Aella

The last of Oblivion's pups, also among the last pups of Nightwish before the move from the Mountains to the Taiga.

Bold, determined and steadfast; a proud leader who strides forward with an unshakable confidence in her pack's future and potential, but who also requires the assistance of her packmates to keep her enthusiasm and occasional hot-headedness in check.

Known to the wolves of Nightwish as she who came to take the world by storm.

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Born right before a full moon just as the autumn was about to turn into winter, bearing a highly unusual broken white pattern on her fur, Aella was certainly a unique addition to the pack. When she was finally revealed to the pack after a few days in seclusion with her mother, whispers quickly began to circulate amongst the wolves that this plump, uniquely coloured puppy was marked by the Goddess herself for an auspicious future.

As the days passed, this prediction appeared to be correct -- despite being an only pup, Aella took to training well and swiftly asserted her dominance over slightly older pups with her strength and fighting skill, much of which she inherited from her mother, the leader of Nightwish at the time.

Eventually, the aging Oblivion made the difficult decision to move her pack from their ancestral homeland in the mountains to the taiga that laid far to the north. Though she had received the Moon's blessing to do so, this was still met with some pushback from the wolves of Nightwish, many of whom were reluctant to abandon the home they'd known for generations. Others, still, feared that hunting would be poor in the north and the move would result in lean times for the growing pack. Aella's spirits, on the other hand, were not dampened in the slightest - after all, there would be so much to see and explore after the move! The young wolf, already an adolescent at this point, firmly stood by her mother's decision and supported the move. The mountains, they reasoned, had become far too crowded and were no longer the safe haven they had been at the pack's inception.

Oblivion did her best to reassure her pack that they would do just fine in their new home, but the trip was nonetheless marked by an uneasy silence as apprehension and uncertainty hung in the air. The summer had been chosen as the best time for such an undertaking in order to help the pack ease into the colder environment, but as a result the heat was often brutal during their travels, forcing the exhausted wolves to take frequent breaks to rest in the shade and drink.

At last, after travelling for several days, the wolves of Nightwish crossed into the boreal forest they would soon make their new home. In an effort to lift their spirits, Oblivion called on them to help choose a suitable location. The pack's scouts, used to scanning the terrain in this manner, were the first to set off; many other wolves, emboldened by this display of courage, split up into small groups and left to explore nearby areas. By nightfall, all had returned to the meeting spot and the most appealing locations were put to a vote, with the pack ultimately settling on an area of the forest that would provide plentiful shelter for densites and from which they had control of a large lake nearby, as well as a stretch of a mighty river that cut right through their new lands.

The following days were spent digging dens and tidying up the main den area while the hunters probed the local wildlife, slowly learning about what they were now up against and developing new strategies where necessary. As it turns out, Oblivion's faith in them had not been misplaced, and they were indeed able to continue to provide for the pack in this new environment.

When the time came for a new leader to take over, most wolves immediately looked to Aella, who had grown into an impressive young adult and had spent much of her time in this new home exploring with her mother and learning the ropes. Though the inheriting of this position was unprecedented, it wasn't forbidden, nor was it a particularly unreasonable suggestion given the circumstances. The young she-wolf acquiesced and went on to perform the necessary ritual to request the Goddess' approval and blessing, which she was granted; thus, the mantle was passed to her.

Aella's style of leadership turned out to be unlike anything Nightwish had experienced before. Although she'd technically inherited leadership from her mother, she was always greatly offended by any implication that her mother's previous position was the reason for her current status, snapping back that there was no such thing as a birthright to her, and that merit was something anyone could earn through their actions.

Though not quite warlike in her demeanour, she was certainly an enthusiastic fighter who pushed herself to her limits and threw herself into combat without hesitation when the need arose. Proudly proclaiming herself to be "the Goddess' fangs", she took her duty as the guardian of Nightwish seriously and was quick to engage any foe she deemed a threat, even those much larger than herself, a habit which earned her both an abundance of scars and the wrath of any herbalist saddled with treating her wounds on that particular day. When questioned about her borderline reckless behaviour, Aella would simply bark out a laugh and state she had been blessed by the Goddess for a reason, and that she feared no creature on this realm - a belief she would carry for her entire life.