Mstari

Mstari

the basics

the appearance

Species • Spotted Hyena
Eye Colour • Green
Markings & Scars • High contrast fur patterns, nearly black and white. Clustered spots resembling striped hyena stripes, although she is full blooded spotted hyena. Longer than average fur.
Height • Below Average, but will be slightly above average when an adult
Weight • Below Average, but will be average when an adult
Voice Actor • TBA
Basic Appearance • Image Provided

the personality

Personality • Matari’s body may be young but her eyes are old. She’s almost unsettling to be around, often distant and constantly weary. Mstari has something of a sense of humor, though it’s a dry one, but she only really shows this towards those she trusts. For being so young, she has a very set determination in her goals. For now, as her wounds are so fresh and she lacks leadership experience, Mstari is primarily driven by revenge. She has a distrust of all lions, and an overwhelming hatred of Pride Landers— so overwhelming in fact, that the righteous fury that burns in her gaze when she lays eyes upon a Pride Lander is enough to knock a Cape buffalo dead. Mstari deeply desires a new equal society and to topple the monarchy that ruthlessly slaughtered her family. However, despite the pain, Mstari does have an empathetic side: she pities the outlanders forced to live in squalor by the lions. As an older sister, she has a soft spot for little ones… yes, even little lions, though she remains wary of any parents. One day her empathy will win out and Mstari will seek to create a better society rather than simply make the aristocracy suffer. All in time, but Mstari still has a lot to learn about being matriarch.

Likes • Being a caretaker | Equality | Painting
Dislikes • Pride Landers | Complacency | Speciesism

History • Mstari was barely more than a newborn when Scar merged the clans with the pride. One of her first memories was climbing down the rocks with her clan and being met with the horrified stares of lions. She would later ask her mother why the lions hated hyenas so much; her mother would answer that lions were afraid of hyenas because they were competitors, so the lions create stories of hyenas, how the hyenas are somehow simultaneously incompetent but dangerous, to justify their prejudice.

Nothing about Mstari’s childhood with the Pride Landers proved this wrong. Even with the clans merging, Mstari’s family clan, a mystic bunch named Moon Clan, would relay stories of the past among members— how, because Moon Clan was a more peaceful clan, the lions would frequently terrorize them, steal food and murder their weak. Mstari would also hear the lionesses bemoan that the hyenas would do the same as things to them, therefore they deserve to starve in the wasteland. Not once did Mstari hear a lion acknowledge the lions had done horrible crimes towards the hyenas… the popular narrative was always the other way around. But Mstari knew better.

It wasn’t long before the clans could see right through Scar. Scar was a pitiful leader. He promised equality for the hyenas but instead pegged them as his personal army. Any who refused to lick Scar’s boot were threatened with exile. The clans knew suffering and starvation in the shadowlands so most simply begrudgingly went along with serving Scar, whose incompetence grew more and more obvious by the day. It was a lose-lose for everyone… except Scar of course.

When the so called “rightful ruler” Simba returned, the clans rejected him outright, because if he was anything like Mufasa, he would sentence their people to languish in squalor again. The lionesses were on Mufasa’s heir's side and massacred the hyenas to put an end to their integration. A teenaged Mstari was caught in the middle of it. She saw the indiscriminate attacks— young, old, pregnant hyenas: there was no mercy for her species because to most lions, they were less than sentient. Mstari knew she wouldn’t be spared, so she hid at first. She was drawn out by the screaming of her baby sister. When Mstari went to save her, she saw her sister wailing over their mother’s partially eaten corpse. Before Mstari could do anything, her sister was bludgeoned to death by a lioness. Mstari managed to flee.

Still in shock but now forever scarred by the crimes of the Pride Landers, Mstari had more or less broken away from the main clan. She’s vowed to start a revolution, create justice for all the outlanders refused entry into the Pridelands and forced to starve, and to hold the lion monarchy accountable for their atrocities.

the FAMILy

Father • Kujamini
Mother • Kimya
Siblings • Cheche
Mate • None of that til she’s an adult
Offspring • ""
Others • N/A

the role player

Name • Vile
Nickname •
Age • Optional.
Password • In your reflection
Other Characters • Mifupa

roleplay Sample

tw: child death, gore

“Mama! Mama!”

The shrill of a cub’s voice cut over the din of both the roaring flames and lions. Moments ago her ears were full of the cries of her people as the brutes descended on them, killing without discrimination. Mstari briefly saw a clanmate get shoved by one of the monsters, tumble threw the air off the edge of the rock, and vanish into the fire with a plume of ash.

But nothing, nothing, wrenched her gut more than hearing her baby sister wail out for Mama.

Mstari was drawn out of her hiding place. She knew a lion would kill her if she saw her, but she had to get to her sister. The dismayed howls continued and became louder as Mstari closed in, all the other screams for help just white noise.

“Mama! Mama!”

Mstari rounded the corner, and saw Cheche in an open space. She was pawing at something shiny and red.

“Mama!!”

It took Mstari a few seconds before she recognized the blue fur interspersed among flesh and bone.

...Mama.

Cheche tried to get the mangled former hyena to run with her. She acted as if she didn’t know Mama was dead, but Mstari saw in her sister’s blearing eyes and heard in her strained crying that Cheche knew she was gone, but didn’t want to leave her. Mama should be buried, honored like all the dead, but Mstari knew there was no time; the lions could—

Something was coming through the smoke. The shape was large, pale. It was a lioness. Adrenaline flooded Mstari’s legs but she was too late. Cries for Mama devolved into distorted screams as the paw came down.. and just kept coming down. The cub tried to escape, but each new bludgeon made her moves less coordinated, jolting. Clear tears were thrown from her miserable face. The paw just kept striking her, and striking her, and striking her. Cheche was slow, wet, barely murmuring, but the lioness just wouldn’t stop. The cub only thumped dully on the ground as the paw kept coming, whitish thick matter was starting to spatter from her skull. The cub wasn’t even a cub anymore, just fur and red, when it finally stopped.

Mstari hasn’t even realized she was crying. The lioness left the fur behind and came running. Mstari’s throat hurt and convulsed with sobs but she knew she must run. Lungs burned but she had to escape, for the good of her family.

As she fled, over the slaughter, she heard Pride Lander jeers:

“Scavengers!”

Lairs.

“There’s no place for your kind here!”

Specieists.

“Cub killers!”

Hypocrites.

“It was the hyenas— it was all their idea—“

TRAITOR. 

The river bank was coming up. The shadowlands were on the other side. Mstari lept. She felt her body become weightless, then suddenly her feet hit the hard ground. She cleared the river. She was vaguely aware of the lioness falling into the river and then the lowing of crocodiles. If the lioness ever got out didn’t register to Mstari. The yearling collapsed, unable to control her sobs. Her head was throbbing and her throat was raw. Her mind was consumed with her sister’s wails:

Mama.

Mama.


WORDS: 521