The woman had gone a bit further west of the lake she had stopped at to see what else was around this area. She was mildly surprised when she came upon the scents of other wolves, a pack if she had to guess. Her fur had been groomed after her swim, and she smelled strongly of mint and rosemary after rolling around in it to get rid of the wet dog smell. Thanks to the herbs, her pack scent had also been masked enough to the point where she no longer smelled of the Abraxas empire, which she supposed was a good thing considering their reputation. She also wasn't as large as the majority of them, so traveling would be easier this time around. She had decided too that taking a few of the herbs she had rolled in might be a good idea, perhaps she could begin some trading for other resources or herbs that she hadn't come across. With that thought in mind, she carefully secured the rabbit pelt that held a variety of herbs, all carefully bundled up together. Mint...rosemary...lavender...watercress...it seemed Boreas was rich in herbs that she knew would be good to bring back home as well, so she made a note to stop by the places she had collected from before returning home.

Turquoise gaze drifted over the invisible barrier that separated pack lands from rogue lands, and she was curious as to which pack this was. Muddied paws carried her a bit closer as she walked several yards from the border, but just close enough to where she could smell if anyone was approaching. So far, the scents she gathered weren't incredibly numerous...a small pack perhaps? Smaller than the Empire, at least. Interesting. She briefly wondered if they would be interested in trading herbs or...other resources. She still had a mind to collect more herbs, but that would wait. Right now she was interested to learn about the pack that sat here. How often did they do patrols? How many healers did they have? While she knew her stuff already, she was interested to know if the mortal healers did things differently then she did. It was a curious thought indeed.

Amos was working on getting out and about and being more productive as a whole. There was no longer an excuse to be anything less than a hard-working, highly productive pack member. Naturally, the first step was to increase the frequency with which he participated in patrols. Eventually he wanted to speak to someone, either Aurielle or Gwenevere, about what sort of schedule they might work out to partner for patrols so they all know who should be where and when. For now he was content to wander atop the wall, scanning the terrain outside the border carefully for signs of anything unusual. He moved at an easy pace, not rushing in order to give himself a good amount of time to eye every detail of the land around him. A hare darted across an open patch of grass before diving into the underbrush. The scent of a doe wafted towards him. Nothing too unusual. Well, that is, until he reached one of the openings in the wall. Up ahead of him on the ground stood a stranger - aha, now that was definitely something out of place. Bending his knees slightly in preparation for leaping off the wall, Amos adopted a more dominant posture, tail flagging up, ears pricking forward while his attention remained almost entirely on the newly arrived stranger. He was pretty darn sure she hadn't actually howled for anyone, so Amos decided to do the honors and loosed a brief call to any nearby packmates to let them know they should be on standby due to this unannounced visitor. Hopping down to the ground, Amos landed neatly and strolled closer, giving her a bright smile and asking "It's a nice day for a stroll isn't it?" Coming to stand a reasonable distance from the woman, who he judged to be roughly the same size as himself and who seemed to smell strongly of herbs in the way only a healer ever did, Amos maintained a friendly but not overly relaxed demeanor. He was still subtly trying to discern for certain if she was alone or not. He didn't catch any other scents but that didn't mean he was positive the woman wasn't going to surprise him. "My name is Amos Allantide. What is it that brings you to the borders of Celestial?" His tone remained friendly, expression soft. It wasn't often that he was the first to arrive on the scene when someone approached. In fact he was pretty sure this was a first. Walk. "Speak!" "Think."

She wasn't patrolling when she heard Amos' call, but rather in her den with the pups. She stilled for a moment as the sound drifted over her, listening carefully, before she told them quite firmly that a severe punishment awaited any of them that left the den after her, and then herself set out at a lope for where the howl had come from. The call to be on standby for a suspicious stranger had immediately brought her protective instincts to the forefront. She had pups in the territory in question - she was going to need to do more than stand by for another call. Besides, she was closer than Aurielle and one of the alphas should be there.

The scene she came across show Amos facing off with a stranger at the break in the wall there. She had only heard the one howl - Amos' - so the stranger sitting upon their border hadn't bothered to call. The behavior was already suspicious, so Gwen sniffed carefully as she moved up to stand next to Amos.

Puzzling, the stranger smelled quite strongly of mint and some other herb that she, not being a healer, couldn't quite place, and beneath that the wet-dog scent of freshly washed fur. Though healers often smelled somewhat of the herbs they worked with on a daily basis, it was in a more vague manner rather than this much scent. This wolf had scented themselves deliberately. Why would anyone go to such length to wash themselves and roll in scents, yet run around with muddy feet? There was more to it than vanity, clearly, and it made Gwen wary enough to look, or rather smell, deeper.

Luckily, pack scent is caused by the combined pheromone secretions of the pack members, and that oily scent didn't simply wash away with a swim. It was still there, masked but not eliminated, clinging to the wet fur beneath the pungent herbs. Unfortunately, that didn't help her at all, since Gwen didn't recognize the scent.

Still,she kept an easy smile on her muzzle as she stopped beside Amos. No need to act suspicious and put a stranger on their guard, after all. "Hello," she added to Amos' greeting. "My name is Gwenevere Adravendi, and I am the Right Wing here in Celestial. It's so fortunate Amos found you. It can be dangerous approaching a pack unannounced. Pack guardians are often quick to take offense when a stranger seems to be skulking around. They can be quite protective, you know." Her voice and posture was friendly and relaxed despite the subtle threat in her words, but her gaze was cool and watchful where it rested on the stranger. She felt no need to repeat Amos' question, though if the answer wasn't satisfactory considering the other anomalies she would be obliged to press the issue.

It didn't take terribly long for someone to take note of her presence. Bright gaze found a young male appearing from the pack side of the border, the words he said amused her. She looked at him for a moment as she seemed to analyze him, taking note of his build and stature. He appeared confident, but did have the backbone to back it up if it came down to it? She supposed that most wolves talked a big game, but few had a bite that matched their bark. Still, it was intriguing to her to see how these mortals acted when one came near their precious borders. And as was expected of a mortal pack, the young male had called for the rest. It was most curious to her...were they afraid of a little old wolf like her? Or were they taking extra precautions of some sort? Or perhaps he wasn't experienced enough on his own to take someone on if they decided she was a hostile threat.

She dipped her head briefly in response to his first question, then soon learned the name of both this young male and the pack he resided in. Celestial eh? She couldn't say she had heard of it. Then again, her knowledge on the packs beyond Auster was limited if not lacking. She hadn't stepped foot outside of Auster much up until recently. As she was about to put her bundle down to respond, another wolf appeared to stand beside him. This one a female, close to her own age and...smelling of pups. She listened as the woman spoke, and it was then that she carefully placed the bundle down at her feet.

"Good morning Amos Allantide and Right-Wing Gwenevere Adravendi of Celestial," She dipped her head to each in turn, "My apologies for not announcing my presence. I didn't want to disturb anyone, you see." She took a relaxed posture, showing she wasn't a threat to them. It wouldn't do any good for her to get torn up out here, would it? Besides, her goal wasn't to pick fights during her wanderings, no. It was mostly to gather and locate herbs and to see how the mortal packs compared to that of the empire. She was truly curious to see if they worked differently. "Pardon my manners, my name is Deya. I'm a healer and traveling trader. I was passing through and I didn't realize there was a pack until a bit ago, I'm not from these lands you see." She looked at each one in turn, an easy smile gracing her features. She didn't doubt that they were suspicious of her, or perhaps they were like that when wolves came to close to their borders in general, so she knew she'd have to be careful. Wary wolves were harder to work with, after all.

It took him a bit longer than Gwen to really study the oddity that was this woman's overly pungent herbal scent, but he did think it odd that she smelled like she'd spent a good while rolling in whatever that was. Hm, maybe he needed to press to learn a bit more about herbs since it took him a good minute to even identify the mint. Had she purposefully decided to practically bathe in herb smell? Odd. Maybe Amos was just being overly cautious now that Gwenevere's appearance had reminded him that her children weren't terribly far off, but either way he was inclined to believe there was something just a bit strange about this woman hanging around by their border. Or, maybe he just wanted to believe that the woman would actually become a source of an interesting tale to tell later. It would be nice if something interesting happened for once - long as it wasn't something bad that would risk the safety of the aforementioned children, of course. Her response that she didn't wish to bother them didn't feel entirely satisfactory to him. Then again, he wasn't a hundred percent sure how long she'd been there before he arrived. Rather than comment on that bit though he'd wait for Gwen's response after replying, "It's wise to be careful around borders, like Gwenevere said, some are keener to attack. There are plenty more packs in these lands, if you're traveling it's best to keep an eye out." Honestly he found it a little suspect that she'd been surprised by bumping into Celestial's border. Someone well traveled ought to be prepared to find a claimed territory here and there, especially in new territory. Although, he'd never been a trader when he was on his own. Perhaps making contact with lots of packs made you a little more inclined to loiter about. Walk. "Speak!" "Think."

Amos followed her lead, making her very glad that he had been the first there rather than someone more prickly like Justice. "A trader?" Gwen inquired politely. If she was a trader, she either didn't trade very much or she'd stashed all her goods elsewhere, because she didn't exactly carry a multitude of items on her. Gwen didn't want to alienate potential trade or allies, but the anomalies that kept cropping up kept her wary. She kept her friendly demeanor, once again thanking her lucky stars that Amos seemed to be inclined towards the same guarded friendliness. "What do you trade, if you don't mind me asking?" She tilted her head, pricked her ears forward and let her tail swing down at her hocks in a relaxed attitude. "I would love to hear more about your travels, as well. Where do you come from?"

She nodded along with the young male's words, just for show at least. Her gentler smile never faltering. "Yes, that was my mistake. I just came from a lake not far from here and went for a swim, but I hate that dreadful wet fur smell, so I rolled in some mint to try and rid myself of it...but unfortunately, I went a little too far and now well, I'm sure you can smell it pretty well. The herbal scents have mostly dulled my sense of smell for the time being," She sighed, "I really should do something about it so this doesn't happen again, I think." She shrugged, turning her attention to Gwenevere then as the woman spoke.

Kas' tail wagged as she perked up, "Indeed! I am a trader! And to answer your questions, I hail from the far Southern lands beyond both Auster and Boreas. I travel around to trade goods and services. Herbs mostly, but I also deal with trinkets, odd finds, furs, human artifacts, and just about anything anyone might find useful. And if someone wants something specific or something that can't be found so easily, I go out and find it. I don't just trade items, however." She sat down, leaving a short pause before continuing. "I also tell stories, information to good prey locations, herb locations, and plenty more." That about covered it, she thought.