Uma: "Bite", "Sting" OR "Ache", "Hurt", "Pain"
Pride Affiliation: King's Daggers
Generation: 5
Voice Actor: Joanna Miles (Judge Evelyn McGruder in "Judge Dredd")
Relations: Daughter to Jemadari, Tumika; sister to Kanali, Bomani; mate to Sôllôrô; mother to Alfajiri, Galaka, Ledimo

Uma is raised by her mother to be a powerful force within the King’s Daggers pride, and her unique blend of physical power, rationality, and honor make her rise quickly through the ranks. When her father, the General Jemadari finally succumbs to his doubts about the murdering of royalty, and refuses to kill again – instead choosing to take one of those very Princes he was to kill as a sort-of-lover – the pride turns its eyes to who is better to take the aged lion’s place at their head as the next General. Several of his sons seem to fit the bill, but Uma steps up and throws her name into pool of options. Some wonder if a lioness is truly going to be able to hold her own in the brute strength category, but none doubt her mental readiness for the monumental responsibility she wishes to claim. Uma relieves them all of their doubts when she trounces each and every brother, and then every other individual who tries to take her down. Her cunning and trickery and swiftness make her slip like an eel through claws, jaws, and paws, and training by her mother – one who learned from the finest females of how to best the normally stronger males – has made her a force to be reckoned with. At the end of the day, she stands supreme. All bow to her as the new General.

Having proven once and for all that her father’s views on equality of the sexes are indeed valid, Uma settles down to leading her people on the campaigns that made Jemadari a legend in his own time. She is wickedly cold-hearted when coldness is necessary, and forgiving and gracious when that is the better way. She is no shrinking violet, and no challenge goes unanswered. Only one thing bothers her – her mother’s tales of the Shard Pride. She wonders often how much is true, and how much has been embellished, and there is only one way to find out. Leaving the pride in the care of one of her brothers for a time, Uma slips off to the RockLands, intent on spying out the truth for herself.

Using her Shard Pride coloration to her advantage, she darts in and out of the rocks of that kingdom, snatching glimpses of the pride and its life, and avoiding the border guards. A few times, she thinks she has been spotted, but no one ever confronts her. Thinking they must have either not seen her at all, or that they assume she is one of them, Uma puts the incidents from her mind. But for all her surety at her abilities, the General is no fool – she knows mistakes can happen even to the most sure-footed, and so she does not try and pierce the interior of the lands. This though, limits severely what she can learn, for it would be at the heart of it all that she would see what her mother told her of. Frustrated, Uma decides to take her leave after over a week of spying, promising to herself to return at some point with more of her pride and capture a pride member to get information from – she is not above torture when the need is there.

It is on her way out that she comes upon one of the male border guards, a scarred up thing missing an eye. He is bleeding from several wounds, and panting hard as he fights to scale the rocks to freedom. Biting her lip, Uma weighs the pros and cons of assisting him, and finally opts to give him aid – she doesn’t see any of the other pride members around, and he can give her what information she requires. When the male sees her, he rounds on her, obviously thinking she is one of his pride sent to retrieve him, but she darts out of reach, calling out softly that she is no threat to him.

“I am not from here, though I look it,” she tells him, “and I would free you from this place if you would let me.” After a bit of hesitation, the male checks his aggression and allows Uma to come close enough to help him climb.

Once out of the RockLands, Uma leads the male back to her pride, where she proceeds to grill him for answers she requires – but she does it gently, for she has no wish to further damage an already wrongfully damaged lion. He answers her questions, telling her of how the Shard Pride is set up, and giving numbers as to its forces. Uma is not pleased with those answers, for they tell a tale of a massive pride, all of whom are battle-ready and willing to die to see their enemies vanquished. This is not like the other kingdoms the pride has ‘dealt with’. No, this pride would have to be obliterated, from top to bottom, and would take more lives than could be spared, if not all of them – and even then it might not be enough to win. It’s not worth it. Her mother’s dream of seeing her birth pride fallen will have to remain a dream.

Having made her decision, Uma puts forever from her mind all notions of the Shard Pride’s demise. Once her mind is set on a course, she will not deviate from it, and even her mother cannot sway her on this. Her peoples’ lives are worth more than for wasting on a suicide campaign.

The male she rescued, who calls himself Sôllôrô, takes to following her around, seemingly obsessed with his savior. He swears to do all she asks, forever, if she will allow it, and cringes like a kicked puppy when she frowns. She hates seeing one brought so low as that, and so she offers to let him help. Everyone in her pride is an individual and has a say – there are no slaves here, no matter what he has been taught before his coming here. He is free. He needs to learn that.

And he seems to. He still dogs her heels, but he grows to have words of his own, a mind behind that cycloptic face. He even comes to argue with her over decisions she makes when he feels there is a better course of action to be had. And as he develops a personality, Uma comes to see that his scarred visage holds a certain attractive quality to her. He is strong in body – hard and fit – and his wit and cunning is much like her own. He is a tactician, like herself, having had to be to guard the borders of his former home, where one had to know how and when to attack and be able to deal with numbers. Uma finds him… worthy of her. And when she posits a joining between the two of them, Sôllôrô agrees readily – he seems to find her as attractive as she finds him.

They bear three sons together.

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Things beginning to take shape in your minds yes?

Uma, story, and all art © me.
Please do not copy, alter, trace, or reproduce in any way, shape, or form without written permission from me. Thank you.