bitter the winds raging around, pushing and pulling at the snow, breath stolen by fierce gale, eyelashes bowed heavily upon by blizzard's touch. cloak and body heavily weighed upon by snow and ice, the glow of lantern barely making it through heaps and mounds of snow. press of tongue to cheek, metal rung of lantern painful against tongue, eyes barely open to see through the snows. howling about ears the screaming voice of the winter's wails. head down, braving through the storm's rage toward warm shelters. there would be no easy meetings today, no, they would have to be held within their own hut, lonely as it was. looking up at the trees and huts far above their head, the valereader would give a low rumble of discontent before leaping up and clawing their way up the massive trunk of their own tree.

setting the lantern down momentarily to stretch and yawn, the zheng would pick up the lantern before going on their rounds to stop by the huts of the group members, summoning them to the meeting. finishing their round of calling upon those in their homes, they would walk back to their own, regretting the moan of the wooden bridge beneath their paws, making a mental note to repair it. shaking off in the shelter of their home, they would continue inside, bringing out more guarded lanterns to light them and place them outside of their hut, signaling that a meeting was being called. thank the heavens for bear fat, or the lanterns wouldn't be burning right now, and they would be in secluded darkness.

lonely the wooden and clay walls of the hut, empty and dreary the building, whistle of wind reaching their ears from the roof. come the thaws, they must see to repairing the building itself, although their mind was more pre-occupied with the amount of things that they would have to discuss in this meeting, including their ascension to the rank of sage, which they doubted would go smoothly. the patrol had not returned and skirmishes were erupting between the ashfoots, knights and corps members, let alone in the greenhorns. they had no choice - something had to be done, and many things had to change. the prior sage was soft, too soft and lenient upon the members of the frostblown, allowing them to grow fat and lazy.

the winter was a moderate one for them, yet the laziness made it out to be difficult, many of the group members refusing to go out to hunt or to patrol their borders - this was unacceptable. burdened by their thoughts, the valereader took their place at the head of the hut, sitting upon a pile of furs, waiting for the others to file in. mind distracted by thoughts of the patrol that had not returned, it had been months since it had occured. there was no hope in waiting anymore - they would need to call a tournament of the masters to fill in the ranks. they could uphold the rank of sage, and heal those else around them, but they could not hope to fill the ranks of the head knights and the corps captains, those ranks were needed in order to teach the rest around them. gritting their jaws, they worked their claws against the furs, sorely regretting the fact that they must call the meeting within the day, performing the tradition of anitt's star, to pronounce the patrol dead and to state their own ascension of ranks.

gaze falling upon those who came into attendance, grumbles and rumbles of discontent reaching their ears. they couldn't blame the bunch of them, the day was often the time in which they slept. exhaling in a soft sigh, they would speak, nodding to each face that entered, "my apologies for calling this meeting within the daytime, everyone. it's about time that we all come to accept the fact that the patrol that had set out months ago for the Altar in order to explore the possibility of there being something out there, is not coming back to us. it's time that we announce them dead and lay their memories to rest. that leaves us with another issue - we have no positions of authority. since the group went missing, i have stepped up in their absence as a fully recognized valereader, but now i shed that title. today, i stand before you, to ascend to the position and title of sage - i hope you all will cooperate with me in returning this group to it's former glory and pride.", they would boom in a voice as low and deep as stones colliding.

gaze cutting over the members within attendance, they would inhale to calm their shattered nerves, "with my ascension, i would like to give some of our ashfoots a rank as greenhorn, knight or member of the amaranthyne saber corps. it's been a long time coming - and i would like to assign mentors of the proper path to those who would look after the trainees. would those willing to be promoted to the rank of greenhorn ,knight or corps member please step forward. on this note, i would also like to announce that in the month of february, i will be promoting [member=17494]wren ellefsen -[/member] to the rank of greenhorn and until that time, that we will be searching for a suitable mentor for her. please speak to me after the meeting if you are willing to mentor her.", once more would they look over everyone with a fond look, proud of those who were here. the road ahead would be rough, but a battle wasn't a battle until it was fought.

"on top of this, i would also like to confirm that, yes, a blizzard is coming in. we don't have much time to prepare for it, but i would like every available member here of age to band together in a quick hunting patrol that will last a few hours. we will be back by nightfall and safely tucked away, with what we can hope is enough food to last us for a while. i would like to ask the younger members to go the greenhouse and pluck some fruits and vegetables - there will be a fire here in the sage's hut so that we can cook our foods if your fireplaces are not lit or you do not have enough time to light them." they would rumble casting a sideward glance out the nearest window to the clouds boiling and roiling in the far distance beyond the peaks of the five sisters. unease settling in their gut, they would shake their head softly, "i'll be leading the patrol as soon as this meeting is finished. ah yes. [member=17556]TED B.[/member] and
[member=17488][member=17488]savah[/member][/member] would you both step forward? i would like to promote you both to the rank of knight.", they would rumble. it was far past time that the ranks swelled with applicable candidates - they may have need of them in the future.

clearing their throat, they would swallow back words bursting at their lips, excitement tingling down their spine, "with the change of power falling to me, i would also like to announce that shortly, we will be holding the tournament of the masters! this tournament will be special in that every high and semi-high rank aside from sage is open to be contested for. we will also be speaking with other groups that we have traded with in the past, about forming alliances and creating concrete trade routes. once our alliances are cemented, we will be extending invites to each of these groups to come and observe our tournament, and take part in a few tournaments meant to welcome in good cheer and goodwill to those we are allied with. i have also heard tale of a meeting going on each month in a strange location - i shall be checking it out come february.", they would rumble, tails flicking about their paws, looking amongst the faces gathered before them with a warm gaze.