Set the stage

He didn't have to wait long at all for the first of his wolves to arrive, Avantika appearing promptly with a respectful nod. He smiled and returned her nod, replying, "Hello, Avantika. Thank you for coming." He held off on explaining himself until everyone else arrived and maybe a minute later Ezra and Syanna walked into the feast hall together. He gave the pair a curious glance, but kept his comments to himself. The two had been practically inseparable since Syanna helped get Ezra back to the pack when he was injured and the stretches of time that they happened to be gone together hadn't gone unnoticed. He had done his due diligence and warned his son to be smart about what he was doing so he wouldn't let himself be worried, but of course he always was has his father. Still, couldn't remember ever seeing Ezra this happy so he was willing to let the young man have his fun in exchange. He returned Syanna's smile and smirked at his son's greeting that seemed to be trying just a bit too hard to be casual. "Hello, son."

After another beat of silence Gwynevere appeared and rounded out their group, quietly joining them dutifully as she tended to do. He gave her a small nod before focusing on the group of young wolves in front of him. There was a moment of disbelief when he looked at them, remembering three of the four as tiny pups. Syanna was still new to their ranks, but she wasn't much older than the rest of them and he had watched Ezra, Gwynevere, and Avantika grow up here. He pushed past the thought, reminding himself that they weren't pups any more and had more than proven themselves for the roles he wished for them to have. He gave them all a smile as he began to speak, finally explaining why he had called them here.

"Thank you for coming. As several of you have probably noticed, and Gwynevere has probably felt, our upper ranks have been empty for a while. With Indigo leaving to form his band and Tamsyn wishing to step down and take some time for herself we've been thin in our leadership roles in the pack. Gwyn has been our sole Seneschal for a while and even though you have been doing a wonderful job I think it's high time you have some help." He gave Gwyn a thankful smile before focusing his attention on the other three. "Syanna, you've proven yourself to be a very adept healer with your quick thinking to save Ezra and get him back here with such limited supplies and have been a great help in the infirmary so I would like for you to take our second Seneschal position and work alongside Gwynevere. Ezra and Avantika, you have both more than proven yourselves to be very capable fighters and you both did very well in the tournament Ashen held a little while back so I would like for both of you to work together as our Templars."

He let that news sink in for a moment before he added, "I expect a lot from each of you, but I know you'll do well. I'm doing my best to prep the pack to get it into a place that I would be happy to hand over to Artorias when the time is right and I have a feeling that all of you will work very well with him. Once he is back from training with the Armada we will have a meeting together as a fully formed council, but in the meantime... Lets have a bit of fun." He smiled a bit wider and added, "It's a bit late in the season to start planning a big feast or festival for the fall, but this winter will be the one year anniversary of moving into the castle and Artorias will be back with us so I think it's only right that we keep the tradition of our winter Feast of Unity going. I'd like each of your help in planning it. Ezra and Avantika, you will be the leads of our hunts to prepare for the feast. Syanna and Gwynevere, I'd like you both to collect some greenery and things to decorate the feast hall and gather some things to go with our meal like berries and wine. Of course if any of you want to help with one another's tasks you're more than welcome and be sure to pull in more wolves from the pack as well. I know Rudyard and Eska in particular would enjoy getting in on the hunts."

He chuckled and asked, "What you all of you think? Any ideas or thoughts for our planning?"

Ulric Adravendi