Hazeline Pack

CURRENT LORE

With strange corruptions coming over the land, the Hazeline Pack has taken measures to make sure everybody stays safe from the beasts cropping up left and right.

Wolves are not to go alone when leaving the home site.

King Oliva is far more open to taking in refugees from the outside world, as things grow far more hostile and unusual.

There is also the issue of having to find their runaway pack member, Fawn, who's odd origin and tendencies makes his disappearance not just concerning, but potentially dangerous for the pack, depending on his intentions.

PACK ROLES & TERMS

• King: The sole ruler of the pack. The King makes all of the calls, and has final say on everything, only to be overthrown should the pack be in turmoil due to their actions. Just because they are the King however, does not mean they laze about and reap the benefits of the pack's labor. No, a good King will often either explore far and wide, and patrol their territories, or hunt with their subordinates. They can have a consort, but said consort does not share the same power as the King, only having the power of the rank they bear. There can only be one King, and they must persist in that role until they pass away.


• Advisor: The King's left and right wolves, the ones that the King can put trust in should they need assistance. Like the King, good Advisors work directly alongside the pack where they can. There can be up to two Advisors, but sometimes there are none. Advisors do not have to retire once they reach the advanced age of 7, especially if the King does not have any other Advisor candidates in mind.


• Medic: The main healer in the pack. When there are adolescent wolves in the pack, they can choose up to two apprentices. When they are ready to retire, they will choose the next medic.


• Sage: The pack's elders. Wolves who are 7+ years old. These wolves are retired from whichever job they were given, and take on the Mentor role to pass down their knowledge.


• Alpha: These wolves are tasked with going out and taking in the lay of the land, discovering new regions to explore, and reporting back to the King and Advisors, especially if there are any significant changes. They are also often sent out to the Trading Center whenever the King needs to get rid of excess items from the pack's hoard. There can only be two at a time.


• Subordinate: Subordinate wolves all work together to provide for the pack, whether it be hunting, patrolling, or guarding the den when they are not busy.
  
  
  • Pup: Too young to leave the den for long, pups stay with their mothers.
  
  
  • Student: Weaned pups must attend education! If there are no Sages to teach them, then either the King themself or one of their Advisors will take on the students. They are still too young to go without protection, and thus will stay with their respective mothers until they are adolescents.
  
  
  • Apprentice: Once a young wolf has come of age, they will automatically become apprentices. During this time, they can join hunts, patrols, scouts, and decide their destiny. Up to two may be lucky enough to be chosen by the current Medic to be their apprentice, but may join other activities to learn other skills.


• Lead: Wolves who lead their own path in life. In other words, loners, rogues, and dispersal wolves alike.

STORY LOGS

Lore bits that drop throughout each rollover! If the character limit is reached, the earliest entries are removed to make space.

10/15/2024 - ROLLOVER 13 - AUTUMN - CYCLE 5/12 - DUSK - SCUFFLE

Spoiler
The heat was a bit intense within the Riparian Woodland, but that doesn't impede a very curious Fawn from trotting around, eyes darting around to look at the interesting landscape ahead of him, as the sky darkens slowly.

Another figure in the distance catches his eyes, and he approaches, noting that it was a wolf that he hadn't recognized. "Helloooo?" He calls out to the stranger with a grin, his tail beginning to wag excitedly at the prospect of meeting a new friend!

The other wolf turns to the one who greeted him, and huffs. "Greetings... why is a lowly pup speaking to me in such a manner?" He smiles in a sarcastic manner, watching Fawn with a critical set of yellow eyes.

Fawn was unperturbed, and gets up uncomfortably close to the stranger wolf's face. "Correction! Why are you acting like we're in some sorta kingdom, hmmmm?"

"Ah. Perhaps you're an odd one," the wolf says, no consideration for how that might make him feel. Thankfully, Fawn was rather used to others calling him worse than that. Before a retort could be made, the stranger continues on, "But if you must get up in my business..." He struts around Fawn, not bothering to keep eye contact. "...I have been cast out by my old pack for their unrefined tastes, and now I look to seek a new pack to join. I'll show them that I, Golden Earth, hold an untainted bloodline!"

Yeesh, this dude's a creep, Fawn was thinking to himself. "Well, there is a pack I know of, but, man, their tastes might be a little too refined for you," he says with a chuckle, already thinking of how he can mess with this poor wolf who had clearly been cast out... though honestly, with his attitude, he needed some roughening up.

"Pardon?" The other wolf pauses, glaring at Fawn. "And where is this pack, pray tell?" He raises an inquisitive brow. He could smell the very stale scent of another pack on Fawn, and it did make him curious... but it also made him curious as to why Fawn was so far from his pack, for so long... and curious on another thing, which he shamelessly asks, "Tell me, are the maidens there as regal looking as you?"

"Allll the way at the mountains!! And- well, uh." Fawn pauses, then smirks. "As flattering as the comment is, you'd have to go figure that out yourself, I'm not one to judge for another wolf's... 'refined' tastes." Oliva was going to kick this guy's ass if he tried anything, and Fawn loved that thought. It seemed like a fitting way for a wolf to be humbled.

Tilting his head, the wolf smiles curiously, and somewhat slyly. "The mountains? Why... that's a far ways for a wolf to go. Are you sure you're not a criminal on the run...?"

"Well, I haven't murdered anyone, haven't stolen anything, haven't really... committed any crimes, other than the crime of looking as dashing as I do, I suppose," Fawn snickers to himself at that last one, then hums. "I only really left 'em since the pack life ain't my style." He could see exactly where this was going.

The gears were turning in the goldenrod-coated wolf's head, and he asks casually, "Say, if your old pack did want a possible criminal back... would they want him back dead or alive?" Not even being subtle.

Fawn acts oblivious on what the other wolf was setting up, and shrugs in an exaggerated manner. "Eh, probably alive, they're a bunch of wusses when it comes to the whole violence thing-" And he cuts himself off to dart out of the way of the stranger lunging for him, only to punish with a bite to the neck, shoving Golden Earth to the ground. "Wow! You really are stupider than you look!! I thought you woulda seen me coming, there!!" He taunts, jumping away from the other wolf.

"You-" Golden Earth huffs in response, then gets back up, growling lowly. "Oh, you..." He took a sharp, deep breath, knowing he was going to have to try and keep it cool. "I was not expecting a little scamp like you to be so... difficult. Make this easy for me, yes? I'd rather not bloody my pearly whites over this..." He takes another step forward. It really did seem as though he was just expecting Fawn to oblige.

Boy did he not know how Fawn operated.

"Oh?" Giggling, his tail starts thrashing about excitedly, and Fawn steps away. "Is that a threat, my friend? Oh, I LOVE when fellow wolves think I'm harmless..." His tone was sarcastic, and his mannerisms were very quickly becoming more erratic. He chuckles far more darkly, and decides to advance a step forward, a crazed glint in his eyes. He cocks his head to the side, to an almost ninety degree angle, and gives his most menacing grin while he growls, "Though... I am getting awfully tired of being treated like a puppy..."

And this was the moment where it dawns on Golden Earth, that taking this little shit back to his ex-pack was not going to be an easy ticket into said pack. He could see the murder in the smaller wolf's eyes, and it sends shivers down his spine. However, he was too proud to back down from a fight. How hard could such a small wolf be to defeat?

Things went to hell so quickly, Golden Earth couldn't even comprehend it. He manages to get a grip on the smaller wolf's nape briefly, but the pain shooting up his front leg makes him drop him, and that was the moment he had teeth at his throat.

The wind was blowing, and by now the sun had set into night, with a light snowfall replacing the earlier heatwave.

Before the situation could escalate further, Fawn was suddenly pulled up by the scruff and pulled away. "...Okay, that's enough, Fawn," Cassiterite says grumpily, though his ears pin nervously when he notices the blood on the other wolf's neck.

Fawn was not going to take this sitting down, and starts squirming in the other wolf's grasp. "Hey- HEY!!!!! LEMME AT HIM!!! HE THREATENED ME FIRST!! IT'S DESERVED!!!" He was big mad, and he was showing it with the loud snarling he was doing. Though he wasn't actually making any moves to bite Cassiterite. Yet.

Thankfully for Golden Earth, the monster hadn't done too much damage to his throat, though he was stunned for a moment. Seeing the other wolf so casually holding Fawn like it was nothing, he sighs out of relief. "Oh, thank goodness, he was going to kill me...!" He pants lightly, before regaining his composure, and smiling casually. "Would a kind wolf like you be able to help me drag the little rascal to the mountains? I'm sure we could both find ourselves a lovely lady in the pack that resides there, I believe this little wolf is a criminal on the run, and he could be our ticket to glory!" He boasts proudly, completely unaware that the two knew each other more than by name.

Cassiterite narrows his eyes in offense. "Why the hell would I want a woman in my life?? Or help you take advantage of one?" He then glances down at Fawn, who pauses his thrashing about to look up at him. "On second thought, he's all yours," the dark-coated wolf says to Fawn, getting ready to release the beast. Fawn was already getting excited, an ecstatic gleaming in his bright red eyes. He was ready to kill, and his tail starts wagging.

"Err-" Okay, this plan was quickly getting out of hand. At this point, Golden Earth would much prefer he stays alive, as opposed to potentially dying for a silly side-quest. "I... no, hold on, I'll just stay out of your ways...! I'll... maybe I'll just ask them nicely to join them," he chuckles nervously, and starts to run off.

Fawn looks up at Cassiterite innocently. "Please?" He wants to chase the stranger soooo badly. And maybe horrifically maim him. He craves the violence.

There was a moment of consideration in the darker wolf's white gaze, before he shakes his head. "...no, let him go. We need to get back to the den, and... I... think if he tells them we are here, then it'll mislead them." He starts leading the way back, letting go of Fawn.

While it was overwhelmingly tempting to go after that asshole, Fawn lets out a groan, and follows along. "Damn, I was really hoping I could shred him, too!! Buuuut... that's a real good plan you got, there. Alright, alright, I guess I'll spare him." He grumbles a little, slightly disappointed that he couldn't perform a murder, while licking the wolf blood off of his teeth and maw. Perhaps another time.

10/15/2024 - ROLLOVER 13 - AUTUMN - CYCLE 6/12 - DAY - CHARRED PATH

Spoiler
While Fawn was off doing his own thing, probably fishing in the Riparian Woodlands, Cassiterite was wandering through the eastern side of the Coniferous Forest, exploring the new surroundings. The soft ground under his paws felt nice, and for once, he thought he could relax.

...and then the smell of charcoal reaches his nose. Well, they could use some herbs...

Continuing east towards the scent, he notices the forest around him becoming gradually deader, and deader. He stops in place, hackles raising. Something felt very wrong, here... and it wasn't just the fact that a wildfire had come through here, months ago.

On top of the melancholy that surrounded the area was an eeriness, like something was causing this forest to stay dead after it had long burnt.

Oh, and the voice that disrupts the uneasy silence.

"You shouldn't stick around here," Oliva speaks up from behind him, causing him to let out a startled yelp. She continues calmly, looking out to the tainted, once-burned woods with a somber expression. "I think the same corruptions that have been tainting all of these lands are concentrated far more in this area, for some reason." Cassiterite stares at Oliva, then awkwardly looks off to another direction. She was alone. Why was she alone? He doesn't speak, and was honestly just hoping he could walk away, only sticking around to be polite. The black she-wolf takes in the air for the moment, then turns her gaze towards Cassiterite. "You know Fawn, right? Fairly well, I'd imagine."

Here we go again...

Cassiterite feels his heart pounding against his rib cage. He did not want to deal with wherever this was going. "I-... yes, and if you're about to ask me- a-ask where he is, I don't know." That was a fat lie and he delivered it so poorly, but his hopes were that Oliva wouldn't push. She seemed polite enough, right?

Oliva figured this was how things were going to go. She softly sighs, and steps towards him, which prompts him to step back. "I'm going to need you to come with me, sir. Understand that this is no offense against you, but I know that he will likely come back to us if you're there." Her tail was raised authoritatively, and she knows she can easily bring him back by force, if necessary... she was just hoping it wouldn't come to that. She wasn't sure of how closely those two would support each other...

And she was about to find out. Or at least, catch a hint.

Weighing his options, Cassiterite curls his lips into a nervous snarl. "I... I don't know why you need me to come with, or why you need him back... but I'm not getting involved with this," he says, a hint of hostility in his tone. However, instead of fighting, he chooses to run like hell, sprinting further into the tainted lands.

"No- wait-" Oliva tries to catch him by the tail, but the speed that he had burst off with was shockingly fast, and she finds herself hesitating to go after him.

...maybe she'll catch him next time. She wasn't risking walking through there again, lest she fall into bad memories and possibly become corrupt herself.

Cassiterite made ground very quickly, focusing on covering as much distance as he possibly could. He didn't know if he was still being pursued, and at this point, he dared not find out. He passed by half-buried skeletons of other creatures occasionally, some of them being wolves, and at some point a rather startling sight of an old home site causes him to make a sharp turn to the right. He was heading straight south, until the landscape around him changed from a burnt conifer forest, to the lively northern section of the Riparian Woodland. He pants heavily, and pushes himself to run further. He didn't know if he was being followed or not... that scared him more.

WHAM!!!

Out of nowhere, or perhaps he hadn't been looking where he was going, Cassiterite runs full-force into something else, letting out a startled yelp. He hears another, equally spooked yipe in response to being tackled, him and the other wolf tumbling down into the river.

It took him seconds to realize that he was floating on top of whoever he had accidentally bumped into, and he gasps, quickly getting off of the wolf and picking them up, dragging them out of the river...

Oh.

It was just Fawn, who coughs a few times upon being dragged out of the water. "F-fuck, what the hell is wrong with you?!" He wheezes, his tongue sticking out while he tries to catch his breath.

"I-I was running- Oliva- she's here- well not here but- she was in the- huff- in the-" Cassiterite cannot form words for the life of him for the moment.

However, hearing that wolf's name was all Fawn needed to hear. His ears prick and he shoots to his paws. "She's where?! She wasn't close to the den, right??? Wait... why were you running from her, anyway?" He tilts his head, opting to not immediately panic, like his rival was. Seeing that Cassiterite was hyperventilating, he pauses. Yeah, no way in hell was he getting any useful information out right this second. "Hold on, hold on, breathe, you're gonna pass out on me if ya don't, and I do not want to drag your heavy ass back to the den." He uses one of his front paws to force the other wolf to sit his ass down on the river bank, and stands next to him, being on guard.

Several minutes pass, the two of them being silent. Cassiterite manages to finally get some words out, his ears drooped in a somewhat embarrassed manner. It really shouldn't have taken him this long to calm down, at least he thought so. "I... saw her on the eastern end of the forest. Not near the den. But they're scouting around there. W-we need to be careful..."

"...Man, yeah that's pretty close... hm." Fawn was humming to himself, wondering how they could stop the pack from tracking him down. "I'm gonna guess murder is definitely off the table?" he jokingly asks. Sure, it was something he has considered, but logically he'd rather not further give them a reason to think he and Cassiterite were a threat to their pack. And maybe he had a slight bit of care for the wolves that he stayed with for some time in the past, even if he was terrible with showing it. It would suck to betray them.

"Why is that always the first option your brain defaults to..." Cassiterite exasperates, slumping onto his stomach and covering his face with one of his paws in an irritated manner.

Snickering, Fawn responds quickly, "Because your reactions are hilarious~!" He drops down to lay next to Cassiterite, but was way too close. The older wolf grumbles and launches him with a back leg, directly into the river. "aaAAEEEEEEEEE-" SPLASH!

After Fawn breaches the surface of the water he had been pushed into, he snarls, grinning widely. "Oh, it's ON." He starts paddling towards the shore in a deceptively unthreatening manner.

He probably should have expected that reaction. Cassiterite lets out a low, nervous growl, swiftly getting to his paws. Sure, the other doesn't look intimidating while he's getting to the shore, but he knew better than to underestimate him.

The two end up having a quick tussle, and it looks a lot more violent on the outside than it actually ends up being, neither of them truly getting injured. After they had beat the absolute crap out of each other, they sit back down and discuss their next move civilly, deciding it would be best to start avoiding going to the Riparian Woodlands if they can help it. And maybe, if Fawn was able to get past being near the witches, they could move to the Deciduous Forest...

It was something they would have to take the next few days to consider.