Basilisk returned to the armada, the well packed bundle strapped to his back as he crossed over into familiar territory. The first thing he did upon returning, was make a beeline for the supply den. He hoped and assumed that Iggy would be there already. He poked his head inside, and sure enough, there she was. Calmly cataloguing and fixing things placed in the wrong spots. He hid a grin, knowing that the new layout she had chosen would take some time to sink in.

“Iggy, good, I was hoping to find you” He said, shrugging the stuff off his back. He placed it on the ground and spread it out so they could both see all the wares bundled inside. “These are samples from a pack called Avalon. I need you to help me determine what would be beneficial to the pack, and what I should trade for.” He said, nodding his head at her to investigate.

OOC:a light shawl made of the finer wool and patterned in a dyed pale blue against a natural cream; a heavier bedroll made of the thicker wools for durability and woven in relaxing patterns built of the natural browns, blacks, and creams of the sheep; a few small balls of already carded roving, some dyed and some of the natural colors; a well-sealed jar of a delicate floral honey, the jar a good example of their pottery as well with its glazed-in patterns; a couple of glazed pottery bottles with an example of a stronger mead as well as a cherry mead, and she'd send what was left of the apple mead with him as well; a well-preserved lambskin large enough for a litter of young pups to nap on; and, carefully wrapping all the others with the skin side out, a tanned sheepskin from an adult sheep, less soft but more durable than the lambskin, from a black and white patterned sheep.



"Basilisk Fatalis"

Ignita was wearing her goggles over her eyes as she was sorting through the supplies. She would pick an item up, check a list she had stuck to a wall with some beeswax, and then place the item where she had mapped it out. A pale ear perked up when she heard the familiar steps of Basilisk come down the hall. Though he had cat claws he still had a distinctive thud and whisper to his footfalls on the stone floors that she had trained herself to hear.

By the sound of his gait, he was in a relatively good mood coming back from his journey. As he entered and called her over she pushed her goggles back over her head to investigate eagerly the wares he spread out. Not at all frustrated she had been interrupted in her cataloging, she welcomed the distraction with such delights as these!

"Avalon..." She repeated almost absently as she brushed a paw over the lace shawl. Beautiful but would probably be overly expensive and not a necessity to trade for. A good gift for Hazel perhaps.

She grabbed the bedroll and nodded, placing it next to her. Those would help the pack sleep, and their durability would be good for the hunters and navigators to take on their longer trips.

She took up the honey and the pottery, well made, excellently floral. Clay wasn't something they came by easily here in the mountains, but the herbalists were working on Armada's honey stores and it kept well. She placed all the pottery on the side of the bedroll as she murmured to herself about the availability of clay and fruit here.

Then she came to the various wools. She didn't know anything about knitting, or weaving wools but could see the benefit for their climate. She glanced at the shawl again, perhaps they could trade for the premade goods like the shawl if they didn't have any wool crafters here?

"I'm not too sure what we could do with the raw wool cords unless you know someone here who can craft a shawl like this and more. Otherwise, pottery, bedrolls, and skins would be useful. The healers would be a better judge for the honey and mead." She announced confidently looking up at him.

"Basilisk" || "Iggy"

Basilisk could only watch in amusement as she immediately trotted over and explored the bundle he had laid out. She moved things around, looking through it all with that same careful way she catalogued things. He knew she would be making a mental list of everything she could see before her. He waited, patient now that he knew her better, for her to reach some conclusions.

“The mead isn’t for the healers” he said with an amusement snort, swiping the bottle from the pile and placing it next to him. With Oleander now in charge of the healers den, it seemed it would be harder to swipe a drink here and there. “Excellent, now we need to put together a package of our own with same samples for Avalon. Precious stones, some leather crafted by Charleton, some star maps from Andromeda, any other ideas?” She was intimately familiar with Armada’s supplies by now.


"Basilisk Fatalis"

Ignita gave a soft "oh." when he grabbed the mead and placed it beside himself. She had never partaken in meads and spirits and didn't quite understand the appeal. It had typically rendered her previous alpha's partygoers goofy and solicitous. She knew the healers here made the mead though.

He turned to her for more ideas about what they could trade, and she looked at the shawl again wondering how they could use them and distribute and if they would be popular among the denizens of Armada. Her own coat was fairly thin and accustomed to the desert heat, but those here had typically grown with thicker coats.

"Oh! Are there any jewelry makers here? We could easily trade some of those for shawls like this. Especially with our precious stones." She was typically a practical girl and didn't have much of an eye for the decadent appeal of bothersome draping jewelry that would get in the way of her work, but she knew many loved the idea of such trinkets. "I could even try my paws, or Ida's, at making something like a pin to keep furs and shawls on our shoulders." She continued. The work may take her away from some of her other duties though, perhaps in her own time.

"Speech"

At her surprised ‘oh’ Basilisk gave her a hint of a smile. Since becoming Warlord, he hadn’t allowed himself the same mischief he had as a kid. “Would you like to sample some?” He asked, it was only a light mead, fruity with the apples of the Range. He didn’t know if she would like it, but was happy to let her try.

“Corbie seems very practical, I'm not sure what she would think of jewellery, but pins sound like a very good idea. I could get Charlie to work on something” The forge Charlie worked would surely have an easier time making the pins than what Iggy or her companion could do. “But if you could pick out some jewels from our collection and perhaps help Charlie design some? Your sketches could come in handy” he suggested, knowing how clever she was with her drawings.


"Basilisk Fatalis"

He offered her a taste of the mead and for a moment her head tilted subtly and didn't catch her own incredulous look quite fast enough to keep her eyes from narrowing at him with confused distrust. She reset her face though after a flinch and a breath. It wasn't Bas she was mistrustful of, but the drink and her past.
Cautiously she reached out to uncork it eyeing it suspiciously. Why did this stuff seem so popular? She sniffed it and while it wasn't the wines and rums and beers that flowed freely around her old home there was a hint to the smell that reminded her of it. She took a quick swig and couldn't help her nose from scrunching slightly as she put the jar back down and swallowed. It wasn't as bad as she thought it was, kind of sweet and yeasty like sourdough.
"Interesting. Not something I thought would be so popular." She commented she didn't get enough to experience any of the heady effects. It certainly wasn't something she would be seeking out herself anytime soon. Water would be just fine for her.

"I'll fiddle with a few things then and sketch out some ideas for Charlie. I'll see if he's interested or we can work together on something that would suit his skills." She would love to get into a forge and see how a blacksmith worked! Maybe he could show her a few things while they were making these pins!

"Basilisk" || "Iggy"

Basilisk caught her expression with some surprise, it had been… a while since she had looked at him with any sort of distrust. The two had had so many heart to hearts in the time that they had known each other. But he didn’t comment on it, he simply let her grab the bottle at her own pace and try a sip. “Me and Hazel used to sneak it out of the healer's den and drink it under the stars” He said conversationally, wondering if he could weedle out whatever was bothering her.

“I only need a sample right now, and the sooner I can get it back to Corbie the better. If I take too long, she’ll think I stole her supplies” voice lightly teasing. He thought Corbie would be practical enough to give him some time.


"Basilisk Fatalis"

He mentioned how he used to sneak the stuff out with Hazel. A shiver went down her spine and her eyes watched the space over his shoulder, a distance overcame her golden gaze. It took great effort just to shift her gaze up to his, her breathing came in shallow and quick.

She realized what was happening before it hit her, now that she had experienced and named it before, and she closed her eyes and took a deep inward breath, it felt like it rattled her bones. She had almost felt it when she sniffed the mead, but she could tamp it down. His conversational tone about it stoked the memory forward though. She tilted her head and breathed again. A little more steady this time.

"I forgot it for a while." She finally began, her eyes still closed, "They... uh... It was always around, not mead though, mostly wines and rums." She took another shuddering breath. Daring to open her eyes again to bring herself back into the present.

Seeing how tall and powerful he was, and their previous conversations helped a lot. He can protect her now, even from the darkest sandy memories that tried to force their way forward.
"Let's just... I'll say the smell of wine makes me sick. We can leave it at that for now." She said shaking her head as if to clear the fog of it and return to the topic.

"I can probably carve it out a few times when I get a few sketches down. I'll get that to you as soon as I can." She nodded, trying to distract them both from the previous topic. It lingered darkly in her mind.


"Ignita"

Basilisk may enter her threads without warning.

He saw the way she stiffened, and thought he too could recognise the signs now. He said nothing, just moved a paw lightly over hers to remind her that he was there. He gave her a moment to work through it, and it did seem that it didn't hit her as hard this time. She gave him a slight explanation, but he could read between the lines. He'd heard enough by now to realise her last pack hadn't deserved her. “I haven't met a drunk.” He said, voice deceptively calm. 

“I'll not settle for any drunks in the Armada. We are a pack that keeps our wits about us.” He explained to her. Just the occasional swipe, an exploration In his youth. 

He nodded his head as she spoke of sketches and calving. He'd leave that work to her and Charlie. He wasn't the crafter his grandfather had been.

Despite the size of his paw over hers, he was ever so gentle. The weight of it helped her feel more secure and centered. He remarked that drunkenness was not at all a virtue here in the Armada. The way he explained it to her, though he had his even tone, she could hear that fierce protectiveness within it. She swished her tail across the ground, finding his words quite the comfort. The Armada was quite different than her last community. No extravagant palace parties that went on for endless days.

She looked about at the goods and thought they had thoroughly talked it out.
"I think that's all I've got for this. Was there anything else?" She asked warmly.

"Ignita"

Basilisk may enter her threads without warning.