The Bull accepted his daughter hug with one of his own. While the man looked very old his body seemed like it was chiseled from a mountain. He'd worn his armor today, a annoyance that he found himself having to put up with more and more of late. The enemy archers had taken to pelting him with arrows at the most inopportune times and it was easier to keep a breastplate on than to keep making Aisha heal him. After the embrace finished he set Yuriko down and motioned for her to sit next to him.<br/><br/>For the rest of the circle the reactions were as usual. Aisana huffed and frowned at the display. She always stressed being in control of one's emotions at all times and disliked any public display of affection no matter who it was between. As far as she was concerned the only one you should bare yourself in front of was your love, or loves as the case had been. she had her jade armor on as always, she even slept in it, and kept her chakrams on her belt.<br/><br/>Aisana, like her father, also looked old. Though this was much more significant for her. The Air Aspect was nearing her second century and her hair had grayed considerably. Her body was riddled with combat scars and her eyes had the look of someone who'd been fighting for such a long time that they'd forgotten what a peaceful life was like. Her body was still in prime condition though and she had quite a few admirers around the camp, though none was brave enough to tell her this.<br/><br/>Sky glanced at the Lunar and shivered. Of all of them he was the least well adjusted to the cold and it showed. The blue haired man always wore thick robes with enormous sleeves. Said sleeves apparently contained as much space as was necessary at the time given what he'd pulled out of them in the past. He went without obvious weapons, needing only his hands and the miscellaneous items in his sleeves to reduce a man to a bloody pulp. He'd developed some method of launching anything he got his hands on at high speeds almost like he was firing them from an invisible crossbow.<br/><br/>Sky looked every bit the gangly youth that he played. He was fairly weak, but his body flowed in a way that seemed to beyond the grace of mere mortals. His combat skills were on par with Aisana, though her father destroyed both of them once Essence was being thrown around. He was loath to reveal this to anyone though. If anything he looked the most out of place among the group, his eyes spoke of extreme sorrow when he wasn't wearing a mask and incredible joy when he was. He'd been caught referring to events that occurred during Aisana's childhood on occasion as if he were present for them and none of them were of a happy nature. Though no one bothered the man about it since he obviously didn't wish to speak of what his past was like, preferring to play the fool and laugh at jokes that no one else understood.<br/><br/>VonSaltise, many used her surname because of how similar her given name was to Madam Tepet's, was to distracted by the map placed on the table to notice Yuriko run in. Not that she would've cared much either way. The woman was a bleeding heart and did her best to ensure that battles never needed to be fought by using her sorcery to change the battlefield. In an actual fight though she tended to use her bow to inflict crippling wounds to her enemies that would heal with time, but left them unable to fight.<br/><br/>In terms of appearance Saltise actually looked her age, that being twenty five. While fairly fit she had a large degree of softness on her body that she did not want to expose to the biting wind, though she didn't really mind or notice when others did unless it hurt them. She tended towards furs as thick as sky's robes that obscured her shape. Though given how little she payed attention she could've been standing in the middle of the camp naked and not notice anyone being attracted to her. Given her dark skin, dark red hair, and voluptuous body most thought it was an act, but she really didn't seem to think about that.<br/><br/><hr/><br/>Now that all were assembled the Bull brought their attention to the map in front of him. It was well drawn and showed the entirety of the Northern regions below the ocean and a fair bit of the East. There were arrows drawn all over it, marking troop movements, and a few sites circled. Three in total of varying sizes, the smallest appeared to be around a point representing a city and the largest around a 500 mile radius. With a deep breath Yurgen, the caring father, vanished and the Bull of the North, the man who united the icewalker tribes under a single banner, appeared.<br/><br/>"Now Yuriko, I have a few very important things that need to happen behind the lines. I need to send someone I can trust on these missions and you're the only one who we can spare who is also talented enough to complete them. Each one by itself could turn this war into a joke, however I fear we will need all of them if we want to take the coast."<br/><br/>He pointed to the smallest circle first. It was a bit to the North, but very far West. It was around a single dot in a mountain range. "A city exists here that I would want the aid of. They live in an old area and have powerful magic and fortifications. Their mines are a source of a magical metal that we could use to arm our greatest champions with weapons that would drain the Essence from their foes according to Sky. They also have excellent warriors who I would be glad to have under my banner."<br/><br/>The blue haired man nodded at this before speaking in a low tone, "Though the metal is dreadfully nasty stuff. It looks at you with the face of sad children who only wanted a hug, but were instead struck down."<br/><br/>The Bull shook his head, clearing a thought, before continuing. He moved to the next circle, it stretched along the beach of the northern sea. "Somewhere in this area there is a den of pirates who I dealt with a long time ago. None of our forces knows a thing about the sea and if we are to push further we would need allies who can sail. The filthy slaveholders to the South would never ally with me nor I with them so we need to search elsewhere for aid in that regard."<br/><br/>Aisana nodded in agreement with this, though she did not say anything.<br/><br/>He moved onto the third circle next, it was a good deal North and East. "Finally there are rumors of an ancient treasure trove somewhere in these mountains. Many have found it, though there are no reports on its current location. It would have weapons and most likely warmachines that we could use to great effect. However, the search would take you into the Bordermarches. You are the only one who can stay in those areas for an extended period and I'm sure you could deal with whatever guardians are left."<br/><br/>Saltisa perked up on this one, "I've heard of this ruin before. It's said to be very dangerous, a vault of lost knowledge guarded by some sort of very dangerous guardian. As he said the location has been lost to us, but I'm sure the nearby tribes know more."<br/><br/>The Bull paused before turning to Yuriko, "Each of these missions is very important, but I'll leave it up to you to decide. Which of them do you think you could preform the best with. Time is not much of an issue since we're still trading land back and forth, but I doubt it will remain like this when summer comes around next."<br/><br/>It was early Autumn and the ice sheets had begun advancing once more. The legions of the Realm were not used to fighting in such terrain so they tended to fortify until Spring. I the war lasted that long though they were sure to get more support from the Isle and that would mean sure defeat.<br/><br/>"Well daughter, which will it be?"