Come in and wipe your feet
Deion
He led the way though the corridor to the right, bringing him into a large, open room with long tables from one end of the room to the other and a raised platform with another long table on the far side of the room. "This is the feast hall. Most of the pack meetings are held here and whenever we do feasts or festivals we'll hold them here too... Though I guess that's pretty obvious from the name." He chuckled softly and gave a little shrug before pointing across the room toward the doorway on the opposite corner from where they came in. "Through there is the kitchen and the pantry. There's a door to the cellar through there as well. We keep it pretty well stocked and there's a whole collection of wines down there so feel free to help yourself. All I ask is that you help replenish what you take or pick up some slack somewhere else so the hunters can go out and hunt more often." He certainly wasn't a strict leader by any means and that probably showed in how he gave his tour and introduced Deion to his new pack.
"What do you think so far? Any questions?" he asked, turning his silver gaze toward the other male curiously. He was sure a place like this was a lot to take in - it certainly had been for him when they moved here.
It wasn't an overly long trip between the woodlands where they'd brawled and the territories of The Hallows, and the castle that loomed ahead of them had almost seemed too good to be true. However, the autumnal giant had led him right into the grounds of the old castle, and the prominent scents of other wolves marked the area as belonging to.. his new home, he supposed. This was where he'd be resting his head, at least for the foreseeable future. The cosmic giant opted to keep his mouth shut as the leader carted him around to give the grand tour, navigating the well worn paths with practiced ease. "This is where pretty much everyone in the pack lives, though if you're the type that prefers to have a more traditional den somewhere on the grounds you're welcome to do that as well. Our borders surround the castle and its grounds as well as the plains between here and the Wildberry Grove." Ulric explained as they walked, trading the open air of the courtyard for the scent of damp stone within the walls of the castle. One brow raised at the prospect of having free roam across two territories, containing his surprise that this pack could hold that kind of ground. He must have made a good decision, for once. "That way you'll find the infirmary, some guest rooms, and the baths," he continued, and now Deion was suppressing a shiver of delight at the existence of baths as though he were some highborn waif and not a seasoned marauder. Valk would be disappointed. But Valk wasn't around, apparently, so he pushed that notion aside. Off they went, swinging to the right and meandering down a hallway that opened up into a grand room with tables lining the walls, of all things. He wasn't sure he'd ever made use of a table, unless a tree stump or boulder for drying herbs in the summer counted. This was a cushy place. "This is the feast hall. Most of the pack meetings are held here and whenever we do feasts or festivals we'll hold them here too... Though I guess that's pretty obvious from the name." Ulric explained with a light chuckle, which the celestial beast met with a tiny smirk and a flick of his tail. The other man raised one giant paw to gesture to a door set into the far wall. "Through there is the kitchen and the pantry. There's a door to the cellar through there as well. We keep it pretty well stocked and there's a whole collection of wines down there so feel free to help yourself. All I ask is that you help replenish what you take or pick up some slack somewhere else so the hunters can go out and hunt more often." he added before they picked up again to resume the tour. Wines? Well, that was certainly a spot he was likely to do some real damage, should he decide he wanted to vanish into the night. He nodded his assent when Ulric mentioned replenishing the stocks, which seemed reasonable. The question was, should he be replacing the wine? He wasn't certain he could perfectly brew alcohol, at least.. not the kind they might prefer. Mead, he was familiar with, but he'd also gotten quite good as of late at mulling psychedelics into some truly offensive drinks. Brilliant gaze snapped to his new king- Aegis- when the man asked him a direct question. Not the time to be getting lost in thought, you oaf. "What do you think so far? Any questions?" Ulric asked, and his tone spoke of genuine interest in a response. Certainly a change from the leadership of a marauder's band, or a loner skirting claimed territories. Thick shoulders lifted and dropped in a heavy shrug, tail sweeping over his heels. "Hardly a thing to complain about, Aegis. Far more luxurious than anything I've encountered in my life, I admit." he grunted, lips curving into a small grin. Perhaps this was a retirement home in disguise, and one of his old friends had sent this man over to make Deion feel better before they came around to put him out of his misery. "What role will you have me fill, then? My last leader kept me busy patching everyone up, if you've got your warrior ranks filled." low tones, wrapped in their thick accent, remained low and even as he spoke to his new leader. Adjusting to a life of taking direction from someone else would certainly take him a while. |
He nodded back the way they came and backtracked toward the foyer again. He pointed up the staircase and said, "All of the living quarters are up there. The rooms on the second floor are all taken, but there's plenty of empty rooms on the third floor so feel free to pick whichever one you like." Turning back out the main doors, he led Deion out through the courtyard and around the castle to the grounds that surrounded it. "Over here is the greenhouse. One of our lead healers Gwynevere has been working on getting some plants growing in here and so far its going well. You'll meet her and Syanna soon enough I'm sure." Going a bit further, he led the way around the corner of the castle to reveal the large, rectangular fields marked off with stones beside a field house. "This is the training area I set up for the warriors. The field house is storage for some training dummies and extra armors and things for you to practice with if you want. Up to you what your style of training is. If you keep going around the castle you'll find the paddock that houses our alpacas. The fighters all take turns guarding them since they do tend to attract coyotes and those sorts of predators, though my mate and I recently acquired some dogs so they don't need quite as close of a watch any more."
"As far as pack rules go we keep it pretty simple. Just pull your weight and don't intentionally spill any blood within pack lands. A little scrape during a spar is fine, but any outright violence toward another pack mate is strictly forbidden. Oh, and if you're ever looking to have a litter or bring another wolf into the pack you have to run it by me first." He chuckled and looked back to Deion with a grin. "I think that's about it! I guess the only thing left for you to do is to get settled in and start meeting everyone. Any last questions before I let you go?" He knew it was a lot to take in so he didn't want to let anything go unanswered if he had thought of any questions during the tour.
As expected, the notion of a brute with tusks having an interest in herbology and healing seemed to catch the leader's attention. A wry smirk threatened to break over his features, but it would likely be in poor taste so the man suppressed the urge to grin. "We certainly have more wolves focused on fighting than healing at the moment so that would would be a great help. You're of course encouraged to do both and you're welcome to run patrols as much as you are gathering herbs, but we'll keep your rank focused on the healing side of things." Ulric offered in response, to which the cosmic giant nodded lightly in agreement. There was something to be said for a simple life of collecting herbs and treating the wounded, for as much as he enjoyed brawling and raiding, he was growing less brash as the years passed. Settling down and raising a family seemed to be in the cards far more than continuing a life of wandering and fighting everyone he ran into. With a small nod of his head, the ruddy male led the way back the way they'd come. He directed Deion's attention up a flight of stairs that was quite well lit despite the stone walls. Candles, or were there windows higher up? "All of the living quarters are up there. The rooms on the second floor are all taken, but there's plenty of empty rooms on the third floor so feel free to pick whichever one you like." Ulric told him, leaving the poor marauder to wonder at what kind of rooms he should be expecting. At this point, it wouldn't have been surprising if there was a full maid service roaming about to attend to all of the cleaning and organizing. Before he could be left to stand there wondering for much longer, the Aegis led him back out into the courtyard and around the edge of the castle itself. Out behind the titanic stone castle lay open fields that were bordered by crumbling walls. In the midst of it all, a smaller structure stood in the open. Ulric launched into further explanation before the celestial male could even think to ask about it. "Over here is the greenhouse. One of our lead healers Gwynevere has been working on getting some plants growing in here and so far its going well. You'll meet her and Syanna soon enough I'm sure." he explained, and there was a fondness there that spoke further of a leader who truly cared for each and every one of his wolves. "This is the training area I set up for the warriors. The field house is storage for some training dummies and extra armors and things for you to practice with if you want. Up to you what your style of training is. If you keep going around the castle you'll find the paddock that houses our alpacas. The fighters all take turns guarding them since they do tend to attract coyotes and those sorts of predators, though my mate and I recently acquired some dogs so they don't need quite as close of a watch any more." he explained, and while the contents of the field house certainly intrigued Deion, he was also drawn in by the livestock. This was certainly one of the benefits of a stable home and claiming territory, there was the possibility of keeping animals for meat and fur. It was hard to deny that his brightly hued eyes were glazing over when Ulric went over the rules of the pack, but such was the nature of a wolf who grew up in a roving band of carefree raiders. No maiming and no thoughtless breeding, sensible rules that only disappointed him a little bit. While there was little interest on the surface level for attacking and hurting those who shared his home, he was a proud man by nature and couldn't always be counted on to think before he acted. Not that he would elect to mention this to his new leader. It would come up eventually, but at the risk of earning unnecessary scrutiny, he would keep his mouth shut and his head down for now. He blinked at Ulric when he turned to look at him with a grin, forcing himself back to the present. "I think that's about it! I guess the only thing left for you to do is to get settled in and start meeting everyone. Any last questions before I let you go?" he asked. "Any recommendations for sparring partners? I may not be a child any more, but I wouldn't mind getting back into the habit of training regularly." he replied earnestly, a lopsided grin creeping onto his features. |