Ink River Canyon
The Ink River Canyons are a massive stretch of treacherous crevices and canyons, set far south of the forests, all made of dark stone and rivers at their bellies, their waters as black as ink, sunlight never reaching them. Little to no plant life grows here, and when it does, it's only ever patches of already wilting grass.Constant storms and twisters batter these lands, flooding the rivers and causing loose rock to tumble into the shadowy depths of the canyons.
After the catastrophic event that left their treetop homes in shambles many years ago, the Goldleaf Colony retreated south in their desperate attempt of survival. Soon grassy plains faded out into jagged stone and stormy skies. They discovered a deep ravine within these gray lands. Not a single stream of sunlight reached to its bottom, but the wolves accepted that they'd likely find nothing else for miles and settled down within it, their members injured and starving and dehydrated.
To their dismay, however, when a wolf sipped from the black river at the bottom of the canyon, they'd become deathly ill, and when someone went out to find prey, they'd return with nothing but bleeding paws from the endless stretch of sharp rock. Conditions remained like this for a long while, the leader refusing to budge, as pups would be born soon.
Years passed. Four agonizing years in the canyons. A new generation was born. The wolves adapted, pushing through their grief for the countless that starved to death nearly every day. The leader that had refused to leave the ravine had died. Their heir, Saffronsun, refused to keep the colony in such horrid conditions, so he led them back to their ancestral forest home, where they stabilized and rebuilt, growing and thriving in the newfound prosperity that they had lost so long ago.
However, some stayed, spiteful and cruel towards Saffronsun's decisions, remaining in the canyons to raise their own new generations.