We've all been there: stuck with a bunch of cubs that won't sell.

What if there was a random encounter quest that wanted a number of cubs in exchange for a small reward?

Players can already encounter an old lioness who will give them the "claim 50 lionesses" quest. This could be the same sort of concept - find an NPC lioness who wants to adopt your cubs! The rewards could be crafting items, amusement, food, or a little EXP, nothing too extravagant. After all, the real reward is not having a bunch of cubs sitting uselessly in your den.

Possible flavor text example:

"You hail the lioness with a soft sound, then sit down and allow her to come over to you at her own pace. Once she's decided that you mean no harm, she pads up and settles across from you, and explains that she belongs to a small pride nearby. You talk for a while about your home territories and yourselves, among other things. She goes on to admit that she's seen a few of your cubs playing - from a distance, of course - and sadly tells you that she can't seem to have any cubs of her own, even though she's young and healthy."

Player response option 1: Offer sympathy.

"You tell her that you're sure she's loved for who she is, not just for what she can do for her pride, and she gives you a warm smile and thanks you. Besides, she does help to raise her nieces and nephews. She'd just always wanted cubs of her own as well. But she seems happier after your talk, and gives you a small gift as she turns to head home."

(The reward here could be an amusement item or toy bundle, since the lioness wouldn't have much need of it.)

Player response option 2: Ask if she's considered adopting.

"You ask her if she's ever thought about adopting a cub, and she looks surprised for a moment, then delighted by the idea. From all she's said, you're confident that she could handle motherhood, and she quickly assures you that her pride would welcome more young ones. Since you have a few too many bundles of joy at the moment, you carefully propose that she could adopt a few of your weaned cubs (since you'd be just one territory away if she needed help with them, after all), and the lioness looks nearly ready to burst with happiness. She wants to ask her husband before agreeing, but is sure he'll say yes, and tells you to speak to the Quest Snake later to arrange everything."

(Here the player can go to the Quest Snake, select any independent cubs that aren't secured or in trades, and turn them over until they reach the number of cubs required - just like the "claim 50 lionesses" quest, there wouldn't be a time limit, but there would be a cooldown period before the quest could be taken again.)

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Other thoughts (just "maybe" ideas, looking for feedback on if these would interest people enough to include them):

- the number of cubs could be low (3-6) to represent a normal to large litter size, or it could be significantly higher (10-20) with additional text explaining that the lioness found a few others who want to adopt due to infertility, being in same-sex relationships, or being in a kingless pride (or whatever else)

- the quest could be tied to karma: good and neutral kings get the adoption quest, while evil kings might get a quest asking for cubs to sacrifice (for a ritual? to barter peace with nearby hyenas?) (I personally wouldn't want to sacrifice cubs, but some people are fine with killing unwanted lions and may prefer an option that fits better with their evil king's personality. Please let me know how you feel about this idea!)

- a separate quest could be available asking for adolescent lions (perhaps a young solo male wants to find some companions, and you agree to ask your older children if any of them would like to go with him, because that way he'll see you as an ally instead of a rival male to overthrow when he's mature)


User suggestions:

- have the quest given by the Gorilla Enclave rather than as a random encounter (by Hollow [G5 Prismatic] (#186797))

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Thoughts? Criticisms? Feedback? This is my first time submitting a suggestion like this, please tell me if I messed anything up!

EDIT: If you DON'T support, I would love to know why! It might help me fine-tune this suggestion into something better!