As part of their time visiting the Armada up north, the one thing Artorias truly wanted to do was get to explore many of the lands he hadn't gotten a chance to set foot in yet. His ever faithful traveling companion, Briar had encouraged his enthusiasm to explore, offering to take a jaunt around the northern territories with him so he could map them out and get a better grasp on Boreas' landmarks. One of those major ones included the giant beached freighter ship along the frozen northern coast. The last time Artorias had been here, the land had been firmly held by the failing Incendium pack, and he and Ulric's attempts at diplomacy with them had gone ignored. Now, armed with the knowledge of Incendium's dissolving, he had all the freedom he needed to wander where he pleased.

The two wolves approached the territory from the south, and after taking a moment to sniff for any signs of danger or other packs and finding nothing, Artorias crossed the field of ice that held the giant rusting ship firmly in place where it had run aground ages ago. The azure and onyx brute let out a sharp whistle of amazement while he walked closer to the wreckage, excited amber eyes flashing as he drank in the amazing sight before him. "Wow! Check it out!" He turned his head to grin at Briar. "I wasn't able to get this close to it before when I was up here with Ulric. Incendium still had it in its hold," he explained, looking about to try and find a way to get inside to poke about, the ever intrepid explorer he was!

"Artorias Carpathius"

After their last venture out into the northern territories, Briar made the wise call of borrowing a coat from the Armada and as they headed out into the northern tundra she had a snow leopard coat draped around her shoulders to keep her warm. It at least made the northern climate more tolerable and let her focus on enjoying the trip with Artorias much more easily. Art had his sights set on a frozen over ship this time around which took them further north into a frozen field of ice. Seeing the excitement and interest in her husband's face was always worth whatever kind of journey they went on and as they neared the ship and his eyes lit up with eager, puppy like excitement she couldn't help but grin. She nodded as he explained how this had been held by the former pack Incindium at one point so he hadn't gotten to really explore it the last time he was up this way. "Well, it looks like we have the run of the place right now," she commented. Perhaps it would only be a matter of time before some other brave pack decided to make use of the structure and claim it for themselves, but for now it remained unclaimed. It certainly wouldn't be her first choice of a home, but everyone had their own preferences.

"Artorias & Briar Carpathius"

While Artorias' thicker coat helped keep him warm from the colder weather and buffeted him against the wind, he was glad to see Briar had the forethought to grab a coat to bring with her on their trip this time. As much as he loved exploring, he didn't enjoy it knowing it was coming at the expense of his mate's comfort. He'd almost insisted on going alone or with someone else after he'd seen how much the weather had affected her during their trip to the gorge, but never one to be beaten, Briar staunchly refused, and off they went with his queen swaddled in her warm, protective clothing.

Briar commented on how they had the run of the ship for now, and Art responded with a wide, toothy grin and an excited wag of his tail. "Yeah we do! C'mon, let's see if we can find a way inside." The obsidian and sapphire wolf led the way around the perimeter of the ship, gazing around for any sort of entrance they could use to get into the rusting metal structure. Wolves had lived here before, which meant there had to be a way inside. No one would willingly choose to live here if the structure didn't offer some sort of shelter. Artorias found his entryway in the form of an open door on the hull of the beached ship, and motioned for Briar to follow him with a nudge of his shoulder and twist of his head.

Stepping through the hatch into the ship, Artorias was struck by just how silent the remains of the vessel were. His paws thudded on the old metal floors, his claws rapping against them, the sound echoing down the abandoned corridors. The smell of must and salt permeated the air, and much of the ship's metal surfaces was rusting away thanks to the high content of sodium in the sea air. Artorias led the way through the dimly lit passageways, light from the outside spilling in from portholes or other holes broken through the ship's hull. Even in the darkest of spaces, the Aegis' enhanced vision permitted him near-perfect night vision, allowing him to see the faded symbols and strange characters painted on the walls and doors. He didn't know what they meant, so he simply followed the arrows down corridors and up staircases that creaked with a metallic wail.

After some time, he followed his nose to fresh air, and the two wolves emerged on the main deck of the ship, gazing out across the expansive space of metal and over the edges to the vast north around them. "Whoa..." Artorias murmured, wandering about as he drank in the incredible sights.

"Artorias Carpathius"

Briar nodded in agreement and grinned at her husband's excitement as he lead them forward to find a way inside the abandoned ship. She was on the same train of thought as him over the fact that there had to be a way in if wolves had previously lived here. She knew this used to be the site of a pack at one point and surely no one would live out here on the icy tundra without some sort of shelter or structure to make it worth doing so. Sure enough, Artorias found an open doorway that was within their reach here on the surface of the thick ice and she nodded at his directing to follow him. She stepped into the large metal structure with curiosity, her turquoise gaze roaming over the unusual walls and peeking into slender doorways as they passed them. She had never seen something like this, but the straight and even spacing of everything and the very squared off floor and ceiling to this place reminded her of the castle. She had an inkling that who or whatever had built the castle many, many years ago must have had some kind of hand in this strange structure as well.

It was quite dark in the ship with no fires or anything lit in here due to the fact that it was currently not in use so she stuck close to Artorias and followed his lead until they finally found a staircase that led them upward toward the deck of the ship. Every part of the ship seemed to creak or clang with a metallic noise wherever they moved and she had a hard time imagining living here with all this noise all the time. Clearly someone had done it at least once and perhaps someone would again, but it was strange to her all the same. Eventually they reached an opening that brought them out onto the deck and back out into the bright light of day, revealing the view from the top of the ship. She had to blink her eyes a few times to adjust to the change in light, but once she did and she could see out over the great expanse of tundra she could see what Art was so amazed by. With an awed grin she stepped over to the railing and looked out over the landscape for a time, taking it all in and tugging her coat a little tighter around her.

"Artorias & Briar Carpathius"

While Artorias took in the vast landscape all around them, he noted Briar coming up to his side to enjoy the views from their vantage point as well. Being this high up with clear, flat icy land all around them, one could see for miles around. It reminded him of their castle's walls and tower, able to see from one end of the Hallows to the other with ease. It made sense why this structure would be chosen by a pack; it offered a great defensible position against invading forces. "Everything here is so... geometric. Perfect," he noted in observation, looking around the deck of the ship again to the perfectly straight bridge rising above them from the deck, to the impeccably straight lines of the deck from bow to stern. "I wonder what it was used for..." The concept of ships wasn't unfamiliar to Artorias, but this one felt significantly different from the pirate ship he and Bowen had explored some seasons ago.

Turning his gaze back around, he noticed from the corner of his eye as Briar pulled her coat tighter around herself. A sudden gust of wind from their higher position on the open deck made him realize just how exposed to the elements they were up here. Realization dawned on his features. Giving his wife a gentle smile, he moved to nuzzle her neck and usher her back towards the way they'd come. "C'mon, let's start making our way back out. We've still got more to see." Secretly, it was Art's way of making sure he didn't make Briar too uncomfortable when she was the one going out of her way to explore these places with him. He'd be sure to thoroughly thaw her out once they got back to the Armada.

"Artorias Carpathius"