pack story

After being chased from her birth pack (some say it was in another world entirely), Caoimhe founded a pack of her own. She began taking in wandering wolves with no true home, as well as orphaned and abandoned pups. Piece by piece, she's built a pack that is like a family, willing to fight to protect each other.

religion

The pack's religion focuses on the moon and its mysterious influences on wolves' lives. The pack celebrates the full moons with parties, and it's during the lunar events that major events such as moves and pairbonding ceremonies can happen.

Pairbonding ceremonies are one of the most celebrated events in the pack's life - it's a sign of new life, that the pack and its traditions won't die out. While a pairbond may be unofficially formed outside of a lunar event, it is only truly recognized during the lunar event with a formal ceremony. If the moon remains clear and visible throughout the whole ceremony, the pairing may remain. If it is covered by clouds, however... It is a sign of bad fortune, and the pairbond must be disbanded.

Moves are another event influenced by the moon. They only move to a new biome during a lunar event, and while their pattern may appear random, some say Caoimhe has a deeper, more personal reason for selecting a particular biome...

pack hierarchy

The current lead (titled the King or Queen) and their mate have the most power - they send out hunters, scouts, and herbalists to forage, form alliances with other packs, and choose the new biome when it's time for a move.

The lead's pups (titles vary from Prince/Princesses to simply Royals) have the same powers as their parents, except they cannot decide to move. In fact, they are often sent out as diplomats to negotiate alliances with other packs if the King or Queen is busy.

Wolves with lunar features (marks, bases, eyes, etc) are considered Lunar Nobility and are the highest-ranking non-royals. They are the leaders of hunting parties and the most trusted scouts. Usually the pack's stud is a Lunar Noble, and Royal wolves are encouraged to pairbond with Lunar Nobles

Commoners are all the other wolves who don't have royal blood or lunar features.

reserved for other things

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caoimhe's origins (wip)

How long... How long have I been running? Am I far enough away now...?
She had to stop - she was too tired, and her paws were hurting from running over the rough mountain terrain. I haven't heard anyone following me. Maybe I'm safe? For now...
She kept walking, looking for a safe place to rest. She wasn't sure how much longer she could walk... She was sure her paws were bleeding by now, and her other wounds weren't helping matters at all.
Finally, she found something. It was just a large rock, but at least she was protected from the biting wind if she got on the right side of it.
She was lying down and almost asleep before she heard footsteps and jumped up. A female wolf with pinkish fur was standing right in front of her, studying her with calm gray eyes.
"What are you doing here, little one? Why are you alone?"
Caoimhe said nothing, trying to calm herself down. She hadn't expected anyone to find her here. This wolf seemed friendly, but... should I take the chance...?
The female shook her head. "Nevermind that. You're hurt, and I can feel a blizzard coming. Come with me."

.o.O.o.

The wolf was right - the snow was coming down harder now, and she could barely see in front of her. They arrived at a small cave, protected from the fierce winds. The caves were lined with small indents, as if a wolf had scraped out part of the stone, and those were filled with various herbs.
"Sit down and let me look at your injuries." She said, pulling something out of one of her 'shelves'. It was a yellow liquid, held in some sort of shell.
"Where did you get these scratches? And the bites - did something attack you?" She scooped up a pawful of the liquid and put it on the biggest scratch.
Caoimhe winced and said, "I guess you could say that."
The wolf looked curious, but only said, "Let me see your paws."
Caoimhe put one up, and after looking at her paw, the wolf asked, "You aren't from here, are you? Your paws are soft - like you aren't used to walking over this rocky terrain."
(note until finished, this wolf is current herbalist, here)

heartbreak

Having pups in the winter had been Siofra's first mistake. It was hard enough for the pack to find food for its current members, let alone the new pups that were going to be born. She wasn't the only pregnant female in the pack - there were multiple others - but she seemed to have the worst luck.
The first sign that something was wrong was the difficult birth. It was taking much longer than she'd expected, and the others were worried. Callum had been beside her all day, trying to keep her calm with "You're okay, you're okay..."
The first pup was born - smaller than she expected, and seemingly very weak. He could barely crawl to her belly, and barely moved when touched. He was breathing, but very shallowly...
The second was born. This one was bigger than the first, but even weaker.
By the time the third and final pup was born, her hopes weren't very high. This female seemed a bit stronger than the others, but Siofra wasn't sure how long that would last.
Still, they were her pups, and all alive for now. She pulled them closer to her, curling her tail around the pups to keep them warm.

.o.0.o.

She woke up in the middle of the night and checked on the pups. The small male was cold, and didn't respond when she touched him. The larger female was still breathing, but barely. Only the third pup seemed to have any sort of life to her, protesting when poked.
Within a few minutes, the second pup stopped breathing as well, leaving her with a single surviving pup. She curled herself around the survivor, tears welling up in her remaining eye. My poor baby... I won't let anything happen to you...

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