Slowly, one by one or in pairs they began to show up and Lace soon confirmed what he'd known all along. The Qian was a happy bunch, but he only recognized the faces of a few. They were all welcome, a happy escape from the darkness and chill of the night. A warm smile spread across sooted lips as Torasin and Kiba slipped from the shadows of the forest, the paint seemingly in a good mood. The grulla nodded back in greeting, ducked away from a sudden cacophony of trills and chatter as Fajira flew across the head to greet the younger Brown.
"Torasin, Kiba! It's good to see you are well. We've been somewhat busy as of late, so much that I feel as though the Qian has grown to double size since I last saw everyone together. It's good to have a break once in a while, don't you think?"

Even as he was speaking he turned the head and dipped the crown pleasantly as Solstice joined them by the bonfire, calm and gentle and with two winged foals in tow. He eyed them curiously and tried to suppress a smirk when the filly tripped up and claimed his gilded friend as her father. Not entirely unlikely, was it? But as the black colt claimed, it seemed that the little girl was slightly mistaken. It didn't keep the cob-webbed glazier from extending a teasing nudge of the shoulder to the paint, unwilling to miss out on the laugh.
"Seems you've been busy too, my friend" he winked, eyes glittering from laughter.

It was hard to contain himself enough to face the young stallion that followed after Solstice, but it was hardly appropriate to greet such a serious young warrior with underhanded jokes. "I remember you from the invasion, Aaron" the elder warrior greeted with a nod, quietly adding the names of the youngsters to memory. "You fought well, reminded me of myself a few years back. I am Lace, bonded to the white dragon over there and appointed Glazier - though I have to admit that the role as crafter still hasn't become entirely comfortable yet."

The presentation was extended to the horses that arrived as he spoke; a horned lady of a curious lavender beauty, a buckskin equine mare that spoke shyly to the gathered family, a pegasus stallion with wings much too small for the muscular body and a jet black black stallion who arrived in an explosion of ink toward the outskirts of the group. After Aarons arrival there were nothing but new faces, some he'd seen in the area but never spoken to. Lace greeted them all kindly with an increased sense of satisfaction settling in the gut. It had been a good decision to gather them all; a few still had yet to come, but he was sure that faces like Rishima's, Smoke's and Mirage's would show up eventually, if only for a while.

"Welcome to the Edge" he smiled toward the newcomers, soft golden eyes glimmering from the light of the fire as he nodded at Ysuelte and Tallow - they seemed to be the most recent additions, though he wasn't really one to say. "I hope you will like it here - I know I do, despite the never ending mist."

"How is everyone faring this winter?" he then said, extending the question to all the gathered ones. "It hasn't been all that long since this land became our home, and I know from own experience that it can be difficult to settle into a new region, especially at this time of year. Are there any concerns regarding food or water, shelter or trespassers across the borders?" He felt that the peace they had experienced was somewhat fragile, that the quiet from the exiled unicorns beneath the FrostHeart was unsettling rather than reassuring. The grulla was admittedly somewhat cynical when it came to peace however, and he wanted to know what everyone else was thinking. Especially the new recruits, who ought to view things with fresh and unclouded eyes.