Crenn FireTail's Story

Crenn lounged in her throne of intertwining branches and roots that came up from a great, circular rock that rose up from the earth, toying with a small bird she had caught earlier by stopping all of its frantic attempts to escape. Surrounded by her "palace", a forest of tall trees that rose up like swords to pierce the heavens, Crenn was, for better or worse, bored. Finally, she sighed, throwing herself sideways so that her legs dangled over one arm of the throne and her head over the other.

She let the bird go, for fear that she might kill it in her frustration if she kept it, and instead resorted to grooming her silky tail to occupy her hands. How she longed to be running in the forests, to be hunting with wolves, to be swimming with the otters...

No. that wasn't what she wanted. Right now, she wanted knowledge. She wanted to know what the had caused the great shaking of the ground, what had caused all her subjects to cower in their dens and nests, to cause her guards to howl at the heavens... She left off her tail and nearly screamed in her frustration the moment she thought about it more. Her fist pounded down upon the back of the chair, small flames shooting out from under it.

She growled and hopped up from her throne, pacing around the rock in the middle of the clearing. Silently lamenting the fact that her head guard, a wolf by the name of Srokaine, had told her to stay behind, while most of her "court" went to investigate, leaving precious few silent, hidden protectors to watch her.

Just as she had finally gathered up the courage to track Srokaine down, however long that might take, a deep, rumbling voice came from the brush to the side of the throne.

"If it pleases my lady..." the voice growled.

Crenn jumped nearly five feet in the air, landing on all fours and growling, baring her teeth.

Srokaine, the huge gray wolf that stood before her, cuffed her with a strong paw across her face. She went flying.

"My lady would do well to notice visitors before they come," he say emotionlessly as Crenn sits up and rubs her cheek, glaring accusingly at the wolf. "As it were, we have news of the groundshakings from the beasts of the otherlands." Srokaine's noble speech, befitting that of a human court of royals, had slowly slipped into the common speech of the PrideLands the entire time he had been speaking.

Drakenvold stared at the awesome sight of his old friend. Praxus was clad in immense spiky armour but even with all that on Drakenvold could feel the muscle tissue beneath rippling. Drakenvold bowed and cleared his throat, making sure to get the Baron's attention. "My dear friend, it warms my blackened heart to know you are free. Soon this world will feel your wrath and ill be there to cheer you on. But, my good man, first, I have a..... how can I put this....proposition." he smiled craftily, he knew his tricksy demeanor amused the Baron, and what could he say? He lived to entertain. "There is a teensy bit of rust on the cogs that work the means of our domination. You probably know this, but to the slight north east of here is a chain of islands known as the pridelands, home to the Kitsune people. They are great warriors and hunters and are the first line of defence against us should we OFFICIALLY declare war on Atherea, and pose a great threat. Now, we could do it YOUR way, and crush them completely, which will work, or we can do it my way, as i believe your way is a waste of talent. You see, if they joined us, wed have some of the finest warriors in Atherea on our side. That is why i propose you let me and Speck fly off to the pride lands, alone so they know our intentions are not hostile, and NEGOTIATE with them." He made sure to emphasise the word 'negotiate', as he doubted the Baron had heard of that word much. "Their queen, Crenn, has pledged loyalty to the House of Mora, but she is very young and foolish, I'm sure I can bend her mind in the right direction. Besides, intel tells me theyve been having a spot of bother with some tremors, and me coming to their aid might help in them changing their minds. Also, it will do me well to get away from this rabble, I hear the coffee they brew there is absolutley delectable, ill bring you and your brothers back some, if youd like." He turned to look out of the window to the north sea. "Of course, ill keep you updated via the ruby crown. If things go tits up then ill make one of my infamously daring escapes and THEN you can have your way with the kitsune. Either way, we win. What do you say to that offer, god of war?" He implied, turning to flash the Baron an unpleasant, toothy grin which exposed his sparkling white, razor sharp teeth. After all, it just wouldn't do for the esteemed messenger of ruin to have plaque, he had a reputation to uphold.