker
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The Roles
The Plains Herd
Lead Stallion:
Chex | 8 Yrs | Polly | Pg. 3
Lead Mare:
Cicely | 7 Yrs | Imperial Sands | Pg. 1
Deputy Mare:
Ursa | 7 Yrs | Spellbound | Pg. 3
Herd Mares:
1. Oarlock | 7 Yrs | Fruit Lovers | Pg. 2
2. Aurelia | 3 Yrs | TheUltimaPack | Pg. 7
3. Harmony | 11 Yrs | IArema | Pg. 4
4. Idrun | 4 Yrs | Mother | Pg. 6
5. Mara | 4 Yrs | Mother | Pg. 6
Yearlings:
1. Clover | F | 1 Yrs 3 Mths | High Hills Pack | Pg. 4
2. Kokoro | F | 1 Yrs 3 Mths | Polly | Pg. 3
3. Breeze | F | 1 Yrs 3 Mths | IArema | Pg. 4
4. Heizei | M | 1.5 Yrs | Imperial Sands | Pg. 8
5. Loki | M | 1 Yr 2 Mths | The Tea Drinkers | Pg. 9
6.
7.
Foals:
1. Jasper | M | 1 Mth | Pg. 3
2. Nadzeya | F | 3 Mths | Pg. 7
3. Oren | M | 1 Mth | Pg. 7
4.
5.
6.
7.
Non-Herd Roles
Bachelor Stallions:
1. Feanor | 5.5 Yrs | Imperial Sands | Pg. 8
2. Uthyr | 4 Yrs | Polly | Pg. 3
3. Luar | 6 Yrs | Hoalvinous | Pg. 3
4. Ouranos | 8 Yrs | Mother | Pg. 6
5. Area | 5 Yrs | UltimaPack | Pg. 4
Lone Mares:
1. Haloma | 6 Yrs | Imperial Sands | Pg. 1
- Amity | F | Unborn Foal | Tea Drinkers | Pg. 4
- Cale | M | Unborn Foal | Tea Drinkers | Pg. 4
2. Astronomy | 5 Yrs | Planet Mother | Pg. 6 3. Suha | 6 Yrs | Polly | Pg. 8
- Reserved for Spellbound
Orphaned Foals:
1.
2. |
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Darkseeker
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For the First Posts
As mentioned in the plot, the Plains Herd arrived in the Valley early on in February, and, with it now being Early May, they've been there for about 3 Months. Most, if not all, of the Mares in the herd have foaled already, however, because they haven't had their Stallion with them most, with the exception of Harmony, are not pregnant. This makes them perfect targets for the Bachelors in the Valley since they not only don't have a stallion to protect them, and they'll need that, and they are still able to sire foals with them. The herd will have to decide: Do they wait and hold out hope their original Stallion will return to them, or do they take their chances with a new one?
The Bachelors can either be arriving in the valley, or have been there for a few days getting the lay of the land in terms of horses that are there. The same could be said for Lone Mares, they can already be there, or be arriving shortly. While Chex and Heizei are at the back of the pack and will likely be arriving late, maybe even last, to the valley. The mares do not know if he's alive or not.
The setting is that its the morning, the night was uneventful except the howls of a wolf pack far off in the distance that carried through the mountains. It'll be a few days before they arrive, but their arrival is imminent. With more and more horses arrive in the valley, the chances of interactions, good and bad, are higher.
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Darkseeker
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Darkseeker
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Cicely
Lead Mare | Plains Herd | 7 Yrs | Mentions: The Herd, Chex, All Indirect
The dark figure of a mare stood quietly in the knee length grass. Her ears flicked on her head, taking in the ambient sounds around her as she grazed and kept watch. The longer grass of the field they stood in offered protection from sight for the young foals in the herd. It did mean they were out in the open, able to be easily seen by those around them, but in the early rays of the morning light she didn't see anything that could pose a threat to her herd.
Snorting gently she lowered her head and rubbed her muzzle against her foreleg. There was a somberness to the female, replacing the typical stoicism she carried. The Lead Mare understood not having a stallion to protect and guard them left them more vulnerable than other herds, but she refused to accept another until she had given Chex a chance to reach them. Who knew how far he had to back track and the challenges he had to face after the rockslide separated them from him.
Flicking her tail, the mare took a step forward and shifted her weight, resting her back leg in a relaxed position. She knew that soon she would have to start considering a new Lead Stallion, but as far as she was concerned she still had time to wait.
Deciding to put the thoughts out of her mind, the mare shook out her mane and lifted her head. She slowly looked around, dark eyes taking in the figures within her herd. Quietly she began to walk, treading a circle around her herd slowly as she wordlessly checked on them. She knew she needed to keep an eye on her own foal, but she also needed to check on the mothers and young under her care. |
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Darkseeker
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Haloma
Lone Mare | No Herd | 6 Yrs | Mentions: None
Hooves scraped gently against the stone beneath her as the mare walked. She didn't have far to go, that much she knew. She had glimpsed the trees of the valley on the previous mountain, so she knew she had to just get down this one and she'd be there. She was tired though, and she didn't know how long she had been walking at this point.
The mare paused on the path she was walking on, a deep breath exhaling from her lungs. Her sides heaved as she breathed, the mare was wide and clearly pregnant. Her belly had dropped so her foals sat lower which would make the birth easier, but her sides were still wide. She knew this would be a hard one, as she suspected she was pregnant with twins. She had felt multiple kicks at the same time, and in locations where it just wasn't possible for a single foal to do.
Ears pinned against her skull as a twinge in her side, causing her to turn and nip at gently. "Not yet, little ones. I have further to go," she spoke to the unborn foals within her, knowing that if she laid down now she would be the perfect target for the pack of wolves she had herd through the night.
Letting out a sigh, the mare urged her feet to move, each step a struggle for her at this point. This was the hardest part of the last mountain, as she was climbing up hill, but she wasn't looking forward to the steeper path down the mountain she was soon going to be traversing. |
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Darkseeker
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Idrun || 4 || Plains Herd Mare || M: Jasper, Others (ind.) The long grass ticked her muzzle as the paint rested her head with her neck at half mast. Twitching an ear to focus on her flank, she turned her attention to the colt by her side. Still there. Her shoulders relaxed; she hadn't even realized that they had been tensed. Ever since the rock slide and the loss of their lead stallion, Idrun had been extra on edge. It had been months now, and there was still no sign of Chex. She was beginning to doubt that he had survived. It had nearly killed several horses, and she herself had sustained a few injuries, though nothing had been life-threatening. The journey to the valley had had its trials, though. The howls of wolves were still echoing in her mind.
She was lucky to have foaled on time, though now she feared for her son's safety. The herd was small, full of mares and new foals and a sprinkle of yearlings, and they lacked a lead stallion. The oldest male currently with them was Loki, and he had barely turned a year. If a bachelor were to come after them, chances were high he would succeed, and not many stallions were keen on preserving the bloodline of a displaced leader. The foals could all be in danger, particularly the colts.
Idrun suddenly realized that she had stiffened once more. Her gaze focused again on little Jasper, whose frame seemed even smaller in the grass. Good; that would help him hide from any sort of predators, at least. The other horses had begun stirring; the paint mare figured they would begin to move again soon. She shook herself free of the dust that clung to her and began scanning the area for Mara. |
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Neutral
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Luar || 6 || Batchelor Stallion || M: Astronomy ~ Trudging along, Luar's hoofs, heavy with mud and grass were painful, and he could feel a small stone, poking into his back right hoof with every step. The long, unruly grass of the valley was slightly unsettling, but he trudged on, Astronomy following him closely. The two didn't have much walking left, as they were already close to the heart of the valley, and already spotting a couple herds, the two had decided to stay away for the time being. As they continued walking Luar tensed up, as he heard a particularly loud cricket chirping. Then, realizing what it was, he continued his slow walk.
~
"Hey." Luar neighed over his shoulder, at Astronomy. "Do you want to stop here and have a graze? I'm getting slightly peckish." Nickering, Luar did a quick turn to face his mate, then plunged his head down, into some of the luscious grass below. Spring had brung lots of new grass, and there was lots to go round, between all the herds and loners. He continued munching on his grass in a comfortable silence, occasionally checking for danger, but all seemed well in their small part of the valley. Silence, and the sounds of birds and bugs was all that accompanied the two horses. ~ Looking around for a bit, Luar gave the rest of the horses in the valley some thought. The rest of the loners could pose a threat too Luar and his mate, but given they were together, it wasn't likely. The herds probably wouldn't be a problem, as they normally kept to themselves. Thrusting his head back down to eat, he rested his thoughts for a bit. |
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Winter 
Day 
Blizzard
