She had loved nothing more than being a mother and watching her own children growing up, but now that there was not one but two litters running around the island she was quickly finding that being a grandmother was even more fun. Even though she was technically an aunt to Ikigai and Deimos' pups she considered herself more of a grandmother to them as well. Maybe it was because she felt more like a mother to Ikigai than a sister in law or maybe it was because she felt like she should step into that role in Venom's absence, but regardless she was loving getting to see their pups and Avacyn and Saracyn's children grow up side by side. Even though it was certainly more work and required more attention to have so many pups in the pack all at once, she felt like it would be great in the long run for this newest generation of Mendaciums to grow up together and be able to build strong bonds from such a young age.

However, with a new generation it meant that there was a whole set of young ones to teach their family rules and ways to. Normally this task would be left to the current Matriarch or at least the children's parents to do, but she couldn't turn down an opportunity to be with all of her grandchildren all at once. Besides, it would give their parents a chance to take a little break for a day. It felt like a win win. She set up a cluster of comfortable cushions in the clearing next to the lake where the pack usually held its meetings and settled down on one herself before she tipped back her head and howled for all of the pups. She had given their parents a heads up the day before so that they could make sure the little troublemakers wouldn't go running off on some adventure that morning so hopefully they were all somewhere near by. With the call made she settled in to wait, keeping her aqua gaze toward the surrounding trees to wait for them to appear.

"Manea Mendacium"

"Grammy," was the greeting that Fever gave Manea as she came in close. The girl had been informed that her grandmother would want some time with all of them today and Fever had been chomping at the bit the entire time. What would they talk about? What would she learn? Where was Alastor? With one black eye and one of swirling fire, the child looked up to her towering grandmother. "Where's Papa?"

Surely others would be coming, so Fever, small as she was, settled into the nice, long fur of her grandma's tail. She hoped that hers would be as nice and long some day. Maybe even nicer and longer! "They sure are taking a long time," she mumbled, annoyed at the lack of punctuality.

"Speech!"

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Lessons. There were so many lessons, and Dominus really did find himself digging into each and every one. The boy can't help himself. They fill his head with all manner of wonderful things, even if they are... type two fun. In the moment, changing from one task to another is hard. Maybe that's why Dominus is a bit on the laggier side as he arrives for the lesson. Dominus dips his head, a little sheepish, as he takes a seat opposite grammy Manea. "Sorry, sorry, I was by the water. There were seals fighting." His tail twitches, a light in his eyes. It's cool to watch, and it had been a bit of a walk. Nice and relaxed and ready for lessons, at least. dominus mendacium

table coding by bunni ♥

Mom and Dad has explicitly told Daemon not to wander too far from the lake that day, since Gramma Manea was going to be teaching them their family history. Unfortunately for them, that sounded too much like a rule, and Daemon... well, he wasn't exactly known for following the rules. That was more his sister's schtick. His thing was the opposite, which was why when Manea's call went out, Daemon was almost halfway across the island, chasing the seagulls on the beach and laughing as the rats with wings scrambled to get airborne to escape the tiny lupine menace. Manea's howl caught the boy's attention and with a final parting growl to threaten the seagulls off his beach, the small pup sprinted off in the direction of the lake, running as fast as his little legs could carry him.

Daemon arrived to the lesson just after Dominus had. At first, he had assumed it was just the two of them present, until he saw movement in grandma's tail and spotted Fever hiding amongst Manea's fur. The boy aimed himself at one of the cushions and performed a textbook pounce on top of it, landing on the plush surface with an audible pomf. "Hi Grammanea!" he greeted their grandmother with one conjoining of words, wearing a toothy smile and a waggly tail before he started to idly gnaw at the seams of the fabric. "What're we going to learn about today?"

"Daemon Mendacium"

Kintsugi had dutifully waited in the woods near the lake, busing herself with singing practice and examining the local fauna... at least she was until a squirrel ran across her path and distracted her enough to pull her away in her pursuit of it. All of her stalking and chasing hand nearly gotten her to the beach and of course that was when Manea happened to call for them. She jumped and immediately started to run back toward the lake, upset with herself that she was going to make herself late. Still, even if she was going to be late, she didn't want to look mussed or flustered so she paused just before she left the tree line to catch her breath and smooth down her fur before she trotted out to go join the others. Luckily it looked like she wasn't the last one here since her sister and one of her cousins hadn't quite made it yet. At least she wasn't the most late of the group and that made her feel a little better. "Salve, Avia," she said happily as she settled onto one of the cushions that had been laid out for them, picking one next to Dominus. Hopefully the last couple of the pups arrived soon so they could get this lesson going!

"Kintsugi Mendacium"

She was late and that just wouldn't do. Moving at a quick lope, she wanted to hurry but not to look pressured to arrive, as if she was concerned about this at all. By the time she arrived, it appeared as though they were waiting only for herself and another one of Damira's cousins. Damira moved to settle herself beside her sister and brother, naturally preferring their company but not particularly disliking the others all that much either. They were still family after all. Her mismatched gaze settled on Manae, ears flicking as she wondered what lesson they would learn today.

Thyrus had caught a frog!  Once caught he’d played with it, much to the frog's displeasure.  Mostly he’d hit it from one way to another, watching as it tried to escape.  He’d tried to bite it but the frog was better at avoiding his mouth.  Once he’d grabbed the frog though, trapped between his paws he was able to bite it.  Or would be, when he heard grandmother calling.  He raised his head, listening to the howl, recalling they’d been told to expect this.  The frog was between his paws, the target ready to be bit and toyed with more.  

A moment passed of indecision.  He could play another minute or two and show up a little late, right?  He ended up letting the frog go, “Lucky,” Thyrus informed the frog as it leaped back to the lake.  Thyrus watched its retreat then ran towards the call.  As he drew closer he slowed to a walk, not wanting to look rushed.  

“Gramma!” His change changed once he was a few feet away as he ran over to her chest, hopping up on his hind legs to nip at her neck fur affectionately before walking over to lie down closer to his bigger brother.   Thyrus lay down on the cushion, stood back up, and started trying to reshape the pillow, twisting one edge over itself for his head.  Once finished he lay down on the cushion, head on the propped-up part, legs sprawled out behind.  Despite looking quite cozy his eyes were bright and alert.

"Thyrus Mendacium"

It only took a moment for one of her granddaughters to appear, Fever approaching her promptly and asking her where her grandfather was. Manea chuckled and leaned forward to playfully boop Fever on her forehead with her nose. "He's out on a hunt today so you'll just have to make do with me, I'm afraid." Fever settled into the fur of her tail and then complained about how long her siblings and cousins were taking to arrive and she smirked as she curled her tail to tickle Fever's nose. "Be patient, my love." It did take a little bit, but soon the rest of the pups started popping up one after another, first Dominus blaming his lateness on some seals that he had been watching by the water. "Well, that's certainly exciting!" she agreed with a grin and then turned her attention toward Daemon as he flopped onto the cushion. "You'll find out in just a minute, darling," she replied, reaching out to ruffle the fur on his head with one of her large paws.

"Salve, flosculus," she said with a smile to Kintsugi as another of her granddaughters joined the group with a greeting in the ancient language that Alastor had been helping to teach them all. Damira joined them quietly and she leaned over to nuzzle the little girl's cheek affectionately right before Thyrus bounded up and reached up to nip at her neck. She chuckled and caught the spike-tailed boy with one of her paws to ruffle up his fur playfully. "Hello, dear. Get settled so we can start!" Once he had picked a spot for himself and he joined the others on the selection of cushions she had laid out she now had all six of her grandchildren around her. "Thank you for joining me, my loves. Our family has a long history and I wanted to take some time to start from the beginning and talk about how we got to where we are today."

She settled in a bit–being careful not to jostle or disrupt Fever–and began telling the pups the history of their family. "Many many generations ago in a land far away from this one, the Mendacium family laid claim to a large stretch of land and was by far the most prominent family in that area. However, some of the smaller families and packs in that land began to grow vengeful and jealous and our family fell under attack, causing the Mendaciums to dwindle till just one woman remained–Nephele Mendacium. A brilliant woman with a vibrant coat and long, curling horns. My great-grandmother. She watched the down fall of her family and because of that began to become up with a vision for what she wanted this family to be. She wanted the best of the best–the strongest and brightest like the wolves that had once led their family to greatness. Those wolves, the ones she idolized and dreamed of better representing with her future, she called The Ancients. Long before then our family believed that the strongest of their children were reincarnated from their ancestors, but this was the first time that our ancestors were given a name and a purpose in our beliefs."

"Our family has always had a Matriarch since the day it was founded–a female entrusted with the well being of the family's beliefs and responsible for passing down knowledge and tradition from generation to generation. It wasn't until Nephele took up the mantle that she also made it a position of power. She felt that the family needed not just a guide but a leader. Still, she knew that she could not reform the Mendacium family alone. She searched the land for her soul mate, someone she could rebuild her family with, and found Cáel Zahradník–a massive man as strong as he was brave. Together they had three children–Stavaros, Liberata, and Elisa. Nephele eventually passed on the responsibility of Matriarch to Elisa and Elisa eventually passed it down to my mother who in turn passed it on to me. Our family is more wide spread than it once was with some of our distant relatives still living in the old land, but I felt that we could have a fresh start here on Boreas and so this is where I settled down with your grandfather so any and all Mendaciums that might find their way here might join us and have a safe haven waiting for them."

"Manea Mendacium"

Damira sat quietly, ears flitting forward as she drank in Manae's words. Whilst many pups likely struggled to maintain their attention during such lessons, the pup carried herself with dignity and grace. She knew better than to fidget, to let her gaze flit away from their tutor. And it was a lot to take in, their lineage was long and sprawling it seemed, their name an important one that ought to be respected. As she sat quietly she liked to imagine what these wolves would look like in her mind, her own koi linage made her look slightly different from the rest of her kin, but the colour of her coat was enough proof to show who she was.

She adjusted her position slightly, letting her tail curl over her hind limbs. Admittedly, even at her age she wasn't quite sure if she put stock in the story of their ancestors and soul mates, all rather important parts of their culture that she rather cunningly kept tight-lipped about her feelings. Damira excelled at following the status quo and acting her part. If nothing else it was just nice to sit back and relax with her family, to know these wolves were all that mattered, everyone else was near insignificant in her eyes.

Finally the last of her siblings and cousins arrived and they could get their history lesson started. Her grandmother began to spin a tale for them about their ancestors and the wolves that built up their family a long time ago. Her pointed ears perked up with interest when she mentioned Nephele. That was her name! Well, one of them, anyway. Their dad had mentioned that he named her after one of their ancestors, but he hadn't told her it was someone so important! She sat up a little taller with that knowledge, her chest puffing out a bit with a proud smile. It was kind of hard to focus on the rest of the story after that, but she remembered to keep still and at least look like she was paying very close attention. It was a lot to listen to and try to remember, but she knew it was important! When there was a pause in the story–maybe to let them absorb what she had said so far–Kintsugi took that opportunity to ask a question. "Why did you want to leave the old land? Why did you pick Boreas?"

"Kintsugi Mendacium"

Fever stayed quiet as Grandma Manea told them a story of their lineage. When she mentioned Nephelle, the fire marked girl bounced a little bit. She pressed her lips together tightly to keep from making an outburst. All of the talk of Ancestors and Soul Mates was well and good, but Fever had proof of it being real. The Ancestors part, anyway.

Once Manea was done speaking, the bouncing child could barely contain herself. "Grammy, Ancestors are real. They told me so!" The child gestured wildly to the area around them. "They're all over the place. Sometimes they talk a lot. Other times they're really quiet. I wonder if I could find Nephele!" Fucking weirdo. It never dawned on her that others might find her behavior and claims as strange. She was just Fever, doing Fever things.

"Speech"

Grandma Manea began to go into their lesson for the day which apparently was the history of their family. Daemon didn’t much care for history lessons, preferring far more practical lessons like fighting, but he had enough respect for his family line to find value in learning about the Mendacium family’s past and origins to pay attention. Manea talked about their ancestors, the Ancient souls, and the powers that were bestowed upon their bloodlines. Daemon couldn’t help but smirk with pride. The Mendacium family was without a doubt the most powerful bloodline in the lands thanks to the power of their Ancient souls.

As the lesson veered more into talks of the Matriarch and the matriarchy and female power that came from the pack, Daemon began to tune out, finding little value in the conversation given that… well, he was distinctly a male. Good for the girls, he guessed… Dae couldn’t help but notice how small a footnote the males were in their family history, and to be quite frank, it bothered him some. Did that mean he wasn’t important because he wasn’t born a girl? Was he doomed to be forgotten just as readily as every other Mendacium brute? All this talk about finding soul mates was just mushy girly romantic stuff and made the boy groan inwardly. When Manea wrapped up and the other pups started asking their questions, Daemon just sat quietly to himself, almost sulking. He had nothing to contribute being a boy and all.

"Daemon Mendacium"

Thyrus was paying attention to his grandmother as she started the talk. The story continues and the pup finds the edge of the pillow convenient to chew on as something to do with his pent-up energy. The story of their past was interesting and all but he wasn’t really feeling this being still thing.

The story felt long and it seemed all about the ladies getting to be the stars of the show. Well, that was fine. Thyrus didn’t have any lofty goals of leading. He just wanted to chat more or watch the dead. He wanted to play and explore instead of whatever the leader did.

Nibbling still on the pillow his eyes shifted from grandma to the rest of his family. Daemon was right near him and also seemed less interested in the whole matter. Thyrus shifted a bit closer to his brother, a bright spark of playfulness in his eyes. His attention shifted to grandma, then side-eyed his brother then back an forth as his young brain argued about how he should be good and listen and the other side told him it would be more fun to try and play with Daemon, maybe aim for the tail.

Tail attack or sit still and listen. Oh the self-control was being tested right now!

"Thyrus Mendacium"

She knew it was a lot of story telling and information for pups to absorb, but their family was so much more intermingled with other families and ways of life now than she had been at their age so she wanted them to know their lineage early and often. Some of them took to it more than others, as was to be expected, but at least a couple asked questions or had something to contribute. The boys very obviously were quickly distracted and she smirked as she reached over to playfully boop Thyrus and Daemon's noses, tickling their sides with her large paw while she kept most of her attention of the girls that were still engaged in the conversation.

Kintsugi questioned why she had wanted to leave their original home and what had brought her to Boreas which were good questions, but difficult ones for her to answer without getting into the sorted details of the conflict she had with her own mother. "I had originally intended to stay in our homeland, but traveling to find the very best for ourselves is built into our family's values and I felt like it was time for me to not only do that to find my soul mate, but to see if there was anywhere better suited for raising my family. That brought me to Boreas and brought me to Alastor," she replied with a little smile, deciding that was a good enough answer to satisfy her curiosity without dipping into too many difficult details.

Fever took her aback a bit as she insisted that the Ancients themselves had told her they were real and how they were everywhere. She had certainly believed as much her entire life, but not in the way that Fever was describing. Fever was certainly an interesting and imaginative girl which had been very obvious right from the beginning, but more and more Manea was beginning to wonder and be concerned by her granddaughter. Still, she didn't want to discourage her creativity or make her uncomfortable in a group of her siblings and cousins so she simply smiled and replied, "That's wonderful, dear. Let me know if you find her, okay?"

With that she felt like she had probably held their attention as long as she possibly could so she rose to her paws, gesturing for them to follow. "Alright, I think that's enough talking and listening for now! Who wants to race me to the dock?" she pointed out the dock that jutted out over the water further down the lake shore and once all of the pups that wanted to participate were up and ready to go she counted down, saying, "Three... Two... One, go!" She trotted ahead a little bit, but paced herself so that they could keep at her heels and right at the very end slowed down a bit so one of them could race ahead and beat her to the dock.

"Manea Mendacium"