Who you were meant to be

Artorias was not kept waiting long for his daughter to appear, or perhaps he simply hadn't realized how long he had been absorbed into his pensiveness while waiting for Bramble, but either way as soon as he heard paws entering the Council Chamber the Lord's eyes lifted from the table. He greeted her with a half smile, though it faded when he saw the concerned look on her face as she looked over the map as well. He gave a soft hum of acknowledgement when Bramble mentioned being able to hear the raid from her room, his fiery amber eyes returning to the metal effigies on the map. "We all heard it. The Raiders certainly made no efforts to be stealthy about it," he mused in low tones. "I went down there to assess the damage. It was... not a friendly skirmish. The loss Ethne suffered will leave lasting scars." Lifting a large azure paw, Artorias picked up the Raider effigy and moved it back over to their territories amongst the Boreal islands.

"One of the Raider boys decided he hadn't had enough violence and tried to attack us afterwards. Nelu showed him the error of his ways." A little bit of a proud smirk turned the corner of Artorias' lips upward as he recounted how his son had repelled the would-be trespasser. A shame the boy had been injured in the process, but it was a harsh lesson those renegade children would have to learn sooner or later. Artorias just hoped there would be no repercussions directed at the Hallows in turn. Artorias rapped his claws against the stone table while he stared at the pack pieces in silence for a moment, his mind running wild with a million thoughts a minute. Bramble's eventual question pulled him out of his mental dwellings and the Lord of Cinder lifted his gaze to meet his daughter's concerned features once more, offering her a softer smile to assuage her worries. "No, it isn't. Actually, I wanted to congratulate you on the Harvest Ball. You and Ember did a magnificent job organizing the event, and all of our guests had a wonderful time. You really showed your capabilities, and you were fully in your element that night. I'm very proud of the hard work you put into it and you made the whole night a rousing success—one that we will set as a standard for all future Harvest Balls." Artorias' smile widened, flashing pearly white teeth proudly to his daughter. That was right, her idea had been such a success that it was going to be a permanent part of Hallows culture from now on.

With his praise given, Artorias turned to face Bramble properly, gesturing for her to take a seat at the Council table next to him. "But my opinion is only half as important as yours is. How do you feel the night went, Brammie?" Art tipped his head as he asked Bramble for her own self-assessment on her project. He wanted to get her insight into her efforts and standards. His mind was already made up for how this meeting was going to go, but it was important for him to see Bramble's perspective on matters of the pack as well—especially if she was to move up to be the Hallows' next Envoy.

"Artorias Carpathius" | "Carpathian"