Aquila Pack

Long ago, in these distant mountains, there were no wolves. There was no magic. All lived in a happy bliss, free of predation, free of fear. But then the darkness came - it swept over the land and the animals knew pain and death for the very first time. Many fled as the trees died. Most didn't make it out. Hundreds of years passed before pawsteps were heard beneath the dead forest in the snowy peaks.

Cirrus, god of wolves, was the first to return here. He looked over the devastated landscape, a world he had never touched, with some measure of sorrow. It needed healing; it needed care. His powers, demigod that he was, could not restore the mountains and their peaceful existence to what it once had been.

However, he had an idea. In his home world, that of Felnova, there were wolves much like him - wolves that he had been created to watch over. These wolves varied in power and appearance as much as any dragon, gifted by Time with abilities this land had never experienced. He could bring those wolves here - introduce them to this battered world. He could urge them to heal, to create, to grow.

And so he did.

Cirrus returned to Felnova and visited one of the many packs there in secret. He found light in tragedy; found a pup that should have died, took its soul and spirited it away. Several others in similar circumstances he 'rescued' as well, returning them to life in this far distant land. They would remember none of their former packs. Nothing of their past lives. None would remember anything of their puphood, these first few individuals, and with any luck would find one another's companionship amicable and form groups as they had in other lands.

The land began to recover under the pawsteps of these new wolves. Cirrus watched this and rejoiced, running among the clouds, his flickering fire like a meteor across the sky. It was nearly time for him to leave this world and return to his own. His task was done. And yet... there was one more thing he had to accomplish.

The first wolf - a pup when chosen - he had kept dormant all this time. He swirled down to a small den, hidden away for decades while the one inside slept. The god whispered words of power and the young wolf - who had aged not even a year since he had been taken from his pack - began to stir. "Your name is Arunos," Cirrus murmured. "I will grant you a boon the wolves of these lands do not know, but those of your former home cannot live without. Awaken now, and be free."

By the time Arunos, a black wolf with eyes the color of the sky, lifted his head... Cirrus was gone. A small creature, blue and black of the night sky, blinked at him; a curious blue-feathered bird. A familiar, and the only one given to the wolves of these lands, so far from the spirit-bound plane others dwelt within.

He stepped outside, and the raven-thing alit on his shoulder. The sky was bright and clear, the mountains crisp and fresh. And the world was his to explore.

Born of Arunos' desire to claim land of his own, knowing only that he came from a faraway pack he could no longer reach, the Aquila pack was brought into being. Yelina was the second wolf in this wild world he met, and the first to want to join him and start a pack of their own. Over time, they gained more members, and began to explore the rest of their world.

Currently, the Aquila pack is settled in the Bonereach Mountains; a place filled with ancient dead trees and a variety of new growth. While those with magic have begun to encourage its healing, guided by some unseen force, others think that they are risking their peace by disturbing the land's balance.

Rumors abound of rumbles beneath the earth and black creatures slinking in the shadows. Of rifts and unexplained bursts of the arcane. Though the Aquila has not seen it yet for themselves, tension is high and fear runs rampant.

What new menace awaits this new, fledgling pack...?