Cain

hard-working | natural leader | wise | impulsive | emotional | nosey

cain had been a phenomenal scout in his youth. blessed with agility and smarts, he was a master of the land and was well-regarded in the pack for his innate navigation skills. he impressed the late leader, audric, with his rudimentary form of cartography, in which he would draw elaborate maps of their territory and surrounding regions using his claws and a soft patch of dirt. of course,  the 'maps' would wash off with every rain or snow, but that didn't stop cain from painstakingly redoing his work each and every time.

he trained four young scouts throughout this early career, and had found a lover in fellow packmate, dew, who, together, bore five puppies throughout their lives. their daughter, ivis, is the sole remaining pup in the pack, the remainder of their sons and daughters finding homes outside of lichen valley. ivis has taken after her mother, becoming a hunter for the pack.

after the death of avan, former herbalist and long-time friend of cain, lichen valley pack scrambled as they attempted to cope with her sudden death. having not appointed an apprentice, avan had unintentionally left the pack at a loss, no one else in the pack proficient in medicine. cain, having always been a natural leader, appointed himself as the new herbalist, leaving the life of a scout behind. this role shift was meant to only be temporary, but he found himself slotting very nicely into the role, and the life of an herbalist suited him better as the years began to catch up to his aching bones. he approached the idea of becoming a permanent herbalist to new leaders wren and vala, who encouraged him fully with the caveat that he must appoint an apprentice in order to avoid another catastrophe. as such, he appointed, caedric, a half-blind male whom he had grown attached to in the aftermath of the injury that rendered him disabled.

though not his father by blood, cain regarded caedric early on as his adopted son, something that was all the easier considering caedric's orphan status and his similar age to cain's birth daughter, ivis. at only eight weeks old, caedric endured an injury by a neighboring pack, infecting his left eye and rendering it completely useless. he spent a majority of his youth and early adolescence in cain's care accordingly, which only strengthened the pseudo father-son bond they shared. at five months, cain and dew officially adopted caedric. it seemed only natural, therefore, that cain would wish to appoint caedric as an apprentice, especially so considering his birth daughter's reluctance towards learning medicine.

once caedric became of age, cain retired and became a mentor for lichen valley's youth.