Stavanger Bay i'm a traitor to your flesh, in a stone

AW, borders

as the sun descended beyond the visible plane, a lone figure and its slender shadow cut long and dark across the strand. in between motes of brilliant gold and autumn-orange the seawitch's form rippled, interrupted only when she dipped between thick boughs of the forest and verdant green.

she had ideas to stop at donnelaith, perhaps to evince one last quarrel from the insufferable wolf she knew as osprey. maybe she'd even daringly steal across donnelaith's heart to find lasher's corpse and defy osprey's stupid wishes. her plans for riot and havoc and all manner of foolish ruction were grounded swiftly when she noticed the heady scent of claim-land.

stavanger bay had not been claimed since ragnar, and she was most curious to see who held the rocky throne. equally happy to abandon her schemes of upheaval, the spidery female made directly for stavanger's borders.

she halted a respectful distance away from the clearest marker, and with the fine grace of a siren threw back her slender head and issued a shrill cry for company.

There was a soot-headed ija at the borders, trenched in a coat knit of storm-clouds and the froth of the sea. Though she had learned her lesson about wolves at the border when she'd seen Szymon's pelt stained red, she could not help but feel drawn once again to one that shared her blood - especially one with such glowing eyes and so exotic a pelt.

Besotted by the strange garb and penetrating voice of the shewolf, Atoll crept out of her hiding place - one of their outer-most caches, in fact - and made her skulking way toward the stranger. Though she was Atoll now, and was therefore obligated to command such situations at the borders, her nature could sometimes not be denied. Her tail went up because she bid it do so, but the rest of her body remained coiled and ready. Infautuated though she may be, there was still something unsettling about the ija that stood here.

"Hail," she called to the other, ears swivelling as she drew to a halt just outside of Blackrock's borderline. Her eyes raked over the woman's figure once before darting back to her inked face. If need be, she thought she might be able to hold her own until help could arrive.

Lagertha looked upwards, ears pricking at the howl, from her position patrolling the border. It was not far off, the Viking sped up to intercept whomever it was only to find the Depths's witch doctor had beaten her to the punch. 

Lagertha dipped her head to Doe, taking in the stranger's odd coat with a glance as she paused next to her friend. 

"Skol," she murmured, nodding politely to the woman with a curious look etched into her expression.

it was not often the coywolf was greeted by two, and even less often was it that one of the two was a thing caiaphas immediately recognized as not-entirely-wolf. curiously (and quite unashamedly) the siren grazed her eyes over doe's slender features, resting on the trounced tip of one floppy and somewhat obscenely felled ear. to caiaphas, the half-upright ear seemed a permanent gesture of unbalance. perhaps to doe and lagertha, caiaphas' head seemed a perpetual stain of malice.

while neither of the wolves looked outright aggressive, caiaphas was not about to let her guard down. she had survived this long being coy and deceitful -- and if she had any say in it, would survive a bit longer. her gaze became flinty as the pale-washed wolf spoke -- skoll? did she say skoll? for a minute caiaphas thought the wolf was speaking of her grandfather -- but how did she know of him?

she concluded, after a little reel of clear confusion, that lagertha had issued some sort of salutation. in a gesture of (perhaps feigned) friendliness, the salted wretch sat on her gamine haunches as if disarmed. "i know what hail is, and even ave -- but what is 'skol'? caiaphas slanted her sharp-faced muzzle downward, peering expectantly at lagertha for some sort of explanation.

Though not a particularly intelligent creature, Atoll knew the spirit of the word, and its meaning was the same as her hail. A word of peace and goodwill, used to greet those one with which one would rather not quarrel - but she would quarrel if she had to, and knew also that Lagertha would back her, should the need arise.

She did not know ave, but hearing it spoken from the coy-woman's mouth, she assigned it the same meaning as the other two words. It had to be - for she was a loathe to make enemies with one of her sisters, and especially one so striking as this lady.

"It means hello, and goodwill if duty allows," Atoll replied, feeling better about drawing herself up now that Lagertha had arrived. "I am Atoll, second in Blackrock, and this is Lagertha - Pelagic."

She already knew that some of the words might not mean very much to the woman, but that she was the second should be enough, and that she spoke for Lagertha should also be telling. Though Atoll trusted Lagertha rather more than she trusted herself to handle such situations - perhaps the pale woman was more suited for the role than Atoll herself - she also knew that it was a skill she would have to develop, and that this was a duty she wanted to be able to perform. Skellige had trusted her in this position, and it was time that she earned that trust.

Lagertha watched stoically as the woman sat, certain her movements were planned and not genuine. Her lips parted to speak but she stopped as Doe defined the word, a bit surprised she knew the meaning. Laggy nodded in pride, over her friend or heritage it was unsure, before gesturing to Doe. "Lass has it right."

The Valkyrie was introduced, nodding once more in a cordial manner. "Can ve help ya?" Her words were not meant to be rude, for the Shield-maiden was trying for friendly.

so far, this was easily the most pleasant interaction caiaphas had ever had with strangers in the teekon wilds. she was somewhat bemused, though kept the reason to herself. neither of the two wolves (okay, one and a half wolves) before her had shown any sign of aggression yet, and in return caiaphas afforded a subtly neutral positioning to her gamine body.

as if to say, she was not a threat.

threat or not, the slippery queen's intentions had yet to be made plain -- for the paler of the two was quick to query in a curiously accented voice. "you can." she supplied smoothy, canting her muzzle to the coywolf that had originally hailed her. "it is reasonable to assume there is a pack in the bay again, no?" she shifted, her feral gaze somewhat shielded. "i wish to be made known of it. why the bay? what are your intentions?"

Atoll was a creature with little intelligence, but the woman's guile - or rather, the possibility of it - was not wholly lost on her. Coywolves, she knew, were inherently deceitful creatures, even if their purposes were not always nefarious. She herself often found her thoughts mired in careful double-think, and being the self-centered sort of being that she was, she assumed that others would also be this way - those most similar to herself almost doubly so.

But the woman was pretty, and she'd been raised to equate coywolf with family. Atoll felt obliged to be cooperative with this woman, even if her trust in her was not complete.

"We own the bay," she said without quarrel - sharing information, and nothing more. "It has been given to us by our god, and we have made ourselves a home in it. Our aim is to protect our home, and to protect the land of Donnelaith, which lies beside it."

Such things seemed simple and innocuous to the scrappy young shewolf. It did not seem like a secret, and so she did not think anyone would object to her sharing it. Of course, such complicated thoughts did not touch her without careful contemplation - in the moment, she simply shared what her comfort-level with the woman allowed.

Lagertha was unsure if she would have given up as much info as Doe had. Something about the coywolf before them set her on edge, the glint of cleverness in her eyes reminded Lagertha so of a fox. She hated foxes.

Still, Doe was Skellige's most trusted and if she found it reasonable to share so much then Lagertha found no reason to stop her. The Viking merely nodded, agreeing silently with her words.

in truth, the siren of ankyra had not anticipated doe to supply their intentions so readily; for a moment she canted her slender muzzle to the side and assessed this newly discovered information. could the transparency be a ruse? caiaphas had learned there were many as clever, or sometimes more clever, than she -- but the readiness in which doe delivered their reasons for selecting the bay made caiaphas question whether it could be a guise at all.

she shifted her gaze to lagertha, the silent woman besides the coywolf. she couldn't be certain, but something in lagertha's expression seemed to betray a semblance of surprise. caiaphas, oily and snakish as she was, did not wish to lose her perceived foothold on the conversation.

"good." she said simply, somewhat airily, as if doe's compliance was a product of her own bidding. "donnelaith is an ally of mine; of my pack saltwinter -- specifically, lasher's children. and when i say his children, i specifically mean one: deirdre." she leveled her wicked gaze to the two, her voice somewhat onerous: "and saltwinter's fury would kill any soul that harmed a hair on her head. lasher is dead now, but that does not end our friendship. now; this god? what is her name?" she assumed it was a 'she' -- for what culture would worship anything but the matron that gave life and took life away? caiaphas had always been open to religion (she had embraced the nereides, hadn't she?) but was curious to see if the newly claimed bay possessed a religion that would conflict with her possibility of survival.

The surprise of her companions was lost on the Blackrock beta. She had faith in her pack and in the sea, and did not fear outsiders knowing that they'd staked a claim on their own blessed land - in fact, she found herself obliged to share such information, so that none could trespass and say they did not know better.

The woman knew better, now.

"I know her, too," Atoll said with a sharp wag of her tail. It pleased her to hear of their common ally, but this was not something she felt she could take the coywolf's word for. "She is a kind and gentle soul - a friend truer than Donnelaith itself. None here would hurt her," the woman said stoutly. "I will never begrudge her another guardian, lady, but these guardians should be made known to each other only by her - Will you tell me your name, so that I can ask her about you? If you refuse," she warned, her voice slightly chiding, but still without aggression, "I will have to assume that you lie."

She burned to answer the she-creature's questions about their goddess, the sea, but would speak no more on any subject until the woman made herself known.

Lagertha had never met this Deirdre but she seemed like a phenomenal woman if she commanded this kind of protection and respect. 

Doe was clever, as she proved once more in her questioning. Surely if this coywolf lied, she would not be staying her welcome long. But then, she could lie about her name. 

Lagertha's eyes flicked from Doe to the stranger, waiting to see which side would win in this silent battle of wills. The trickster or the witch doctor?

caiaphas delighted to know that the youthful thing she had once escorted back home had ties here -- but it did not lift the dark thoughts from her mind. wolves were wicked, and she was no exception -- with lasher dead, it occurred to caiaphas that deirdre's safety may be compromised. w

the coywolf asked caiaphas for her name -- she flicked a torn ear in her direction, noticing the faintly veiled suggestion in the careful way in which doe phrased her words. caiaphas was a liar -- and as such, did not find the threat particularly compelling -- but her interest in lasher's child kept her in line.

"caiaphas." she said, finding it strange to articulate her name -- as if by speaking it into the world she was assigning it some great and marvelous meaning. but it was just her; it had no meaning.

"siren queen of the nereides -- and now, alpha of saltwinter, the pack that claims ankyra sound."

It did not truly concern Atoll whether or not the woman lied. She was a striking creature, and no matter what name she gave, her appearance would have been marked by any who encountered her - Deirdre would be no different. If she spoke highly of a pale coywolf with a black head, then all said here could be confirmed. If she did not - well, it was no skin off her back. Alpha or not, Atoll doubted the sea would allow an interloper to take these lands from Skellige. Not after the blessing he's bestowed upon them.

Still, Atoll was pleased by the cooperation afforded to them, and was therefore more open to the idea of speaking of the sea and his goodness. Ever-conscious of the she that most people used when talking about the ocean, Atoll kept her words tailored to win outside approval.

"Caiaphas. I am glad to know you," she said, her words earnest despite the worries she still had. "Our god is a fearsome one - we worship the Sea, and she has blessed us beyond measure for our service. Though she is not a kind god, her rewards are well worth the hardships that we face. She holds back the true wickedness of the sea and gives only what we as mere wolves can handle - so long as we all face her wrath once, and live to tell the tale," she explained, both joyous and reverent in her brief description of their god. "Will you tell of your own pack? Where does Saltwinter lay their faith, and what do you mean by coming here to our borders?"

She was not worried for their safety, but she did hope that the woman had not come to make war.

Lagertha was content to let Doe and this woman, Caiaphas, do the talking. Politics weren't her speciality and the Viking didn't wish to blunder or embarass the Levathian. As for religion, Doe was better suited for explaining that as well.

Black Rock's religion was not quite her own people's, the Sea was worshipped and not her Gods but Kattegat had been so centered on the ocean that she found it easy to mesh. It reminded her distinctly of how the different Klaners had been slightly varied in customs. The Sea Klan, the Plains Klan, the Mountain Klan, etc. They had been different but similar. Lagertha felt no different than if she had been initiated into a different Klan.

Lagertha considered herself lucky to have survived the Sea's blessing, even luckier to have not stumbled into the Sea drunk on the wine.

last for me <3 thank you for the thread

it pleased caiaphas greatly to learn that these wolves worshipped the only respectable thing in the world worth worshiping -- the sea. as far as caiaphas was concerned, there was no greater matron -- no being more deserving. like the nereides, it was a refreshing change of pace to hear their deity was female.

"saltwinter is the last vestige of the nereides, a massive, coastal clan. there is no shore they have not set to conquest." caiaphas had not considered lying, for the female had been forthright and the favor would be returned. "the nereides worship the sea, the mother. they are matriarchal, amazonian -- there is no place for men in their ranks save for the deportment of drudge servitude." she paused for a moment, a wry grin fleeting across her muzzle.

"the nereides on our shore are no longer, for themiscyra called them back. i remain. and i serve no god save for myself." she did not delve into the reason she had fallen out of grace with the nereides' creed, for it involved the death of a wolf she had considered her child.

"i had gone to visit donnelaith, but along the way picked up the scent of a pack. we are not so far from each other that it seemed natural to investigate. it was most helpful -- you were most helpful -- but i must return to the shore. ave, comrades." with that she would dip her head and bow out, aiming to return to ankyra if no other words were said.

Atoll merely dipped her head in response, somewhat confused by ultimately disinterested in the woman's matriarchal society. They resided near to the Depths, apparently, but neither did this alarm the Blackrock beta. Her pack was strong, and their god had given the land unto them - thus, it did not matter that Caiaphas worshipped the same Wickedness.

The alpha bid her adieu, and Atoll echoed back a reply in kind. She followed after the woman until she'd passed out of sight of the Depths, but did so merely out of duty, and not out of any real concern. She liked Caiaphas, and was already imagining bumping into her again.

The Viking could not say whether or not she liked Caiaphas, there was something in the woman that could not be trusted certainly. It would be foolhardy to trust any strangers right away, in any circumstance, but there was something extra about the Saltwinter Alpha that made her seem extra devious.

For now, Lagertha sat aside thoughts of Caiaphas, unsure if they would even meet again. Judgement could pass at that time.