try this again

Corbie gently rebuked his addressing her as a "Lady" and Artorias tipped his head in silent apology. "As you wish, Corbie. I prefer to simply go by Artorias myself." Despite many looking to his family as sovereigns, the Carpathius family had grown from the ground up here in Auster, no more noble than anyone else in the Hallows. When Corbie graciously accepted his offer of a sampling of wines, Artorias couldn’t help but smile. Briar would be so pleased that potential new friends were getting to try her hard work! His offer was met with a show of generosity from Corbie in turn, and the new alpha reached into her pack to provide the Aegis with a sampling of Avalon’s homemade mead and sheepskins from their herd. "Thank you, Corbie! We'll be sure to make good use of your kind gifts," he replied with a delighted smile. "Mead is not something we've taken a stab at yet, and if our wines are to your taste, I think we might have a lucrative trade partnership in our future." It was really no tremendous outputting to give some of what they had plenty of, but he would not refuse the gifts given to him by his peer.

His inquiry into the inspiration behind Avalon was met with a personal story from Corbie's life, and it had the effect Artorias had hoped for. He got to see a little into the machinations of the woman's mind, learn some of her past and what made her who she was, what ambitions drove her and what morals guided her. It was a noble intention she had to offer a home to the homeless that felt they didn't belong in any one place. Artorias nodded his head in understanding while he listened to Corbie speak, paying all of his attention to the monochrome wolf. "Then may Avalon be that community to many others, and may it be everything you hope it to be." Artorias turned another gentle smile down to the smaller woman at his side. "I'm sure Avalon will thrive entirely on its own, but should you or your wolves ever need assistance from the Hallows, medical or otherwise, please know that you and your pack are welcomed here." He knew that it would be easy for Avalon to see the Hallows aligned with the Armada and Valta by blood and marriage, but Artorias had never deemed nepotism as a favorable choice when it came to diplomacy. Above all else, he strived to maintain his mother's carefully crafted stance of neutrality where he could. Friends would be made and families expanded by nature, but the Hallows would always remain an even playing field so long as the players behaved with mutual respect and amicability.

"Artorias Carpathius" | "Carpathian" | "Corbin" | "Eira" | "Argent"