Ocean's Breath Plateau ethereal

@Ariadne - not sure who will act as his escort, so having him wait by the borders for now

in the rush of foundation he thought of the stillness in friendship. his recent visit to the western village had revealed a many things, one being the familiar scent of the altar woman. he assumed it was among the plateau that she made her home, and perhaps her shrine as well.

he found himself thinking of her on this autumn morning, wondering how her altar was progressing and if she'd yet found a song of her own. he did not know if it was proper to visit on the account of curiosity, but he found his paws moving in the direction of the tide despite his uncertainties.

when he arrived on their borders, he found himself with the difficulty of not knowing who to call for. he did not know her by name, and so raised his maw to call for her by a word they would both recognize.

he called for an asteriai.

The call was strange, just barely familiar to her but it was at their borders. "Barbatos, fancy seeing your handsome face twice." She called out as soon as she recognized the stranger. A slant was on her lips but curiosity sparked in her eyes. If they were to be neighbors she much agreed that they should be friendly, but she was not sure why he might call upon them a second time.

"What can I do to repay you for blessing us with your presence?" Her voice was light, teasing. Samani's absence was still there and yet with each passing day the time when @Rodyn and his sons would return, @Phox followed the herds and there was promise in the autumn wind. She found her spirits slowly returning.

tags for reference

it was not the voice of the asteriai who greeted him.

"heph," he called for her as if she'd been a lifelong friend, a smile tugging on his lips. "you make me blush," he teased at her comment on him being handsome.

she questioned the reason for his visit, and he was quick to answer. "i believe there is a woman of your village who i've met before. young, a coat of fawn and cotton." he did his best to describe what he remembered of her.

"last i spoke to her, she was planning to build an altar. i've come to see how she's progressed with it," he revealed, hoping heph knew of who he spoke and that he hadn't made a total fool of himself in mistaking where the woman of the moon lived.

Heph had not had much occasion to meet Ariadne individually but she remembered the wolf and the description clearly. "@Ariadne." While there were others who had coats with fawn auburns and cotton whites she was fairly sure the only wolf who would be building an altar was the one she named. "I can call her now and she can show you." She spoke with a smile before lifting her head back and calling out, a simple request with no urgency behind it, but hopefully the wolf would answer for Heph had no idea where the altar would be and thus could not direct the other wolf to it.

As they waited she queried, friendly and light. "How goes the settling?"

Once Ariadne appears to show Barbatos the way feel free to skip Heph you can assume she gives Barbatos the go-ahead for Ariadne to show him around!

Ariadne had set off in their direction when she’d heard @Barbatos’s call. She was still getting used to walking with a cast, and it took physical and mental concentration to coordinate her walking. She’d been so focused on getting there that she’d forgotten to let them know she was on the way. When she heard Heph’s howl, she paused, realized that she hadn’t called to him, and laughed, feeling silly for forgetting to do so.

Sorry, sorry! This woman is on her way! It is just taking longer with this broken leg of mine!

Eventually, when she did arrive, she regarded Barbatos with excitement and Heph with appreciation. Her sides heaved as she panted, and she took a moment to get her breathing under control before speaking.

I thank you, Heph, for greeting our friend Barbatos, she said, turning to regard the man. I greet you, Barbatos, she quieted, wondering if there was a reason for his visit.