State of the Nation

He was of course always impressed and thought the world of his children, but even if Damira wasn't his daughter he would still be impressed with her natural insight. He couldn't help but chuckle at her question of who he thought were not worth being allies with. It felt like a very loaded question and if it was coming from someone who wasn't a pup that maybe didn't understand the slight that kind of question could be perceived as then he probably would have hesitated more in answering, but he also understood that she was approaching the question from a very logical point of view. Who was worth their time and their loyalty? Who had something to offer, but that they could also offer something in return?

"I have my doubts that it is worth trying to forge another alliance with Polaris. We gained very little from the relationship while they were known as Ethne," he replied honestly. He knew that Avacyn had been fairly close friends with the alpha before it changed hands, but he saw little return on that alliance. "The Syndicate seems to be quite dangerous and not aligned with how we approach the world–to put it lightly–and even if they were I wouldn't want to put my name behind a group that has declared themselves an enemy of The Hallows. I would not want to be on their side of that fight." That was barely scratching the surface, but he didn't need to get into the gory details with his daughter. "There's several other packs that we've had very little interaction with or they seem so small or reclusive that they haven't made much of an impact from what I've seen. I would be willing to explore what they have to offer if the opportunity ever arose, but I'm not sure I would seek them out."

"On the opposite side of that..." he added after a moment of thought, "The packs that we haven't been allied with yet that I would like to look into more are Armada, Raiders Hollow, and Tojo-kai. They're groups that I've heard plenty about and seem well established, but we haven't crossed paths very much for one reason or another. Hopefully that can change soon, but I wouldn't want to spread ourselves too thin either." If they were allies with too many packs there was a higher chance that there could be conflicts of interest at some point or that they would struggle to keep up with that many routes of trade. As much as he wanted to be selective with who they aligned themselves with, he also wanted to make sure they had plenty to offer. Loyalty was a two-way street.

"Deimos Mendacium"