Aurielle Adravendi

She’d had a good chat with Ulric. It was good to meet more Adravendis, and it heartened her to know that Leo had many grandkids out there, more than the few she’d met—alright, the one she’d met, Elizabeth. But the girl had mentioned siblings. Ulric came from a different daughter of Leo. And that daughter still lived. Perhaps they’d meet at some point. She padded slowly toward the feasting place, an easy grace in her step, and a smile on her features as she passed a few stalls. Most of the trade stalls open were those of the Nomads, including a stall tended by a seamstress. The woman had actually been the one to suggest the silk and cut for Cairo’s dress armor. It had turned out beautifully, and the young man looked absolutely dashing in it. A flashing grin crossed her features as she thought of how he’d react when he learned what the sigils that pinned the sash and other shoulder stood for. It had been a decision she’d not made lightly, but in her heart and her gut, she knew t was the right one. She paused at a perfume stand, lit by jars of fireflies and various glowing fungi, grinning at the Nomad as she perused the bottles, carefully sniffing the tiny strips of cloth that had been lightly dabbed with the bottle’s scent and tied around it. Overall, the stall was a glorious explosion of smells that danced and sometimes clashed together on the air. “I think you’ll like this one, it’s a mix of peppermint and vanilla.” The snow-faced Nomad smiled at her, nodding to a bottle with a white cloth dyed green. Aurielle smiled, sniffing delicately and nodding. “It definitely would cut down on the effort each year.” A laugh from the Nomad. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Labhair an Sean-Teanga." ---- "Hear" ---- Think

Eligos had left Cypher and Kida to explore on their own while he'd ghosted through the festival night alone. He knew he was in the mood to brood, and didn't want to make the pups feel like they had to do the same. Let them go be pups for a while without his mood bringing them down. This time of night the trade stalls were quiet and relatively dark, which certainly suited him right now. He gave the trade goods cursory glances as he passed, and his disinterest and his posture told the traders well enough that he was not a potential customer, and they did no more than exchange polite nods or quiet words of greeting with him, if anything.

But he wasn't the only wolf passing among the shops tonight, and the other was a lot more easily recognizable than he himself was in the dark. Aurielle, with her glow, could not be missed where she browsed a scent-seller's wares. Eligos, with his own dark, striped fur might be, except for the glare on his eyes where the light hit. He paused, cognizant that he could simply go past without being noticed if he wished, and avoid the possibly onerous task of diplomacy in the mood he was in.

He wasn't even fully aware he had made a decision until he stepped up beside the other alpha. "Good evening, Aurielle," he greeted her levelly, his voice low and soft.

Aurielle Adravendi

Paw steps caught her attention as they paused, just before Eligos spoke and she turned to smile at him with her easy nature, glancing and noting that his two young dogs had gone to explore, perhaps. Her eyes roved him, noting the signs that he’d been in a fight, and thinking back over the faint sounds of battle she’d caught from the direction of Aerie’s lands. She hadn’t missed the chilly glance he’d flicked toward Zee at the Opening, or the way one of the pups had stared at her, and the other had refused to look at her... “Eligos. How is the evening finding you? The feast will be soon.” Her tones were low and relaxed, as she turned briefly to exchange with the Nomad trader for the perfume before adding more softly, “I heard battle… Raid?” Her eyes flashed to his features as she tilted her head in a mute offer to walk along the tents. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Labhair an Sean-Teanga." ---- "Hear" ---- Think

Aurielle turned to him as he stepped into the light provided by the booth and spoke. He nodded gravely in return at her own words. "Kind of you to arrange for the meal," he said. "I am certain it will not go unappreciated." Otherwise, he politely remained quite while she spoke to the trader, only to stiffen slightly when she directed quiet words his way. Despite the sudden tension that gathered in a dark cloud around him, his expression remained calm and neutral, not changing. He fell into step beside her obligingly and was quiet for a long moment, watching the darkness in front of them. "Yes," he finally answered softly. "It seems that the Armada wished to..." he paused a moment before continuing, his voice faintly wry, "frighten us into never taking a contract against them." A beat of quiet, and in a low, gravelly tone he growled, "They invaded our home and sent children against us. What were we to do, roll over and show our bellies? Let them take what they wanted without punishment, while my brother lies ill and his pups were vulnerable?" With an effort of will, he smoothed the snarl from his muzzle and dampened the flames in his eyes, swallowing down the anger though he felt he'd choke on it. He hadn't intended to say what he had, but the words had been there, behind his teeth since the raid, waiting to tumble free. His brooding that night had only served to bring them bubbling closer, and Aurielle was only a convenient set of ears. But, she was a set of ears attached to the alpha of a potential enemy, and he needed to pull back. He made himself shrug, and forced his voice back to a cool, quiet level. "We were outmatched this time. It was an impossible fight."

Aurielle Adravendi

She listened as they walked, and as she let him finish, she spotted the tent she wanted and nodded toward it. Inside it was comfortably furnished in wolf-friendly trappings, even seats carved by the Nomads’ companions, and she nodded to one low “chaise”, offering a seat as she moved to run a thin cedar stick through a low tallow candle flame, lighting another taper before Ayodele came and set a yellow and blue-dyed, thin pig skin shade over it, setting the newly lit lantern outside the tent flap. It was a nonverbal warning to keep prying ears away, and outside the Nomads shifted easily as though the tend were full of goods to sell, hawking their wares a little louder, and drowning out any words to follow. Finally, she sighed and moved to settle on the other chaise, stretching her toes in the thick bear fur draped over it before fixing him with a studious look. The fury of an invasion, especially when it was from a wholly unexpected pack, was not an unfamiliar one to the pack she now led. Much of the fury had faded over time, to be replaced by a sense of utter disappointment in the alpha that had chosen to raid instead of trade for what he needed, or thought he needed, for Talis. Her tail flicked, sending the wealth of long hair trailing off the edge of the furnishings as her paws crossed elegantly. “In some ways, I’m not surprised he’d bring children to the raid. I am rather surprised they would pick a small pack to raid.” Her head cocked as she studied her words before she spoke them. “It won’t always be an impossible fight. With more training, and perhaps more paws-on experience, even a small pack is a formidable one. And… though it may damn me in the long run, I have a proposal.” Her eyes flicked up from her paws, direct and patient, “That is, if you would be interested.” It was an unforeseen opportunity, and a possibility that could benefit both packs if Eligos was agreeable. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Labhair an Sean-Teanga." ---- "Hear" ---- Think

Aurielle listened silently to his words, before gesturing for a particular dwelling. Silent now himself, Eligos was wary but allowed himself to be led within. He was surprised to find it furnished with human-like furniture, much like those he'd seen growing up on the southern continent but new and clearly built for a wolf's comfort rather than a human. Watching Aurielle curiously now as she moved about the dwelling, he carefully reclined on the seat she offered him as she and her primate companion moved a lit lantern to the outside of the tent. Immediately the night sounds outside changed, and his ears pricked up in attentive interest. A signal, of sorts? He was intrigued despite the lingering broodiness, and his red eyes followed her as Aurielle settled onto another of the furnishings. "Sirius seemed dissatisfied with the way those children were treated when they chose to invade another pack," he murmured. "And his wife did not satisfy with her answer as to why they had chosen us, either. It seems we were an object lesson, rather than necessity." He shifted, brought his head up to lay sphinx-like, attentively, as she continued.

"I would make a poor mercenary if I weren't interested," he told her somewhat dryly, ignoring her comment about it possibly damning her. No one, it seemed, understood that if - when - his pack faced them to fulfill a contract, it would not be personal but professional, and they would act accordingly. If they lost to Aerie, they would lose only as much as the contract called for and nothing more. It would do little good to explain, so he simply pushed it aside. "What do you propose?"

Aurielle Adravendi

She had to cough out a soft laugh of surprise at his remark. “You cannot give your children that huge responsibility – the responsibility of an adult in a battle – and get defensive if a defending pack wolf rips them apart. I’ve met two of those pups, his heirs. Day and night. One insulted me on first sight. The other was polite and curious… But they are both quite large, and easy to mistake for adults by now. One of them is present at the festival right now, in fact. He’s certainly grown even bigger than he already was at that point.” She was vague with her details. Cautiously, she halfway liked Sirius. He was strong, and his adopted daughter Malalia and Cairo had become fast, close friends, and they had treated Cairo well in his time at the Armada. They were also not allied. She wouldn’t pry information from Cairo, nor would she give much of what she already knew to other pack alphas’ ears. They weren’t allied to Aerie, either, and likely would never be allied. At most, they would be trading partners. And tonight could very well be the night the first trade was born, depending on whether Eligos liked this idea. Her lips quirked in a smile as she stated simply, “Raiding. Between Valhalla and Aerie. It would be practice, for both packs, and help show us where we need work on our defenses. Aerie would get practice in attack, which would lend well to any future mercenary ventures that involve such. Perhaps, by the next time someone decides Aerie is a possible profit to raid for, your pack will have become practiced at defending against a raid.” Unspoken, but obvious, was that Valhalla, too, would also have been able to grow its skill in its members… and perhaps, it would be able to grow its borders. She had a few lands in mind she would like to gain. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Labhair an Sean-Teanga." ---- "Hear" ---- Think

"Yes, I'd noticed," was all he said in reply to her comments about Sirius' children, though he didn't specify which part exactly. He kept his voice softly neutral, without any particular emphasis, and let the subject drop. He had told her all he intended to - he shouldn't need to make a specific warning for her to watch her back around the armada, because it was unlikely a fool would have made it so long as an alpha. And if a fool had, well, then Valhalla would suffer the consequences, not he.

A brow quirked in silent query at the start of her explanation. Raiding? Well, considering the mauling his pack had just had, he was wary of starting anything so soon, even if someone wanted to hire him to do so... but her continued proposal was intriguing. "Training raids," he mused aloud, a thread of interest feathering through his tone. "Yes, that would certainly benefit the skills of both Aerie and Valhalla." Of course, it would also make it more difficult for Aerie in the event that they were hired to work against Valhalla, because the Valhallans would know his wolves' strengths and weaknesses to an extent he wasn't particularly certain he was comfortable with.

He rubbed one paw over the other in thought, his blood-red gaze lingering on her opaquely. While he was chary of the possible outcomes of a long-term trade for raids back and forth between the packs, he couldn't deny the strong pull the idea had on him. It would give Aerie the opportunity for the sort of training that could only be gained in real world combat, without the long-term debilitating consequences that could come from a real raid... Aureus' maimed toes were proof enough of the danger even to a master fighter. It would be a safe opportunity to test his wolves, as fighters and as leaders, allowing others to lead raids without damage to anything but their pride. "I admit it is an intriguing proposal," he finally said aloud. "I would of course need more detail before I would be willing to lock my wolves into a Contract... we keep our word, when we've agreed to something, and I have no wish to agree to something that holds us to unspecified and unlimited possibilities." Now came the haggling, the details, the trade. In many ways negotiation was a bloodless battle, or rather a battle with the possibility of blood long deferred. It appealed to the warrior and the scholar in him, and he wondered suddenly and wistfully what his father had thought of it.

Aurielle Adravendi

Eligos seemed interested, and she quelled the urge to hold her breath as she waited patiently for him to think it over. Haggling, something she’d been trained from birth to do. A slight smile bloomed on her features as she cocked her head. “It could be a trial run, to start. No maims, of course, and whomever comes out victorious will have the option to claim spoils... What do you say to one raid from each side as a start? See how it works out?” She shifted her weight on the chaise, front paws flexing, toes apart. She’d been on her feet a great deal, even more than her usual daily life. From planning the festival, to helping the Nomads set it up, and the tents and yurts and chasing down rambunctious, excited children, her paws were on the edge of throbbing. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Labhair an Sean-Teanga." ---- "Hear" ---- Think

Eligos gave it a moment of thought, what he could get from Valhalla's lands to make it worthwhile, but frankly he came up empty. Short of knowing what actual goods they kept in their dens, there was little that would have actually interested him enough to raid without the trade. "Any 'spoils' that would be immediately available to either of us would not be anything we don't have in our own respective pack lands, so I propose a symbolic trophy of sorts. Like the game pups play, capture the flag. The goal is to bring back the other pack's 'flag' while defending yours from them. The winner, I suppose, gets to keep the 'flag' and... bragging rights." He tilted his head slightly with the faintest smile, inviting her to add her opinion one way or another.

Aurielle Adravendi

Her ears flicked forward as Eligos spoke, and a slow grin spread over her features, clear approval. “Oh, I like that. Harmless, and fun, and won’t jeopardize resources if another unexpected cataclysm befalls the land. It could even mean having some fun during the winter, and I’m pretty sure I have fabrics laying around that would make a literal flag.” And even if she hadn’t, the Nomads would gladly trade some with her. She stretched, tail flicking to cover her paws as her head cocked toward the hubbub of festive atmosphere as she asked, “Any preference of when to start?” She was alright with waiting or starting as soon as the festival was done. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Labhair an Sean-Teanga." ---- "Hear" ---- Think

He nodded his head at her offer to figure something out with cloth of some sort to make an actual flag. Yes, that would be best for this exercise. Something easily seen and taken without any sort of fuss or spending an unseemly amount of time on the other pack's territory looking for it, and as they were neighboring packs it was something that would be easily seen by the losing pack any time they looked into the winning pack's territory, giving the incentive to work harder. "I would prefer to wait long enough to be certain that my wolves are rested and healed before tumbling them into another raid, even a training raid. We may well wish to hold off until autumn or even winter to ensure that it does not take our attention away from harvest season."