Clean air. Oxygen, untouched by the stiff sulphuric fumes of which occupied the rotten mires in Tanglewood. It felt simply luxurious, especially when coupled alongside the salty taste piggybacked from the ocean spray. If he had felt more emotion, one could say that Leroy exhibited a sense of envy towards those who indulged in this elegant gas on a daily routine. Frankly, the mutt grew tired of having to bathe himself in a body of water each time the mutt left his homeland for outside circumstances, purely in the means of sparing others from insufflating his swamp’s hideous musk - which is what he had done on this occasion as well. First impressions were everything, and, well, it looked like he’d be having this job for quite a while on account of Aya’s sudden disappearance. Faint tinges of the Tangler’s former environment yet lingered, though this meeting of sorts was to be only brief, thus eliminating the need for a thorough cleaning. The wolfhound bore no gifts and possessed null charms; what he would be sharing with the saps here would be what some call knowledge. News of Morgan’s deeds throughout Tanglewood, perhaps some details on the clan’s current status, maybe a short number revolving around this new job - and oh yeah, the fact that ghosts are, as he traversed through foreign land, ravaging what was once a flourishing Tanglewood. The last piece seemed a tad more important than all else, a safety warning to those in Sunhaven about the supernatural. That is, if the spectres hadn’t sprung up round here, too.

"Hey!" the hulking mongrel called expectantly, ”This’s Sunhaven, right?”, before adding in a softer, more charming tone, ”Because ‘m fucked if not.”

Unkempt brows upheaved out of significance, his amber optics casting a keen glare at the munchkin of a mammal. What curiosity had been brewing was not at all related to the fox’s presence, but the fox’s stony disposition. Sunhaven was a merchant hub, was it not? Was it customary for its tradespeople to boorishly demand a fresh face’s business upon arrival like this? Leroy was not offended by this in any way, only caught off guard. Once thinking about it, he’d suppose that in times like these you’ve to be plenty careful in in times like these - still, the mongrel had not received the warm welcome which was anticipated.

"Now tha’ don’t answer my question, does it, smartypants?" his deep tone’d deride lightly, having a go at the stranger’s defensive proclivity, whom, by carefully judging his words, came across unmistakably as a Sunhavener. The fox’s blindness to a friendly personality bothered Leroy none, for if the mutt truly desired to, it was likely that he’d be able to swallow the runt in a single bite or two - yet he’d desist from doing so on account of maintaining his home and Sunhaven’s positive affinity. ”Your leader may have brought up that your group and mine are fort’with allies, per se. I’m the ambassador from Tanglewood, my name’s Leroy Starkweather,”, his oversized noggin dipping in a virtuous bow whilst saying so, ”and though ’s a genuinely disgusting shithole, ‘s our disgusting shithole.” The guardsman had not seen his comments as vulgar, solely modest. It took balls to express honesty about one’s attributes, and he would be lying if he told that Tanglewood was a bustling hamlet. Honestly, the tribe was more of a close group of misfits rather than a guild of any sorts, considering the dwindling population living in the swamps. That was subject to change, he hoped.

”I bring not gifts”, Leroy continued unremittingly, ”though I’ve a lotta news ta share if anybody wan’s to do the same.”

☁ Oh, an ambassador! Pierce didn’t think he had encountered one from any ally in quite some time. That wasn’t to say they hadn’t been coming- he’d probablt just missed him in his recent bouts of inactivity, which he’d been trying his best to work on these past couple days. If it wasn’t obvious to those in his clan, that wasn’t working out too well for him. It wasn’t like he was depressed or unwell in any sort of way - or, he didn’t think he was, but he was no psychiatrist -, he just didn’t care about much. Thoughts of Riddlersgame and fragmented memories of his first home had been riddling his mind lately, and he’d found himself feeling rather drained because of it. It... wasn’t fun, that was for sure, but he could still slap on a smile and offer a sweet “hello” to just about anyone, Sunhavener or stranger alike.

"Hey there!" the Goldenblood greeted, arriving after Marina and coming to stand close to his leader. This Tanglewood guy seemed pretty nice, but he’d only spoken a couple words, and besides, that was sort of to be expected. After all, this was alliance business- you were supposed to be kind, or at least act like a better version of yourself.

"speech"

//mobile

Out of the blue, so many Sunhaveners were creeping out of the shadows in such a short amount of time, it rendered Leroy nearly uncomfortable; those sensualities could owe to the fact that the number of beings present could be compared to the total active clanmates he had in his home, and there was likely more Sunhaveners to come. The lacking in population which Tanglewood was currently experiencing deeply saddened him, for he had to idly witness the passing and disappearances of those he held as friends, rivals, any value in between, and the guardsman has absolutely no firm control over it. At least the tradesfolk present in happysville could live life without fearing an impending deconstruction of their tribe, said fear being especially prevalent in his homeland, what with all those catastrophic ghosties floating about.

In order appeared what appeared like an abomination of nature, greeting herself as Marina (or Monroe), whose name Leroy recognized as the leader, or Helion, of Sunhaven. Somewhat of a gentleman, he’d subtly dip his noggin out of recognition, seeing her as a higher-up regardless of the clan of which she oversaw, and that unorthodox appearance of hers. He did not ignore her inquiry regarding the news, of that the hound had a vast amount of, for Leroy heard the incoming footsteps of her people, and did not wish for others to intrude on his story with their greetings. The next creature to make the scene was a serval, one of few words, thank god. Following suit encroached a mug that was strikingly familiar to Leroy - ah yeah, she was that chick with the pet... hamster? He recalled that her name was of a planetary body - Venus, right? A faint sense of nostalgia tickled his throat as the femme appeared, glad that at least one of the past Tanglers weren’t lying dead in a random bog. The mongrel gave her a toothy grin as the ex-Tangler echoed his comment, which would immediately disperse when the name Ophelia was brought up.

"Ophelia’s doin’ fine, I guess... I kinda love’er, actually," he’d casually remark, previous to sorely stating ”she jus’ stopped showin’ up about two weeks ago, and I do miss’er so, but I’m positive she’ll come up.”

Sighing, he’d shift his amber glare to the bunch present, all of whom had introduced themselves in one way or another. If anyone else had decided to interrupt, these folk could explain to them at a later date what he’d in a moment say.

”By th’ sounds of it, everyone’s experiencing ghost issues. Our Delilah has discovered a few methods ‘n repelling them, and they actually work. Uh, ya need ta smudge the area, burn sage and spread the smoke, and saltwater works, too. Morgan and us recently built like a mausoleum, a giant tomb, and almost immediately these ghosts came. Now, he’s sayin’ that there’s some inter-dimensional crap an’... I don’ understand anything but if it works, it works.”

”Other than that, the Pitt’s been causin’ trouble for us, for they kidnapped two of our members - and I even had ta save one of ‘em -, but Tanglewood’s barely staying on its feet with the ten of us there, so there’s no way we’d be able to attack ‘em. Oh yeah - s’many people suddenly jus’ disappeared all of a sudden, and very little people are joining, so we’re dwindling. Everyone there’s either a high position, or dead. It ain’t a pretty sight.”

”We’re struggling, and tha’ huge army of spirits hauntin’ our every move certainly ain’t helping us. But, other than our crisis we’re going through, ‘s just business as usual”.