#baronyofthesilverwolf

"I can't believe this is how this is supposed to work" DUBIOUS brow "I mean, the eating of roast meat and the moon shaped cake I get... but ..." She looks at the wolf facepaint and make shift outfit... "Howl at each of the four directions around the lodge?" Gwen is dubious, but she moves on to do it. "I guess fae traditions are fae traditions"

"Hail to the East! I wag my tail" Gwen calls out, while others may observe this odd display from the window "to greet the morning sun! Blind and adorable I am, a little fur sausage"

And yes, she wags her butt side to side hunched a bit.

The make shift tail of her costume flutters randomly

Ivan just trots along happily

And she goes to the South "Hail to the South! I got fangs in my mouth! And no longer need I suckle breast! I'm a dog on the hunt, still learning but I do my best! I bound and prance, the world a place of smells and stories to be learned"

And she bounds.. what was it she was told? three times?

Better be three.

She goes to the West "Hail to the West! I'm at my best! Sleek and mature, one of the pack of friends! I stand by your side, with my furry hide. And my people I will defend! I bark and explain, hear my refrain, loyalty's bark again and again" She then makes three Barking sounds!

And ... then to the North, she says "Hall to the North, near Life's end course. My muzzle is gray and white. Yet still should someone hurt one I love, I can defiant bite! I tell the cubs what they must know, so they can be good canines as they grow! And though body will be silenced soon! I have strength yet to HOWL TO THE MOON!" And she howls three times!

"Hail Wolfenoot! Bless our Dogs! And many blessings on you in return!"

From the distant kennels, the echo of keen-eared dogs howling in return!

A light blush ,but she waves at the direction of the dogs

Bluebell watches and bites her lip, quivering. Shaking, trembling - in fear? No, in repressed giggles. A glance to D'Lorean. "Were I not a Pooka and Trickster born, I would feel shame, that such a trick played, was played out with such energy and integrity. Perhaps my love will incribe it into the annals of Silverwolf Lore. A thunderous roar, for Canon will now be where none boomed before."

D'Lorean is huddled on the ground belly shaking

Briar IS cackling. "But IT wasn't something we ever did-"

Bluebell serenely remarks, "Such a shame, if it were also lore that whoe'er did not participate in their year, shall be granted no gifts. Thou were a fledge once, too."

The redcap's eyes bulge - is she being BLACKMAILED? But she mutters. "...just like we do every year, yup yup."

"Did it work?" A distant troll voice Gwen calls out "Can I take off the ritutal garb now?"

D'Lorean threatens to turn purple trying not to laugh/breath

Bluebell nudges Briar. A stink eye, but the girl calls over. "You did great! AROOOOO! Now take off that crap and let's go get roasted meat! Meat!"

"Great! I worked up a hunger.. and Ivan wont' stop licking me.. I think he's afraid I had a stroke" Gwen says

"We'll get the cake tonight under the moon. But meat is better. Not that cake isn't good too, specially Mari's cakes."

D'Lorean giggles... and races away so she can laugh out of earshot

Bluebell closes her phone and saves the recording. It is ADORABLE. Now, to figure out who to share it with when the time comes. Perhaps on her Saining day!

Gwen soon dresses in more appropriate clothing . Thick jeans, a sweater , and boots fit for long hikes or patrols

"Wolf, wolf, wolf noot noot. Gonna eat the meat, meat meat meat." Briar chants in a sing-song voice as she waits impatiently.

"God, can you smell that?" of course the redcap can, but Gwen has to admit she feels a bit capish heself

"I do!" As they come around the corner to find an entire spit-roast setup with a whole suckling pig on it! Now, a suckling pig is tiny compared to a hog - but still a good 15-20 pounds, and still intact. It smells amazing...

"WHOAAAA." Briar cheers! Julius has stripped to his slacks and is sweating even in the cool weather as he takes a turn turning the spit.

"Hey gals! It's still smoking but I can carve you off a few slices on the outside if you're hungry now." A theoretical question.

Is it LOOKING at Gwen?

But it smells GOOD...

"Ah, is a frog's ass water tight? I mean.. yes, please"

"Pigs weren't indigenous to North America you know? So.. in away, I'm taking vengeance upon the invaders" She rationalizes the staring thing

Julius looks about to answer that, and then just shakes his head and chuckles. "I'm no chef, but I can turn a spit and slice a bit." And he carves off two platefuls, still sizzling and spitting as the hot fat drips onto the coals.

"We gotta give some to the dogs." Briar pipes up, in uncustomary generosity. "And watch that Nochka doesn't steal Alexei's. She's decided she's alpha in that pack already, and not even sent home yet. I told her, BITCHES BE QUEENS and I guess she listened!"

"Oh Nochka... she thinks she's top Dog, yeah" Thoug her own biases to ivan are clear as she takes her sample and ..drops a sliver under the table to Ivan

SNARF.

"I heard that last year the Big Wolf Spirit actually visited some holds. He didn't come here though." She frowns, but the frown disappears as she tastes the meat. "Maybe because we didn't do the rich... the ritch - the songy-dancy thing good enough. But now we have more folk and better folk and he's sure to come. No, SHE. Maybe we'll get a SHE WOLF to visit."

"Pretty sure Wolfenoot's a boy.." A pause "But that doesn't mean he doesn't have a mate. Maybe one whos a bit wilder than he is, still loves dogs but is a bad ass?"

"Wolfenoot is a THING. It's just the name of the day. Isn't it?" Now she looks unsure. Ripping off small bits of meat and shoving them through her griill. "He's gotta have a mate though. Like in the jungle book, Raksha, the demon." A grimace that is intended to look demonic. Wait, Briar can read?

Gwen ponders then tries to remember "NOW this is the law of the jungle, as old and as true as the sky,
And the wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the wolf that shall break it must die.

As the creeper that girdles the tree trunk, the law runneth forward and back;
For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack."

"Yeah, there's lots of that rhymey-stuff. I like the bits where there are fights. You know when they say you gotta do a book report, you don't gotta read the WHOLE thing. Just remember how it starts and ends and the fun bits from the middle."

The wind shifts, carrying the scent of the roasted meats, and the dogs set up a clamour.

"Relax guys, you'll get some" Gwen promises as she calls out to the doggos "We'd never cheat you"

The fragrant smoke rises, in puffs, and mingles with clouds that scoot lazily across the sky. Is it getting darker? Maybe. Julius looks up. "Forecast didn't call for rain."

Gwen gets into a more cautious stance

The wind is whipping through now, and Julius struggles to pull down the cover over the smoker, before dirt or leaves can blow in. Briar tries to gobble her meat faster so she can finish before she's asked to help clean up. Definitely seems like a storm is rolling in! But the air is dry.

A little ways away back the hold, Bluebell looks up to the sky and then shakes her head. "This one is not for me." And with a flip of her tail, she's scurried inside.

"This isn't how... " Gwen moves forward, gets her spear in one hand, the plate of meat in the other. No. Don't say isn't how. Clearly this is. "You go inside, Julius.If this is trouble I got it" set jaw

At her psychology clinic, Dr. Candace speaks to her patient. Calanthe did not take the holiday off - but as the trauma she draws out through clever questions and pointed remarks is formed in paint wielded by her patient/dreamer, she is surprised to see that the splotches take the form of the wolf.

Sergeant Danica sees the shape of the clouds, and visits the K9 units who have set up a barking in THEIR kennels.

Linnea lifts her hammer to the sky, away enough on patrol, and gives a howl that whips through the wind.

Throughout the Barony, it darkens, like a localized storm - taking the shape of sharp ears... ruffed cheeks.... a long and pointed snout. Thunder rumbles, flickers of sunlight visible through cloudgaps that take the place of eyes - eyes that look down at Gwen and Briar.

"Who howls to the directions for wolves young and old?
Who dares speak of Raksha the demon bold?"

"Well," Gwen says wishing she could remember half the stuff she overheard about tribal totems and such from other tribes... "I guess that would be me. I am Gwen, which is not the whole of my name, but it is what I have to offer. I think this is yours" And she lays down the plate of meat

"Gwen is not the whole of thy name, for there is more that you claim, and claims thyself. Thy whole pack carries the name of the Wolf."

Briar watches in astonishment and is muttering. "It really worked. It really worked??"

The wind the whips through rattles the fences of the kennels, and the dogs howl together as one.

Leaning forward, the huge snout formed of clouds inhales, and the smoke and steam and scent of roasted meats curl and are inhaled mightily into her nostrils, as she eagerly pulls in the essence of the meat from the air.

"The small ones claim you as pack. I shall claim you as well, she who knows my name, and she who remembers the old rhymes. Come Forth."

Briar, wide eyed, looks to Gwen. And mouths, "Me?!" Pointing to herself. She's not... hiding. She's just, hunkered a bit, next to the table that is on one side now.