Redhawk Caldera eighty-fourth

this one is for @Maia and/or @Kivaluk, sen, & @Zaahira! <3 @Eljay welcome also, no posting order <3 lmk if u do not wish to join! @Machiavelli & @Legend welcome to cameo!

waylaid by rainstorm and then scorched down upon by Ra's eager heat, the small retinue came to the place of brecheliant, known to those in akashingo as the first home of their first foreign princess, lilitu.

it was the fellahin who made their announcements for both erpa-ha and jodai, and it was at the svelte side of their queensguard that senmut stood as they waited upon the border. 

a plume of flowering bough had been gently broken in the low country and carried to the caldera, a fan to be wielded by fellahin or mazoi for the elites of brecheliant as they sat to this meeting.

it is a strange ensemble to kivaluk that has come to the borders of brecheliant, and kivaluk eyes them and the large bough of flora with an uncertainty. which only then made him feel guilty because it could be a gift but —

he was overthinking and he hadn't even reached them yet.

he is the first of the caldera's leadership to arrive and has to shift the feeling like he was a bit out of his league to the side; swallow the rock that has suddenly lodged itself in his throat.

if he could be a father, he could do anything! ( and he seemed to be doing an ok job at that ) he reasons to himself.

greetings, kivaluk speaks. i am kivaluk, one of brecheliant's ravens. he adds his rank just in case. what brings you to our borders? he inquires, though would not be insulted if they wished to wait for maia before answering.

the caldera was more grand than the queensguard had expected. the boy who comes to meet them seems... primitive, and he serves as a stark reminder that zaahira had grown used to the riches of akashingo.
she studies him with a pass of wildfire eyes, roving from his strong shoulders to the seemingly naive curiosity written on his face. each title is listed by the servant boy. she says nothing at first, waiting with a raised brow for her priest colleague to detail their predicament; he was much better at diplomacy than she.

Eljay had never had a strong fondness for the Akashingo wolves. At first, it was simply because he did not understand them. Over time, it was because of the things that they did. Reyes had gotten messed up there; Eljay did not fully know or understand what had happened, but he was convinced it was something they had done to make it so. The worst was that they had tricked Lilitu to sell herself, to marry someone she did not even love, and he still blamed them for that. Eljay was not a wolf to hold grudges, but he wasn't sure he'd ever stop holding that one.

Though he was no longer leader, Eljay showed up when the call went up. When he arrived to only Kivaluk's presence at the borders, he was glad that he had come. Though he trusted Kivaluk with many things, he could not help but be fearful that the young man might be the sort to fall for Akashingo's beautifully polished lies.

As he arrived, Eljay forced a pleasant enough smile to his face and nodded at the Akashingo wolves. Eljay, he introduced neutrally, the smile still on his face, then sat down beside Kivaluk, though clearly deferring to his leader's choices and judgement. He was only here in case Kivaluk needed him, or until someone more competent for said task — Maia, for example — showed up.

anyone welcome to still join! <3 no posting order!

an unfamiliar young wolf greeted them. senmut had not seen the look of this one before, and took his measure with a cool bow. an older man joined them; the prince inclined his head with new respect.

"i am senmut, erpa-ha and priest of akashingo. this is zaahira, jodai and commander of our forces. we are on a mission of ambassadorship to other encampments. historically, our kingdoms have always been rather friendly with one another. but i would like to offer brecheliant a chance to formally join our trading agreement, now officially established upon the coastline."

more to say, as always, but for now senmut fell silent.

his role as raven had been assigned to him to cater to his skills as first hunter, to recruit and welcome those with hunting potential and pre-established skills into the fold. kivaluk does not think that it extends to speaking on friendships that he does not know of in any sort of depth nor agree to any sort of trade agreement.

that was a job for the auspex.

he finds some comfort in his father-in-law's presence but still he wished for @Maia — this should be her decision.

he tries not to rankle at the words used: not really liking how this chance felt like a one and only chance in stead of an invitation; and perhaps that was kivaluk just choosing a wrong interpretation of them.

he is quiet for a moment longer, mulling over words and not wanting to undermine maia's authority on this matter. though if she did not show, he would have to make a decision on the matter.

for now, he figures it is safe to fish for more information.

the coastline is pretty far, why establish your trade there? asks the raven.

im trying to keep group threads, esp large group threads, to a minimum since I’ve been very slow lately. Please skip me if I hold this up <3 I know I’m gonna lose my place in this thread lol

Maia had woken up feeling a little out of sorts this morning. Perhaps it was something she ate, or maybe it was late spring allergies coming into play. Whatever it was, her head felt heavier than usual and her stomach wasn’t up for food quite yet.

Of course, that would be the day visitors came!

Akashingo. Even if she hadn’t recognized the scent, Maia would have known them from the strangeness. The leaves, and ceremony of it all, made her instantly uncomfortable. And she’d already been that way for a variety of reasons. Kivaluk was already there, thank goodness, Eljay too.

She arrived in time to catch the question that the Raven asked, but didn’t have the context. Even if she hadn’t been a little out of sorts today, there wasn’t enough information for her to sort out why they were here. What did the coast have to do with them? They were as far from it as someone could get.

She didn’t want to interrupt the answer, though, and instead came to silently stand next to Eljay. Maybe the answer would clarify things a bit.

Feel free to skip me too, this is probably my last unless Eljay is directly addressed <3

Eljay relaxed slightly when the purpose of the meeting was laid out. He was curious to see how the new leader would handle the situation, so he continued to lean back, simply observing, and ready in case there were any questions he could assist with. He smiled at Maia as she arrived, but didn't mingle further, letting the leaders handle the situation as they pleased. An old man's grumpy opinion on their neighbours wouldn't contribute much here.

who were these denizens of brecheliant, exactly, not to understand trade? to be so far outside it that they could not conceive a need? he gestured for a hide-parcel to be brought, and tipped glittering shells so delicate and scoured by water that they had become transparent.

"because it is a novelty to have a portion of the sea so far inland," senmut murmured with a warm look to him. "the coast is quite far from akashingo. we hope to create a trading corridor through the land entire. imagine it: honey available when snow is on the ground. a hundred feathers the colors of which are kept to the desert birds."

but these things would not appeal to a small family, perhaps. "dealing in wealth has made us powerful. as the closest ally to the palace, i could ensure regular gifts of hunting in exchange for patrol access between us, to the southeast."

a pause. "there have been attacks on both of our palaces this year. they are not coordinated enough to be a true act of aggression, but the demand for increased security may benefit you as well."

perhaps it is lack of context, but his mother in law, when she joins the gathering is quiet. assuming that he is going to have to handle this, even with the auspex's presence, kivaluk is quick to shed whatever lingering uncertainty and dons the cool, mountainous armor he wears in kigipigak's presence. draws from what in him is inherently tartok despite that he never took his kigipigak's surname and had not been raised as such.

the honeyed tongue man speaks of wealth — delicacies and baubles. material things that are of no actual use. cool silvery champagne gaze slides down to the nearly translucent shells with only a soft pang that he thinks chickadee might like them.

a novelty it may be, but kivaluk thinks it's senseless. why travel so far for useless trinkets?

meats and furs would be useful to brecheliant; the chink in his armor found and slowly, achingly pried into.

there is only a slight tense of his shoulders when the messenger speaks of attacks on both their homes, but to the best of his knowledge brecheliant suffered no such attack. if both of these wolves' palaces had been attacked: that meant they were the obvious target, regardless of the attack's lack of coordination. would solidifying an alliance of any sort paint a target on their back?

kivaluk thinks of his children and can feel his spine become like steel: stiff and unyielding.

but he fears, doning the cold, fjordborn armor of the bits and pieces of him that are tartok to the marrow of his bones will end something that has been peaceable. and he is only raven, not auspex. it is not truly his place so he remains quiet, holding his tongue. deferring to maia as his chieftain.

Maia still didn't fully understand, but Senmut's tone chafed her. There was no disrespect there, but something about it... perhaps it was the sick feeling she still struggled with. Perhaps it was lack of sleep. Perhaps it was prior dealings, and Akashingo always flaunting their strange customs. The mention of gifts reminded Maia of Moonglow, and that set her even further on edge. Brecheliant was fine, strong enough to provide for their own. Why did everyone seem to think they needed gifts from strangers?

We appreciate the offer. But we don't need it. Maia stepped forward, sensing Kivaluk's reluctance to speak for them. She stepped up beside him and touched his shoulder appreciatively, silently, while still watching Senmut.

Our pack has what we need, and we aren't interested in riches or gifts. We'll continue to be friends to your pack, and you are welcome to visit our borders if you need anything. We can't promise anything more than that. Her voice sounded more confident than Maia felt. Turning him down felt less stressful than agreeing to some kind of partnership that felt undefined. She knew the type of pack Akashingo seemed to be; she had no interest in fighting their battles for them.

We only want peace with all of our neighbors. And that's all we've had so far. She didn't entirely mean to imply that they didn't want peace, or that they potentially deserved the trouble they'd had. But Maia's thoughts definitely rested there, and some of that couldn't help escaping into the words. She didn't have the patience to prevent it.

Eljay could not help but smile when Maia spoke. It was not only that she spoke precisely his mind on the matters, but also how strong and decisive his mate sounded. All of her insecurity on whether or not she could be the Auspex the pack needed seemed insignificantly silly in that moment. He would tell her later how strong she was and how proud he was of her, and they would talk about their thoughts on Akashingo — and find out that they shared thoughts almost precisely — but for now, the caretaker merely leaned back and let Maia and Kivaluk wrap up this meeting.

having only listened and studied thus far, zaahira found these brecheliant wolves to be unimpressive. how could one not take the offer of protection and trade from the strongest kingdom on this side of the world? based on the looks that lingered on the faces of the three birds, the distinct feeling one gets when someone thinks you're weird also began to creep up her spine. a coolness settles over her expression as she clears her throat, vying to get a word of her own in.
we can understand that, her tone is fair and collected, the hard eyes focusing now on the dark coated woman who spoke on behalf of her people. we only felt it would be a desirable exchange should you have soldiers you would be willing to send to our aid.
our military is split between our northern and southern claims. while muat-riya is able to protect itself given its size, our numbers within akashingo are... less than desirable, given recent happenings. a glance to senmut; a lift of her brow that would perhaps only be noticeable to him.
pharaoh is a gentle and kind woman. she does not like bloodshed. we, too, desire peace; but see, our hand is being forced.

senmut would have only gracefully moved them all on had not zaahira spoken. brecheliant had no soldiers and he had thought this was clear.

but then she spoke of their numbers, and the prince was appalled, surprised. why would she talk of akashingo as anything other than strong? "our need for trade has required the protection of such outposts, as you can imagine. pharaoh waits to bring forth children, and her consort builds our forces. brecheliant has contributed a good deal to the history of akashingo, and as such, our investment is indeed in peace between us."

but he was standing now, offering a gentle nod to the caldera wolves in respectful acceptance of their decision. "please do not hesitate to alert our sentinels in the steppes if there is trouble."

they did not want gifts, but senmut did not gather the glass shells, for to him it would have been an indignity. let them throw the objects into their lake for all that mattered.

the desert woman speaks of soldiers, as if brecheliant were a fortress brimming with an army. their pack was relatively small, and out of them kivaluk considers the only fighters might be him and kigipigak. she spoke of understanding but he considers her words an attempt to sway them: negating any understanding she might harbor.

he is a silent sentry as he watches them, waiting for them to depart.

Soldiers!? Maia couldn’t hide her surprise, and her stomach turned a little as she listened. What sort of home did this woman think they had here? And what kind of a pack needed soldiers?? Obviously places like that existed in the stories she told, but she was old enough to know that in reality, all war and violence brought was heartbreak and loss.

She didn’t catch Senmut’s look or much of the implication in the rest of their words. She was too unsettled by that and suddenly very eager to have these two gone. She stepped closer to Eljay instinctually, and his steady presence helped her to calm down some. Kivaluk didn’t seem any more charmed by this than her, which made her even more proud of this place and her family’s future. Brecheliant really didn’t need close allies like this.

The idea of outposts rubbed something in her the wrong way. Why did they try to claim places they would need to struggle to defend? Worse, did they consider Brecheliant an outpost? With his offer of a defense if they needed it, it sounded like it. She did not like the thought of that one bit.

We can look after ourselves, and have other neighbors nearby. Thank you for the offer, but I doubt we will need it. She managed to keep her voice cheerful through the discomfort she felt with this whole conversation. She didn’t feel quite feel equipped to handle the way they spoke but knew she’d done her best.

She would watch as they left as well. Normally she would invite them to stay a moment and offer them food, but not this time. The word outpost hung too heavily on her thoughts.