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Noridian's story began in a small pride, one where his own father was the king and he was slated to be the heir. He learned much from his father during that time, most of all he learned how to fight and how to be a proper king. No matter what path in life he ended up choosing, his pride must always come first. Unfortunately, his father caught a strange disease when Noridian was just an adolescent and it spread like wildfire throughout the lions of the pride. Many lionesses fled with their cubs in fear of catching it themselves and Noridian himself was ordered to stay away from the pride and sleep from a distance. He watched in helpless horror as his father, mother, littermates, and pridemates all began to drop dead from the illness. None survived in the end, and fearing the land itself was cursed and infected, the young lion could only flee and leave everything behind. To this day, he isn't sure what illness took them all out or if it was even an illness at all and not just human poison.
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Noridian ran far from his ancestral home, even when his paws felt like they would give out from underneath him. He didn't stop moving until he was extremely exhausted, but would keep moving after resting. He only stopped when he felt he'd gone far enough away, to untouched territory with plenty of game. He was a young king then, but slowly worked up his pride from there, both to honor his former pride's sacrifice and to care for lions with nowhere else to go.
Now, years later, his son Anvigos takes the reigns. Will he do a good job? Noridian can only hope the stars will guide him down the right path.
[RETIRED 7/29/22 - DIED ... ]
"Your cubs approach Grandpaw Noridian. One of their littermates mentioned that Grandpaw is very old and will not be around much longer. Grandpaw Noridian sits down with the cubs and explains to them that once a lion passes from old age, they go to live in a starry dynasty where they will always be free to look over them and guide them throughout their days. The group of cubs look relieved and less scared, and they all take turns giving Grandpaw Noridian head-bumps!"
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