Ankyra Sound (ritual) dear seas of old, i come with a prayer

Ankyra Sound: Monthly Ritual

Each month, Ankyra Sound will have a monthly ritual. These rituals are not mandatory, but your participation in each round will contribute to your character's standing in both the general and religious hierarchies of the pack each week. Rounds last one week each, beginning Sunday.

This ritual is performed under the Waxing Gibbous Moon, a time for nourishing attraction and promoting growth; while Ankyra Sound works to tighten their foothold in the Teekon Wilds, the Matriarch prays to the Sea to encourage an abundance of recruits. For this particular ritual, male and females are both welcome to join.

In this round, Aktaiê is simply gathering her followers. This round will end on November 8th, 2014. Further guidance for this ritual will be given in subsequent rounds.

With the Moon swelling like the tide in the night sky, the matriarch stood at the center of Ankyra's beach. She still coughed when she drank in too much of the briny air, but the scent of the Mother Sea was cleansing and comforting -- and Aktaiê could feel strength and wellness returning to the fibers of her being. With their numbers ebbing and flowing like the tide, the priestess knew is was time to call upon the Mothers for further blessings; this time of blood and of loyalty.

But first, she would need her acolytes. For it would only be for their combined strength -- even that of the lowly consorts -- that the Mothers would heed their prayers. She lifted her head to the night and called for them, her voice slightly rasping, and then waited for all their bright eyes to fall upon her.

Nishu's ears twitched to a calling. He didn't hesitate to sprint to the one who called. Answering a call as quickly as possible was a reflex. He couldn't help but wonder what the call was about. It was night so whatever it was must be important. Perhaps this was a chance for him to get into real action, something that will test his limit. He was finally approaching the one who summoned with hope that he'll be able to some awesome mission. He slowed down reaching to stop just a few meters away from her.

It was big boss Aktaiê who called. He saw that he was first to arrive. He had opened his mouth to ask what was going on but he closed it without saying anything. Of course he's only been here for a couple of days, it wouldn't be surprising if this was just a pack meeting. Besides, it most likely a meeting with just the females. He quickly faced away and turned around. He was disappointed and decided to just walk away thinking his time could be use for training somewhere instead.

Only a few steps were taken before he stopped again. Tethys should be coming to this meeting right? He thought about it. Perhaps it was better if he stayed. Surely he was allowed to stay and atleast listen. He turned around again faceing Aktaiê. He sat down on the sandy beach and closed his eyes. It was better to just listen and imagine then to watch. A small listening exercise, shouldn't make it a waste of time if this meeting was nothing important.

Emalee — I think we're assuming Kev was presented to Aktaie at some point behind the scenes, so that's why I've made mention of it in my post. If you have any issues with that assumption, let me know! The "someone" in this post can be anyone or no one in particular, it's just generic.

As always, Kevlyn was accompanied by someone. That someone didn't speak to him—it seemed that no one spoke to him except during his lessons, so the consequence of this was that the Ostrega cub spent a great deal of time conversing with himself—but led him silently to where the summoning call had gone up. Never had Kevlyn ever participated in a gathering of pack, so excitement buzzed through him, even though there was almost nothing for him to be excited about in Ankyra Sound.

His escort (whoever it was, Kevlyn hadn't lifted his head from the sand) and he found the Matriarch easily. She stood on the cold sand, facing the ocean. Kevlyn didn't know very much, but in his time at Ankyra Sound he was learning two things: Greek and respect. Many of the wolves switched between his native language and Greek readily, and some of his instructors only spoke Greek. He didn't always understand what they were saying, but Kevlyn was young enough that he was picking up on the easier words quickly. As a result, he dropped his head low, his belly nearly touching the ground (just as Spyridon had said Spawn were to do in the presence of women), and muttered a very quiet, "μητέρα," for Matriarch.

He was then ushered some distance away. Nishu, the weird guy who had visited him with Tethys, was there too. Kevlyn watched him with wide eyes for a moment, but a sound from his escort drew his attention swiftly back to the Alpha Female.

Never before had the Amazon felt so empty. Neither Akantha, nor 'Thea were around now, and it made her doubt her decision of following Aktaie all the way here. Initially, it had been the young dove herself who had pushed Aella to do it, and she had promised her that it would be an adventure they would both live together, and so far, she had done it all by herself.

Akatie called for the whole pack to reunite at the beach, and being a good Adept, Aella left her stand to attend the much more important matter. Prayers were always reinvigorating, specially when the times were tough, and to be honest, it hadn't been as easy for the pack so far. Aktaie had caught a delicate illness just a few days ago and she was rarely seen for some time, and Aella, who had always been a trusted Adept back in Temiscyra, had had to constantly prove her worth and value to the pack, and even Aktaie herself. And this, besides actually being important to her, was one of those times.

The sand felt nice between her toes, as it had her whole life. There was just something about the beach that called Aella, that inspired her, and she was happy to visit every time. She slowly walked to the reunion, keeping her chin up, keeping her spirit up. Aktaie had stuff to ask for from the mother, but Aella had stuff of her own, and she wanted to relieve the weight. Αδελφή. The amazon said to announce her attendance, but kept just behind the matriarch to avoid bothering her, for lately, she felt like an outsider in what was supposed to be her own family.

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He didn't really know what was going on, or why he chose to show up. All that Larus was aware of, was the presence of others. He saw a flash of red through the trees and was invigorated enough to follow it - being led out upon the sand, where he was once again faced with the great big ocean. Aktaie's call was still carrying upon the salted air when he came upon the group, trailing eagerly after Aella. One by one, he counted the strangers. A brief moment of recognition hit him when he saw Kevlyn, but the boy chose to ignore the child - instead striding as close to Aella as he could, and then plopping down in the sand by her feet. When he turned his head, he could look up at Aktaie - and the group collecting around them - but he saw nothing wrong with his positioning among the strangers. It was just nice to have a friendly face nearby.

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As the moon hung overhead white and swollen in the tranquil darkness, a call shattered the night -- one that slung overhead like the stars distant and commanding. Caiaphas lifted her muzzle and tested the air; the sweetness of cool autumn, the heady brine a bitter accompaniment.

She trailed after her appointed kin in quiet, the sulking yellow of her eyes flashing from each comrade without comment. Gently she lowered herself into the cold and angular sand alongside Aktaie, her scolding gaze coming to fall at last on the irreverent male Tethys had culled from the wild. She said nothing, though one long and slanted ear pricked carefully in Aktaie's direction.

She had been lounging at her favorite spot overlooking the beach. It was a shadey glen of tall redwoods and pines, with thick emerald grass strewn with flowers. It gave a commanding view of the ocean, as it was only a steady curve of a sand below the grass that led to the foamy waves. The sleek female felt in touch with not only her Mother Ocean, but the life that seemed to emanate from it.

It must've been several hours that Tethys had been asleep in her secluded bowl of grass, for it was night when she awoke. The moon gave out a wavering reflection on the ocean and tinged her feathery pelt white. Rising from her paws and stretching, the female set off on a purposeful trot. The moon was no simple object in the sky; it was a marker of time. And her intuition was right. Aktaie was calling for them, and through her mind's eye Tethys could imagine the silver-embossed pelts of wolves streaming from all sides of the Sound and conjoining under their leader.

With a pleased grin on her face, Tethys spotted Nishu first. Sidling beside him, her tail tip stroked his shoulder as she slowed to a walk. She caught the sour look on Caiaphas' face but shrugged it off. At least the outsider was learning. The knight had bowed in the alphess' presence and Tethys approved, dipping her head to Aktaie. She noted the two male pups who had come, surrounded by several adult females. All of their attentions had been turned on the lean frame of the head Neredies.

Since his arrival into the ranks of Ankyra Sound, things had been quiet. Spyridon had kept to himself, as he had been taught to do, bringing food to the caches and keeping a watchful eye on the borders that did not face the sea. His life was a solitary one, for the most part, though he had taken an interest in the couple of spawn that had arrived. They would be trained, just as he had been, to serve their mothers and sisters. And perhaps, if they were deemed worthy, they would give the sound more mothers and sisters. Spyridon had given his seed to none in Hippo Tang Cove. As a gift, he was not permitted to take part in the fertility rituals. Here, though, the women of the sound were welcome to do with him as they pleased.

The moon was high in the air, and when the matriarch's voice came to sing to it, Spyro was not surprised. This would not be his first ritual he had attended, nor would it be his last. He was quite accustomed to those the sisters would permit him to partake in. There were some he was shooed away from, but he had long ago learned which ones he could contribute to. On this night, he knew this was one he would be welcomed to attend.

He arrived to find many of the sisters already gathered. Spyro knew them by their scent, by their appearance, but lacked any knowledge of their names, sans Aella. Spyridon glanced to each briefly before taking a seat next to the young Kevlyn. He had noted that the boy's Greek was slowly improving during their lessons, and he imagined that he would be speaking fluently in no time. The other spawn Spyridon did not know well, but he had seen him from time to time. Perhaps they would become better acquainted as time wore on.

i am just going to round this up - feel free to post until the 30th, and then i will archive.

They banded around the Matriach, slim ghouls huddled in the moon-scant darkness. The Matriarch invoked the care and aid of their goddesses, and once the ceremony was finalized, the world was submersed in sepulchral silence. One by one shadows drifted, and one by one shadows left -- each being appointed various ritual tasks by the svelte Alpha. Caiaphas left the ritual grounds gravely that night, her tongue curbed and mind reeling with inordinate thoughts.