~*Prairie Stalkers*~ | Lore Thread & Legacy Log | OK to Post

At the foot of the mountains, rain shadow has created a patch of scrub desert on the prairie. Further on, the fields grow more abundant, the prey larger, the land more appealing. But here, where there is little to offer, there is also little reason to argue -- and so a pack has settled in these meager lands. They are not the largest, or the strongest, or even the smartest. But they know that there is value in friendship and family and, above all, in having just enough to get by. 

Scraping out a life on this dusty corner, the Stalkers tend to follow their leader Vittorio in both manner and appearance: warm, light tones complemented by outgoing, fun-loving personalities. There are, to be sure, a few outliers here; Vittorio's tendency to befriend everyone he meets means that his pack is nothing if not an amalgamation of weirdos and oddballs. He'd have it no other way. 

Welcome! 

This is my lore thread/game log, where I can keep track of my wolves in their exploits -- pups born, notable deaths, scraps of lore and story as they come to me. On Flightrising I really enjoyed playing Legacy challenges, and I wanted to bring a similar sort of play style here for my own enjoyment. I feel like the Wolvden game mechanics really favor that type of play, so it sounded like a good plan. 

I'm a little sad I didn't start this log at the beginning, since the pack's already gone through some changes, but tomorrow marks the end of my first in-game "year" so that seemed like as good a time as any to begin! 

This thread will feature a combination of in-character written posts and more informal event logs for my day, when I remember to log them. You're totally welcome to post if you want! It's cool to know people are reading these :) 

GOAL: 

By the time I retire Vittorio as my lead wolf, I would like an heir to replace him with a nice full family tree bred in my den, with clean lines and an appearance that ties to the "desert prairie" aesthetic. 

Table of Contents:

Current Pack Hierarchy:

Despite the risk of external threats, Vittorio tends to operate his pack as a "come as you are, leave when you're ready" cooperative. Sometimes visitors come and stay for a few weeks, aiding with the pack, before wandering away or (every so often) being chased for stirring up trouble. Would it make more sense to maintain border security? Yes. Can anyone convince Vitto to actually do that? Absolutely not. 

The ranks below are more of the permanent core of the pack. 

Lead Wolf: 

Vittorio - Friendly, outgoing, charming 3-legged young pack leader

Healer: 

Willow - Vitto's second daughter, smart and quiet and kind

Pupsitters: 

Amelia - Bossy prodigal daughter, daddy clone

Samhain - Adventurous, outspoken 

Adonai - A middle-aged grandpa 

Scouts: 

Carmella - Recruited by Storm on a hunting trip, she opted for a quieter scouting role instead

Sheila - A lazy, frivolous girl who experienced a real "glow-up" thanks to some mysterious water she found...

Hunters: 

Storm - Lead hunter, aggressive and boisterous tomboy

Alice - A highly capable but somewhat scary outsider, kept away from the pups

Ghost - A ball of nerves and hunting party peace-keeper

Sparrow - An elective mute who hears a lot more than she lets on

Shadow - Suspiciously good at killing things; finisher

Vittorio Era

Vittorio -- Vitto, to his friends -- may seem at first blush to be a strange choice of pack leader. Three-legged, his right foreleg twisted and useless from some prior incident he does not speak about, the young dust-colored wolf doesn't seem fit to lead much of anything. But he makes up for his physical deficits with a certain incorrigible charm and incessant good humor. Always ready with a joke or story, his tendency is to laugh too much, love too easily, and give too many chances. But it would be a mistake to assume he's naive. There is pain and knowledge of suffering hidden in those green eyes, and his refusal to talk about his origins or how he came to be a lone wolf as a yearling speaks volumes. 

~*~

Y1 Summary: 

Vittorio's earliest friend was Samhain, an unusually bright-patterned loner. A chance encounter produced two pups, Amelia and Willow, and secured their friendship. They settled into their new territory and were soon joined by Storm, an older and experienced hunter whose aggressive, goal-centered demeanor helped to give some structure and security to what might otherwise have been a very odd pack indeed. Working with Vittorio's blessing, Storm assembled a crew of capable hunters who would allow the pack to survive even as Vittorio's ineffable charms ensured it kept growing -- predominately growing by pretty ladies, one might point out (Vitto would insist that his relationship with his packmates is purely platonic; if some of them happen to be interested in starting a family, then who is he to deny them? He is both generous and a great lover of large and boisterous families). 

The winter saw a large number of pups born, some fathered by Vitto, some by the wanderer Sundri from the neighboring forest. A few of the older males broke away to journey alone as adolescents, eager to start their own legacy, and Vitto wished them well. 

As Vitto and Samhain's first litter grew to adulthood, they assumed a mantle of responsibility in the pack: Willow took over the role of their now-departed herbalist, and Amelia embraced her true nature as bossy-oldest-sister to oversee all pupsitting and territory-management activities. 

~*~ 

Y2 Summary: 

Art Dump: 

None yet, fanart/commissions will go here! 

Y.1, Winter

In hindsight, Vittorio realized that perhaps he really needed to stop rolling around in strange poop. 

He couldn't help it! There was just something about it, some primal instinct, some deep-seated need to absorb and spread all of the complex scents of herbs and meat and roads long traveled and -- well. He wasn't feeling so good now, and he was sneaking back to the pack commons area with his tail held low, hoping nobody would notice his shame. 

It didn't work. 

"Oh, for shame," Samhain tutted, rolling her eyes. "That's, what, the third time in as many months?" 

Vitto settled down in a melted groove in the snow, carefully tucking all of his limbs to hide the miserable squelching growl of his upset tummy. He set his chin down sheepishly on his paws. 

"What's the matter, daddy?" Willow asked, padding over to him and giving him a curious sniff. 

"Nothing, nothing..." he hesitated. It was weird being addressed as a father. It had been a whole  year but it hadn't really sunken in, not completely. Maybe it never would. "Say...I don't suppose Sundog left behind any of that diarrhea treatment, did he?" 

"I don't think so...I can check..." Willow's brow furrowed thoughtfully. "I don't know if I remember the recipe...but I can try..." 

She wandered off to dig through the herb cache, muttering to herself, and Vittorio folded back his ears and grimaced at another very loud rumble rippling through his belly. What bitter, rotten luck for their pack herbalist to leave to go searching for early-blooming spring plants...

"Serves you right," Samhain said, and he couldn't disagree. 

~*~

Seriously Vitto how many times are you going to get diarrhea. 

Ahem. 

I chased my herbalist to make room since my adolescents are almost grown and I knew I wanted to make Willow the next in the role. Why Willow? Because I think she's very pretty but she's also pretty boring to look at, so I didn't figure I'd breed her very much but I did want to keep her around. 

Would serve me right to have a wolf get sick the one day I have no healer. At least it's nothing major! 

Y. 1, Winter 

The first death hit hard. 

No pack leader wants to lose a member. Not ever. Sure, some would come and go. And if he was being honest with himself, Vittorio didn't know for certain that the boys who had left would be all right in their adventures -- it was something he had to take on faith. 

But that was different than having to bury a pup. 

Sparrow, in her way, grieved quietly, keeping to herself, and that made it all the worse. Vittorio did not know how to comfort her, and so he left her to her friends in the hunting party, hoping that someone could do a better job. 

The truth was that they had gone into the winter unprepared, had foolishly brought too many lives into it, and they would be lucky if the little red pup was their only loss of the season. 

It was a learning experience...if a painful one.

~*~

Puppy Death

You hadn't had the chance to teach Bloodstone about snakes and why they should be avoided. She ventured out to play, unaware of what that rattling noise was... Until it was too late. Her body was found today near a rattlesnake den. To see your wolf's records, visit your Dynasty.

Puppy Injury

Desert Bluff got a little too close to an eroding river bank this morning. The ground beneath her gave way, causing her to slip and fall into the river! Thankfully, she made it out mostly unscathed. She grazed her leg against a rather sharp river rock whilst attempting an escape. Oh no! Desert Bluff gained a small injury and suffered -3 HP

I enjoyed reading this. It’s very wholesome, but still interesting. I wonder what happened in Vitto’s past, but I admire how he prefers to look on forward to the future with a bright attitude. 

Your writing is also great! 

Oh, thank you! I'm glad you stopped by to read, I hope you enjoy future updates <3 

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Y.2, Spring 

Sheila had gone further on this last scouting trip than ever before, roaming far north past the forests and detouring through the swamp. She was gone for so long this time that Vittorio started to worry that she might not be coming back. Things with the scout had been a little tense since two of her pups had left with another of the alpha sons, striking out as adolescents to make their mark on the world. Vitto worried, frequently, that Sheila may feel no further connection to the pack after a blow like that -- but he hoped that wasn't true, because her daughter Goldenrod was still very much a member of the pack and would undoubtedly miss her mother quite a lot. 

But, as it turned out, he had no need to worry about such things. 

Sheila came home after all, although she looked terrible. Her whole body was covered with sores and scabby bald patches, and she would alternate between scratching herself incessantly, rolling around on the ground looking for relief, and howling in agony about how ugly she looked now. 

Appearances had always been kind of a big deal to Sheila. 

So much so that she insisted that her whole fur had changed, gaining its layered and nuanced pattern, as a result of drinking some magic water, despite the fact that this was an obviously ridiculous belief. 

And now, well, her fur had changed all right. 

Willow, young adult and firmly committed to mastering the art of herbalism, was quick to jump on the case. Even if Sundog hadn't...done a particularly good job of organizing his herb stash before he left. At least not in any kind of fashion that made sense to her. So there was some trial-and-error involved.

"Here, I think this is it. Eat this." 

"No, wait, hang on, try this one."

"Okay it's definitely this one, I'm sure of it." 

In the end, Sheila was so stuffed full of herbs that she felt like a fat waddling deer. Her stomach squealed in protest. 

"But hey!" Willow pointed out, proudly. "At least you're not itchy anymore?"

Y.2, Spring

"Well, hi there!" Amelia said brightly, getting down on her belly and creep-crawling toward the little pups in an effort to look as thoroughly non-threatening as possible. 

The pups, barely more than four colorful fluff-balls, paid little heed. The little red one made a tiny 'harrumph' noise and curled in closer to his mother's belly. The bright one yawned, showing off tiny little milk teeth. 

Amelia was in love. Her tail thumped behind her. 

Samhain and Vittorio made the briefest eye contact and exhaled twin sighs of relief. They had not entirely worried that the first-born pups would be jealous of their half-siblings, but one never really could tell with young wolves. 

Then again, Vittorio didn't know there was a reason why his first-born might be especially invested in the cuteness of pups....it would be a while yet before that secret was visible. And all the better, really. Let him deal with the shock of being a grandfather some later time. There was new spring life to celebrate first.