New Leaves on the Trees [Pack Meeting. Mandatory]

[OOC: First round is due April 6th. I decided to change things up a bit and have the announcements in the starter. Be very aware that Aurielle does not begin speaking of the changes until after everyone who has made it by the 6th are there. Paladin and Cairo are present before anyone has arrived. Regulus will not be attending (assume he’s fallen ill). Please, feel free to have your characters ask questions. Make this an interactive meeting. I love those ;P After the first round there will be no posting order. Go ham.

PS. I’m very sure I’ve missed a lot of things, but I’m seriously out of the loop on a lot of happenings thanks to this whole lack of real internet stuff, so bear with me @.@]

With the full onset of Spring, it was time to call the pack together for a long-overdue meeting. And she would be calling it alone. Gwenevere had passed on to join the Ascended, and while Aurielle was certain that the whole pack knew by now, it still needed to be announced, and honors given to the late Adravendi.

She settled upon the boulder at the Meeting space of the Plains, breathing in a heavy, deep breath and trying to force her mind ahead to the great deal of things she had to say and announce. Among them was the fact that Amos was still gone. His scent had long since faded to a faint, brief, stale trace that was gone a second later. Even his usual haunts were stale.

Nevertheless, life must move forward. She glanced aside as the pale frame of Paladin arrived—he, of course had been forewarned of the meeting, as had her father, mother and twin. Regulus had said he would try, although it would perhaps be best, he suggested, that the pack not see him in his current state so soon on the heels of Gwen’s passing.

Aelloshir and Ayodele sat on either side of the shimmering white leader, and she drew strength from them as Paladin and his two primate companions settled at the base of the stone. A glimpse of varied brown spotted fur turned her head as young Cairo skidded into the meeting place as though he was worried he’d missed it, even though Aurielle hadn’t called the pack yet.

No doubt he’d spread the word to his siblings about the meeting. As he settled into place, Aurielle straightened her spine and tipped her muzzle to the sky, howling long and loud to ensure her voice reached the furthest edges of the territories and every ear of the pack.

As they began to trickle in, she studied each face, nodding to each wolf as they arrived. After the last wolf had arrived, and it seemed no others would arrive, she still waited for several minutes to be sure, allowing the pack to take their places and settle in foe what she was certain would be a long-winded announcement.

She wasted no time in cutting to the chase.

“In the recent weeks, we lost one of our most valuable wolves, and a dear friend and family member. Gwenevere Adravendi was a good, strong soul, kind and wise. She defended Celestial bravely, as did several of you, during the raid by Talis, and was a fair, strong ruler who has worked hard, harder than she should have had to, to keep the pack safe and ordered.

“It was a great honor to know her and to have her by my side as a young ruler, and she will be deeply missed. She is succeeded by her children—” The young woman paused to indicate each as she spoke of them, “Artur, Cairo, Caelia, Geoffrey, and Viviane Adravendi, who all show promise in their own ways.”

Aurielle took a breath and announced, “I hope that you will join me in a vigil in honor of Gwenevere, to remember her as she was—a strong Queen, and a proud Adravendi of the direct line.”

She sat for several minutes to allow any risen emotions to settle, at to settle her own before she went on, swallowing covertly before she continued to speak.

“I wish that her death was the only unfortunate news I had to give you. Alas, this is not the case. My immediate family – Regulus, Solveiga and my brother Aramis are all quite ill. My mother and brother have… been unable to recovery fully from the emotional pain of their captivity. And both my parents are, themselves, aging. They are not contagious, so please, don’t worry on that front.”

There was pain in her eyes as she paused, before she swept her eyes over the gathered wolves and took a breath once more.

“Furthermore, Amos Allentide has gone missing. It is unknown if he simply left of his own accord, or if he has met with danger while out on his own. All his trails have gone stale. Please, those of you who have met him and know his scent, keep your eyes and nose and ears peeled when you are abroad, and as ever, let me know when you are leaving the borders, for whatever reason, and ideally, bring someone with you who can run for help if you meet with trouble.”

She fell silent for several moments, allowing the pack to absorb the contents of her opening speech, and hoping that her next news, a happier subject, would help lighten the grim start of the meeting.

“On a… happier note, I have several alliances to announce. Firstly, the longstanding alliance has been reaffirmed between this pack and Abaven, and I plan to go to speak with Abaven’s leader again soon after this meeting—Caelia, I’d like for you to accompany me for this. It should prove educational for your chosen path.”

She paused briefly to flash a slight smile at the young, dignified Adravendi before she went on.

“Secondly, our alliance with Celestial’s sister-pack, Lirim, still stands. Currently, Torin Adravendi stands as Lirim’s alpha, with a male called Frostbite Wreckage as his second. They are both welcome at our borders, as are any wolves from their pack and any pack we are allied to, so long as they respect the borders until invited into the territory by myself.”

She swept a glance over the pack before she continued on, her mood visibly improving as she spoke of the hopefully prosperous connections that had been forged.

“Thirdly, a pack in the north called Fyri has formed an alliance with Celestial. The alpha of Fyri is known as Ignatius Agnivo—and you’ll know him if you see him. He glows and is marked like fire with some ice. And finally, we have formed a trade alliance with a pack called Kesali, led by Branch Wreckage.”

Her eyes pinned each wolf to the ground as she said firmly, “Any of you who treats our allies and their people with disrespect, either behind their backs or to their faces will be met with a harsh punishment. I will not abide anyone risking the alliances that have been forged, and those who seek to jeopardize these friendships will not be welcome in this pack. And I hope this warning has been pointless and that you are all mature enough that this should be a moot point.”

Her hard gaze swept one more time over their faces before she continued on with her announcements.

“Within the pack itself, there are many things to announce and speak of. One, I’m certain you noticed Brandr’s absence long ago. Do not worry, he and his family are safe. They have rejoined Abaven and are doing well. Second, we have several changes in ranks, but I will announce those in a moment after an announcement of changes in the pack as a whole.”

She straightened, white coat shimmering in different colors as she gathered her thoughts. Then she began.

“I meant to make these changes upon my initial rise to leadership, however… events transpired and I was not able to. I had also decided that my concepts and ideas were not fully ready. However, ready or not, perhaps it is truly time for change.”

Her eyes scanned the pack as she paused, studying their faces before she went on.

“When my grandmother founded Celestial, she meant for it to be a revival and continuation of Valhalla, the pack led by her mother, and before her Chrysanthe Adravendi, and before her, Collision, and before him, Cairo Adravendi the first. I mean to hark back to that name. Henceforth, Celestial will be known as Valhalla.”

She gave the pack a brief, warm smile as she went on, “With the new name comes a new ranking system and new laws and customs. I hope you will bear with me, as there are a great many things to speak of with these changes. You are fully welcome to ask questions and make requests for placements within the new system of the pack.”

A moment of silence as she gathered her thoughts once more and allowed the newly-named Valhallans to absorb this news and consider it, before she continued, explaining, “Firstly, I will no longer be known as the Archangel, but as the Spirit of Valhalla. My second would be called the Soul, and my consort would be the Heart. As the three leaders, we would be known as the Trinity—and as in most packs, we would hold the highest authority within the pack.

“The second-tier wolves are the Beta Pair—Sentinel and Lodestar. Both would be required to be phenomenal fighters as well as diplomats. As yet, we have no acting Sentinel or Lodestar. For those of you who would consider aspiring for either rank, come to me later and I will discuss with you the duties of each at length, as they have similar duties, but some that pertain only to them.

“My heir will be my firstborn child, and his or her rank will be known as Destiny.”

She paused and waited for several moments for her words to be heard and absorbed before she continued, eyes roving the pack’s faces as she spoke.

[Ooc: Reference the Pack Page for better details of the ranks and their descriptions, since if I have her list them out here, we’ll all die of old age before anyone can finish reading everything without skimming :P I’ll try to get the changes up shortly. It’ll be a lot of transferring so bear with me and wish me luck @.@]

She described each rank of each tier briefly, hoping that if wolves had questions, they would voice them, either here at the meeting or in private later.

When she reached the Shadow Circle, she did not list their true purpose. That purpose was to be known only to herself, her fellow leaders, betas and heir, and the Circle members themselves. She described them as hunter-fighters, much like the rank of Ranger had been in Celestial and left it at that.

As she finished describing the ranks, she turned her eyes to Gwenevere’s children and smiled. “You are all yearlings now, and as you have heard, this means you are due for a rank change. Until you have come to me to make your request for a Circle, or a senior member of a Circle has chosen you to be their apprentice, you will be ranked as Oaths.”

Her eyes shifted to the rest of the pack as she said, “This is to be one of the laws of Valhalla—You are responsible for choosing your apprentices. If, however, no one has taken the incentive to choose, I will choose. But I do hope that incentive will be shown.”

As she announced each of the laws [ooc: which are still a work in progress; but assume they may be very similar to Celestial’s laws until I’ve finished throwing down the basics x.x] she made eye contact with each wolf present, surveying each and hoping they took the laws to heart.

She shifted to the Customs and bit back a grin as she named several of them and described them, sneaking a glance at Justice as she spoke of ‘Playtime’, jowls quirking into a mischievous smile. But after a moment, the thought struck her that Amos would have adored that particular custom, with his fun-loving nature, and the smile fell away as she went on to further explain how the circles worked, and that it was possible to be a member of two Circles at once.

At last, she fell silent and drew a breath and sat, letting the pack absorb and think over all these new changes.

After several minutes, she turned to her Uncle, saying, “Gwenevere told me of your conversation. I’m glad to see that you’ve chosen something you truly seem to love. If you desire it, I am willing to promote you to the rank of Predator. This makes you a Senior member of the Hunting Circle, and its current leader as there are no others who have made their desire to be a hunter of the pack known. You are expected to watch our young Oaths, here, spend time with them, and see if any of them show an inclination toward hunting. If you have chosen an apprentice, let me know and I will announce it at the next meeting.”

Her eyes turned to the pack at large as she announced, “As for the rest of the pack, I am planning to hold a Festival at Mid-Summer. I will be speaking with my fellow alphas of our Allies to set up a neutral place, but the festival will be open to loners as well.

"There will be sparring, healer’s events, a hunt, as well as many other games I hope everyone will enjoy. I can only take a few of you, as some will need to remain behind to keep Valhalla’s borders secure, so please, if you wish to go, let me know. Come the birth of Summer, I will announce who will be going.”

She sat back, toes of her forepaws flexing slightly as she allowed the pack to register and hopefully feel some kind of excitement at the news.

Finally, she said, “I am certain I’ve missed several things, but do any of you have questions about the new changes to the pack or anything of their own to announce?”

She fell fully silent, waiting for any answers the pack may give and ready to explain and answer any questions they might ask.

Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think