you made your
sceptre with the
bones you've broken

So much had happened in the short time since Morrigan had laid a claim for herself and @Talisa on the Summit. It was difficult to process for the war torn High Sovereign and she seemed to have settled into a stoic numbness from the outside at least. To linger too long on it all would have crumbled even the mighty shieldmaiden under the weight. It was not something she was afforded to do if she wished to keep Illyria strong. Especially now that she knew just how closely her enemies resided.

She knew it would be to rip a hole in her own chest to say the words out loud. It would have been enough to relive her fight with Halvar, something she already needed to do now that she had been nearly recovered. But now this... A nightmare on top of a nightmare with the blessing at least of her newest children the lone bright light among what should have been the family's greatest triumph. As Morrigan ascended to the same stone outcropping where she had first laid her claim, she would wait for @Talisa to join here there before calling forth the rest of the pride.

Her silver and purple gaze tried not to linger on the spot below where Farrow would be dutifully posted, or the coldness of the empty space where Avaneira should have sat next to them. Her youngest children where welcome to attend if they so wished. She had no desire to shelter them from the realities of a world that had already made them a target.

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ooc: will reply again on the 14th! morrigan will be looking for someone to take over the heir position and filling more ranks so please be sure to post here.

table by ferus, art by grav3wolf

He hadn't been far when @Morrigan made the call. While he hadn't expected a pride meeting to be held at right that moment, Magnus had been half-anticipating one sooner rather than later. He'd been incensed when he'd learned of the attack and had kept himself deliberately within earshot of the High Sovereign as much as possible. He'd been on high alert ever since; throughout the birth of their cubs, and the first few and precarious days and weeks after that. He knew the Greyflood monarch wouldn't thank him for hovering and so he would intentionally kill a little time; drawing the journey out between his resting spot and the meeting place with slow, deliberate steps. Even so, he would be one of the first to attend, and with a chuff to the Queens - "Morrigan, Talisa, how are you?"; because he couldn't stop himself from inquiring, nor would he want to - the titan would move to sit nearby.

Tragedy had become common.

Something that as a Valour she had never quite been used to before but the years had changed her, just as it had changed the land. Not only had her wife been brutally attacked and her/their children nearly taken from them, but they had lost three in one brutal go. @Morrigan's mother, Avaneira and their beloved Farrow. While she loved each of them with all that she was, Talisa loved them in different lengths. She'd never gotten to truly know Avaneira the way that she had wanted to but her heart had truly sunk when she had seen her husband's mangled body.

So the days followed that discovery had only etched her in deep, relentless silence or quiet but steady cries of mourning where she attempted to reach Maua. Desperate to cling to the hope that they might not be truly gone while somehow her heart felt too darkened to feel a guarantee. It pained her and so she stood quiet at her wife's side. A strength to her posture and yet in the twinkle of her lilac eyes it was clear there was a deep-rooted sadness that little could diminish.

So when @Magnus became the first to arrive and greet them, she gave him the strongest smile she could muster. One that was perhaps more lacking than her usual brilliance but if she moved forward, her steps would be too heavy. Talisa wished to tell him, to speak of how she was and how they were but words were thick within her throat and did not wish to relinquish themselves. So instead she gave a tight-cheeked smile at his question to silently admit to the fact that she was okay but she was not alright.

fernweh should be in mourning, she should be standing guard over her mother's grave. and she should not be here; it feels as if she's been forcefully wedged into this place where tragedy still lingers. if she could, she would leave and never turn back. but what good will it do to leave another fractured wound? that's only cowardice because the greyfloods will never leave any of theirs at their most vulnerable. she has to live and stay for her mother because that's what avaneira would've wanted.

fernweh heeds the call of her aunt and slips out from the shadows. snow clings to her pelt as she finds a spot near @Morrigan, just to announce her arrival. she stays silent, eyes focusing on the second most important woman in her life at the moment. her heart has cried out its sorrow, but she's still tired and worn out. the cold bites at her cheeks with each swallow, before fernweh allows herself to sink into the ground. she has grown used to the change in elevation, but not the strong bouts of intense cold that sweep through. even her fur, which is shorter during the summer season, suddenly grows long and thick again.

tante fernweh said, finally finding her voice amidst the hesitations, i'm here if you need me. her gaze is steeled as she looks at morrigan. then, her eyes linger on @Talisa, then to a man, who she's not familiar with. perhaps next time she'll know who resides in the summit._{BG — ART — CODE}

it's the first true meeting since the pride's inception and desdemona is obligated to attend. she had been filling her time with hunts and trysts down the mountainside, anything to wind the clock on the day until she could sleep alongside her husband. this summoning is a diversion from her usual routine and it would be welcome, if not for the somber mood clouding the tiny gathering, a chill to the air that isn't caused by the frigid breeze.

morrigan and talisa helm the rocky outcropping with magnus just below them- ever dutiful to his title. she wonders if magnus has seen the children, if he's went to visit with them and coddle them while she's been away. no matter, the calico kicks a layer of frost from beneath her to sit. this is about something else clearly and she blinks up at her leadership, noting the absence of morrigan and talisa's husband.

the calico patiently waits, awaiting the arrival of her other pridemates so that this could get underway. her heart thrums in her chest but she doesn't quite know why.

art

He had joined just in time for the pride meeting, it seemed, as he heard Morrigan call for them all. Luckily, his breathing had been getting much better as he spent more time in the thin mountain air and could grow accustomed to it, so it was only with a couple quiet coughs that he approached the group and settled himself somewhat on the outskirts, as he didn't know his place within them all just yet.

He wondered what news there would be for them, and hoped it would be something good though he sincerely doubted it. He hadn't heard good news in quite some time, if he was being honest, so it was nothing surprising to him if there was to be some more bad news to pile on.

The black wraith moves across the snowy landscape, a stark contrast to the wilderness around her. Her heart had been hardened when @Desdemona had shared a particular set of news with her, but no matter. There would always be a time and a place, but for now that familiar stoic mask of hers falls into position as she carefully picks her way closer to the gathering. She hoped that she would be welcomed, in the very least she did not want to be viewed as a threat. Considering both her husband and wife were settled within the Summit Nadia could only assume that she would be allowed to join them, naturally when a call was made for them to gather, she made her way towards it. Eventually they all came into view, one after another, but Nadia's gaze would rest upon @Morrigan the longest. "Forgive me for trespassing, I believed that I might be welcome." She says clearly, her face poised and perfect as she moves to sit firmly alongside her calico. Obsidian fur mingles with the bronze patches of her wife as she sits shoulder to shoulder, dark gaze ever watchful. Ears craned lightly forward as she listens and waits.


* Bad nadia for trespassing but hoping to have her join here LOL

Penrose had found a small patch of sun atop a rock, and had perched himself under the rays to enjoy the comfort of warmth rarely offered by the Summit. Beady black eyes, judgmental and distrusting even in the boy's youth, observed the pride's happenings watchfully. A dutiful prince always made sure the kingdom was running smoothly!

@Morrigan called for the pride to gather, and the shadow-cloaked boy rose obediently at his mother's familiar call. After stretching out his limbs, the young Greyflood prince leapt into the snow with a dull crunch. He walked carefully through the thick snowfield, which threatened to engulf the cub whole with each step. Threading his eyebrows in frustration, Penrose eventually came to a secluded part of the clearing where the snow was thinner and the view of his mother was clear. He pressed his dark belly against the cold, hiding as he waited for her to speak.

// She can be assumed to be part of the pride, her pride change its still pending. She couldn't remember when was the last time she was part of a pride following her own wish to be. She was but a cub when she last did. That brought in her some uncertainty, and old ghosts whispered her to leave, but she didnt want to. She couldnt, her nearly yearling son deserved a better quality of life, much better than she could offer him as rouge. But she knew he was a wanderer much like herself, and at his age she would not stay in one place. It scared her, but she couldnt force him, he would be find she had to trust. A call reached her, and slowly the white lioness made her way to the gathering. New faces all around. She took a seat a bit away from the crowd, but close enough to listen.

Stock from Kati.H from Dawnthieves

The sunset woman had been eerily quiet following the news of her family members. Information that had leaked into their small circle and had been known to Renly as soon as possible. The news had hit her hard and while she had missed out on a lot of time spent knowing her father, she also cherished the moment's she did have with him. It just made feeling anything more than sadness a lot harder to take on.

If she wasn't knee-deep in helping and doting upon her siblings (they might not be related by blood but she loved Mummy's kids regardless of what ran through their veins), then she was running as fast and as far as she could trying to distract herself. So as @Penrose struggling to get through the deep snow, Renly wandered closely behind him -- for his own safety as she gathered herself to be prepared to help should he require it but as was expected, he didn't need it. Very much so Mummy's child; self-sufficient and capable of strength even at a young age.

So she sat near to him, giving him a believable (yet false) smile and awaited the news that she would have to hear all over again.

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