Tēkēryāāt: 'Child born after the older siblings have died' [Kalenjin]
[teg-EH-ree-oth]

Malkia: 'Queen' [Swahili]
[mal-KEE-uh]

Generation: 1st
Pride Affiliation: Wandering pride [Pre-Empire Grasslands], Ndona Pride [Pridelands]

Relations:

Daughter of unknown parents;

Half-sister to Kaytit/Sadaka;

Wife of Moyo;
Mother of Binti

Personality:
Everything Malkia does, she does with honour and integrity. Or at least, she aims to. Though she was born amongst the lowest of the low, a bunch of wandering rogues, she was raised on stories and legends, and aims for nothing less than to be a great warrior, the kind that has stories told of them to lull children to bed, to warm their hearts on a rainy day, the kind of tales that leaders would tell their followers to bring to them motivation. Still, despite her honourable ways, she can be harsh and cruel, and while she maintains integrity, she has a notable short fuse, and when roused, her temper is a thing to be feared. Her decisions can be rushed and put into play without thought, though this can be put down to lack of experience at the head of an Empire. She dedicated all her strength to the peace and prosperity of her people, knowing that without their support, she is nothing. For her honour and her devotion, she is loved throughout by many.

Biography:
Before the founding of the Pridelands Empire, the realm was in turmoil. Groups of lions, mainly just families or groups of bachelor males, would roam the land, constantly fighting for survival. Whenever two prides clashed, the results were devastating. The Dark Age was a period of bloodshed and turmoil, and peace was never long-standing. Lionesses would find themselves claimed by strange lions through right of conquest, only to have these males slain the next day by another roving lion. Mothers would smother their babes rather than see them succumb to sickness, starvation, or the claws or fangs of a wandering male out for blood. Few lived to see old age, and it was rare that cubs would survive long after their birth.

And it was in the midst of this turmoil that there was born a litter of cubs to a sickly female, who was mated to the leader of a small pride. They were all of them weak and scrawny, and after their mother perished, all but one followed her to the void. The one survivor, the dark-furred female with the bloody red eyes, was named Tēkēryāāt, and her father found for her another lioness who was willing to raise her after her own cubs had died. Though for a while this child was also predicted to die, she overcame her crippling weakness, fighting for her life where her siblings had given up. Though her father had been hoping for a strong son to lead their pride after his own death, he was satisfied with Tēkēryāāt, and when she was old enough to speak and walk, he would take her under his wing to tutor himself.

When Tēkēryāāt was beginning to grow into a young cub, just passing infancy, her father took another mate, despite stating previously that he wanted no other heirs. Tēkēryāāt only just understood the situation enough to gather that she was not enough for her father, and this hurt. She shied away from her father's company more and more, preferring to spend time with the oldest lion in the pride – perhaps the oldest lion for many miles. He had been given no name at birth, though he went by the title Longmane, for the glorious crown of fur he wore about his throat. He must have been a glorious thing in his youth, but now he was old and worn, and acted as simply a storyteller and babysitter for the pride. He was Tēkēryāāt's great-uncle, or some other close relation, and he enjoyed her company. The tales he'd tell her were full of heroes and good versus evil, laments and ballads of lions fighting for honour and for glory, and this sparked ambition in the young cub's naive little heart. Uncle Longmane himself had been a mighty warrior, and she wanted nothing more than to follow in his paw-prints.

It was on one stormy night that a pained howl tore through the calm atmosphere of the pride. Their leader's new mate was feeling the pangs of birth, and though it was an arduous ordeal, the one child born from her union with their leader was, though small, healthy. She was named Kaytit, and though Tēkēryāāt was sceptical of her at first, the older cub vowed that she would be a good sister to the squealing infant. And that she was. As soon as Kaytit was old enough, the two sisters were always off playing together, an inseparable pair, never leaving each other's side. This would continue all through their lives until Tēkēryāāt reached late adolescence, when their father was overcome by a state of madness and tore out Longmane's throat. The lionesses scattered, and Tēkēryāāt and Kaytit were forced to flee from their home, from all that they knew. They knew how to hunt, of course, but had not been properly prepared to survive without the security of the pride. Still, the two sisters stuck together, for a time, leaning upon one another for support and for survival. That is, until, they fell into a dispute, and split apart for good.

Alone and pining for her sister, Tēkēryāāt fell into despair, and after some time, decided that she could fill this hole with other lines, allies and companions. She sought out the company of a pride she had tracked to a cave, atop a great and unusual stone structure. This structure was the pride's home, and after some consideration, Tēkēryāāt decided to confront them. To her dismay, these lions, the majority being males, were hostile, and through bared teeth and curled, snarling lips, ordered her to leave. She refused to do their bidding though, and instead attacked the males. There were four of them, and each was incredibly powerful, but by some divine gift, Tēkēryāāt was able to defeat them, and when all four were lying spent on the ground, she stood tall and roared, her sign of authority. She was their leader now, and she would be the one telling them to leave.

But she didn't.

Instead of killing these males, these lions who would have seen her dead, she let them rest, and gathered the two females who lived with them to collect herbs and healing remedies. She herself saw that these males were nursed back to health, and when they were able to stand proud, they instead bowed to their new ruler. They owed her their loyalty, and their lives. Tēkēryāāt held no disdain for them; they were being territorial, as their fathers before them would have been. It was in their nature to kill or be killed, and that was something that disgusted her. She wanted harmony for not just lions, but for all animals in the land as well. She relayed such thoughts to her new pride, and they supported this view. It was the idea of one of the males to try and unite, if not dominate, all the surrounding prides, gather them at this rock, and ask if they would stand together with her as one pride. No, not a pride, but a kingdom.

And so it was that Tēkēryāāt went forth with her band of companions and visited each of the various wanderers in the surrounding lands, which would later be known as the Pridelands. Some prides were hostile immediately, and it was at these prides' territories that Tēkēryāāt and her pride marked their borders. The other prides though, those that were not hostile, gave audience to her words, and though it took some time, Tēkēryāāt soon had all the prides gathered at her new home, which she named The Pride's Rock. After a long and somewhat tedious discussion, the prides all agreed that Tēkēryāāt would be a good leader for them, and any who disagreed were witness to their prospective Queen's strength. The newly united pride was named the Greater Pride, and soon, Tēkēryāāt was able to call herself the Queen of the Great Pride's Lands, and when she did so, she was renamed at the behest of her people to Malkia.

But all was not said and done for Queen Malkia. Her sister Kaytit had been scheming and plotting all the while Malkia had been making alliances, and now, she was the Empress of what she named the Second Greater Pride. She opposed the idea of Malkia ruling over the land, and would have war with her own sister to gain leadership of not just one, but two Prides. “There cannot be two empires,” Kaytit was quoted to have said, “only one, and that one empire will be mine.” The Second Greater Pride was indeed a force to be reckoned with, far more strong and greater in numbers than Malkia's. The Queen was beginning to fear inevitable defeat, before something clicked to her. Kaytit called herself an Empress, for she had not just united people but conquered scores of land, two lesser kingdoms in fact, the Western Lands and the Drylands. She had not declared herself a sole dictator but the overseer of a far more intricate system, giving the people power to rule their own lives. For that, she had earned their respect and their loyalty, and that was Malkia's flaw.

She took her greatest warriors and set out to mark borders of three lesser lands surrounding her own that Kaytit had not touched. The first was the Northlands, whose prides' leaders worked together to mark the borders. They had established their own kingdom, the Kingdom of the North, but upon hearing that Kaytit wished to conquer them, they agreed to serve Malkia's plight. The second was the Eastlands, whose people were not banded together, but soon did so as they witnessed the unity of Malkia's people. The Duke that they chose, the lion named Macheleo, pledged allegiance to the Queen, and so that alliance was formed. The third and last was the Grasslands, and the people here had been witness to the hasty alliances made in the face of Kaytit's threats. Though they were at first uneasy to be united as one pride ruling one land, the Duke they chose eventually bowed to Malkia and offered his warriors forth to combat the rising threat. And so, Malkia had her empire, the Pridelands Empire, but she dared not do anything but wait for Kaytit's armies to come to her.

And they did.

Kaytit smashed her force upon Malkia's for days, but did not come out to fight herself, nor did the Dukes of her two lands, or her Generals. She was headstrong and overly confident that Malkia would be defeated, but she underestimated her sister's power. As the battles raged on, it became apparent that while Kaytit's force was the larger by a slight margin, they were also the weaker by far. Kaytit's warriors had no real purpose, they were fighting for the fun of it, because of orders made by their ruler. Malkia's people, on the other hand, were fighting for their independence, for their rights to live freely, united under their Malkia's banner. Because they were so driven, so determined, they were given strength, and so they began to push back Kaytit's armies.

But it wasn't over yet.

After it became clear that she would lose, Kaytit called a temporary ceasefire and challenged Malkia in single combat, atop the Pride's Rock. Malkia accepted, on the terms that if she won, she would gain dominion over Kaytit's people and lands. As the fight began, Malkia realised how much she had underestimated her sister. Kaytit was a seasoned fighter, having to kill and maim to win approval in the harsher westernmost lands. Malkia herself was battle-worn, and was not as strong as normal, but she still gave her all. They were both bloodied and ripped when Malkia called out to Kaytit to cease the fighting. They were sisters, after all, why couldn't they live together, side-by-side, in harmony? Kaytit spat a glob of blood at her paws and poised herself right at her, but as she did so, she dislodged some rocks on the edge of the promontory, and after a moment of sickening silence, went plummeting down with the loosened rocks, and would have met her end on the ground far below, had she not latched her claws onto Malkia's foreleg as she fell, dragging her sister to the promontory edge with her.

There they both were, Kaytit dangling helplessly, claws rending the flesh on Malkia's leg, while the latter clung on for dear life with her single remaining foreleg. Though Kaytit was brave, that was true, the threat of death had crumbled her resolve, and her last moments were spend screaming hysterically at her sister not to let her fall. Malkia spat blood in her eyes, causing Kaytit to flinch and writhe, and ultimately let go of her lifeline. She was sent screaming, crashing, to a sickening end on the hard, stony floor. It was done. Malkia had total dominion over the lands. But she felt nothing. No triumph. No joy. Only remorse, cold, grasping remorse.

After she found her sister's body, she ordered Kaytit to be buried behind the Pride's Rock, and honoured as an Empress. She also officially renamed her sister 'Sadaka', in honour of her ultimate sacrifice. Though Malkia mourned for her sister, it was not crippling grief, and so she was able to get back to her duties as soon as she could. The first matter at hand was what to do with Sadaka's former lands. She ordered that Sadaka's Generals, Dukes and other ruling bodies be presented to her immediately, and was surprised by what she saw. Her sister's Generals were all dead, and the Dukes were more than willing to bow to Malkia. They were greatly impressed by her strength, and the strength of her armies. After Malkia had received from them their oaths of fealty, she allowed them to collect their people and return to their homes. When they were gone, the only remaining visitor was a lion her own age.

This lion was Moyo, and he had been Kaytit's lieutenant and Consort. At first, he was unwilling to even speak to her, but eventually, Malkia managed to prise from him his name and his position. Upon hearing of his loss, she was heartbroken for him, and permitted him to remain at the Pride's Rock while he recovered. While he stayed, she found herself drawn to him, mostly out of pity, but also of curiosity. He was exotic looking, with darker fur that boasted of his Drylands lineage. He spoke with an accent, and was incredibly muscular and had notable physical strength. Despite this masculine façade, he was incredibly shy, and was not inclined to use this power for his own gain. It was this trait above all others that she admired about him, and one day, after the two had been discussing border relations alone, she admitted to him her affections, and though he was surprised at first, he welcomed said affections with a warm smile. Malkia offered to make him her Consort, as he had been Sadaka's, and he accepted.

The two were married within the fortnight, and though they were not truly in love, the two had a great respect for one another, and both had the right political skills and knowledge to govern the Empire as best they could. It was not long before Malkia found herself pregnant with Moyo's cub, and while most of the Empire rejoiced at the news, there was much opposition from some of the more fickle lands. Some members of various lands still opposed the idea of being governed by a single ruler in a land far away from their own, and for a time, there was a period of great unrest in the Empire. The various Dukes were more than happy to quell any rebellion in their own lands, and Malkia was grateful for this, but the idea of uprising worried her. If she was overthrown, the Empire would be thrown into discord and any hope of peace would be shattered.

Any doubts she may have had, however, were cast down as soon as she held her newborn daughter in her arms.

The Crown Princess Binti was a beauty, and a fine heir for the Empire. When she was born, sunlight streamed into the cave and illuminated the babe where she lay, a clear sign that the greater powers above approved of the child. Moyo was delighted to have a daughter, happy that there was stability in his family after so long. The rebellion seemed to cease, but still a threat remained.

Two days after the princess' birth, a lioness came from the Northlands, or the Kingdom of the North (as they preferred to call it), with the pretence of offering a gift to the new mother. Malkia accepted this boon warily, but not long after, she woke to find her child being torn away from her in the middle of the night by the northern stranger, though the pride's cave became host to an uproar as the lionesses all flocked to defend the heir to the throne. The northerner was slain, and the Kingdom of the North threatened with war should any incident such as this occur again. Luckily, though, everything seemed to be peaceful, and the royal family was not troubled much in the years following.

Binti grew to be eager and enthusiastic, always ready to learn. Moyo tutored her on fighting and self-defence, but Malkia, who had renounced her war-faring ways after the death of her sister, taught her more political skills, and educated her on the running of the Empire. Binti was a good learner, and proved to be very intelligent, but apparently was not content to just sit around governing her people until trouble presented itself to her. No, she made it clear that she would bring the trouble to them. The Empress and her Prince despaired of their daughter, but it was too late to take it back now.

Adolescence approached fast for the young princess, and it became apparent that she would not go back on her ways. It was around this time that strange events began to occur in the south; a new Empire had arisen, ruled by a warmongering Emperor, who seemed to be set on conquest of the lands bordering the Pridelands' Empire. He stopped at their borders, though, a show of respect for Malkia's reign over her lands. Malkia openly stated her wish to make peace with him, though she said that if he attacked, her fury would reign down upon him. Binti, though, made it clear she wished to formally ally herself with him; she begged her mother if she would allow a betrothal to this Emperor, so their Empires might be joined. “We will be unstoppable, mother,” she cajoled, pleading. “Nothing would stand in our way!” But Malkia refused. Something about this male screamed trouble – she just didn't know what.

In the years to come, Binti would flourish to be a strong young lioness, though far too headstrong to be greatly respected by her future subjects. Still, Malkia saw in her great potential, and when Binti reached the right age, when the old Empress was just reaching middle-age, she abdicated to allow the Crown Princess to ascend to the throne. It was a glorious ceremony, one that didn't just show the crowning of a new ruler but the strength and the longevity of the ruling dynasty. But trouble was brewing on the horizon, and Malkia knew where it would rise from.

The Southern Empire began to set its sights on the south-western lands such as the Drylands and the Grasslands. Malkia offered her counsel to her daughter, but Binti still was stalwart in her wish to marry the Emperor. When Malkia ventured to have a conference with him though, she found that he already had an Empress, though regardless, he was happy to make an alliance with Empress Binti. The Pridelands' ruler was delighted at the prospect, and soon began to adopt not only his friendship, but his ideals as well.

Soon, Binti would be known as the Slaver Queen, a savage attacker of small wandering prides and families to enslave and use as hunters and warriors. She witnessed Binti's campaign against the unclaimed Far-Western prides, only to rebuked and have to set her sights elsewhere. She sat through her daughter's sordid affair with her favourite slave, and was there to comfort her when he betrayed her, maimed her and left her for dead.

After Binti's lover turned on her, she couldn't find it within her to keep her slaves or claim new ones. She released all those she had in captivity, and began to worry on more current happenings. Her abdomen was swelling with new life, and she would soon birth a child – a slave's child. The Empire would be in uproar once more if they found out their next ruler would be illegitimate, but Malkia encouraged her daughter, and soon, the royal family was blessed with another heir.

A male heir.

Any opposition was soon lost in favour of a prospective male ruler – a strong ruler, in the Empire's eyes. The new Crown Prince found nothing but favour from his subjects, and the royal family could rest easy knowing that they would find no rebellion, at least not any time soon.

After that, Malkia let herself relax. She and Moyo relocated to a cave on the outskirts of the Pridelands, and they both resided there until they became old. Though they did little in their twilight days, they both were held in legend and would be eternally respected.

Malkia was the first to succumb to age, and though her spirit left the living world, her legacy would live on forever. Tēkēryāāt would eternally be hailed as the Mother of the Pridelands.
 

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