Azure was taking his temporary role as warlord extremely seriously. While Sirius shared power with him, his role in leadership had been more hands on things such as training, combat, hunting and the like. His father had always handled the diplomacy side of things; peace talks, alliances, and other important meetings. Now that he did not have the ageing direwolf over his shoulder, Azure intended to make up for his lack of knowledge on certain other packs and alphas, to ensure that he had the full picture when protecting or making decisions on behalf of the Armada.

Squeezing between the borders of the lake and the rock garden, Azure moved toward the strip of sand that connected Alias Island to the mainland during low tide. It was a defensible position, a good choice for a home. He would not intrude on their territory - even if enough time would make the route no longer walkable - and instead tipped back his head to call for the alpha of this land. Hopefully they would invite him in, and he could see how reasonable Sirius' good first impression of them had been.

"Speech"

It wasn't all that often that she received calls from the border, but when she did she was always eager and curious to see who it was that had come knocking. The howl was a bit closer than she was used to since most usually waited on the other side of the rock garden for her so she was mildly concerned that the wolf in question had intruded without warning, but if they had then why would they be announcing themselves? Interested, she rose from where she was laying to trot out toward the thin bar of sand that conencted the island to the mainland and as she strode across to the shore on the other side she spotted the dark figure that was waiting on her—a massive brute that matched the other dire-sized males she had come across around these lands like her husband and Artorias. For a moment she hoped that perhaps she'd be able to snag another capable warrior for her ranks, at least she did until she caught the heavy pack scent of Armada on mingled in with his own and noticed the distinctive markings across his face that mirrored one Sirius Fatalis.

She grinned slightly as she approached him, her aqua gaze giving him an apprasing once over. "You must be one of Sirius' brood, hm?" she questioned though she already knew the answer. It did make her wonder just how many children the Fatalis patriarch had. Already she had managed to come across quite a few without even trying to seek them out herself. She chuckled softly and nodded for him to follow, saying, "Please, come in. We can walk and talk." Once he had fallen in step beside her as they made their way onto the island proper, she added, "I'm Manea Mendacium, the Matriarch of Elysium. And who might you be?" keeping a curious gaze on him out of the corner of her eye. His gifts were a bit more obvious and ostentatious than his father's—the long fangs inherited from Sirius, the noticeable spurs of bone that she had spotted when she approached him, and his larger, bear-like paws not unlike the ones her own brother possessed. The Fatalis blood line did certainly peek her interest if nothing else.

"Manea Mendacium"

The alpha met him promptly and Azure had a lot to look on even as she approached. Patterned in a way that was reminiscent of the night and stars, painted with a familiar purple that made his heart lurch even as he knew that she had no relation to Indigo. His lips downturned in a faint frown at the memory, but he regained his composure as she made her way the remainder down the sand strip and toward him. The mutations upon her crown were abruptly noticeable as he swept his gaze across her, the serrated ridges only adding to the picture of strength she already radiated. An appropriate looking alpha, for an appropriately well located home. "Is it that noticeable?" Amusement in his tone, Azure craned his head downward to look himself over briefly as if he could find the resemblance somewhere. Accepting her offer to walk and talk, he fell into step beside her.

"Well, you would be right. I am Azure Fatalis, son of Sirius Fatalis and reigning Warlord of the Armada. My father sends his greetings." In fact Sirius had no idea he was off this way, but it sounded like an appropriate thing to say. Perhaps he should have forewarned his father in case there was business to be had with the Mendacium family, but.. well, Azure hadn't considered past the meet and greet itself. "Sirius has temporarily stepped down from his throne to support his wife through their latest litter. While the responsibilities of the Armada falls now on my shoulders, I figured I should come greet you properly." Inclining his head while they walked, he took in the massive island before them.

"Speech"

Manea could only chuckle as Azure questioned if his relation to the Warlord was noticeable, giving him another glance. Perhaps if it wasn't for the slashing markings over one eye and the bands of white that stretched from one hip to another and the long, saber-like fangs then maybe she could have thought of him as any other tall, dark, and handsome brute, but there were just too many indicators of his lineage for to think otherwise. As they started the brief walk across the land bridge to the island on the other side, he introduced himself as Azure Fatalis, confirming her suspicions, and then surprised her surprised her when he told her that he was the current Warlord of Armada. She had noticed that Sirius was a bit older than herself when she met him, but she hadn't imagined that he would be retiring so soon. She gave a nod to the greetings that he shared from his father, a small smile tugging at her lips. "Please give him my regards in return when you get back." She hadn't spent a lot of time around Sirius, but she did quite enjoy the intellectual conversation they had shared when they first met and had always had a positive image of the Fatalis man ever since. His children had continued to impress her as well and one's family did certainly weigh on her impression of them.

As they neared the beach, Azure went on to explain what had pulled Sirius away from his duties, and Manea's ears perked at the news that he had stepped down to support his wife in her pregnancy. News of pups was always welcome news to her and she grinned with a gentle wag of her tail. Azure seemed to be taking well to the role that had been placed upon him, at least from what she had seen in the short time with him so far, so at least she was assured that the Armada was in good paws in his father's absence. "Well, it sounds like congratulations are in order. I hope your mother has a smooth and easy pregnancy." She had experienced both sides of the spectrum when it came to her own pregnancies between her first which had been nearly enjoyable and the second which had been far more draining. Though she hadn't met Sirius' wife, she did hope this was more akin to the latter for her.

Stepping onto the sandy, slightly rocky shore of the island, Manea curved their path along the shore toward the mountain range where the pack made most of their dens. Her pace was leisurely as they went so they could speak easily, but she did have a destination in mind once they drew closer to the mountains and the caves that dotted them. "Other than the imminent arrival of your youngest siblings, how is Armada? I'm afraid I haven't made it over to visit recently. I noticed that your pack had moved away from the plains on my last visit to Ashen." She kept her gaze mostly on the path ahead of them, but occasionally as they chatted she did glance toward him to see his expressions or just to make eye contact as they talked.

"Manea Mendacium"

Manea returned the pleasantries, asking Azure to pass on her regards and he nodded as he assumed he was expected to, giving a "I will." for good measure. Man, had diplomacy always been so cut and dry? It was definitely not the scarred man's forte. Continuing nearer to the beach the conversation progressed, and Azure gave a small chuckle as she wished his mother an easy pregnancy. "From what I'm told, it's a larger litter than anyone could have anticipated. I'll pass on your wishes - I know large litters can be dangerous, hopefully with enough luck they will get through it smoothly." Truthfully even Az hoped it would go well; he was a monster, but even he did not wish death upon his mother nor his unborn siblings (no matter how disappointing and Ophelia-like they may be)

"The Armada is thriving in it's new home. We've claimed the mountain range just west of the battlefield." He explained in turn. "Leaving Ashen behind was a downside for sure, but it was time for us to grow some independence and break free a bit, I think. I was tired of neighbours." Remembering Menagerie and the alpha Sirius had taken in under his wing, Azure grimaced. Wren had set her pack up right next door, but remained there only a matter of days. He wondered why, but in truth preferred it this way. They could have the decaying ship, Azure enjoyed not feeling penned in on his borders. "Though of course, we move to the most remote location in the world and another pack crops up next to us regardless. I suppose a solitary lifestyle is too much to ask, unless one was forward thinking enough to claim an island. How is living here? I assume you enjoy a good amount of privacy, at the very least."

"Speech"

Manea raised a curious brow and chuckled softly as Azure shared how his mother's litter was far larger than they had anticipated and she wondered just how many pups that would mean for them. Considering the fact that it seemed like they had many children already she assumed that meant that they tended to have larger litters as it was—or at least large by her standards—so if it was going to be even larger than that then it sounded like she was going to need all of the well wishes and luck she could possibly gather. "And it's moments like these when I'm grateful my family is predisposed to much smaller litters," she replied with a light laugh. She wasn't entirely certain what caused her and her family to have smaller litters than many others seemed to have, but perhaps it was really a blessing in disguise.

As Azure moved on to speaking about the Armada and how they were doing in their new home, she took note of the location he described and made a note to come see it for herself at some point. It sounded like they had taken up residence in the area where she had met Alastor and they had camped with Nirvana for a time, but Boreas was a big place. It was quite possible she was thinking of an entirely different place. She nodded with understanding when he spoke about breaking away from Ashen and giving themselves some independence and space. When she had been deciding on where their home should land she had considered some spots closer to her allies, but in the end the draw of this island and the seclusion it offered won out over the possibility of having friends near by. The whole purpose of creating this pack was to give her family a place to live their lives how they wished without the prying eyes of others so it only made sense to give themselves a bit of distance.

They neared the caves he mentioned another pack forming near where they had set up their new home regardless of the remote location of their pack. That peeked her interest and as she brought him over to a sitting area of sorts outside of her family's main den that sat around a well used fire pit she commented, "Is that so?" She motioned for him to join her as she settled onto her haunches on one of the furs, sitting across from him near the low burning fire. He asked about living on the island and she smiled softly as she nodded toward the open expanse of the island that could be seen from the cliff they were now sitting on with the many pine trees that dotted it and the large island that sat in the middle. "The island has been treating us well. It does indeed give us a good amount of privacy which I certainly appreciate. Our closest neighbor was Abaven, but now that they have scattered to the wind there's no one to share borders with us—not that any of us use our other lands for more than hunting and recreation anyway. This has pretty much ensured that our dens are particularly safe."

"Manea Mendacium"

They continued forward through the island and before long, reached a firepit outside a den. Azure's gaze roamed in a polite way, not intrusively spying in on their whereabouts but collecting the terrain around him with interest. "You have a beautiful home." He complimented, taking a seat as it was offered around the fire. "I can imagine the privacy well outweighs any negatives. Do you find the hunting to be harder? I'd assume it's harder for prey animals to migrate up onto your isle, but I suppose that also means predators would be fewer." Living in the mountain, the Armada had a continually tough time of ensuring predators did not sneak up into the mountain peaks and create homes there. Having only one entrance to the main territory would certainly make it easier to defend, from both nuisance animals as well as raiders.

Abaven was mentioned and Azure grimaced, disliking the reminder of the pack that had dissolved and his child who had disappeared with it. At some point, he should probably go looking for her. Maybe. "Yes, it was a shame Abaven disbanded. From what I'm told they were one of the longest standing packs around, older then my grandparents even. Were they good neighbours to you?"

"Speech"

Manea dipped her head in silent thanks as Azure complimented the beauty of their home before asking about the difficulty of finding prey animals—and the benefit of predators tending to stay away. "There is actually quite a large population of mountain goats that live on these cliffs that have been a good source of food for us," she mentioned with a glance off toward some of the more distant mountain peaks. "They prove to be a challenge to hunt at times, but my family is largely made up of hunters that love a challenge so it has suited us fine. The lands we've claimed on the main land have become a more regular source of prey for us though as well as the lakes on this island and on the main land for fish. The location has made us be a bit more creative when it comes to securing prey at times, but like you said, the privacy makes the challenge worth it."

The slight grimace that Azure displayed at the mention of Abaven didn't slip past her and it did make her curious about his own interactions with the former pack. He questioned whether the long standing pack had been good neighbors and she gave a small, dismissive shrug. "I can't say that they were bad neighbors by any means. The one time I spoke to Theory it had been amicable. I mostly kept my distance though. Even though Theory had promised Abaven was a neutral place of learning, I did not trust that the familial tie she had to the pirates wouldn't bring some sort of trouble." A slight scowl of her own touched her features as she mentioned the pirate clan, a soft, irritated huff leaving her. Yes, perhaps it made her a sore looser to hold a grudge for this long and despite the fact that she had ended up forming her pack in a way that she enjoyed more than if she had scraped up the remnants of the fallen northern pack, but she didn't particularly care. The way that Sparrow and her gaggle of ruffians had made a mockery of the whole affair had rubbed her entirely the wrong way and she didn't have a problem with holding a hatred toward them regardless.

"Manea Mendacium"