She had made very quick stops at Ashen and The Hallows, just long enough to check in on her allies and make a mention of the feast she hoped to hold in the summer. There was still some time before the event would be more than an idea, but she needed a project to focus on and she felt like Elysium desperately needed something to awaken it a bit–or at the very least she personally felt the need to find something to shake herself awake. Planning the last festival the pack had held had been a fun venture for her younger self and while she didn't feel like she was quite ready for such a large event, a feast did feel more manageable.

The only thing left to do for her brief tour of the packs she was familiar with was a quick visit to Ethne. However, while she was speaking with Artorias, she heard about the newly founded pack that had taken up residence near by, led by someone named Beauregard. So, before she went to make a check in with Haydée, she decided to introduce herself to this new pack. She had little idea of what to expect, but she was certainly curious as she approached the edges of the forest that they had claimed. Avacyn gave her coat a quick shake to smooth it from her travels before lifting her head a letting out a call for the pack's alpha. The near by branches shifted slightly as her ravens settled in them and she settled onto her haunches as well to wait patiently for someone to greet her.

"Avacyn Medacium"

Cassandra had gone to visit Ethne in hopes of finding her brother, something that Beauregard wasn’t too sure of right now. He’d give her a small headstart… but then he was going to tail after her. If anything was to happen to his mates the man knew he would be devastated. But, while he wanted to protect them, he had duties as the Artifex too. He was checking their borders, thankful for the land they had chosen. There had been some close calls with bears attempting to make their way in, and with some more vulnerable pack members they needed to be vigilant. Beauregard knew what they were after. The river flowing at the falls were filled with salmon migrating upstream to their spawning point. The pack would be stuffed full of fish by autumn’s end.

The cream furred man had been nearing the end of his patrol when a voice at their borders requested the presence of an alpha. Beauregard turned towards it, shaking out his coat before setting off to see who might have come to visit Norad this time.

The woman he found appeared to be about his age, though she was a striking purple, even more so than that of his mates. She had a brilliant and unique marking of white by her eye and mutations of scales that seemed to catch the sunlight. It was a unique attribute that Beau had never seen on others though it seemed like a handy mutation to have; armor without needing to wear armor. The man offered his visitor a smile, noticing the pack scent on her and the way she held herself with respect. Could she be a high ranking member from one of the other packs then?

“Welcome to Norad, miss. My name is Beauregard Ravenwood, the Artifex; one of the alphas here. What can we do for you?”

"Speech" 'Thought.'

Avacyn wasn't kept waiting long, which she was grateful for. It was always quite a long walk to see these other packs since nearly all of their allies were on the other side of the continent so she was eager to get to Ethne and rest for a while. These visits were always worth it, but she always forgot the effort that went into them until she was in the middle of it again. The male that approached her matched her in height and seemingly in age with an interesting coat of earth-toned stripes. His markings reminded her quite a bit of her father's, though his were a bit more curved and flame like while her new acquaintance more resembled the stripes of a tiger or perhaps the shadows of tree branches.

As who she presumed to be Beauregard approached, she gave the man a pleasant smile and got to her paws to greet him properly, offering him a polite dip of her head as he introduced himself. "A pleasure to meet you, Beauregard. I'm Avacyn Mendacium, the Matriarch of Elysium. I was just checking in with Artorias over in The Hallows and he shared with me the news about your successful claim so I wanted to come introduce myself and congratulate you," she explained, her tail wagging gently behind her. "You've picked a lovely place to set up your pack," she added appreciatively with a glance to the large cedar trees behind him. "I know building a pack from the ground up is difficult work so I do hope everything has been going smoothly for you."

"Avacyn Medacium"

The woman at their borders would get to her paws and introduce herself - another high ranking wolf indeed. Beau would return the dip of her head in kind by dipping his own, seeing their status at that of equals. She spoke of Artorias and curiously Beauregard’s ears twitched in response. His own visit to the Hallows had been reassuring, and if Avacyn found a friend in Artorias then he saw no reason to expect threat from her and her pack. Were they much like Ethne, wanting to make a home for their family, and protect their own? Questions about her pack danced within his brain, but the ashen cream male found his tail wagging lightly behind him as she congratulated him.

“Thank you, Avacyn.” His gratitude was heartfelt. The building of Norad was an accomplishment, but building it into a home and stable pack was the real challenge that lay ahead of them now. Especially with some new members that had joined them. As she complimented his home the man gave a nod. “Homage to Ethne, the pack we hailed from.” He told her. He held no shame in mentioning the fact - The wolves of Ethne had been nothing but kind, and their leader Bellamy, a wolf who saw more fit to work herself to the bone to protect everyone than ask for help. It was not that she did not trust her members, but she didn’t want to see them hurt. A feeling that Beauregard himself had sympathized with.

“It has been an interesting challenge thus far, but I have faith in our members. We just need to get through Auster’s winter and everything will be fine.” Beauregard motioned for the other alpha to follow him. “Let's walk and talk, it’s far too cold to be sitting and talking.” His gaze shifted back toward the cedar forest his members called home. “Artorias helped offer me reassurance when I visited him in the Hallows. I’m a bit nervous about some of our older members and my new children… I certainly never thought I would stand at the head of a pack when I left on my pilgrimage.” He let his gaze slip back to Avacyn.

“I have heard tales of Elysium from Bellamy when she spoke of the friendly nature between your pack and Ethne… It is also why I chose to visit the Hallows, and why I felt comfortable placing Norad near them.” The man explained. “Elysium is a bit far away though, is it not? Will you need a place to rest for the night?” His ears lowered a touch. “Not that I think that you are incapable of course…” Okay, so maybe talking to other alphas wasn’t such a strong suit yet… but he didn’t want to think of anyone trying to make their way home in the dark and cold alone. Capable or not, it would not be the most pleasurable trip.

"Speech," 'Thought.'

Avacyn's ears perked with recognition and interest as Beauregard mentioned their connection to Ethne and she noticed Beauregard's own recognition at her mention of Artorias. It seemed that they both ran in similar circles, but had just missed one another up until now. She offered him a smile and nod of agreement as he spoke of the interesting challenge that raising the pack had been thus far and the challenge that the winter brought. It was always good, in her opinion, to have confidence in your own members while still being realistic about the challenges ahead. "Good idea," she replied with a chuckle as he invited her to join him, mentioning keeping moving to avoid the cold. She followed suit and fell in step beside her fellow alpha.

As he spoke of Artorias and the reassurances he had received from the Hallows alpha, Avacyn gave another nod of agreement. "He gave me a similar reassurance when I took over as Elysium's alpha. He's a good man," she added fondly. He had been a good ally to her mother and now to herself as well and she was certainly grateful for the friendship between their packs. She was surprised to hear that Bellamy had spoken about Elysium, though she supposed it made sense if Ethne's former leader had been filling him in on their current relations with the other packs. When he offered a place for her to stay for the night–quickly following it up with a reassurance that it wasn't because he doubted her capabilities–she smiled and replied, "Elysium is pretty far away, you're right about that. I do appreciate the offer, it's very kind. I was actually planning to go see Haydée once I leave here and stay in Ethne for the night, otherwise I'd happily take you up on that. Perhaps the next time I find myself in Auster I will. I do wish Elysium was closer to Auster. Almost all of our allies and friends are this direction so it's quite the trip each time I want to visit."

"Avacyn Medacium"

Beauregard’s steps were relaxed, at a pace that would keep his blood flowing but also not hurried so that they could focus on their conversation. It wasn’t surprising that Artorias had offered Avacyn that same reassurance. From what he could tell Artorias and the Hallows as a whole were a shining beacon here in Auster. He knew Bellamy would be able to recover there, and that she would have no want for anything with them. Hopefully the recovery would be speedy and she’d be back with her family before too long. Since coming to these lands he had learned the importance of bonds in a pack, of the family you could build regardless of blood. At the mention of Haydée Beauregard smiled warmly. “That is alright, you will be in good company with her.” At the mention of the distance he frowned a little. “The distance is a bit of a shame though. I know Norad is still building, but if you need anything, and it is in our power, let us know. I’ve grown used to traveling long distances, and it might be easier if sometimes your friends come to you instead.” That smile returned. “We are hoping to specialize in crafts, anything you can think of. My mates have come up with designs for above ground dens - huts - and we’ve started on bags and gear for messengers to make their travel to bring information a bit easier on them.” His expression softened. “When spring comes, I’m hoping to begin offering our goods as trade, so long as nothing sets us back before then.” His ears perked as his gaze swept the landscape before them. “...and if our youngest gives us enough time to work on such projects.” A laugh escaped him. He had never expected to enjoy being a father so much, nor did he ever expect to be presented with the opportunity either. But he embraced fatherhood happily. He only hoped that anyone who longed to be a parent would get that opportunity. "Speech," 'Thought.'

table coding by bunni ♥

Avacyn enjoyed her time walking along beside Beauregard and listening as he spoke about Norad's growth and the offer to make the trip to Elysium if needed instead of always being the other way around. Even though they had only just met Beauregard had proven to be quite amicable and easy to get along with so she could foresee them working well together in the future. Her expression lit up with interest at the mention of crafting and the structures that his mates had been working on as of late. She nodded with agreement at the mention of moving things forward once spring came around once again and also understood including the caveat of if there were no setbacks. She knew all too well with their recent losses how unexpectedly things could take a turn so she could certainly appreciate having a moderate approach to these things. When he added that it also hinged on whether or not their youngest allowed them the time for their projects she could only sympathize more with the difficulty of trying to get things like this off of the ground while taking care of a family. It was a feeling she could not yet fully relate to, but... perhaps one day.

"I would be very interested to see what products and crafts we could trade whenever you and yours are ready to do so," she agreed with another smile. "Creating and crafting has been a hobby of mine since I was very young so it's nice to find a likeminded group. I built a few structures and such of my own on our land as well. I would love to compare notes with your mates should we ever get the chance to." Building the guard outposts and lounge areas around the pack lands had been a labor of love in the time before she actually took the position of Matriarch. There was a small pause before she added, "So you're a father then? That's wonderful. How many children do you have?" she asked conversationally, but her gaze shifted away from him to look at the path ahead of them instead. She refused to let her own mishaps cause her to be bitter or resentful toward anyone who did not have to face the same struggles that she did. Pups were a blessing regardless and if she was going to get to know her new acquaintance it was good to find out these kinds of things about him.

"Avacyn Medacium"

Hearing that Avacyn had also enjoyed crafting was an interesting bit of information. His lips turned up in an intrigued smile, tail wagging back and forth. “I’m sure we’d all be happy to! I’m still experimenting myself, but I find working with materials soothing. Making something with your own paws… a meaningful gift or something to make life easier… There is such a wide variety of objects that can be made.” Beauregard chuckled. “Bags and well, open containers for storage are what I’m mainly good at it seems.” At her question about fatherhood, Beauregard gave a small nod. “I am, yes. Lucky enough to have children, despite well…” He chuckled softly. “My partners, though they share a vessel, are all male… and I’m uh… well I’m not interested in women that way.” A warm smile spread across his lips. “Our eldest, a sweet pixie girl, was found running from a bear. She seemed to have lost her family, so I took her in. I was happy enough being able to be there for her, growing our family…” He looked back to Avacyn. “We ended up with six children total, when my mates discovered a litter of little ones within our borders. There was no mother scent, and, strangely enough, they almost look as if they could be from us, though I know that is impossible.” He couldn’t be happier about that though. “They are not mine by blood, but they are mine by bond, I wouldn’t have it any other way. It just goes to show, if a Felvarg wants a family, the fates will find a way to make it happen, no matter the complications before them.” "Speech," 'Thought.'