[div style="background-color: #292727; color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 1px; text-align: justify; overflow: auto; width: 500px; height: 340px; padding: 10px;"]Sephiroth’s typical call to meeting in the form a feral lion roar seemed to be laced with more confidence than usual.  He practically sauntered towards the meeting room, a parade of his strength and might and control.  Mother had seemingly slinked away for the time being, allowing the one she referred to as her son in either a literal or metaphorical sense to take control and lead and be the great ruler the ethereal deity destiny had claimed he was.  The male would haul himself to the platform, turning around with the look of satisfaction on his face that some would refer to as smug but was simply how he showed that he wasn’t entirely angry at the world.  This meeting would be fun for sure.

”Rosebloods.”  His tone was honeyed, and he dragged it out as if he could taste the sweetness.  ”I wish to welcome more members to our ranks this time around.  Rosemary, Perseus, Bugsy, and Jailbird.  We are honored to have you among our ranks.”  The traditional bowl of mysterious red liquid was in front of the platform once more, and the pale beast would motion with a paw for the newcomers to take a sip. 

”This week for promotions and shout outs..”  Sephiroth’s tone would rumble throughout the chamber, his eyes scanning the crowd for those he would acknowledge.  ”I want Rosemary to be our second Physician as she had prior experience, and Eddie to step up as Guard.  Shout outs to Maekoda and Mirio for stepping up their activity in particular, you two continue with the work and you’ll have bright futures ahead of you.  Shout outs to Bugsy and Perseus as well, who both also receive the title of Squire.”  There was plenty of activity in that regard this week, something that pleased him to see among his group.  They were finally getting back onto their feet, filling out the ranks well enough.

”On the politics side of the clan, The Typhoon are no longer out allies.”  Sephiroth’s menacing eyes would narrow at the mention of the seaside group, the silvery tip of his tail flicking slightly as if the name of the group itself irritated him.  ”I am allowing all of you to go and do whatever you please to antagonize them.  Captures are allowed, encouraged even.  Show them that we will not take disrespect lying down, that if they do not stand with us they are our enemy.”  The last word was growled, his already intimidating and commanding voice lowering further because he got to more positive news.  ”In their place, The Ascendants are now allies with us.  I want ambassador activity directed there, and they are to be treated with respect, as I have heard their group is taking its own direction that I feel will mesh very well with ours.”

”Now,”  The Pharaoh would lift a paw, exposing the pads to call attention to what he had about to say.  ”I ask you all to stay here for a few minutes longer.  I have something else to discuss with you all, something I’m sure will be of high interest to a lot of you.”  Sephiroth’s voice dropped to a pleased hum once more, ears twitching as he gave his groupmates a chance to absorb all the information before he got onto the more fun part of this week’s meeting.

(OOC SUMMARY PART ONE
-welcome to [member=1130]rosemary roux[/member] [member=2771]PERSEUS.[/member] [member=2191]BUGSY[/member] and [member=2779]JAILBIRD[/member] !
-Rosemary is promoted to physician, [member=2728]eddie,[/member]  to guard, shout outs to [member=2522]maekoda[/member] , [member=2506]MIRIO![/member] , Bugsy, and Perseus.  Bugsy and Perseus also have received the Squire title!
-the Typhoon our no longer allies and aggressive action towards them is encouraged.  The Ascendants are also now our allies
-stay tuned for part two, which will be posted tomorrow!!  i hope you don't mind me splitting up the meeting into two parts this once, but this is the best way for it to work khflhaf)

The witch took a seat at the edge of the gathering crowd, trying to keep her distance from the other members. She abhorred physical contact -- even accidental brushes -- and she wanted to keep their chattering voices as far away from her ears as possible. Her ear flicked as she heard her name called out as part of the welcome quartet, three of her four eyes settling on the lion as he pushed the meeting's various points.

Her head dipped when he called her name, again, for the promotion to physician. Rosemary thought to speak her thanks and congratulations, but she worried about interrupting the flow of the meeting; thus, she stayed silent with only the occasional flick of her forked tail. Nothing else terribly surprised her -- not even the bit about the business with the Typhoon. The former head soothsayer knew bad blood brewed between the two groups at the time of her leaving, though she anticipated they'd settle into an accord sooner or later. But, now that she saw the Roseblood leader commanding his forces, she saw how that assumption turned out wrong; he and Pincher were of the same type, domineering with an arrogant streak. Neither would admit wrongdoing or acting stupidly. Or, of one did, the other would pounce on the shown weakness.

"Pardon my opinion, but... perhaps we ought to approach Sunhaven for an alliance? The Typhoon are rather busy with The Pitt at the moment, and we should use that distraction to befriend their ally." Besides, Rosemary liked the beachside Clan; she'd like to continue to visit the ocean, and this presented the best way to do so. Well, the political understanding primarily motivated her, but she certainly wanted to take her pet crocodile to the ocean from time to time.

[div style="background-color: #292727; color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 1px; text-align: justify; overflow: auto; width: 500px; height: 340px; padding: 10px;"]Sephiroth would listen in on the questions his groupmates proved him with, eyes shifting about the crowd as words met his ears.  He settled first on Mirio, satisfied with the canine’s quick response.  ”Hm.  Feel free too.”  He had encouraged trouble with the group for a reason, and he was proud to see his group stepping up right away.

He looked back down towards the newly promoted medic, ears flicking as he considered her words.  The lion’s expression did turn more serious as politics came into play.  ”I do not see how helpful that will be towards us.  Sunhaven are enemies with the Ascendants, and that is the reason they came to us in the first place for an alliance.  I would keep an eye on them to see how their alliance with the Typhoon works out however.”  If his memory recalled correctly the Sunhaven was partnered with their other ally the Tanglewood however, so he didn’t consider them full enemies for the time being.  Though if the Ascendants called upon them to strike, Sephiroth would not hesitate.

Perseus was the last to address, and Sephiroth’s face gentled at the sight of the younger animal.  ”If you wish too.  It is not required however.”  The whole tradition was something he almost forgot to even address this meeting, and perhaps the whole thing needed an overhaul.  The second question was one that made his eyes narrow slightly at the memory of his encounter with Pincher on the border.  ”They are fool-hardy dullards and their leader especially so.  One of their members came to actually help us and Pincher came along and threw a tantrum about it and broke our alliance right there.  They’re childish and beneath us.”  He kept his voice from becoming a full growl just barely, a bitter taste on his mouth as he spoke of their former ally.  But he controlled himself.  There was other business to tend too.

He acknowledged Eddie’s presence with a nod before he lifted his head up and got back to the meat of what he wanted to address.  Sephiroth’s tone went serious, his expression matching it.  ”Now, down to business.”  His rumble of a voice echoed especially intensely, authority and power lacing it greatly.

”The Aspects have spoken to me.”  Oh, so this was serious religious business.  Sephiroth hadn’t paid it much mind, which was probably why this had happened to him.  His eyes were like frozen stone, but they glowed somewhat in a haunting fashion.  This frightening gaze settled on the crowd, unblinking and intimidating.  ”They are displeased.  They are angry.  We have not been serving them properly, and they are not pleased they shall reclaim the land for themselves and slaughter us.”  His voice was dead serious, all dark amusement from before completely gone.  ”Ignis in particular is upset with us.  They demanded to appeased, and today we will start acknowledging our lords more.  Now, come foreword.”

The last sentence was not directed towards any Rosebloods before him, but beyond the crowd back to the entrance of the meeting room.  He had outstretched a paw full of unsheathed claws, nails flexing in a beckoning motion towards the back of the group that had gathered around.  His illuminated eyes remained serious, but a small smile that did not show anything positive slowly appeared on his jaws.

Something, somebody, appeared at the opening of the cavern.  It was a lion like Sephiroth, though younger with a significantly thinner mane and a normal pelt color as opposed to Sephiroth’s unholy look.  The large feline’s eyes were glazed over, a pleased and casual smile on it’s face that when matched with the lidded eyes painted a very ominous picture as the lion moved carefully through the crowd to approached the Rosebloods Pharaoh.  From the way Sephiroth beckoned him foreword and the out of it look the stranger had, it showed clearly what was going on.  The leader had taken the lion’s mind and toyed with it, pulling it apart like a ball of string and then putting it back together.  Over and over and over.  Until Sephiroth had crafted a mindless creature that obeyed his every command.  If anything it was a symbol of Sephiroth’s might, of his mental prowess and dominance.

One thing was clear; Sephiroth was otherworldly and terrifying and not a creature to be messed with.

The lion lifted themselves onto the platform and sat slightly in front of the Pharaoh and to the side, and the silverette lion himself stood and moved to stand next to the nameless.  ”This creature should consider themselves highly blessed.  They are here to appease the Aspects, to serve and please a much higher power.”  Sephiroth’s voice devolved back into a purr, lips stretched to a grin.  His eyes turned to look at the lion, who turned at the exact same time to look at Sephiroth in way that was almost adoring.  ”Now blessed one, please the beasts higher than you.”

In the span of a heartbeat Sephiroth would lift his sharpened claws and rake them through the animal’s throat, the lack of a thick mane making the flesh vulnerable and soft.  Blood spurted out darkly, and the lion gasped and gurgled and collapsed to the ground, scarlet leaking from the twitching body and spilling onto the floor and pooling, dripping off the platform.  Sephiroth looked down coldly at the dying body as life left it, sides stilling and eyes clouding over with death more than they did with Sephiroth’s mental control of him in life.  Crimson soaked his claws, and the male didn’t bother to start cleaning himself right away.

The male would look back towards the crowd, ready to gauge reaction as he spoke.  ”We will start holding sacrifices to Ignis weekly after this.  Each week after the meeting you are to meet me at the edge of the Wastes with a sentient creature of your choosing to offer up to please Ignis.”  Sephiroth would plainly stated as if sacrifice was absolutely normal throughout the world.  He had expected the first offering to be fancier then this, but he was short on time and figured this body would be enough.  Perhaps he’d go and dump it by the Wastes later to make sure it was appreciated.

”The other Aspects are not happy either, but Ignis in particular has demanded tribute this week.  They demand bloodshed in their name.  Any fight or torture or death of an enemy this week is done in their honor.  Surely this will please the deity.”  The male rumbled, finally lifting his bloody paw and lapping at the metallic tasting life force.  His savagery was cold and impulsive and completely unpredictable.  That was perhaps the most frightening thing about him.

”If there aren’t any more questions, meeting dismissed.”  And that was that, Sephiroth’s duty for the week was over with.  Quite successful is you asked him.

(SUMMARY PART 2
-You're free to go the Typhoon and capture members
-At the moment, no alliance with the Sunhaven
-SO!  Along with the meeting each week there will be a weekly sacrifice held at the Wastes to please Ignis, the serpentine Aspect of Flame!  NPC's can be sacrificed to please the Aspect, though if somebody wants their character killed in this fashion that is also acceptable
-Every week there will a prompt to perform certain tasks to appease a certain Aspect!  this week is also Ignis to get you started, and violent actions and tortures are highly encouraged!)

She nodded as Sephiroth explained his position on Sunhaven, her forked tail flicking lazily behind her. The witch heard of the scuffle between the two otherwise peaceful groups, but remained unaware this scuffle provided part of the basis for the Rosebloods' alliance with the stargazers. She might've continued to poke at the issue, but without further details and her relative inexperience with the Rosebloods, she simply let her opinion rest. When she heard him speak ill of Pincher, her dark orange eyes narrowed slightly in irritation -- but she supposed she'd have to get used to them speaking ill of her family.

The mood shifted abruptly as he began to talk about religion, and her jaw clenched in irritation. Rosemary, for all her magic and healing, believed voiceboxes for gods bought too deep into their own ego. She knew little about the aspects that formed the basis for the Rosebloods' religion, but she already decided she disliked them. Still, she watched with all four eyes as the brainwashed lion stepped forward. As a practitioner of mental magics herself, she guessed how the pharaoh managed to make the creature a servile caricature of a lion. She thought she'd been disturbed when she saw Caesar torture a hapless girl in the Typhoon, but now she felt quite at a loss for words. Quite at a loss for thoughts, even; how to think about this type of sacrifice, especially from a juvenile with his mind obliterated to force him along with it?