Lion Head Mesa [allies] meridianus

official arrival thread of the mereo contingent! also tagging @Bronco in this so u can toss him in depending on what he decides in our other thread <3 and also tagging @Qiao for visibility in case she tagged along or wanted a message carried if she stayed for a bit in the canyon, lmk <3 consider tagging all ur threads in AK w [allies] to differentiate them, not a requirement ofc! and from this point on, the mereoans can start any new threads. when everyone has replied to this one ill put ramesses in for assignments. sorry for the length of this post, i am compelled to set scenes. this is also open to all/any akashingo wolves, maybe for a single post to say u were here (trying to keep the thread from too many rounds!)

the journey from mereo had been uneventful. 

now the mountains gave way first to hills, then to slopes, and then at last to flat land. akashingo had been visible for near an hour at this point. the illumination of moonlight would soon change.

"we will be there just after dawn," he said aloud. the plains were deceptive in their horizontal nature: what might appear a short distance from above was several hours in reality.

they had rested for some hours the night before and the palace would provide them with rations. germanicus was not concerned with another respite. he trotted on, leading @Glaukos, @Phox, and @Killdeer toward the great scarlet mesa rising in the distance.

***

the imperator did not stop at the borders. he led his squadron toward the very front of the place. three large stone steps hewn from red stone led up to the open-air throne room. it was here that germanicus stopped and turned toward the others. he had debriefed them upon the culture of akashingo and their hierarchy. coyotes were servants. the wolves of akashingo served many gods. that they might be offered wine or other pleasures and that they were to decline.

now he looked at each of them in turn. "we will be separated from one another while we are here. i may call for a meeting before our time is complete. be ready. and listen. akashingo is our ally. they are not our friends."

he tilted back his head to call for an audience. the shadow suddenly curled against all the edges of his mind. but crowfeather no longer lay beyond those walls. germanicus found himself pained.

it was a woman named tavina who answered, a purple-eyed wolf with black fur who introduced herself as sesh and physician. and it was she who led them up the steps, carefully skirting the thrones. that is where she was found. step carefully.

the doctor led them through a small arch. the path dipped down, and the internal maze of akashingo was revealed. wailing echoed with a loud haunting through the rooms and the hallways. an unseen child sobbed. someone was singing a prayer in a language that was not common. the flowers crushed underfoot had only just bloomed, and filled every notch of the underground kingdom with a perfume that would only be choking as the sun grew hotter.

the throne room lay ahead. tavina stood aside. the soldiers filed into the chamber. it was expansive and made of the same stone as all the other things they had seen. the ceiling arched high. flowers had been scattered here as well, immaculate. but pharaoh was not here.

he is with her now, the sesh said softly. the priest is preparing her for burial. i will go and tell him you are ready.

tavina left. the soldiers were alone.

in the colder court of mereo, it was easy to forget the lavish beauty of akashingo. 

like cold, sweet water during a scalding summer day, akashingo's halls drowned the memory of more drab aspects of qiao's life. she breathed in of the blooming petals underfoot, forgetting herself a moment in its grandeur.

but they were not here to softly speak of summer orchids and high summer noons;

they were here because the queen had been killed.

qiao took the spot in which tavina had been standing before she departed; it was here she solemnly glanced across the party of wolves that had been good to her. how drab and dusty they appeared, while red-fanged akashingo rose behind them!

this was a beguiling place to be so beautiful.

Glaukos had been expecting an assignment within Akashingo upon his return, yet the circumstances of this particular journey were different and he knew it was not part of the original plan. He had been informed of a situation and ordered to follow Phox and Killdeer, along with their general Germanicus, to the palace where an investigation would take place.

The young man had never seen a place such as Akashingo before. It looked, from a distance, as if there were no life anywhere. As the group crossed beneath the stone eaves in to the claimed land and then deeper, to where the palace loomed, his mind shifted. Glaukos focused on the many scents that drifted across the sand, but he also watched the flitting figures.

It was quiet except the scampering of feet, or the crying of a child in some deep recess. Glaukos was immediately put-off; he had been resistant to sleeping in the Mereoan barracks where the soldiers were meant to stay, and this was even worse. These wolves lived like termites within the earth.

Glaukos stood alongside his fellow soldiers and did his best to emulate the stone that threatened him from every angle: silent, stoic, awaiting his orders. Trying his best not to let his instinctual fears from childhood overtake the many months of training he'd so far undergone. It was a tenuous moment for the bear of a man.

The crying child tugged at Phox's heart, and he nearly split off from the group to investigate, but a sharp look from Germanicus was enough to keep him in line. He had not really gathered all that much about why they were her until now. The words of the small sesh explained enough. A woman of great importance had died.

Phox stood silently in the cavern, an odd feeling washing over him as he did so. He worried about Towhee. He glanced at Killdeer. He waited for further instruction.

so initially i had wanted @Siptah to come with him, but since we already have a germ/siptah thread, ill leave it to u to decide if u want to toss him in! <3

when ramesses arrived it was alone and with little fanfare. he had intended to bring the prince with him, and yet at the last moment had faltered in the command for reasons he did not comprehend.
pharaoh strode through the small assemblage to his throne and took up his seat, straight-backed and unreadable.
"i would like a guard posted to the queen's chambers." his eyes fell to the older man, @Phox. "monitor any comings or goings."
"and i want a guardian for any trip the princesses take outside." gaze flicked to glaukos, "as well as at their doorways."
the final posting was @Killdeer. pharaoh stared implacably at the young wolf with his kohl-circled eyes. "watch over my priest and priestess, boy. the lady @Qiao will instruct you."
at last he looked toward germanicus. "you have free roam of the palace and all its inhabitants, night or day. question all of them. leave no stone unturned. i will await your report before you leave."
there was a heavy pause. "the fellahin will serve your meals. welcome to akashingo, soldiers," ramesses ground out, before he descended the throne and was gone.

last for me here! feel free to reply with responses <3

it was a cold fanfare that received mereo.

ramesses appeared only long enough to issue orders. he did not care to know the names of the mereoans who had come to tend him.

the imperator bowed his head as pharaoh swept out of the room an entire five minutes after arriving.

"come," he said to the three. "i will show you the path out of akashingo, the wellspring, and the places you will guard. the rest you will learn through observation."

the eagle stepped toward the door, nodding briefly at lady qiao.

The boy could hear his father speaking from the throne room — Siptah hurried towards the noise, composing himself just before he walked in; he settled himself on the outskirts, not wanting to draw attention, and listened intently as Ramesses gave his orders. As soon as he had finished speaking, his father left. Siptah stayed behind, clearing his throat to tell the soldiers, "Welcome to Akashingo. I... I hope you find who killed my mother."

The halls of Akashingo were like nothing he had ever seen before. Killdeer did his best not to too-openly gawk at his surroundings, remaining stoic and close to his great-uncle Phox. The vanguard soon stopped in a place of many flowers. It was all magnificent, but not without a touch of something. . .macabre?

The Pharaoh arrived and began doling out orders immediately. He felt the keen blue eyes cut to his core, and nodded silently in acceptance, stomach churning.

Which one was Qiao. . .?

It was the boy that made the greatest impression on him, though. He stared down at the prince and felt his entire body constrict with pain, surprising both in its presence and intensity. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to see one of his parents dead.

He wanted to promise Siptah that they would, but the words died in his throat. Instead, Killdeer gave another brief nod and then followed Germanicus, wholly unsure of what he'd gotten himself into here.

only post for me!