Dorobo
Love, loss, and betrayal paint this soldier's past. Second born to a peaceful family in
Dorobo, a land obsessed with conquests, he grew up with compassion that his kingdom and comrades lacked. He had a tenuous relationship with his older brother (the firstborn son)
Hasovir, who was jealous of the large size and general likability of Tembovu. Though, being brothers, they still caused trouble together, along with their mutual friend
Kiuaji. However, eventually Hasovir joined Dorobo’s new Banderi (‘army’), and quickly rose through the ranks. Once in command of his own unit, he— in his overzealousness— wiped out an entire village of the primitive Debwani (small horses) of the Southern Forest. The carnage was brutal, and so Hasovir was exiled from Dorobo for this heinous act— leaving Tembovu wary of the Banderi and the Council.
Though, being a huge, strapping young lad and led by his heart to impress his first (and only) love, Mara, he eventually joined the Banderi. Due to his intelligence from his family and his naturally powerful stature, he quickly rose through the ranks and was often leading campaigns, despite the stigma from his brother’s crimes. Dorobo grew to a empire beneath the greedy Council that lorded over it from Makutano (the capital), and Tembovu found himself on crusades further and further South from Mara and their young son, Faxr.
He attempted to leave the battlefront, in an effort to be closer to home, but the Council could not lose their star general. So they relocated his small family to a colony near the edge of the Southern Forests, closer to Tembovu, but also closer to hostile territory. Calamity struck. The primitive Debwani tribes raided the small civilian camp that was woefully (and suspiciously) unprotected, and both Mara and Faxr were killed; Tembovu, himself, finding their charred bodies in the wreckage of their new home.
Beyond broken, wracked with rage and grief, the general thew himself in the conquests- destroying the primitive herd that took his family from him. His dedication to the war effort was noted and appreciated by the council, and he began to rise even higher in the ranks, becoming a valuable tool of the Council. His unit was dispatched to a Dorobian tribe well known for producing soldiers to obtain their female leader, Adaeze. The Council discovered that she was the responsible party for the lack of protection for Tembovu’s family’s camp, resulting in the death of many star generals’ families. However, upon catching and interrogating the wild woman, she revealed that the soldiers had been ordered by higher powers to leave the camp unprotected. Tembovu, with seeds of doubt sown into his mind, let the mare escape the Council’s wrath.
At this time, Kiuaji, his childhood friend, resurfaced. They had grown apart after Hasovir’s exile and and entirely lost contact after Mara and Faxr’s deaths. However, Kiuaji, with his serpent poisons, had risen in the shady side of Makutano’s politics. Exposed to all of the under-dealings, he had learned of the truth of Tembovu’s family’s death. So he sought out his childhood friend and revealed the truth of corruption and deliberate deaths of Tembovu’s family.
Once exposed to the dark underbelly of politics, the giant stallion began to plot his his revenge. Assimilating information from many sources through intrigue, duplicity, and outright betrayal. One such mare, the keystone to Tembovu’s plan to bring down the corrupt Council, was Tsavo. He learned that the mare, born of an old and powerful family, was sympathetic to Korofi (the winged horses of the Eastern Plateaus), which was the Council’s next set of conquests. Intimately befriending the lioness of a woman, he learned all intricate details of Dorobo’s strategies and attacks, leaking them to the fearsome warriors of the East. They descended upon Makutano, breaking apart the now massive Empire.
He then abandoned his lands, for he had nothing but grief, loss, betrayal, and enemies there. He's been alone ever since.
Helovia
((ages in Tallsun))
The elephant arrived in Helovia's
Orangemoon after many, many, many months of traveling, having heard of Helovia and it's lack of corruption. In the
threshold, his gargantuan body was stuck among the trees and he was greeted by Rexanna and Mauja. Due to Rexanna's similarity to his dead Mara, he opts to follow Mauja back to the World's Edge, choosing to follow the way of the Crafters at his first
herd meeting.
He meets Rexanna once again at the
beach and can no longer ignore his visceral, natural attraction to the lovely Basin mare. The Elephant, taken with her beauty and light, asks her to be his after an intimate evening along the shores. Rexanna agrees-- but is already in an agreement with another, unknown to Tembovu.
The Dorobian man continues to recruit many from the Threshold to live in the Edge, rising through the ranks of the herd. Eventually he becomes Glazier (head crafter), and begins to
clean the Edge's broken glass wall with his fellow crafter, Anzanie, and Moon Doctor, Alysanne He also
spars with Mauja and explores Helovia, meeting many new faces.
But all good things must come to an end. And so Rexanna, his lover, tells him of her ongoing tryst with Caleb in the
Thistle Meadow. Enraged and appalled, he entreats Rexanna to come with him to the Edge. But she remains in the Basin to fulfill whatever duties and promises she has made, leaving the Elephant heartbroken. He leaves the Meadow, angry and hurt, running into Nyx, a World's Edge soldier, in the
Secret Grove. He, in his angst and frustration, agrees to the temptation to
spar with the silver fighter after learning of her wild, aggressive philosophy to loving. Just barely besting her in battle, the Elephant and the silver mare engage in post-battle
coitus. Though Tembovu greatly enjoys himself, he finds that the wanton style of love is not for him.
Entirely a mental mess, he continues to work on cleaning the wall and recruit new members to join the Edge. A particular mare, Whisper, comes through the Threshold pregnant. She gives
birth to Astra, a filly, along the journey to the Edge, Tembovu's friend Brisa stumbling upon the party. The encounter reminds the man of his own son, and a new yearning for a family blossoms in him.
The new
Frostfall passes uneventfully, with the Dorobian stallion adjusting to the colder weather. However,
Birdsong brings chaos, with the Time God pulling the
Blood Falls from the Rift. Helovians both unite and separate, fighting either for the Time God or for the Rifting Bear God. He gains only minor injuries in the battle, and gains a
vial of Bear God Blood. Though Mauja, his friend and King, is not so lucky as his owl is nearly killed while fighting; but is
healed by another herd's medic.
Peace is short-lived, however, as the Moon Goddess bring the
Green Labyrinth from the Rift. A battle against the Rift Wolf God ensues, and Tembovu is not nearly as lucky as the last battle. He is
caught beneath the God is it melts into smaller wolves, and is both ripped by the wolves and burned by Mauja's fire as he tries to save Tembovu. However, the Moon Goddess heals all after the Wolf God is vanquished, and he receives a
vial of Wolf's God Blood. After the battle, he finds Rexanna, fearing that she had been injured and dark memories resurfacing in the face of so much fire. The two lovers rekindle their passion as Rexanna reveals dark parts of her past, and they
exchange trinkets (a lion's claw and golden chains). They part, on better (more hopeful) terms.
Again, peace is short lived as the God of the Sun pulls the
Halcyon Flats from the Rift into Helovia. A fight with the Rift Crocodile God ensues, and Tembovu is mildly injured in the battle. He gains the
skull helmet of the God, but also is infected with Halcyon Flats Headache. After the battle, he find Rexanna to ensure her safety, but she is infected with Green Labyrinth Lung which causes her to
hallucinate and see him as a monster from her past. Miykael, a medic from another herd, heals Rexanna and the two, again, rekindle passion in their apologies. However, Tembovu (to his chagrin) is unable to perform sexually, given the baggage between the two lovers.
A brief respite from war occurs after the Flats, with Tembovu commiserating in his illness with Rohan, a fellow Edge soldier, in the
Meadow. He also welcomes Erthe and her father Vadim into the Edge, who
cures him of HFH with his hallucinatory magic. During this break between battles, Tembovu also further explores his Glazier magic and begins building
glass spikes along the Edge's borders with Anzanie and Erthe, but finds that the magic is too dark and cold for him to wield. He joins Mauja for a potential
diplomatic meeting with the Basin, but they are interrupted by the next Rift Battle.
The Earth God brings the
Riptide Isles into Helovia, beginning the battle against the Rift Tiger Goddess. The battle is fierce, and the Goddess claws his right shoulder and leaves impressive scars. Mauja's daughter is not so lucky, however, and falls during the battle. Tembovu tries to console his friend, who relinquishes his
Kingship to Tembovu in his grief. Also during the battle, Temovu had seen and protected a pregnant Nyx, thinking himself to be the father of her unborn children. Rexanna, seeing him protect the pregnant mare,
confronts him after the battle and the two lovers fall apart once the truth comes out.
After the battles, Tembovu assumes the moniker "the Elephant King." In his anger and sorrow, he discovers his
magic with Thranduil in the Flats. In his self-loathing, he tries to discard Rexanna's gift, but Anzanie finds him and convinces him to keep it,
crafting him a glass chain for the lion's claw. He also attends Nyx's
birthing, discovering that he is not the sire to her twins- being both hurt and relieved by the fact. Though he and Nyx
discuss and clear the air, parting as friends. Shortly after, he greets
Elsa, the General of the Edge, as she returns home from searching for her children (slightly worse for wear), and he feels
empathy towards the broken woman. He also travels south, to the
Veins of the Gods, following Ophelia and Erthe in an attempt to beseech the gods to heal the filly's legs. Staying after the two return, he finds his grieving friend,
Mauja, and comforts the bereaved man on the gods' rock.
The newly appointed King holds his first
herd meeting, which is very eventful. Torliek, the old king, is dethroned by the herd for his absence and lack of leadership. The Moon Goddess, herself, arrives to appoint Elsa as the new Queen and Alune as the new Seer. Tembovu gains a healthy caution of the Edge's Patron as she strips the old king of his pride and amor. After the meeting, he looks after little
Hera, is surprised when she discovers her painful magic, and appoints Anzanie as her wet-mare. He also
reprimands those who did not attend the meeting, threatening punishment in the future.
As King, he meets many inquiring minds, such as the darkly seductive
Imonada and the amazonian
Nephele. He and Elsa also form a tenuous
alliance with the Aurora Basin, despite being wary of the Basin and it's fearsome leader. Later on, he wanders the Edge at night and is entranced by the celestial beauty of
Katerina, finding some redeeming quality in himself after hurting Rexanna so deeply. He then begins to fully embrace his duty of sparring with the Protectors of the Edge, beginning by
testing the furious desert rose, Orithia. He then
sparswith his Seer Alune, discovering dark parts of himself and his magic. Turning his sparring to his militaristic Queen Elsa, their
spar becomes heated and brutal, with the
aftermath equal parts intimate and intense. Though a new understanding blooms between the monarchs.
He attends the seasonal
mist watching, to see the Moon Goddess and ask her questions. He also witnesses Brisa's companion
hatch, developing a yearning for a companion of his own. He also follows the pregnant Anzanie to see her
birth a new filly, Viserra and is keenly reminded of his own lack of family. Though he is not left long to dwell on such thoughts, as he runs into Rexanna once again at the
Giving Tree, where his ex-lover tries to tell him of her pregnancy, but is interrupted by Rexanna discovering her firework magic. However, not shortly after, he meets Raeden on the
endless blue, and her attempts to cheer up the broken mare are interrupted by none other than the
pregnant Rexanna. But it is someone else's child, and Tembovu is both enraged, betrayed, and disgusted by this discovery. Angry words are exchanged, and Tembovu
leads Raeden back to the Edge. Though all is not calm with the man, as he runs into Evangeline, roaming the
beach once again for answers and closure. He learns more of his Moon Doctor, and reveals more of himself- finding more questions than answers.
Much to the Elephant's shock, his childhood friend Kiuaji appears in the
threshold, and Tembovu welcomes him into the Edge. However, their reunion is disrupted by Rein, Rexanna's child. Upon her appearance, Kiu reveals that Rex looks akin to the dead Mara- immediately garnering his suspicion. Another ghost from Tembovu's past appears when Tsavo enters the
Threshold, having followed the snake to Helovia for a new start at life. He welcomes her to the Edge,
revealing some parts of his role in her own past.
Haunted by his losses and the lack of redeeming love in his life, the Elephant disappears into the
Deep Forest to be alone in his inner rage and torment. Though Mauja follows him and is subjected to the beast within as Tembovu unleashes his magma elephant on his friend. To keep others safe, he leaves his friend in the hands of healers, traveling further east to the
Green Labyrinth, finding and bonding to his companion, Mbwene-- a source of light in his dark soul. He then follows his friend, to find Aji
bonded to a companion of his own in the Blood Falls.
As the season shifts to
Frostfall and a new year, the Elephant King still avoids the Edge, instead wandering along its borders at the
Secret Grove and finding the peppermint man Johnny and his newly hatching companion. The outgoing and optimistic unicorn lightens the King's mood with his peppermint gifts to Mbwene and general happiness. Enough so that Tembovu returns to the Edge, though finds his Queen, Elsa, rather than solitude once inside the borders. In his dark, despairing moments, the Icebound gives him solace, comfort, and
passionate intimacy. It is a promise of hope, an equal sharing of needs between the Edge's King and Queen.
Leaving the comfort and compassion of Elsa, exhaustion takes him and Mbwene into dark and troubled dreams. Though Myrrine,
discovering her new magic brings him happy memories of his dead son's birthing through his dreams, lightening the shadows that cloud his mind. He continues within the Edge, still not healing his the burn injury on his knee, waking on a night to see the Moon Goddess
Ascend Mauja and give him immortality. Though, upon
finally approaching the friend he had burned, he despairs that Mauja has chosen immorality and a life of loneliness over blessed children; yet still seeks forgiveness and absolution from the man, which is granted.
The King then returns his attentions to leadership duties, arranging a
trade for a
gate with the Dragon's Throat as well as allowing his General Nyx to
leave in search of her sire (not knowing this is a ruse to hide her pregnancy). He also, finally, succumbs to the festering wound in his knee, which results in a
heated exchange between his Moon Doctor Alysanne and himself as she berates him for attacking Mauja. Their harsh words tatters their friendship, but both leave the encounter healed. Once healed, he called the
Frostfall Meeting to order, though many strained relationships within the Edge cause tension. Most notably Mauja showing at the end and asking for Tembovu to "kill him," which the Elephant cannot do and so refuses, betraying his friend's trust and driving a wedge between them.
After the meeting, he
deals out punishment of
cleaning up feces from the Edge's cliffs to Arah, Erthe, and Tilney (because of his vouching for Arah). Leaving the errant herd members, he comes across Roskuld, the mare who had been offered leadership of the Edge,
skulking along the Edge's borders. She, and her companion Chico (whom Mbwene immediately likes) wish to stay in the Edge for shelter from the cold, and Tembovu allows them to stay until the end of Frostfall. Some time passes, and he comes across Roskuld once again while
practicing to control his magic, speaking of Mauja and other things. They part, and the King comes across Alysanne hovering at the borders of the Edge. He
confronts her for her disrespect at the herd meeting and dislike of him, leading to a heated exchange and further distrust between the Moon Doctor and the King.
Mind heavy with doubt of his leadership and guilt of his actions, he leaves the Edge for the solitude of the Secret Grove, but
Orithia follows him. The two bond after she reveals the depth of the darkness in her past, and he, in turn, shares the shadows in his own mind. Not yet ready to return to the Edge, he traverses the northern parts of the Thistle Meadow, coming
across an egg and a scarred, terrified Rexanna. Seeing her so marked (mentally and physically), breaks down the walls built between them and trivializes the anger and betrayal he felt towards the his heart's siren. She tells him that her ex-lover and abuser, Cal, is haunting her in Helovia and that her tryst with Ashamin (that resulted in his child, Rein) was out of fear of him rather than love. The egg hatches, the companion bonding to Rexanna who asks him to name the newborn polecat. Tembovu, shaken by the bedraggled Rexanna and disarmed by her honesty, forgives their past and, shares intimacy with his lover once again (unknowingly planting twins in her womb). He asks, and she agrees, to come to the Edge, but she must wrap up loose ends at the Basin before leaving.
Finally settling his mind and feeling the need to find Elsa after his encounter with Rexanna, he returns to the Edge to find his Queen
giving birth to their son, Hawezi. Overwhelmed by the birth of his son, he withholds his invitation and rekindled relationship with Rexanna, instead immersing himself in the joy of a son that is healthy, despite being born in a Frostfall extended by a wayward zephyr.
Birdsong finds him
doting on his son within the Edge, discovering that Orithia has assumed close watch over Hawezi. Though Tembovu is relieved, rather than alarmed, and relaxes in this contented satisfaction atop the cliffs; however, his contentment is short-lived as he
confronts Mauja about his plea for death at the end of Frostfall's herd meeting. Their exchange is intense, resulting in Mauja's confession of love and Tembovu's acquiesce to pierce him in the heart with horn. Though the Ascended immortal man survives, it leaves the King both scarred and with a new depth of feeling for Mauja.
The new season also brings his adopted daughter
Erthe back to the Edge, much to the Elephant's delight. Continuing to focus on Kingly duties rather than the guilt of betraying Elsa's trust, he
welcomes Nyx back from her failed mission to find her father, though she does return with adopted twins (not knowing that the are hers and were her reason to leave the Edge on this 'mission'). He and Arah discover
Thranduil trespassing on their cliffs, though the Laurelin disappears over the edge before he can be escorted out. He then follows Arah to her
history lesson, learning more of the Edge's past and of the Hidden Falls' invasion. Deimos and Johnny also arrive in Birdsong, arranging a
trade for a
tent within the Edge; the King is delighted to see his peppermint friend, as is Mbwene.
Later in the season,
Adaeze returns to the Edge, after having disappeared on their journey from the Threshold, once again toying with the Elephant's innate attraction to her. Though she leaves him, and he finds the
saddened Katerina, confessing to her that he has a child, now. The celestial mare takes the news poorly, and flees the Edge to return to her home in the stars. Greatly shaken and guilted by the distress he had caused Katerina, the King's indiscretion with Rexanna and Elsa flood to the forefront of his mind, no longer able to be ignored for Kingly duties. So Tembovu finds and
confesses to Elsa, telling her about Rexanna and his invitation for her to live in the Edge. Understandably, the Icebound Queen is hurt and harsh words drive a great wedge between the King and Queen.
The father, plagued by the guilt and scars of breaking his new family,
seeks out his son after having night terrors of losing him and the Edge in a terrible inferno. His son crafts horseshoes for him, though their time together is interrupted when he catches sight of a frantic Orithia fleeing the Edge. He follows her and finds her in the
Deep Forest's pool, broken and desolate by her past and demons. The Elephant, also lonely and now assumedly forsaken by the still-absent Rexanna (not knowing that Orithia had
banned her from the Edge's borders), comforts his broken dove. The two share an intimate, emotional conversation, ending in Orithia asking to be shown love, as her dark past had been void of it. The King, overwhelmed and deeply connected to the woman, shares intimate tenderness with her.
Returning to the Edge, the Elephant finds Raeden assaulting "Calor" (Rikyn)
intruding on their borders. d'Arcy, Nyx's filly, rescues the man from the Edge's horns, though the King then challenges his Specter to a
spar to test the woman's fighting ability. Satisfied, he leaves the Edge to bathe his wounds in the Secret Grove, where
Adaeze finds him, cleans his wounds, and shares that she had lost a child due to the beating of his generals in Dorobo. Filled with remorse and compassion, the two make love both to allow Ada to be a mother one more and to make reparations for past mistakes. He leaves the curvaceous cat, not yet willing to return to the Edge and face the many layers of guilt and loneliness there, instead traveling to the Threshold and coming across
Imani, another Dorobian fleeing the Plains after the Fall. He is wary of the mystic with different colored eyes, though still
welcomes him to the Edge. His wariness is increased when the small thief Ovidius
challenges him to a spar and lands blows on him, after being caught attempting to steal from the Edge multiple times. Though his superstitions of bad spirits accompanying Imani are calmed when the thief runs from the fight.
The battle with the thief reminds him, however, of his duties as King. And so he returns to the Edge's heartland, taking part in
glass staining led by Glasgow. Mbwene, fully enjoying the crafting, creates a glass trunk from the shards. He also attends the
Moon's Seasonal Summons and asks the Moon to grant them glass spikes to protect the Edge's borders, which she gives them tasks for. Recognizing the need for another Glazier, he
promotes Glasgow after noting her dedication to the glass and the two Glaziers craft many things. With Glasgow, he then
begins testing the glass as a part of the tasks set forth by the Lady Moon, many herd members joining to experiment on the glass. He also, somewhat reluctantly, helps Elsa and Alysanne who are leading
clearing the bramble thicket for the Herd Quest. However, this quickly escalates as one of the Moon's creatures lives in the thicket and tries to fight for its life. The King kills the creature, though incurs Elsa's wrath in the process, and she
challenges him to a bloody, brutal battle. Though he wins, he does not feel triumphant in their subsequent
conversation. SUMMARIZE THREAD HERE.
Later, he comes across Alysanna
promoting Lyanna to Apothecary, and then proceeds to
promote Dacianna to Sage.
The Helovian
Tallsun brings a
return of Tilney, the Moon Doctor having been lost at sea for the previous season. He brings with him Ultima, a Riftian. Shortly after, the King calls a
Tallsun meeting, to announce the Herd Quest given to them by the Moon Goddess among other things. This meeting goes awry, however, when Elsa steps down due (in part) to her tangled history with Tembovu. Despite his newfound guilt, Tembovu appoints Alysanne the Devoted as his new Queen (for there is little love between the two and so little chance of repeating his mistakes with Elsa). A pregnant and disgruntled Nyx, along with her filly Oizys, speak out against his choice, but the herd rallies to defend Alysanne. After the meeting, Alysanne, Mauja, and Tembovu convene to
discuss herd matters. And, shortly thereafter, Alysanne
relays the news of Rexanna birthing his twins. The Elephant King
rushes to the Basin, is intercepted by Deimos, and then finally
meets his family, where Rexanna reveals that Adaeze has given her names for the children and Orithia was the one to drive her from the Edge. He implores Rexanna to join him in the Edge, and she tells him she needs to think on it, but will give him an answer at the Basin's Orangemoon Festival. He spends the night in her cave with his small family.
On his way back to the Edge, the King
runs into Erthe, his adopted filly. After resting from his emotional and exhausting travels, the King
thanks Alysanne SUMMARIZE THREAD HERE. He then finds
Adaeze birthing twins, much to his surprise. He elatedly welcomes his new daughter and son into the Edge, though it is bittersweet because the remainder of his children are missing. Tallsun sees an influx of foals, as he attends Raeden
birthing Gawen and Arah
birthing Maude. Though all is not at ease in the Edge, for a thief
steals Tilney's lantern, and the Moon Doctor reveals that he is night blind without it. Tembovu happily
welcomes Roskuld back to the Edge and
spars her. Mbwene is equally glad to have Chico back in the Edge, and the companions
share a hot date night. To escape Tallsun's heat, Tembovu brings Katua to the Endless Blue, though the father-daughter bonding is interrupted by a
shark attack. Further foreboding things occur when a heartbroken Anzanie
resigns from her position as Glazier, and the King is greatly worried for his dear friend.
Orangemoon brings cooler weather, and also the anticipation of Rexanna's answer. The King accompanies a group to the Basin, and he finally
finds Rexanna and confides all of his children and romantic dalliances.
...more to come
Frostfall and the new year bring...