King Apollodorus's Den

"The strength of Set, the knowledge of Anubis, and the power of Bast"

Welcome to the Kemet Pride, founded by lions with fur of gold. This lonely and distant pride is home to many colorful lions, and has been ruled by a line unbroken since the reign of the brave King Zakale. This line of primitive-looking lions has maintained dominion over this desert pride into the present day, with no sign of disappearing any time soon.

Pride History

While a desert would normally be no place for a pride of lions, a strange lion decided to defy the norm and found a small pride in the river valley of a vast desert terrain. This mighty golden lion, named Mosi, founded what would become the Kemet Pride. As time went on, Mosi's reign came and went, but the pride still struggled. The next king, Issa, seemed to do no better. But during the reign of King Issa, a strange looking lion was brought in by the ivory-furred lion, a tiny cub with saber teeth. As this cub, named Zakale by the aging king, grew, he became an absolute giant of a lion, with long teeth, a muscular body, and giant mane. Impressed by the young Zakale, Issa named the primal lion as his heir.

When the reign of King Issa ended, Zakale took up the throne and wasted no time turning the pride into a mighty and feared force to be reckoned with. The arrogant, yet surprisingly humble king, brought in many powerful lionesses in an attempt to increase the pride's strength, to much success. The reforms of King Zakale's reign continued into the reign of his son, the revered King Senusret. Under Senusret's rule, the pride flourished, turning to worship of the old gods in hopes of good favor. Senusret ruled for many years, but, like all lions, aged and died. His son, King Menkaure, took up the helm and ruled the pride with all the grace of his father. But the king appeared to have trouble producing an heir.

Despite all of this trouble and lots of praying to Hathor, a young prince was born. The young Prince Semerkhet, born to the great Queen Dakhamunzu, was slated to be the next king of the Kemet Pride. Alongside him, a young lioness named Ahura was brought to the pride to serve as his queen.

Everything was perfect... Until a young lioness with her cub arrived. A primal cub... And it was this primal cub that grew into the next king, King Djehutynakht, beast of the night, claws guided by the mighty Anubis. While his usurpation was met with initial hostility, the lionesses gradually grew to accept the feral lion. And his position as king was further solidified with the birth of Prince Aegyptus, born of one of the old king's daughters.

But as the prince reached adulthood, a war broke out among the neighboring prides. Aegyptus volunteered himself to fight on the Kemet Pride's behalf, and reluctantly, King Djehutynakht agreed on the condition that his son return alive. Promising his father he would be alright, the prince left the kingdom, to return when the war was done.

But the longer time went on, the pride began to lose hope. Nothing had been heard from Aegyptus at all, and much of the pride began to believe he had died. But the aging king never gave up hope, even as his last days approached. Much to the pride's confusion and concern, he appointed a young foreign primal lioness to become the future queen when the prince returned. Despite urging from the pride to choose a new heir, King Djehutynakht wouldn't budge.

When it seemed like all hope was lost, at last a golden lion appeared on the horizon. The prince had finally returned home. Relieved and overjoyed to finally see his son again, the old king handed over his throne on the spot. Upon his crowning, Aegyptus took on the title of king, as his forefathers before him.

Under Aegyptus's reign, the pride flourished, growing richer than they had ever been before. Hoards of wealth were amassed and the pride's power increased to levels not seen since the rule of King Zakale. A new golden age had begun. This was further imprinted with the birth of Prince Senusret II, named after the greatest king the pride had ever seen.

In a show of faith in his son, Aegyptus abdicated the throne to the prince at five years of age, opting to retire to enjoy his life in old age. At first, the pride struggled under the rule of the new king. The royal coffers were nearly empty, but before long, the kingdom steadied. Under the young king, the kingdom's wealth skyrocketed, and thrived to levels never dreamed of.

After many years of luxury, Senusret II's legacy was guaranteed with the birth of Prince Neferkare, the next king of the Kemet Pride.

Many peaceful years passed, and when the day eventually came that Senusret II abdicated, Neferkare rose to take his place. But Neferkare was frivolous, spending extensively to make his pride more powerful. While his heart was in the right place, early in his reign, he depleted a large amount of the royal coffers. But eventually, things began to get better, as the young king provided exports that would bring in much revenue.

Before long, a young prince was born, Prince Sneferu. The pride rejoiced knowing the king would be succeeded by one of his own blood, praising the prince's birth. When the tiny smilus grew up, he would be a king.

But an issue soon arose when the young prince fell in love with a foreign lioness named Belesunnu. Neferkare worried about the lioness, as he worried about her loyalties, but Sneferu was firm; Belesunnu would be his queen.

And sure enough, when the old king abdicated his throne and Sneferu took over, Belesunnu became his queen. Their reign began in a rough patch, but eventually they steadied things out again.

Before long, the couple had expanded the territory and given birth to a son to inherit it, Prince Seti. But Seti was a dreamer and had no desire to rule the kingdom as king. A deeply spiritual lion, he passed the position of crown prince to his younger brother Ramesses, taking up the title of shaman himself.

Prince Ramesses proved himself a strong and able heir, ensuring the safety of his lands and fighting away any threats that showed themselves. The pride sang his praises, waiting for the day that the young prince would become king.

After years of training, at last the prince was ready, taking the helm as king from his aging father. But a problem soon arose. The pride was aging and lions began dying faster than they could be replaced. And to make matters worse, the king had no queen, and no heirs were being born. Without a way to solve these problems, the pride was in real danger.

As time went on, the pride's population continued to decline. But one solace made the terrible situation a bit better; a powerful lioness was brought in from a foreign kingdom to become queen. But the number of lions continued to decline, and fewer cubs were being born. Refusing to let his pride die out, Ramesses launched a massive effort to bring new lions and cubs into the territory. Hopefully, one of them would bear an heir to the throne. Finally, after dozens and dozens of cubs, a prince was born, Mentuhotep. As the prince grew, he was trained by both his father and uncle to become a gracious and intelligent leader. The prince took it all in stride and the pride greatly looked forward to welcoming him to the throne, especially his many, many siblings.

Eventually that day came, and the young prince rose to become king in his father's place as Ramesses retired. But the new king had no queen, and continued to not have one several years into his reign. He mated and had cubs with the pride lionesses, including future king Apollodorus, but not having a queen was a new concept, as no king before him had ruled alone. The pride was skeptical of this, but still followed him nonetheless.

It was a great many years until Apollodorus took the throne, by which he was already quite old. The pride welcomed him as a piece of their departed former king, and he did his best to hold up to be the ruler that they deserved, but some were skeptical. Years went by under his reign and yet still no heir was born. Some members of the pride began to fear that an outside male would have to be brought in, something that hadn't happened since the reign of King Djehutynakht the Usurper. Perhaps this would be the end of the long-standing dynasty...

But when the king was well into his old age, an age no one would have thought him viable to produce a new heir, Prince Kheti was born. To the shock of everyone, the young cub was completely healthy and was named as his father's heir. From the moment he was able to understand, Apollodorus would train his son to be a great king, for at last he had his heir.

Kings and Queens

King Zakale
Queens: Queen Akale, Queen Zamani
King Senusret
Queens: Queen Brazier, Queen Tarset
King Menkaure
Queens: Queen Dakhamunzu, Queen Seka
King Djehutynakht
Queens: Queen Ahura, Queen Galatea
King Aegyptus
Queens: Queen Zaneris, Queen Neirioui, Queen Khunsu
King Senusret II
Queens: Queen Hatshepsut I, Queen Neithhotep, Queen Meretseger, Queen Eirene
King Neferkare
Queen: Queen Nes-khons
King Sneferu
Queen: Queen Belesunnu
King Ramesses
Queen: Queen Enheduanna
King Mentuhotep
Queen: N/A
King Apollodorus
Queen: Queen Hatshepsut II
Next king: Prince Kheti

King Dynasty

Pride Dynasty

Achievements

Showcase

Beetle Book