One by one they filed into the meeting area. Charon caught Ragnar's attention when the child appeared on the scene, sitting a distance away from Thistle, Gunnar and himself. The distance didn't exactly surprise Ragnar, and the scarred Northman didn't take it personally. He remembered what it'd been like after Eitri's death, which had been hard enough. Ragnar couldn't imagine the pain that the three remaining Ostrega children felt losing both of their parents and finding themselves in the foster care of two strangers. Not entire strangers but he and Thistle were not Verrine and Julooke. They never would be, and even if the children never loved them Thistle and him would do what was right by them, for their sake just as much as it was in honor of their parents' memories. The Jarl did not call to the Ostrega child to move closer, instead, keeping a watchful and protective eye to him nevertheless.
When Ragnar was confident that the entirety of the pack had gathered he prepared himself to speak. Breaking bad news to the pack was a necessary evil of being the one who led them. There was never an instance when being the bearer of bad news was ever a pleasing thing, but someone had to do it. They had to be made aware of what was happening within their own pack. They needed to be prepared for the harsh winter that was coming their way. Their resolve was not done being tested, Ragnar suspected. Life was rarely easy, and it was hardly ever all rainbows and shining gold. Reality was bleak, cold and harsh. If anything, his culture had set him up with an understanding of that from an extremely young age. Ragnar allowed the silence to settle for a few moments, his icy Caribbean gaze sweeping across each of them in turn. “There is much that we need to discuss,” Ragnar began. For a second he had thought about thanking them for coming but saw no need considering he hadn't given them an option in the matter. “As you may or may not have noticed there has been a sharp decrease in our numbers,” Ragnar had no intentions of sugar coating anything for them. “To accommodate this drop in able bodies those who remain will have to put in extra effort. I can promise you that I will lead you through the oncoming winter, and through these hard times but we need to stick together now more than ever. Thistle and myself have stepped up to the plate and we ask that you do the same. I can't tell you it'll be easy, but we will get through it. It will get better.”
"As you may or may not be aware, we have lost two lives. Verrine and Julooke Ostrega are deceased and Thistle and I have taken in their remaining children as our wards,” It was hard to speak of it, but it was necessary. “If anyone has any leads in the disappearance of their fourth child, Kevlyn please come seek us out immediately,” Ragnar wasn't sure if it was right to assume the child was deceased or not, but without much of anything else to go on he felt it was better to assume the absolute worst. “Thistle and I's daughter has gone missing, as well. Our son, Mercury has recently left in attempts to find her.” He didn't mention Nerian, if because he assumed she abandoned them and didn't want to talk about it. “We need volunteers to hunt and patrol the borders,” Ragnar told them, knowing that for some of them neither was an ideal trade. Ragnar didn't mind it even being temporary, but until the winter passed they needed to be up on their game. “If there are any concerns, feel free to speak up now,” Ragnar encouraged before the stoic Jarl fell silent, sparing a glimpse at Thistle to see if she had anything to add to what he'd said.
