FROM THE ASHES, WE RISE [The Empire]

Seth listened intently as his uncle spoke, careful to completely mask his self-satisfaction when the patriarch said he would be claiming lands in Auster. Thank the Fallen God, he thought sarcastically to himself. Just the thought of spending a winter in these northern lands with his joints and his stunted bones aching from the cold was a nightmare in the making. Yes, he would gladly take the southern continent's dry season heat over that.

He waited for his chance to speak up after his uncle opened the discussion to what they might want for ranks. The best time would be somewhere in the middle of the various relatives, he felt, rather than irritating anyone by jumping in with a declaration immediately or risk offending Amon by staying silent until dead last and seeming to see it as unimportant. But only Pyralis spoke up, and she seeking to be second in command. Seth quickly blanked his expression lest it betray his horror. Surely that was a joke. Pyralis WAS a great trickster, after all, and it would not be unlike her to joke about such a thing. But she seemed entirely serious, and the dwarf nervously touched his tongue to his nose in thought. She wouldn't be a disaster as second. Unlike some in his family she might have been unpredictable but she was a silver-tongued creature and more than capable of talking the new pack's way into the good graces of the other packs if she felt inclined, which would almost certainly give them a time of peace in order to prosper as they would need to. Of course she was also capable of plunging them into immediate war. It was, in his opinion, about even odds. But that wasn't, and never would be, his decision to make or to protest. Still, he could perhaps do a bit of his own to push things towards the "time of peace" possibility.

A glance around showed that no one else seemed prepared to speak up, so Seth sighed internally and cleared his throat. "I would be best suited among the healers, I believe, Uncle, though I am not among the most learned and do not seek a high position," he began unctuously, tilting his head deliberately in an expression of modesty that gave him an innocently pup-like appearance. "I do not wish to be presumptuous - " partly because his idea would mean a great deal more travel for his poor stunted body than he preferred - "but if I may make a suggestion, it might be beneficial to send... well... perhaps myself among others to the other packs to spread word of your victory. I have an... unassuming appearance, and as both a healer and obviously no threat physically my presence may put them at ease until such a time as others of our family are ready to extend the invitation that the unfortunate Dragoste rejected."