Training wheels

Ulric had spent the entirety of the autumn season setting the stage for the next iteration of The Hallows and making the transition to Artorias' reign that much more smooth. He had never really felt like anyone had really set him up for success at any point in his life and he wouldn't cause the same struggle for his Baron as he took the reins. The ranks of The Hallows were comfortably full of wolves that were each contributed something to the pack as a whole and there was a good spread across a good majority of skill sets. The food stores were well stocked, the alpacas were being picked off far less often with the addition of the dogs that he had purchased for himself and Eska, and he was happy with the choices he had made with who he had placed in the higher ranks of the pack. All in all he felt like his prep had been pretty successful and he was happy with the state the pack was in.

He had originally intended to hand over the pack in the summer once Artorias hit his second birthday, but the more he watched the young man the more he felt like Artorias was more than capable to at least begin taking over some of the responsibility sooner rather than later. There was also a slightly more selfish reasoning and wanting behind the decision, but no matter how much he wanted to enjoy the new love he found in Eska and no matter how much he wanted to spend more time with his children he would never put this responsibility on Artorias if he wasn't confident that he could handle it. He had given Artorias some time to get settled back into the pack once he returned, letting him get caught up with everything that had happened while he was gone, before he went to find the Carpathius boy to share the idea with him.

Artorias was fairly easy to find, just following the sound of a sword hitting something with a solid thud to the training room Artorias kept on the east side of the castle. He nudged open the slightly ajar door, stepping into the room and standing off to the side to wait until Artorias was finished or at least until his presence was noticed. "Always hard at work," he commented with a soft chuckle. "Can you spare a moment? I'd like to talk to you."

Ulric Adravendi