There was one other thing Chaos felt like he needed to do before he brought the pack in and claimed these lands. Valentine wasn't the only loner who had called these lands home for as long as Chaos could remember. Not all that long after Imperium fell, when it had just been Chaos and Vana and Cascade living in the knolls alone before Valentine had returned, a wolf a little older than Chaos had taken up some weird project over on the Range at the barn, caging up prey animals and stuff, and he'd been there since then. Chaos had gotten used to seeing him around from a distance, and his conversation with Valen had made him realize how many loners would be displaced by the pack moving in. In the barn-guy's case, he'd sunk years and years of work into intricate fences and taming elk and ducks and all sorts of critters, so Chaos would be basically destroying the guy's life's work by kicking him out. Normally that wouldn't have bothered Chaos one bit, but he was supposed to be more mature and responsible now. So while it still didn't bother him one bit, he'd realized what a potentially valuable asset he would be ignoring if he just claimed the lands without any warning.

So after he'd spoken with Valen and with Ares, he'd moved to the general border between the knolls and the range, planted his paws in the dead and dying autumn grasses, and threw up his head to let out a ringing howl, calling for any loners who actually made their homes in either of those lands, rather than just visiting, to come to him.

He had a... proposition.

"Uncle Chaos?" Jupiter asked as he approached from the direction of the barn. He was confused by the howl. Why was his uncle calling all the rogues together? Perhaps it had to do with that slaver business, but he could have sworn it wasn't time for that yet. And why would the loners care anyway?

He frowned to himself. Unless he had more relatives around than he thought, which wouldn't surprise him much considering what he knew about his grandfather. Jupiter eyed the saber-toothed Saxe speculatively. Try as he might he couldn't suss out what Chaos was doing so finally he asked. "What are you up to?"

Tornach was pulling ripe sunflower seeds from the flowers he'd picked a few weeks before and had been letting dry, getting the seeds ready to store to feed to his captive prey animals over the winter, when a howl caught his attention. He only half paid attention to it - people howled for other people all the time, and usually it had nothing to do with him. His family rarely showed up to talk to him, and the few times they had they mostly hadn't had to call for him because they'd known where he'd be. But as the call faded into echos, the gray-coated male paused and looked up with a frown. Well, that was odd. The call was for... all loners who lived in the range and the knolls. He sent a brief glance around at the barn he was in, still frowning. He knew there were quite a few who lived around here on a permanent basis, though many others came and went on more temporary stops, but he couldn't remember a time when anyone had deliberately sought them all out in general. Specific groups of them, sure, but not a general call for all loners who lived there.

Curious, and more than a little concerned, he rose and deposited the flowers and seeds in a place safe from rodents before trotting out of the barn towards the call, coming from the border between the range and the knolls. He was surprised to see one of the Imperialis wolves there, presumably the one who'd called, and a brightly colored younger wolf Tor had seen glimpses of on occasion around the lands though he'd never met the boy. He wasn't one of the dark saberfanged wolf's young, though, Tornach was fairly certain of that much, having seen the two kids with the dark wolf from a distance and neither of them had been blue.

Eyeing Chaos warily, Tornach approached and tilted his head slightly, studying the male with deep blue eyes. The male had a faint scent to his fur, a pack scent, with the shallow sort of scent you'd expect in a new pack member who hasn't had the scent build up over time yet. Tornach felt his stomach drop at the implication, but he kept most of his concern from his expression, though there was still a distant worry etched in the line between his brow and the small frown he bore. He gave the male a curt nod, and a somewhat kinder one to the young blue-colored male. "Imperialis," Tornach said neutrally, unwittingly misnaming the youngest of Valentine's children. "Why have you called us together?"

She was returning to the lands after her trip to visit ill family, passing through for the most part when a howl was sent through the air. A summons... Dark ears flicked back as she tried to make sense of the call, or at least to what it would mean for herself. This was not exactly a permanent home, more so just seeing where she stood and where she sought to go. But there were individuals buried around her from the past, that didn't deserve to be sullied. SO she would move onward in the direction the call had come from.

To make uncomfortable and a bit scary, as the young female approached she would begin to see shapes come into view. Three wolves, males, all equally as large and definitely towering over herself. She took a deep breath and moved forward, attempting to remain calm as she came within a few feet of the trio. Silently she waited to see what was going on, purple gaze drifting from one wolf to another.

”speech”

Angelus' boy Jupiter was the first to answer his call, and Chaos grinned at him. It was good to see more of the Imperialis family was gathering back here these days, good to see that the next generation would be raised together. It was like Imperium again, that same feeling of being part of something bigger and stronger and immortal. He hoped that he could bring some of that feeling to his kids and his brother's kids.

Barn-guy showed up too, which was a bit of a relief since the assets he brought to the table were a large part of why Chaos had decided on this particular course of action. Jupiter and Barn-guy both questioned him, Jupiter with curiosity and Barn-guy warily, and a third wolf who was a stranger to him ghosted in and stood silently watching. When, after a time, no one else came, Chaos figured that this was a good start, and word would spread later.

"I'm Chaos Saxe," he began, for the benefit of Barn-guy and Purple-eyes. "I grew up here when it was Imperium and later when it was just loner lands. I understand what it's like to feel a specific attachment to a land and how it feels to be forced to lose it when a pack decides that it's there's now, will-you or nill-you. I called the loners of these lands together to give you fair warning that yes, I intend to bring a pack here to claim these lands. But, I'd also like to offer you a chance to keep your home here."

He tilted his head with a faint smile, running his gaze across all three. "The most obvious possibility is that you could join the pack, but even if it was fair to force you to join a pack you don't feel suited for I wouldn't want wolves in my pack who aren't suited to it either. Now if any of you do want to join and you contribute to the pack, then I of course welcome you to do so."

He paused here, with his brows raised in a gesture that invited anyone to speak up if they wanted.

Continuing, he said, "But I intend to offer even those who don't want to join a chance to keep their home here as loners. We would call you, oh, associates of the pack. It would be something of a trade deal, you see. In exchange for the use of the pack lands and the protection of the pack, you contribute something to us, like a tax. You'd need to follow the rules of the pack while in the pack lands, of course, and if you cause trouble in lands outside of the pack in a way that breaks those rules you might find that you're on your own." He certainly wasn't going to go out of his way to protect an associate loner who'd gone off and raped someone's wife or daughter, that was for sure. The aggrieved party could have them as far as he was concerned. "You can extend the deal to your family if you end up with a mate and kids, though they would have to abide by the same agreement and any adults would be required to contribute their own tax. You'd be free to move out at any time as long as you give me or my alulas notice before you do so that we know that the agreement is terminated. Until then you'd be free to move in and out of pack lands at any time, but if you pass information about us to outsiders..." He gave a lopsided grin. "Well, it wouldn't go well for you, so it would be a good idea to not even consider betraying Legion. So!" he ended briskly. "That's my offer. You have the next twenty-four hours to decide, if you need it, and then I'll be claiming these lands."

Jupiter returned the stranger's nod politely, but said nothing. His expression became confused briefly when the male addressed Chaos by Jupiter's surname. Perhaps there was some history there that he was unaware of. That seemed likely; the only history he knew about this area had come from Valentine. The young Imperialis listened keenly as his uncle explained why he'd howled for the rogues. When he was done Jupiter was quick to answer, "I don't need time to think it over; I'll join you, uncle." While he valued his independence, the stories his grandfather had told him about family and Imperium had made an impression on him. He wanted what his father had growing up. "Jupiter"   "Amadeus" ”You”