|
|
Main Firebrand
Firebrand Faith
The Firebranders believe in the power of lightning and the flame. The spirits of their great kings speak to them through storms and fury -- their greatest kings are judged not so much based on what they achieve, but how they go about their successes. A weak lion will not be raised in the Firebrand Pride. All are strong, and the tie of family is strengthened by the many hunts and gatherings the pride partakes upon. An age-old animosity toward other species hangs over this family like a shroud, though one that is slowly lifted and changed with each passing generation. The kings seem to be at the forefront of the attempt to return other predators to the Mwenge, for protection and possible alliance.
With strength held in such a high regard and the fact that they are slightly xenophobic, the members of the Firebrand Pride hold themselves with a great arrogance that is shown with abundance to any not of their pride. Betrayal will not be tolerated, and any member of the Pride that shows traitorous acts will be banished and further treated as if they never had any bond at all. The members hold a resentment toward other beings, carried down by the generations. The Firebranders do not get along with the Outlanders as they had taken the Pride's land at one point long ago; the Pridelanders are worse, constant battles taking place along the borders of the lands; the nomads did not join with the Firebrand in alliance at one point, and therefore are held in a low regard; the Mistweavers live in the same lands as the nomads, and are related in such a way that their presence cannot be tolerated; and the Baraduma's cheetahs once betrayed the Pride after an alliance, and have not been forgiven since. Each member of the Pride demands respect, and if it is not given promptly, then the price more often than not leaves a mark. It has been long known that the Pride Firebrand should be feared and respected above all other beings in the lands.
The rust to crimson colored Firebranders reside in the cracks and crevices within the side of a large kopje to the northwest of Pride Rock. Their lands are much more rugged than those of the Pridelands, though no less beautiful in their own way. The soils themselves are tinted a blood red, spanning as far as you can see and creating a distinct, dividing line between the Firebrand and surrounding territories. Before Malaki's reign, the lands of Firebrand extended as far south as to completely border the Prideland's western expanse, all the way south to the River of Rage. With the coming of the Outlanders, however, that land was lost. It is as of yet unclaimed -- a great source of unease for both the Pridelands, Firebrand, Outlanders and various patches of nomads.
A large tree stands in a field near the center of the Firebranders' current domain. It is an aged giant, nearly thirty meters tall and, if all its gnarled branches are included, as wide as two elephants. This is the focal point of the Firebrand religion, which Moto, during his reign, had begun to reinstate more strongly since his father's death. The Tree of Passing, as it is called, is said to have been created at the dawn of time itself, and as long as it remains standing and Pride Firebrand keeps the lands around it in health, time itself will move. Much of the Mwenge faith revolves around the power of flame and the beauty and strength that rises out of destruction. The Tree of Passing has, in recent memory, been touched three times by the flames of dry-season fire, and each time the fires passed to leave the tree unburned. --Until recently that is. On the fateful night of carnage that destroyed almost an entire generation of Firebrand's blood, the tongue of flame licked The Tree of Passing abrasively. The tree still stands, though weakened; on one side most of it's branches are bare and black and the bark of the tree flakes away. As the Pride prospers, so does the tree, and it will restore to its former glory as the Pride itself does.Return to Top