ONE BY ONE // EMERGENCY MEETING (August)

[Hope Arcanium]

Bai said that the meeting was where they would be discussing the plan on getting rid of the bandits swarming the territory, and invited Play to stay a while to aid them in their quest. She gladly accepted, and so here the goddess of justice was, wings tucked against her sides and godly, energetic power flowing gracefully around her body in the form of scarlet flame.

Her gaze locked onto the large dragon who gave the call, and the former Elysite gave a nod. She waited patiently for them to begin speaking, playing with a pebble underneath her paw as she listened carefully, eyes looking from one Alithian to another, observing the various emotions of each. The two children, who she assumed were Bai Shi’s, appeared to be shaken by the recent events, and she sympathized with them.

She gave a chuckle at the corvid’s request to have the teeth of the tiger removed for him to keep, but kept it at a low volume. This was a serious matter, and she would treat it as such.

[SirDio]

Asteri

"The stars listen, so don't say anything you'd regret."

Asteri, following Bai Shi's suggestion of resting a bit, had appeared late. Most of the time waiting was spent making a makeshift splint for her twisted paw, though. She stuck to the outskirts of the group, finding a nice spot to sit and keep her paw safe. Within hearing distance, she relaxed as no one stared at her yet. She didn't need the attention - not now.

Directing her attention to Bai and the corvid, she waited patiently for the meeting to resume. Her eyes drifted to the young, she believed them to be Bai's children, and her eyes softened at their expressions - shaken and worried. A wave of rage lapped at her mind, but she pushed it aside for now.

Rage was meant to be directed at the source of the rage, not thrown to bystanders or kept to brew like an ugly drink.

[teef]

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LAEGLIN NIAZAI LINGRÉ

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[div style="background-color:#BG COLOR;width:90%; overflow: stretch;text-align: justify; font-size: 8pt;"] as his father was about to speak, a small strawberry serval would come racing into the area, his lungs working overtime as he gasped for breath, tail lashing behind him, legs trembling with exertion and exhaustion. he didn't see the tiger, his siblings, the newcomers, the bodies or the blood - he saw his father and that's all that concerned him at that time. gasping, he stumbled forward to the great dragon, collapsing at their paws, groaning at the pain in his paws. "d-dad ...", he whimpered, coat bristling as he took in all the strange scents, scrambling closer to his father's paws, fur bushing out at the scent and sight of the tiger under his father's foot. turning his gaze upward, he noticed malak on his father's head, crooning softly at his friend, he looked around at all the faces, brushing pelts with his siblings and giving soft worried sounds.

he was scared, he had been all alone. he had seen veris around the territory but he had never managed to catch up with his older sister ... and he got trapped by the bandits. their leader hadn't hurt him, she had just kept him captured and in her control. he trembled at the memory of looking up at the bloodied face of the maned wolf before she had picked him up by his scruff and took him back to her base. she had looked after him, feeding him and sharing her nest with him, without knowing who he was. she didn't know that this land had been owned before, she just drove out the stragglers in order to take the land for herself and her people. she was a kind woman, although tough and angry on the outside. exhaling with concern, the cub moved closer to his family, taking in the new sights. he couldn't help but be scared by the violent scent and sights around him, the orange and black striped fur caught in his father's talons, the blood scent in the air ... he was freaking out. sinking his claws into the ground, he muffled his whimpers, looking back to his father, eyes having glanced over playerone, sam and asteri, not recognizing them. "dad ... i know who took over our land ... but she's really not that bad ... her name ... is avanti. she leads these bandits and she wants to know why we are invading what she calls her land." he delivered the news, fear making his voice crack and shake, trembling violently. -

[W]isker

[¿¿]

          Feeling like she needed more information she looked around fo someone to talk to. Sam walked up to the dainty looking fox with wings trying to be quiet during the meeting. "Hey so what do you know about these bandits." She said this like a loud whisper so that she can hear and know very well its directed at her but hopefully she didnt get startled.

[teef]

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THE KINGPIN

golden lung dragon & black jaguar w/ vitiligo & platinum silver fox. unknown age - ancient. bai shi lynn lingré. proper chinese name is lin bai. prefers lynn if close. they/them. blind. wind element & electric element. firstborn son of jerisidie lingré & current head of family/general. courting delilah evergarden & halo mercer. kingpin of alithís evgenis. demiromantic gray-asexual. parent of veris, arvin, leoku, erian, flos, kekhai, evarhi, and laeglin. elder brother of ramona and hope, uncle of quennel and cosette.

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SUMMARY AT THE BOTTOM --

paw moving to bring leoku and veris closer to them, they exhaled heavily, eyes closed before they felt and smelt more of their group coming up to their announcement. hearing malak's caws, they settled, relieved by the fact that he was alive. dipping their head slightly when he landed on their antler, they rumbled, noting everyone's appearance to the meeting, relief rushing through their heart, calming their mind against the worst situations. they were going to come out of this strong.

feeling lightning itching the back of their throat, influenced by their emotions, they exhaled heavily before raising their head up, blind gaze taking in their group members, "Alithians. We have a lot of things to cover today, and a lot of it is going to be hard to hear, just as it has been hard to accept the reality of our situation. A warm welcome to [member=2426]Playerone Kennedy[/member] , [member=15977]Asteri[/member] , [member=16057]Sam[/member] . I apologise that you come into our lands in such a state of disrepair and despair. First of all, I want to welcome everyone home, back to our rightful home that we will fight to free. To those of you who are new, you know me as Lin Bai, or Bai Shi. I am the Kingpin of this group, and I am a relative to some of those gathered here. Veris, Leoku and Laeglin are my children, Hope Alpenglow, wherever she may be, is my sister. Our group, Alithis Evgenis, has encountered a hard situation. When I fell sick and left our group, fearing I was to die, our group fell into the shadows and was invaded by a group of bandits." they started, alerted by their son's words and collapse at their feet, sniffing him softly to ensure he was not on the verge of death.

Nodding their head slightly, "The corvid sitting on my antler is Malak, and he's one of the closest friends this group could ask for. Malak, I ask of you an important question. Would you step up to the rank of Practitioner? I entrust you with the health of our friends and family.", they spoke warmly and fondly of the raven, making a mental note to retrieve the tiger's teeth for him later when their children were not nearby. They had seen enough death and carnage for the day. "You must be asking yourselves why we don't just pick up and leave the territory? It's not that simple. I made a vow to the ghosts of these lands to bring this place to life, where they laid in their final resting places. There is a saying tied to this land, dum spiro spero - while I breathe, I hope, and for that reason, that I am alive and breathing, I will protect this land and those that live in it! I will fight for this land and its people, I do not expect everyone to follow me in this vow. It is a commitment I alone have made, and I will continue to stand by it. As long as I am breathing, you will not come to harm." they rumbled, eyes glowing like twin suns in the dim light around them, the lightning coursing through their blood lighting up their eyes.

"Today, I ask of you all, to join me in protecting the people. I will fight as many wars as it takes, but we are a people, we rely on each other. Please put your faith into us, we will emerge from this fight for our lives stronger than when we began. With this, I ask you all to keep your eyes out for bandits in your daily pursuits and to report back to me with this information so we can figure out where the bandits are in our territory. Currently we have reclaimed the base of the Waterfall, the Inn and it's surrounding areas down to the docks, as well as our Cherry Tree. These areas are safe to inhabit, and I ask that you remain cautious and careful as you travel in other areas of the group, and that you preferably, travel in groups of two or more. There has been a sighting of a smilodon, which could mean any amount of things for us, on top of the recent re-awakening of our land's ghosts. Remain smart and alert, you could encounter the bandits at any point of time."

"Laeglin here has given us the name of the bandit leader, a woman named Avanti. I will attempt a meeting with her, but I do not expect it to go well, if it gets us anywhere. Apart from this, I have important news. I am asking any of you to work on hunting, harvesting and creating some decorations. We will be holding a feast, to celebrate what we already have won back from the bandits, and to keep our spirits up. In this next part, I ask for some of you to step forward. I will need ambassadors to visit the other groups, those that we have yet to visit. This is an open and friendly feast, we want to invite all who are interested in attending. May I get ambassadors to Elysium, Tanglewood, The Typhoon, and The Pitt? While you are visiting, take note of who is leading or any important changes and inform us of them. We have no idea of what has happened outside of our group for months, and it would be good to know what has affected everyone else. We are visiting them primarily to invite them to the feast, and should they need help and we are able to give it, to offer our aid to their cause.", they rumbled, long tail flicking side to side as they spoke. There were a great many things to announce and handle ... but the next thing brought them some great amount of pride and relief.

After pausing to let this information settle, they spoke again, eyes gleaming with fathomless pride, "Today, to all of you, I commend you in what you have done, what you have survived to come this far, and for being who you are now. I ask [member=16057]Sam[/member] , [member=15977]Asteri[/member] , [member=2426]Playerone Kennedy[/member] , [member=1712]LEOKU LINGRE-KYRZOBA[/member] , @laeglin and @Malak to step before me. Sam, Malak, and Asteri, I bestow upon you the title of Dawn Watchers. Playerone, and Laeglin, I bestow upon you the title of Mid Watchers. Leoku, I bestow upon you the title of Night Watcher. The Watches are based upon skill groups - and each of you fits into these categories. The Dawn Watch deals with common knowledge, and the healing arts, but is not limited to those skills. I ask you, the Dawn Watch, to keep your eyes out around the Inn, you will be mainly stationed here at the Midlake Towers when we have reclaimed our territory. The Mid Watch deals with navigating, hunting and offensive combat, and is always expending its repertoire of knowledge. Work together with the Dawn Watch to patrol the Inn and our borders. The Night Watch deals with defensive combat and guarding the secrets of our home, and always seeks to grow it's list of skills. You will be posted here with the Dawn Watch with the month - please look out for any visitors and welcome them warmly." they spoke warmly, gaze enveloping their friends and family, pride making their chest swell.

"On top of the assignment of the Watches, I ask our older members to train our youngsters in groups for the time being. Those of you who want to learn more, be sure to listen in on the training as well. I will be leading a border patrol shortly, and I ask that you re-acquaint yourselves with the territory. Keep an eye on The Hub for monthly tasks to do! I will be holding another meeting shortly to discuss a raid on the bandits, and I am welcome to all suggestions. If there any questions, feel free to come and ask me. Meeting dismissed!" they boomed as they moved to get to their feet, brows furrowed slightly as they manoeuvred past the tiger's cadaver.

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in short --
- a big welcome to playerone, asteri and sam
- bai's introduction to the situation (and themself)
- smilodon sighting (click me!)
- malak has been offered a promotion to practitioner of the dawn watch
- playerone, leoku, laeglin, asteri, malak, and sam have been given their watch titles
- territory that has been reclaimed has been announced
- watches have been assigned to those present at the meeting
- the feast (click me!) has been announced & asked for ambassadors to mainboard groups to invite them
- re-explaining that bandits have moved in, their leader's name has been revealed, and that ghost activity is picking up in the territory
- keep an eye on the hub (click me!) for some fun monthly tasks! the hub is a place to link all of the links for each month, where the tasks appear on a board in the back of the glowworm caves every month that characters are encouraged to take down and carry out! the september link will be going up shortly!

[Malak]

[div style="background: #2F4F4F; padding: 8px; ext-align: justify; color: #D3CECB; padding: 8px; font-family: Courier;"]Malak - Male - Raven - Alithis Evengis - Herbalist -[member=10179]Malak[/member]

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The bird adorned upon atop the dragons head, protected by their horns, croaked lazily. "Yes, yes, welcome back!" Malak cawed with a smile. Even as a part of the group, Malak never left its borders but one would assume so. It was a rare sight to see Malak hobbling about unless he's hobbling beside Bai. Surley Bai didnt mind right?

"Oh dont worry Kingpin," he said as he gently tapped his foot onto the dragons head as he climbed down to their head. Pat pat. "im sure they dont think too much of it. After all, a lot has happened this past year!" The corvid settled down upon Bai's head, his wings tucked beside his as he glanced about the now crowded group before them. Malak was practically Bai's eyes until he found the silver beetles. Though they were located in the desert, and a black bird like himself wouldn't last that long in the sweltering heat.

He'd ask someone else to go get them.

As the corvid's mind wandered a bit, shuffling through names and faces in his head as well as health, his name was called. Malak floated down in front of Bai, doing as they told. "Of course!" the bird crowed as he set out a feather to point at Bai. "Though i do expect more scales now." Malak cawed, half-jokingly as he bounced back up to the dragons head, nestling down again. "You didnt have to ask me, you know. You could have just deemed be a Practitioner and i would have been fine with it."

A few long moments passed as Bai made they're announcements, and Malak stood up; eager to shut what he had to say. A small voice among many. "And just a small heads-up. Any creature younger than a year, stay out of The Glowworm Cave. Those worms are for skilled healers like myself, i didnt mean that to sound narcissistic, and i dont want anyone to have glowing tongues right now. Dont eat the worms and dont swim in the pools!" Sitting back down and made a grumbling sound. "Chemical burns are already hard enough, i dont want to have to dive in a chemical pool to save you."
He would mention to stop trampling the WaterMint in the coastal forest later.