Just the day before his niece had approached him with quite a large ask and possibly one of the most unbelievable opportunities that had ever been presented to him and he was still trying to wrap his head around the idea. He had yet to give her a final answer and had asked to have some time to talk about the possibility with Ikigai, but in the mean time he felt like he might need to start prepping his children and preparing for this shift in their life. He started with Damira, taking his intellectual girl out to the firefly lake just to give them both a bit of a change of scenery. He had a lot on his mind, but he put all of that to the side as he settled onto the cushions that covered the small pavilion at the edge of the lake. It was just past noon so it was as warm as it was going to get on this winter day–which was of course still pretty chilly, but not uncomfortable.

He gave Damira a smile as she settled beside him and he posed the question, "Damira, what do you know about the other packs? Do you know which ones are allied with Elysium?" It was perhaps a big topic for someone that was still so young, but age had never stopped his parents for giving him responsibility when he was his daughter's age and he knew Damira had all the makings of being the pack's next diplomat once Ikigai was ready to give up the post–or maybe promoted to something more prominent–so putting the thought in her mind now wasn't a bad idea in his mind.

"Deimos Medacium"

Damira looked up at Deimos, mismatched eyes curious and watchful, her brows furrowed slightly at his question. She knew a little about the world beyond Elysium's borders, and had only really ventured out to watch the pack claim dispute with her family. She'd learned a lot that day though, hadn't had much interest in the fight itself, but watching everyone interact - or more interestingly not interact- had given Damira a lot to think about.

"The Hallows are our allies." Was the easiest response, the quickest that came to mind. Avacyn had gone to a meeting there a while back, so the evidence was pretty plain to see. "The pack on the mountain haven't made any trouble for us. I don't know about the pack to the north, sometimes the wind blows and it reeks of death." He nose wrinkled. And it wasn't the usual smell of a fresh kill, scents that as a wolf she naturally found quite tolerable. But it was the rot and the decay she did not like, natural instincts kicking in to ensure wolves did not consume something that could make them sick.

Even though they didn't speak frequently about the pack's alliances or diplomatic relations around the pups, he knew his daughter was incredibly bright and very observant. He had no doubt that she would have picked up on some context clues and bits of information just from what she was exposed to. As he expected, she listed off The Hallows as one of their allies and he nodded to confirm that was correct. She also made some very good observations about how the mountain pack–which he believed was now called Hemlock–had not made any problems for them and how the pack to the north–The Syndicate–smelled like death. He hummed with agreement, frowning a little at the thought of the pack to the north of them. The fact that they had chosen lands that pressed up against their borders still did not sit well with him, but that wasn't the focus of today's lesson.

"You're right that The Hallows is our ally. The mountain pack you mentioned is called Hemlock and the other calls themselves The Syndicate. I agree that Hemlock has been a fairly good neighbor so far. The Syndicate... is quite smelly," he said with a bit of humor, leaning down to gently ruffle the fur on the top of her head with his nose. "We do have another ally. Valta. Their pack is just on the other side of the thicket south of where we are now. We used to have another ally called Ethne until very recently because the pack's alpha handed it over to their sibling. It's called Polaris now. Our first ally was, of course, Ashen which is where your mother grew up, but Ashen no longer exists." There were constant changes and shifts always happening with the numerous packs across Boreas and Auster and he had to admit that keeping up with it all had never been his strong suit, but he was quickly having to become proficient to prepare for his promotion. "Why do you think it's important for us to keep allies? Or keep up with the changes of other packs at all?" he mused, curious to see how Damira might interpret the idea of diplomacy and its importance.

"Deimos Mendacium"

Absorbing the information like a sponge, Damira was ever the dutiful daughter. Hemlock and The Syndicate, she stored the information away, neatly stacking it for later reference. There was so much she wanted to know and even then she couldn't help but wonder what bits of information might be of use to her down the road. Valta, Polaris and Ashen, it seemed as though the world was in a state of constant change outside the borders of her home. Was change a good thing, she wondered? Growth and seizing potential, or was it better for things to remain solid and strong as they were here, everything maintained rightly, as it should be. She mused it over briefly, before Deimos posed her another question, her mismatched gaze flitting to his face, thoughtful as she considered it all.

She firmly believed they were strong enough alone, that their family had prevailed for a reason, that in their case allies were certainly not required, but useful to have all the same.

"For trade." Was her first thought, of course they had plenty of resources at their disposal and the means to gather them when needed, but even Damira realised that say if she wanted a new leopard pelt, she wouldn't find such a creature in this part of Boreas. "To maintain a known presence." Was her second line of thought, one she was quick to expand upon. "Not just as a show of strength to prove we are more than capable of holding our own, should we need to, but to know things too. Helping an ally in need would mean they would owe us. And if our allies were on the losing side, it might be beneficial to change alliances."

Deimos was forever impressed with the insight his children managed to have despite their young age. Damira in particular seemed to really understand what she learned and that showed particularly well as she gave her ideas for why having alliances could be important. He nodded while she listed off the possibility of trade, the need to be known and to know, the possibility of having an ally owe them something in return for helping them, and even mentioning how it could be beneficial to change alliances if their ally was on the losing side. He smiled proudly at her wisdom beyond her years and gently nuzzled the top of her head. "Very good, my girl. You're a natural."

But, of course, there was some nuance to all things that only came from years of experience and seeing how things played out around them. "While I do agree that it can be beneficial to change sides at times if you find yourself allied with the losing side, there is something to be said about loyalty as well. If you're constantly changing your allegiance to follow the fair weather you'll end up with no one. Other's trust in your word will lose its meaning." He hoped he wasn't making the concept too big for her to understand, but he had a feeling that if anyone would follow what he was saying it would be Damira.

"That's one of the reasons why it's so important to be sure of who you're aligning yourself with from the beginning. For example... Ashen was one of the larger packs on Boreas and had several other strong packs allied with them already when your aunt Manea was looking to found Elysium. That was why Manea began building a relationship with Ashen well before she founded our pack so that when the time came to begin looking for alliances she already had one friend to call on and in turn had a much better chance of building relationships with the other packs that Ashen was allied with. Even now that Ashen is gone, we are still on good terms with packs that had been a part of this larger agreement so we have other groups to trade and train with as well as allies that can help us defend from less savory packs."

"Deimos Mendacium"

Damira supposed that made sense. Whilst she saw no merit in supporting the underdog, she could also recognise how it would make a pack look if their alliances were constantly shifting. Making them seem untrustworthy, unpredictable. She pursed her lips, mismatched eyes squinting in consideration. It made her wonder, she would always be intent on serving her own and Elysium's best interests, but how to best go about it? If a ship was sinking, she saw no reason to stay on board because everyone else was. She saw no reason not to remain allies with those who remained of Ashen, if nothing else, they were her kin and family too, so they deserved some degree of loyalty and leniency from that alone.

"What packs do you think are not worth allying with?" She asked then, thinking it would be smart to know which to be wary of. Not just because of antagonistic behaviour, but also because there would be very little gained from said commincations.

He was of course always impressed and thought the world of his children, but even if Damira wasn't his daughter he would still be impressed with her natural insight. He couldn't help but chuckle at her question of who he thought were not worth being allies with. It felt like a very loaded question and if it was coming from someone who wasn't a pup that maybe didn't understand the slight that kind of question could be perceived as then he probably would have hesitated more in answering, but he also understood that she was approaching the question from a very logical point of view. Who was worth their time and their loyalty? Who had something to offer, but that they could also offer something in return?

"I have my doubts that it is worth trying to forge another alliance with Polaris. We gained very little from the relationship while they were known as Ethne," he replied honestly. He knew that Avacyn had been fairly close friends with the alpha before it changed hands, but he saw little return on that alliance. "The Syndicate seems to be quite dangerous and not aligned with how we approach the world–to put it lightly–and even if they were I wouldn't want to put my name behind a group that has declared themselves an enemy of The Hallows. I would not want to be on their side of that fight." That was barely scratching the surface, but he didn't need to get into the gory details with his daughter. "There's several other packs that we've had very little interaction with or they seem so small or reclusive that they haven't made much of an impact from what I've seen. I would be willing to explore what they have to offer if the opportunity ever arose, but I'm not sure I would seek them out."

"On the opposite side of that..." he added after a moment of thought, "The packs that we haven't been allied with yet that I would like to look into more are Armada, Raiders Hollow, and Tojo-kai. They're groups that I've heard plenty about and seem well established, but we haven't crossed paths very much for one reason or another. Hopefully that can change soon, but I wouldn't want to spread ourselves too thin either." If they were allies with too many packs there was a higher chance that there could be conflicts of interest at some point or that they would struggle to keep up with that many routes of trade. As much as he wanted to be selective with who they aligned themselves with, he also wanted to make sure they had plenty to offer. Loyalty was a two-way street.

"Deimos Mendacium"