Salsola

As with the nature of any well-kept secret, Salsola's reputation for being a dangerous enigma has managed once more to keep it both infamous and strong in 2016. The year started with heady drama in the form of a number of murders being committed, the unfortunate female victims left strategically at our borders. Whilst the pack rallied and began to cast suspicious eyes at enemies and allies alike, the true villains - a cunning crew of gang members from far Toronto named the Five - continued their harassment in pursuit of Salsola's own Hyacinth Silevue, to whom the leader had once been betrothed. Of course, it wasn't long before Salvia truly tired of the antics of this terrible group. A skilled tactical entourage of Salsolan spies, scouts and warriors made quick work of the foe. The leader, a charming yet cruel man who went by the calling 'Hans Voclain', was publicly beheaded at the behest of Hyacinth, who he had greatly tormented in his mad hunt to return her to his side. The Five's only surviving victim, a young girl named Idrieus, joined the pack under the mentorship of Artemisia Eternity.

In spite of this resolution the pack's string of misfortune was set to continue, albeit on a much grander scale. All of Nova Scotia was devastated by the fall of the Red Star. The meteor, which plummeted to earth and smashed in the ocean far off the southern coastline, created immense flooding and fear in its wake. Due to its northern terrain, most of the Thistle Kingdom remained repairable after the blow - Though the frigid waters of the Pictou river burst its banks as the ocean rose in a mammoth king tide, flooding marshy Tantramar and making a true bog of the Pine Barrens. The heaviest loss came from Salsola's upper echelon; The kingdom's first Crone, Siv Helsi, was tragically presumably killed in a fire started by the aftershocks of the Red Star. Dismayed and furious with her elite witches of the Coven for not foreseeing the terrible event, in her wrath queen Salvia also dismissed then-Ambassador Isabella Heiwa from the Sotto Capo, and she was left to gracefully retire back into the noble ranks.

Lucky to have been spared the full brute force of this natural disaster, Salsola was quicker than most to regain solid footing in the aftermath of the meteor. New life is always a sign of true resilience, and the pack welcomed the births of 6 new Bambinos with relief; Four to newly-mated Cleric Bane D'Angelo and Paladin Basilaris Eternity, and two to esteemed ladder-climbers Till Van Ulrich-Lykoi and Elody Lykoi. Unfortunately, one of the Lykoi children did not have long to live alongside his brother, apparently being killed in a suspiciously vicious bobcat attack.

For a time the pack was able to settle, repairing its defenses and growing ever stronger. It wasn't until autumn that the pack was once more stirred by strange happenings beyond the borders - odd, heretical symbols began appearing, hewn out of long bound branches or slashed out of the rolling grasslands around the bay. These mysterious spirals and figures gave great anxiety to members of Salsola, who feared another aggressor baiting their scouts and hunters. However, these bizarre, seemingly otherworldly events were not at all malignant, and ended up being only the deluded machinations of a kindly soul named Nickodemus, who believed that the fall of the red star was a herald from beings that lived far beyond the night sky. Bemused by his ramblings and vigor, the leadership allowed Nick to join Salsolan ranks in a rare show of benevolence.

With heavy winter now beginning to set in, a final escort of Salsolans was sent to bolster the number of loyal merchants who trade on the pack's behalf at Portland - The new major trade center, as Freetown was destroyed by the meteor. The group had safe travels, though thick snowfall has prevented further contact aside from the crows that are occasionally sent to report. With the chill of the season settling in around us, the Thistle Kingdom looks forward to Spring, and all the promises of wealth and power that the new year will bring. If only we could see what awaits us around that indeterminable corner...

Abeni

(Favorite Thread)

"They are the Lord Commander's underpants, of course"

Art by Remarin

Ankh D'Aabt

(Favorite Thread)

Somewhere in a lonely hotel room, there's a guy starting to realize that eternal fate has turned its back on him.

Art by Kiri

Artemisia Eternity

(Favorite Thread)

Knowledge is power, always.

Art by Sie

Basilaris Eternity

(Favorite Thread) (Mature)

All of it – the death of their father, the mistreatment, the forced-addictions – were things which he understood now were the responsibility of others. He had not failed. His family had not failed. Salsola had not failed.

Art by Mel

Blair Eternity

(Favorite Thread) (Mature)

Time expands and then contracts / When you are spinning in the grip of someone / Who is not an ordinary girl

Art by Mel

Bayani Grimm

(Favorite Thread) (Mature)

"Plans are often foiled." He shot back. "And I am ever so inclined to take what does not belong to me should it be too beautiful to resist."

Art by Libri

Calla Valentine

(Favorite Thread) (Mature)

"I won't let my emotions get in the way again, I promise. I just need a while to get over some things.. that and maybe a bit of alone time with you now and again.. When your duties don't call for you to be with others or off alone."

Art by Alaine

Cleome Valentine

(Favorite Thread)

La vie est trop courte pour boire du mauvais vin, mon amie.

Art by Nina

Coaxoch Bakrtl Ulrich-Lykoi

(Favorite Thread) (Mature)

"Silence is Friendly to Those Who Are Willing to Listen."

Art by Nina

Duncan de le Poer

(Favorite Thread)

I can get myself in and out of trouble just fine on my own.

Art by San

Elphaba Revlis

(Favorite Thread) (Mature)

Red crosses on wooden doors; And if you float, you burn.

Art by Alaine

Grievous Eternity

Compromise is the temptation of the weak.

Art by Mel

Heine Kaiser

(Favorite Thread)

Art by Songbird

Idrieus

(Favorite Thread)

"Salsola is my home, my family. I live and fight for this kingdom."

Art by Raze

Katinka Holt

(Favorite Thread)

The hair of my blonde / Is dazzling, / As the spittle of cows / threading the wind.

Art by Tsubelle @ dA

Loki Helsi

Nobel ('Souls) Peace Prize for Diplomacy

(Favorite Thread)

Emotion shone in Loki's eyes then, and like mercury he stepped closer, the white raven banner facing, for a brief moment, the crowd -- imprinting its image upon them.
If only in name, a Helsi still ruled the coven.

Art by San

Lokr Revlis

Cutest Couple ... That Never Happened (with Semini)

(Favorite Thread)

And with one kiss, you inspired a fire of devotion that lasted for twenty years; What kind of man loves like this?

Art by Alaine

Maugrim Revlis

(Favorite Thread) (Mature)

Fear puts a spell on us; Always second-guessing love. My hunger burns a bullet hole.

Art by Alaine

Ondine Heiwa

(Favorite Thread) (Mature)

And I am afraid that there might not be moving on for me.

Art by Alaine

O'Riley Eternity

When the promise of a brave new world / Unfurled beneath a clear blue sky

Art by Mel

Rafael Salcedo

(Favorite Thread)

It was hard to believe that everything was still so delicate, new as a flower bloomed in spring. Some wild part of him wanted to make a mess of things, lift her up above the tall grass and give her back to the sun and sky that had surely given her life. There was nothing so perfect, so celestial as Violeta.

Art by San