"The mighty mountains protect the Red Marauders from the cold, harsh winter storms of the north. Few wolves cross these mountains because what lies beyond is told to be nothing but a wasteland of snow and endless darkness. Which isn't actually true, unless you climbed to take a peek at the wrong time of year, which is most likely how these stories came to be. In reality "the Northside" isn't necessarily teaming with life, but it's not uninhabited. In fact wolves have thrived on the Northside for generations and evolved specialized genetics; their fur is a lot denser to keep in the heat, their paws a bit bigger and flatter to walk through snow with silent ease, but most distinguishably are their long fangs. On the Northside prey usually comes in the form of rabbits or other burrowing mammals, to hunt them you have to rely on stealth and the element of surprise. By having extra long fangs you ensure that when your surprise attack lands, it strikes deep and gets a good, lethal grip.
Most areas on the Northside are open tundra and frozen oceans, the wolves may have their specialized paws to help cross deep snow better than normal wolves, but these evolutions also holds true for the prey. A chase is never worth it so if a surprise fails, the hunt is usually forfeited. There are however lots of boreal forests around the mountain bases where hunting smaller prey is ideal. It is rare for caribou to venture into these forests as they know wolves inhabit them but whenever a young foolish buck comes along, a lucky pack won't have to go hunting for weeks! The cold keep meat freshly frozen for a long time, meaning one big carcass is a well earned vacation. If you can defend it."
The packs on the Northside are scattered and few in numbers. Most packs aren't big enough to even be called a pack, but the less mouths you have to feed; the easier it is to feed them all. So when two wolves find each other they either stick together, or kill each other for food. (Cannibalism is uncommon and only happens if wolves are desperate.) Luckily Still and Silver are the former. They've survived together since adolescence and thrived off of each other's strength.
Surviving on the Northside is tough, you never know if you'll be able to find enough prey for the day to keep your strength up. Stil and Silver however make the ultimate hunters. Silver with his unusual gifts sense the nearby souls and, once confirmed, Stil finds and stalk the prey. Unless it's a really slippery stoat or tiny rodent, they are most often times than not successful. The hard part is finding the prey, which can be a daunting task in the mostly barren wasteland.
Stil once heard tales of a better land beyond the mountains, where the weather isn't cold and holds an abundance of prey. Finding a way across those mountains had been their main goal ever since but the steep cliffs and frequent avalanches made it impossible, until one fateful day. They spotted a not ideal, but promising path. They almost starved while spending days waiting for the right weather when climbing the mountain would be the least risky. If they got the life they had dreamed of when they made it across is debatable..
The Red Marauders aren't known for being hospital, but it was the first tribe they came across. Stil was eager to meet so many wolves in one place, there were never enough wolves on the Northside to form a proper tribe! Being accepted was hard due to the language barrier, but at least every wolf speaks "wolf basics" no matter where you come from. In the marauders' case, it's aggression and strength. After her power was established she was taken to Alpha Snake who was very intrigued by the odd pair. Lucky for her, the marauders doesn't care much where you come from as long as you can prove yourself to be worthy the title Red Marauder, so despite their strange looks and bizarre rumors of "originating from beyond the mountains", once they proved their worth as raiders no one asked any more questions.
Stil quickly picked up on their language and can at the very least understand the baseline of what wolves try to tell her, and she can let wolves know her basic intentions as well. "Prey here" or "hush!" are commonly spoken by her, usually paired together as her fellow raiders tend to be too noisy for her liking. When they are out hunting she stands perfectly still while observing Silver as he pinpoints which direction the prey went. This helps Silver focus on other souls than theirs and she tries to tell the other raiders to do the same. "Still!" is the most common word she shouts, and therefor it became her nickname as no one really knows what their actual names are, or if they even have any.
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(1ks bg, 25gc custom decor)
