Time to set the tone

Ulric glanced to Artorias while he spoke to greet the Ashen leaders, a small smile on his lips. Art might feel like he still had a lot to learn, but he was already doing far better than he would of at his age and he was proud of the young Carpathius man. He looked back to Venom when she returned their greeting, a bit of pleasant surprise touching his features when the Empress offered to feed them while they spoke, dipping his head gratefully to the offer. "That's very kind of you, we'd be honored." He fell into the group as they joined the Ashen wolves to partake in the kind meal they were being served.

He looked to Hattori when the Shogun spoke of one of their wolves that he had found, attacked and dying because of the saber cats that had been haunting them for some time now. He frowned, his brows pulling together. From the description of the male he was given he had to assume it was Askan. The man had gone missing some time ago and now they finally had an explanation. Even though he hadn't gotten along with the male it didn't mean that he'd be emotionless at the news of the wolf's passing. He nodded solemnly and replied, "Thank you for letting me know. The past few seasons have held a lot of pain and heartache. Hopefully there are some brighter skies ahead."

Once they were all settled with their breakfast among the pale trees of their host's territory, he decided to properly broach the subject of how he ended up in the position he was - partially for transparency since he knew he had been vague at best about Resin's fate and partially so they could discuss some of the attacks and odd creatures that had been around as of late. It sounded like they had at least faced the saber cats, though he wondered if they had encountered the massive dire wolves as well. Ashen was one of the closest packs to their own as far as distance went so it wouldn't be all that surprising if they had encountered them as well.

"Resin hadn't been in good health for the last season or two," he explained as they ate, mostly to Venom, but to the group as well. He didn't really want to go into the specifics and details since it still felt like a family matter for the Carpathius wolves, but it was at least enough to give some more context. "I took over for her when her health began to deteriorate, but we were attacked by a pack of giant dire wolves several weeks ago. She was killed in that attack." His expression was grim at the news, but there was a bit of relief there too. It had been difficult to watch his friend suffer. "How have things been in Boreas? You've at least encountered the saber cats it sounds like. We've had quite a few run ins with those as well."

Ulric Adravendi