Info

[Kieran]

BASIC

• Admin: Kieran
  
• A Lion King AU RPG based on only the 1994 movie.
  Any expansion to the lore, characters, and story is our own fan visions.
  
• Rating: 15+ / 3-2-2 (Language-Sex-Violence)
  Minimum age to join: 15 years
  
  
• Timeline: November 15th 1994 forward.
  
• Fluid time flow. No seasonal flow at all.
  
  
• Characters: Almost any species native to an African savanna are playable.
  In example; lion, hyena, leopard, cheetah, meerkat, tortoise, crocodile, giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, hippp, rhinosaurus, bush elephant, many kinds of birds, many kinds of monkeys, honeybadger, wild dog, mouse, and so on. Some species that are not playable are mentioned in the Society section. Also, hybrids are not allowed. If there's inter-species attraction they can only adopt cubs.
  
• Humans don't exist in this universe.
  
  
• Physics: Real life physics apply for the most part. Only a little cartoon physics.
  - For one, a lot of the more unrealistic bits that happen during the I Just Cant Wait To Be King song absolutely did not and cannot happen in this rp. And one can't get up from hanging on to a ledge if they don't have anywhere to firmly perch their hind legs.
  - But they are able to use their limbs as arms/hands. Some more than others; felines a lot, canines notably less, birds even less, and tortoises, crocodiles, hippos and such by far the least. Apes are the only ones who can use them to the degree humans would. All playable species can emote with their faces and shed tears.
  Examples of what felines can do: here and here. (Their mouths aren't that strecthy, but basically that's possible.)
  

PLOT/SETTING

The Royal Guard in question is not the one from the tv series.
That tv show does not apply to this RPG in any way.

Three and a half months ago Mufasa saved both Simba and himself from the wildebeest stampede. Mufasa pushed Simba to climb up a staircase-like path to safety after carefully placing the boy on a ledge, and then pulled himself up to follow him. He detected hyena scent in the air which he found as odd as the fact that the herd was on the move in the first place. After asking Simba what he'd been doing in the canyon all alone, the answer prompted another question; had Scar told him about the Elephant Graveyard?

It became apparent that Scar, his own brother, wanted Simba dead. This was a deep shock for family-centered Mufasa who loved his brother, and it took him until the next day to truly process it. Mufasa stayed in his family's private cave and kept his wife and son there too all night. He recalled Scar's attitude and words the day of Simba's presentation ceremony, and realized  that little brother indeed wasn't challenging him but made a threat on Simba's life. He spent the night thinking back to their childhood and just how jealous his younger brother had been and in what ways it had manifested before. Still, a part of him refused to believe such a terrible thing.

At sunrise Mufasa told his family to stay in whilst he visited the Elephant Graveyard with several members of the Royal Guard. There Mufasa very easily gained the information he was looking for, as most trembled even from the mention of king Mufasa's name not to mention his presence whilst those who otherwise might have dared to try attack chose not to upon seeing that the king hadn't come alone.

With heavy heart, having learned the truth beyond any doubt, Mufasa returned to Pride Rock and on the way ordered a few members of the Royal Guard, some birds, to gather animals from all the species in the kingdom to witness a trial for a crime. That it would take place at noon. He didn't disclose to the birds who or what it was for, so that Scar wouldn't hear about it and escape. He assumed Scar would stay clear of hyenas that day and stick with the family to avoid any suspicion. The only ones who knew before the trial started, apart from the hyenas and the several Guard members who'd been there, were Rafiki, Sarabi, Zazu and Sarafina whom Mufasa asked to stay at Pride Rock and talk about it only in their family's private cave if they had to.

Sarabi and Mufasa had arranged Sarafina to babysit Simba whom they felt was too young to be present in such a trial. At noon, a large number of his subjects had arrived at Pride Rock wondering what had happened. Mufasa brought Scar to a lower ledge of the Pride Rock where all the trials were held.

Scar did not confess. But with Mufasa letting him tell his side of the story, several Royal Guard members as witnesses to the hyenas' confessions, and Mufasa repeating Simba's words and what happened the day of the presentation ceremony (to which Zazu had been a witness, plus Zazu told about how Scar had knocked him unconscious when he tried to go get help during the stampede), it was generally considered a fair trial and Mufasa's decision of Scar's guilt was accepted. Scar tried to shift most of the blame on the hyenas but in vain.

Mufasa sentenced Scar to life long exile under bane of death. The king's being and voice were determined and strong, but his eyes showed deep sorrow as he spoke those words and watched his little brother walk out of their childhood home and out of his life. The king moved up to the ceremony ledge so that he could see Scar for longer, and stood/sat there for hours after he was gone. He didn't let even Sarabi or Rafiki to stay by his side, he wanted to be alone.

Later that day Scar's mate Zira, who was pregnant with his cubs, attacked Mufasa. Protesting Scar's sentence which she felt was based on too weak evidence and she felt upset and hurt that her mate had been exiled forever and under bane of death even. Naturally, Mufasa won quickly even thoug he held back due to her pregnant condition. Zira's trial was held that evening. Normally the sentence for such an attack would be death, but Zira was shown mercy because it was deemed her pregnancy and love for Scar greatly affected her judgment especially as Scar was her mate. Also, her reputation was better than Scar's and she'd been a trusted member of the pride.

So she was given two less severe options; To stay in Pride Lands and be exiled only from the pride for an undetermined period of time. She would have been arranged a safe place far away from Pride Rock, to live in, with her cubs. She would have been allowed to hunt for herself and her cubs. She would have had a possibility to earn her way back into the pride eventually. But she refused to raise her cubs in Pride Lands without their father. So she took the second option; to leave into full and permanent exile with Scar. Though unlike Scar's, her exile is not under bane of death. Zira's family and some of her best friends left with her to ensure her safety during her pregnancy and to be with her and the cubs.

Just before sunset that day, every single member of the Royal Guard, from birds and voles to lions and whatever, were gathered at Pride Rock. The king ordered everyone of them from then on to prioritise keeping an eye on danger to Simba whenever the boy is outside without him or Sarabi, and report to him immediately if Simba's life seemed to be in danger. They should always give Simba space and relative freedom to live as normally as possible, but always have at least three Guard lions near enough to protect him if something happened. It was now of the utmost importance and the Guard's absolute number one task to ensure no one dangerous gets close to Simba. Because it was now entirely possible that Scar had allies other than hyenas, too.

Keeping an eye out for Scar or hyenas in the kingdom and their doings, as well as to help animals in need, was the Guard's secondary task though somewhat tieing in with the first. Normal everyday peace keeping and law enforcement duties had to come as third importance. Every time they'd let Simba go out Mufasa would assign three Guard lions to stick near the boy, as well as a bird or two, until he returned home. This is the way it was to be until either Scar was found dead or until Simba was old enough and strong enough to defend himself.

But the very first thing most of the largest members of the Guard and some of the birds were assigned to do was to track down every single hyena and tell them that all of them have been found guilty of the attempted murder of prince Simba and conspiracy to take over the throne, either by literal attempt or by associaion. As they don't live in Pride Lands they can't be exiled like Scar, but they'd have to leave the Elephant Graveyard now and never to return or else face death by starvation on their land or execution upon stepping inside the kingdom's borders. That they would no longer be simply chased out, but killed at sight. By sunrise the next day there were no more hyenas inside Pride Lands' borders. Within a few days all of them had left the Elephant Graveyard too. The king claimed the Elephant Graveyard as part of his kingdom, but it remains off-limits for all cubs because it's still a very dangerous location.

The worst of the dry season was around the corner making the next few months all the more torturous for most animals everywhere. In the Outlands. Scar had headed into the desert in means to stop hyenas or others wanting to harm him from following him. Eventually he got badly injured by too large prey he tried to hunt whilst he wasn't built to survive long-term on a desert even to begin with. The Guard members who had been tasked to follow his journey for a time, deemed it extremely unlikely that he would survive. Because even though Zira and her family had followed him into the desert they had been driven apart and heading to very different directions. It was thought impossible for them to reunite in time to save Scar. These news were brought back to the king. No one could have guessed that a stranger would end up meeting and helping Scar.

Now, in the beginning of our timeline and the wet season, Mufasa has eased some of the border security and lets his son play more normally without extreme supervision. But the scandal and betrayal are still fresh in public mind. How does the kingdom recover?