Sun Mote Copse gunship politico

@Asherah @Ar-Khalba @Ragna @Eshamun - quick spree (no post order) of a hunt and pack communal howl for official claiming business - slight PP to get things rolling but please pM me if you are not okay with that

they had been here near two moons now, and had amassed a fine gathering of dutiful servants to stand in molech's light. arunik'ra felt molech's blessing, and was confident their claim would be long lived.

and so, the sunspear sought out each of molech's divine, sussing them from their various dens in the thickly mottled weir. 'it is time,' she whispers to each excitedly, thrill pounding in her heart as they reconvene beneath the outreached arms of molech's shrine. the night had not yet fallen, but duskfall was soon -- the heat of the day still simmered warmly in the earth, and the breeze was soft and gentle as a sweet kiss.

with a start they were all off, coursing the brambles after the rushed track of a fleeing deer. eshamun had pulled ahead, and was giving the doe no quarter. the wolves were advantaged, for they knew the woods well -- arunik'ra was delighted to see the beast flee in the direction of the rocky crags. they would box her in the deeper into the woods she went, and arunik'ra could already taste their imminent victory at hand.

Going along with Arunik'ra's post, but if anything is changed about the PP, I can change mine as well.

She was resting when Arunik'ra came to her, drawing previously weary eyes open wide with interest. The time of waiting was done, the lands had been tended and the borders had been marked. It was time they stake their name here, Molech's name, and call this land home. Asherah rose, the tiredness she'd felt only moments before slipping from her shoulders like the dirt of her den. She emerged into the warmth, breathing deeply of the scent of summer, the smell of night slowly starting to creep in. A breeze swept up her spine, whispered past her ear. She smiled, sighing, Molech was with them.

The Malkaria dove into the dusk headfirst. Noses drew them to the scent of prey. Eshamun drew forward, as was her right. Her pregnancy did not slow her, she flew as if Molech's arms themselves lifted her to the air. They worked as one, so well. Asherah felt her heart thrumming in her chest, her blood coursing through her body. Her tongue lolled from her mouth and she could taste the night on her tongue, the taste of victory that they had been working towards. The deer turned, heading towards the crags. Asherah drew herself over, flanking, to correct the animal if it attempted to swerve and head a different direction. She would help to box it in, help to keep it where Eshamun might snatch a bite.

Her orange eyes gleamed as she imagined the taste of the flesh, the warmth of the kill and that of the pack around her feasting. She imagined the skull positioned prominently on the Shrine, their first kill on their own grounds. She did not get lost in her mind, though, she focused on the task at hand.

as asherah dived into the fray arunik'ra met her pace, swinging wide towards the brush where the deer fled. she could no longer see the others, though asherah was in plain sight -- she surmised eshamun and ar-khalba had gone through the thicket to flush the deer right onto the unforgiving slabs of stones.

she would be boxed in, and that would be her end -- arunik'ra prowled through a tangle of brush and came upon the doe planted, her spindly legs splayed and long neck upright in terror.

the sunspear cut a ruthless smile and lunged, teeth aiming for the delicate doe's extended hock. asherah would be there in a moment, she knew it -- and before long they would feast on the still beating flesh of hind.

same with me about pp, though i tried to avoid it. rolled a dice for measure of success/fail and got 4/4

Arunik'ra roused them each in turn. Ragna had been cleaning her paws, which were still caked in mud and dust from her long trek north, but came at once. It is time! her heart thrilled, then began to pound with the thrill of the hunt. As one they set off. One heart, one mind, one soul united by Molech.

The hunt began. Arunik'ra and Asherah- whom she knew by name only- split from the group. They swung wide, while Eshamun and Ar-khalba moved to drive the deer towards the crags. Ragna split off from both groups, surging up the space between the two teams in case the deer veered off.

She arrived in time to see Arunik'ra snapping at the heels of the doe. Ragna sprinted forth, launching herself at the doe's flank. Her teeth sank in and the copper taste of blood sprang forth into her mouth. It urged her on. Her jaw was locked in its flesh, her paws scrambling at its side, but she would not be able to bring the beast down on her own.

Missed Ragna's post first, so edited to add that in!

Though bush and shrub blocked their view, a clear attempt by the doe to stay alive, Asherah relied on her hearing. She could not see Ar-Khlaba, nor Eshamun any longer. She shared a glance with Arunik'ra as the female began to prowl into the bushes slowly. She followed, body tense, keeping her stance wide should the doe attempt to come shooting past her. She pushed through behind her priestess, inhaling deeply as she followed the fear scent of the doe.

After brushing through a few shurbs she caught sight of Arunik'ra's bright red fur, and turned to head towards her sister. It was then that she saw the doe before the red woman, and she leapt forward just as Arunik'ra leapt to the doe's hocl. Asherah burst from the foliage and leapt without pause. It was only then that she noted Ragna, a female she'd not yet met, also hanging from the doe. 

Her priestess had aimed for the hock, Ragna for the flank. The white female scrabbled at the beast's sides, unable to fell her alone. Using the other two as a distraction Asherah also launched herself at the doe, aiming for her throat.

Her jaws caught on flesh and she bit, hind legs scrambling to find purchase on the ground. She jerked and tugged, attempting to bring the doe over. She clamped down, heard the sound of the doe's breathing grow ragged. Admittedly her bite was not as good as it could be, but it was still capable of killing. She jerked and tugged, leaning towards where Ragna hung. The combined weight and tugs of the female's soon drew the doe over with a gurgling cry.

She lay on the ground mortally wounded, and Asherah looked to her priestess for permission before she delivered the final blow. Was the kill meant to be Eshamun's, as alpha or that of the Priestess? She was not sure, and she would not proceed without knowing. Either way, the doe would not rise again. The hind's chest rose and fell, and Asherah's searched for Arunik'ra's eyes.

keeping this super vague so not to PP!

more came, this time the form of ragna. the doe was doomed then, and shortly would draw her last breath.

arunik'ra's teeth closed around hock -- ragna had gone for flank -- and asherah, quick to follow, dealt the doe every inch of her teeth.

the doe was down, and in mere moments, dead -- arunik'ra had not seen who dealt the blow but the blood she did see, bright and violent red seeping thickly through the drought-worn grass. the hind was stilled, and the meal was to commence.

arunik'ra observed her station and would allow eshamun to eat first -- once the ekar-aji had carved from the doe the organs of her choosing. she licked her lips hungrily, observing her companions as they rested from their efforts.

It all passed in a rush of blood. Blood in her mouth, on her claws; blood rushing in her ears with every pulse. She was throwing all of her weight against the doe, she felt it kick and jerk as one after another the Malkaria latched onto it. It fell, Ragna atop it. She leaped away, ready to pounce again should the deer attempt to rise. It fell, it died, it's lifeblood spilling out into the earth.

Aware of her position, Ragna stepped away, waiting first for the women to eat. She would observe the pack's religion and eat before Ar-khalba, though his longevity should have put him before her.

she was hungry, and it showed -- anxiously she awaited her turn, and when it came she seized haunch with relish. she chewed like a fiend, and there was nothing graceful or beautiful about her then. it was as if some malignant shade had overcome her; all she could see and feel was the slip of red viscera, the iron tinge of blood.

after eating her fill she pulled back, settling out of the way to allow her comrades their turn. she would set to licking her limbs clean of her bloody work, sending long laps of her bright tongue down each slender limb. once all had eaten she would rouse them for a howl -- but for now, they would indulge in their well-deserved feast that molech had provided.

<3

eshamun ran as she had not yet in this land, the summer zephyrs buoying her gravid body. she was surprised at herself, that she could be so fleet, but the scent of blood rippled through the air, beating in the straining flank of the deer who desperately attempted to evade her. but her small white teeth snapped as the gentle pound of her packmates' paws filled her ears. 

a flash of red caught her eye - khalba. before them did spears of stone rear, and soon the doe's frightened flight slow; she paused to whirl upon her attackers, striking desperately with her delicate twiggish limbs. eshamun leapt aside, but the figure of khalba, beneath the adrenaline kiss veiling her vision, split twain, then thrice! four times! ragna, asherah, and arunik'ra appeared, and eshamun laughed breathlessly to see the malkaria gathered here to draw first blood this night.

it was a riotous moment that followed, rife with chaos and the snapping of wolves' jaws, but alongside her sister eshamun fell upon the carcass and devoured until her stomach was stretched with meat and her hunting sated.

When all others had eaten- all besides Khalba- Ragna took her turn. Flesh rent between her teeth. Blood began to run from her jaws and down to her chest until her ivory fur was stained with red. She came away from the carcass full and bloodied. Her heart swelled with the vestiges of adrenaline. Soon, she knew, she would need to rest. But still her body sang with a new sense of belonging, here among the Malkaria. She watched Arunik'ra and Eshamun for what their next orders would be.

Full of meat and blood, and the satisfaction that only a good hunt can bring, Asherah licked her chops. She was full, bloated even, her coat colored even more scarlet by the blood of the deer. Her orange eyes took in her family, Eshamun and Arunik'ra, Ragna and Ar-Khalba. She panted happily and moved from the kill to rest. 

Molech had blessed this hunt, had allowed this to spill this blood as a team to unite them. They were one, the Malkaria. Her eyes turned towards her priestess and her alphess, orange with the fire and light of Molech, glowing with love and adoration.

woot!! howl time!

arunik'ra tended to her bloodied limbs, licking each with a thorough passion as she awaited her packmates to eat their fill. they gorged, and even then the violent rise of red meat was still plentiful -- they would return to that site for days to come and not be left wanting.

once she saw each had devoured to their content, arunik'ra rose to place herself behind her sister. she canted back her slender head and at first a gentle, timorous song rang from her cupped lips; as the pitch grew higher the tone grew fevered -- until her song was so immense with claim and power that it could be heard by nearly all within the realm.

It was Arunki'ra that moved, her head tipped back to howl. At first the song was unsure, but soon it became a thing of power, a near entity of its own. Ragna threw her head back, throwing her own voice into the song. There was might behind her alto, her howls long and pitched into the trees and off of the mountains. These were now her people, the Malkaria. Their claim was strong, though their numbers were few.

She waste no time in cleaning herself, licking the spoils of their victory from her red fur. As she finished, movement caught her eye and she glanced up. Arunik'ra was standing, moving to stand behind Eshamun. Asherah smiled, knowing what would come next. She too rose, though she was tired and full, and headed to stand behind who she would now call her leader. She smiled at Eshamun as she went, offering the female a soft touch on her side.

She stood with them, place behind both of them as was rank. Arunik'ra's howl started gentle and slow, but soon rose, flaming into the sky. It was like Molech's light, Asherah thought, a gentle tug and then all consuming, a warmth that would spread through the skies and touch all who listened. After listening to the song for a moment she tilt her own head back and joined both Arunik'ra and Ragna. 

Her own voice was high and light, but it blend within the other's well. They howled as one, their song combining the pitches and tones to make a beautiful harmony. It told of their victory, of their claim and Molech's love. Asherah's heart felt full to bursting in her chest, so warm was she among her family. So happy was their song.

molech!

her voice lifted, entwining with that of her followers -- her bloodstained lips parted to herald the song of the eight-armed one into the warm air. their shared passion was a wildfire's embers with the whispers of the wind to stoke them higher. oh, be pleased by us! grant us this land and a place for worship, eshamun's heart begged in a silent prayer. give us a tophet. 

as if in response, the babes within her womb moved, but the canaanite was beyons guilt. with their gift she would buy the loveliness of molech's blessing, for many years to come.

archiving! congrats friends, we did it <3

their calls filled the night air, booming along the gentle wind in confident, haunting tones. many voices twined as one. a primeval, commanding chorus at once both beautiful and terrible.

their howls would fill more than the night; it would fill the copse, the hinterlands -- perhaps even reach the shore.

all would know of their claim, and all would obey it.