King Elk Forest you're offering more than you owe

"yeah," delight answers, "or at least, i always thought so." burke and malice had left the terrible caldera to help their grandson found his pack, after all, and burke had been mato's original advisor. 

gracious' words fill him with a peculiar warmth, and embarrassed, he ducks his head. he'd not been trying to fish for compliments, per se, but he's not about to reject them, especially with how anxious he's been about his performance. gracious has been with them long enough to watch leadership change hands, and he trusts that she's not blowing smoke up his ass. or if she is, she's doing it really well and he wants it to continue. "thanks," he mumbles at his feet, unable to stop himself from feeling a little pleased.

"truthfully, there was a little while where we thought tindómë would collapse," he admits. "it was before you joined -- almost all of our founding members disappeared or left, and then when brienne went missing too... but then a bunch of wolves showed up. winter, i guess." he hums. "i'm glad, don't get me wrong, but it still makes me nervous how isolated we are. it's been bothering me a lot lately, actually." the morwinyon knows he's got to send jomyo on her scouting trip soon, gather what information he can. if they're truly as isolated as he suspects, they'll need to deal with that. and who knows, maybe she can pick up some wanderers while she's out too (ha.) his attention turns to gracious, curious what her take on the situation will be -- since she wasn't around to witness their near end.