Utahime blinked in surprise at the question. It was a rather bold inquiry - if that was the word for it - and the demure queen's face seemed to pale at the very notion of it, especially since she knew that her pride wasn't keen on her passive leadership. Her peacemaking tactics hardly made room for respect and the modest queen was more than often labeled a coward. Their insults never escaped her range of hearing.

After a moment's contemplation, she shook her head, although there was a distinct lack of certainty in the subtle gesture. "No, I... I wouldn't even entertain the thought." Another tentative pause. "At least I try not to. I try to trust my subjects, since they are the bulk of the pride, and they're here for a reason. I like to think that as long as I rule fairly and treat them justly, then they would return the treatment." Her eyes hardened in spite of her song-like murmuring. "Actually, I'm a firm believer of that."

Turning to the next ruler in the circle, she offered a polite smile, voice soft. "How about you? What philosophy do you follow for your reign? Perhaps a stricter, harsher treatment of the lions, perhaps you feel that you should be soft on them..."

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Stalemate lay on his back stretched out. He ran his tongue across his paw before rolling over and sitting up. "I respect each and every one of my pride mates, and in turn they would give their lives to keep the pride safe." "As for traitors, well.. lets just say not even the vultures, nor hyenas, or any scavengers for that matter would be able to pick apart the remains." Stalemate stiffened for a moment glancing around at the other kings before relaxing again.

"Anyways, my question to the next king would be as follows: What or who do you fear the most? Out of all the beings within this world which one turns your bones to ice, which one would even your nightmares fear?"

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A tall, dark primal felis strides up to Stalemate. He is guarded in the way he walks, and sits a good distance away from the other lions but still close enough for him to be heard.

Seresa hears Stalemate's question and releases a thundering laugh. "Fear? You think I have time for something like fear?" He shakes his head with a wicked grin.

"I used to fear things, once. I feared the tales brooding elders told to cubs stupid enough to venture beyond the pride's territory. I feared the vultures that soared overhead, and the hyenas that threatened to deplete the land of prey." Seresa has a thoughtful look on his face, for a while. You could almost say he was feeling nostalgic. Almost.

Hes face contorts back to that horrific grin. "But that is all in the past now. Fear doesn't make you the leader of a pride like myself. Fear makes you a forgettable lion among a sea of equally forgettable pridemates."

Seresa notices the nervous looks he's gotten from his answer and his smile only widens. "See? I control fear. I've overcome it. If you can do the same, then perhaps I'll see you as an equal."

The felis looks to the next pride leader with a disdainful look. "And you? What do you think makes a leader?"

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Sun On Winter Horizon gazed at the primal and shook his head. "I believe the qualities that make a leader are a multitude of things, respect, loyalty, intelligence, honor, and even fear. If you don't respect your pride mates then you won't ever have their honest respect, Intelligence brings strength, both in mind and body, and a leader is nothing without honor and loyalty."

Sun On Winter Horizon stands and stretches before laying down once more on the cool stone floor.

"Lastly, a leader who does not fear is not living at all. All beings feel fear, no matter how hard you try to hide it. Only when you let your fear take control of you do you fall, no being can leave fear behind completely. None the less, fear helps a leader make good decisions. You fear for your pride mates lives? Then you will do your best to protect them. You fear for your life? Then you will do your best to stay alive. You fear another pride or creature will take your place? Then you will try your best to keep it. I could go on naming many more situations where a leader can use their fear to their advantage, but I will keep it as short as possible"

Sun On Winter Horizons gaze burns into the primal, before he turns away and glances around at all the other kings. "My question to the next king is: What do you believe is more important to a pride? The Hunters, Queens, Leaders, Elders, or Cubs?"

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"Hmmm, that would be a question of set-up, My pride believes that the queens and hunters share importance, then the cubs and elders, the leader should always eat last, and be the last to bed and first up." The answer seemed so simple, yet the clan had been run like this since after his predecessor's predecessor. "Though many seem to mix that up, but any pride that soully relies on any single area is doomed to fail."

"Here's my question, What is the most acceptable number of males to females in a pride, and if that's not a question that you can answer, cubs to lionesses?" the king would ask as he trots to see who could answer the question.

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Hematite gave a long stretch as they thought for a moment. "Huh. I've never really given that much thought. Let's see..." the young sovereign trailed off for a moment as they traced circles in the dirt with their claw. "Well, I don't like to keep many sub lions around, that's for sure. Three would be enough for me, no matter how many other lionesses I have. As for cubs," Hematite's ear twitched as they paused for a moment, "I would have as many as I can. A pride often finds strength in numbers, so I would like to keep as many as possible to keep the Pride of the Pyre strong."

Hematite sat up and turned towards the nearest ruler. "So...let's see," their head tilted slightly, "is there anything specific that you look for when choosing a mate, or just lionesses for your pride in general? Is there a certain eye color that dazzles you? Maybe a fur color that you find the most alluring? Or perhaps you only worry about their personality. I'm curious..."

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his tail curled, lost in thought. he hangs on the question for a few moments, before finally coming to an answer. "I always consider their looks, of course. i will come to love the lionesses personalities afterwards. when it comes to trading and selling, time is lost in exchanging beetles before words." he huffs, before continuing his train of thought. "specifically, i look for lionesses that share traits of the hybrids, as difficult as they are to scramble for -- i keep them within the pride to breed out."

he turns to the next king, murmuring things below his hood before settling on a question, "im curious. how are you faring in the championships?" he loves topics of fighting, after all.

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Dorian raises his head, letting out a chuckle at the king’s question. Up until now, he had been listening to the others speak, but decided to finally join the conversation.

“Well, I am not a particularly good fighter, as any of my lionesses could tell you. I’m more of a peacemaker at heart. However, I have been faring better than I expected in the championship battles. Of course, there are some days where I do better than others, but I am truly pleased that I can compete against some of the younger leaders and can even out-fight some of them.” He calmly answers the question, however, a small flick of his tail betrays a tiny hint of nervousness at speaking in front of the other rulers.

Turning to the next leader, Doriian pauses to think, and with a tilt of his head, asks: “Tell me, have you had the misfortune of breeding a cub with a lethal mutation? If you have, how did you handle it? And if you haven’t, what do you think you would do if it happened to your pride? Unfortunately I worry about this quite often, thinking about how I could best comfort my lionesses if something like this were to happen.” He suddenly goes quiet, well aware that he has asked a sensitive question.

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The Felis male perked his ears up slightly, taking a second to think about his answer. He knew that lethal mutations were sought after by other lions, and frankly, he couldn't care less if his lionesses ever had the horror of bearing such a cub.

' Not yet, at least. Though, I honestly yearn for the day it comes. My lionesses are simply assets to my rise, and I couldn't care any more, if I cared at all, if they bore such a terrible outcome. Cubs like those are seen as trophies, merely decorations, like hybrids are. They are sought out for those with twisted minds, but I don't blame them. They are definitely hard to come by, and can make a lion the richest in the land, and I... ' He unsheathed his claws and brought them closer to his view to admire. ' Well, I couldn't care about their pain or suffering, no matter how terrible it's mutation was. ' He let out a slight chuckle, placed his paw down onto the ground, and turned to the next king.

' I apologize if this is sudden, my friend, but what truly is your goal for your pride? Is it to breed the most beautiful lionesses, fight your claws off at any chance you can get, or something more? ' He asked, tilting his head as he anticipated the other lion's answer.

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Menyei kék peeered down at the other Felis sporting blue and orange hues, comfortable on his position on the tree branch which was stretched out, flicking an ear at his explanation of assets. Afterall it should come to no one's surprise that some pride leaders would view them as such,m assets to be invested into- he himself was an investment afterall, he did not lead the pride out of his own joy of breeding to the opposite sex afterall.

“My goal would of been to pass down my blessing onto one of my cubs that granted me the coat of the outmost thinnest layer of the sky, where the passage from the earthly world and the... mystical black sky starts with their unusual creatures. I have not yet been succesfull. "
He quietly mumbled, starting to clean his face with his paws as he continued.

"But that was not my only goal. Just this february I have been succesfull in acquiring the two hybrids of this world, and they make a fine addition with their unqiue skill sets their mixed nature provides.
I consider that a pretty big feat myself, and I’d like to try my paw in producing some more hybrids myself.

Otherwise, I'm a simple man. I am set to enjoy whatever time is left for me on this mortal realm. I do not appreciate it nearing it's end, but what must happen must happen." The stratosphere Felis concluded, turning his attention to the next ruler.

"What do you day by day? Do you preffer to avidly explore and patroll your land, or would you much rather lean back and relax most of the month?"

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Sun On WInter Horizon's brown gaze flickered in the direction of the felis. "Sit around all month and let my pride mates do the work for me? Nonsense." He scowls. "I spend my time exploring as often as possible and take part in as many events as possible." The dove gray king flinched and frowned. "Plus" He grunted "My pride is still growing. The higher the numbers, the better."

Sun On WInter Horizon's head rocked back as he stared up at the sky before turning to the next king. "Are you one to always have the prey pile full? Or does there come a time when you and your pride have little left to feed on?"

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Glow Of Rising Sun settled down amongst the other kings. His gaze flashed from king to king as he scanned his surroundings. He nodded and turned to the dove gray king. "My pride only just recently began, but I would prefer to keep the prey pile full, as much as possible." He paused, then spoke once more. "After all, it would be quite cruel to allow my pride mates to starve."

A smile flickered across his face as he turned to the next king. "What are your thoughts on prey? Which type to you prefer? Land? Water? Sky?"

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He lightly swiveled his head to the previous king, and gave a slight smile, along with a slight chuckle.

' Prey has no limits for me, in my opinion, but if I were to choose out of those, I'd much prefer fight crocodiles, hippos, or drinking elephants & giraffes. They're most vulnerable when drinking their fill, or searching for others to fight, too distracted to even notice death creeping towards them. But, if I was looking for a challenge, rhinos are my best pick. A large animal with something as sharp as a spear that can kill something in an instant? Why, I'd like myself a bit of a competition such as that, a dance to the death if you will. '

Taking a second to think of another question, he looked to the next king as he gave a warm smile that seemed false and fake. ' Well, my friend, do you and your pride have any special themes? Maybe decor or mutations, anything of the sort? '

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`` themes? ``he hummed, curling his tail as he hummed in thought. `` I wouldnt say a theme per se, but I usually try to keep visually appealing lions in my pride. `` he smirked, circling some shapes in the ground below. `` whether it be to others tastes, or to my own -- i like to aim to be envied, perhaps be richer then most. `` he chuckled, `` though, im currently working on a few projects, `` he gestured to his coat. `` specifically the soul base, i find it very alluring. `` his face contorts into displeasure, `` though finding other bases that go with me are quite.. difficult. `` he scoffed.

after finishing up his lazy drawing of what appears to be some... dog thing? he turns to the next leader, eyes sparkling in curiosity. `` not to spoil, but you're aware of the events that transpire around these times, right? `` his tail raising into the air, showing a clear interest in the gods. `` what god will you be siding with this year? ``

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"Gods?" The sire inhaled briskly. "I've only been here so long." He said. "I didn't know the presence of gods here." Yurioni said, voice tinged with Inquisitiveness. He had led his pride for many moons, but not the year prior. His maw clamped shut as he thought. He turned his large and define cranium, peering over at the ruler that sat next to him. "How are your cubs? Has your offspring been blessed this season?" Yurioni questioned candidly.

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