The Lives and Mishaps of Jackdaw’s Flight (gamelog + lore rambling)

Day 73 2020/12/30
LVLUP Husk +11, Carcass +9, glaucous +18, Talak +12

• idk what the fuck I was on yesterday but I will have y’all know I speedran the rest of those ywhs so no adults die now >:,D Also Taiga wolves have been hell to find (by which I mean I have found None) outside befriendable encounters); thiiis could take some Time. Anyway:

• Lucky 👀 This is fine with me actually because the circumstances of the move itself are one giant drama bomb that I haven’t really figured out yet; factoring pup death into the subsequent move can wait.
• Fed almost everyone on x3 porcupine carcasses, then dug into a large meat chunk for Zephyr and the two holding wolves (who I’m not counting in lore). Not bad, although those were the only 8-use carcasses I had…

• So, HMM, that big attack. Why would another pack jump into the fray during winter when there’s a fucking cougar on the loose—unless they were affiliated? Cat eat bird, it checks out. And it’d also give these guys a plenty strong motive to attack, if cougars are sacred to them or something; the Jackdaws have basically committed sacrilege twice, even if they didn’t actively chase one out for their first home. Buuut of course it’s not all spiritual; Dioite’s reputation precedes him and all.
• Ooh, actually, could slap some retroactive foreshadowing on this binch: Cougar’s Maw was kinda infamous, right? or at least Known enough for visitors to pass by, for wayward pups to think of exploring it on a dare? If there’s a pack that’s close to cougars, of course they’d hear about the passing of one of the most fearsome mountain lions sooner or later. They might have even assumed good of the pack that moved in, assuming them to be friends of cougars as well, Until.
• Oh yeah, and since this whole thing brings the sapience(?*) of non-wolf fauna into question, I’m gonna do this the way I see non-wolves handled on some wolf rp boards: no, they don’t share a language unless there is an extremely good backstory reason for it (ex. a wolf being raised by a cougar or vice versa, bearing in mind that alone is kinda improbable when their first instinct would most likely be fighting the competition), and by default they’re enemies—BUT. Just to spice things up a bit, it can be assumed they’re “people”* too. It is possible to have non-hostile interactions, if both parties tread carefully.
  • *Human-ness is not quite the standard I’m looking for but it’s gonna have to be close enough, since the wolves are heavily anthropomorphized to begin with. I’m not using “intelligence” because “they can’t speak with us therefore they dumb” is, uh, No.
• Meanwhile, in the middle of writing this, Wickfen picked up an open wound from a grouse hunt. Hmm, that’s not contagious, it just nuked his HP. Fuck it, new curveball: non-contagious illnesses are only cured if I get an even number from the RNG. (Using random.org still, just hitting the 1–100 homepage default.) —Which was a 4 anyway! Alrighty dude, here’s your cure. I can totally still use that in lore even if the rng also said he kicked ass.
• But okay anyway back to wolf worldbuilding. So this other pack, they’re close to cougars and maybe felines in general, and they make a point of establishing themselves as allies to the local big cats. Whiiich happens to include the one the Jackdaws drove out. Hold on lemme check a thing—
• Alright, looks like the cougar I got meat from was level 13, and they breed in the—no, search results, I’m not looking for attractive older women—I’m not seeing anything about a “breeding season” from a cursory glance, but they reach adulthood/leave the parents around 2 years old. We could say the one they chased was a young adult, maybe having only recently established themself that spring?
• So yeah: Jackdaws come in, find young cougar, go “it’s free real estate,” beat it up and take its food and territory. You know, like good friendly neighbors do! But even after hearing about this, feline pack… well, they don’t exactly give the benefit of a doubt, but they’re not dumb. They understand 1) not all packs share their cougar reverence and 2) while an entire pack vs a young cougar isn’t the fairest fight in the world, cougars are still tough shit, and they’d be wise to do their research instead of recklessly attacking.
• Hmm, do their research, do their research… Hallow double agent y/y. Wolves are mainly chasers and birds dive in for the kill, but cats stalk their prey long before pouncing. But mind, that doesn’t mean Hallow’s motives are suddenly all a farce, and he is still with the Jackdaws despite the attack; he got his ass kicked, after all. He could be something of a lone agent?
• Alternatively: Zephyr? Double alternatively: they had a rando (aka NPC aka not an onsite wolf) befriend someone, and okay yeah that makes more sense because why the fuck would they send Hallow when he’s been #sus from day one. Shit, Micah didn’t get hurt too bad, and if he’s keeping up Stonks he’s gotta know where to forage somehow despite not having been here long… Uhh, have fun with that betrayal, buddy :D
• Wickfen and Micah are still pals but they’ve drifted, as young adults do, with Wickfen spending more time with Zephyr on the hunt and Micah absorbed by his herbalist duties. No resentment, necessarily, just that (bitter)sweet “life directions make for less quality time” #hashtagGrowingUpThing. It’s not as extreme as, say, high school pals going to different colleges, since they’re still in the same pack and presumably spend a good amount of time at the base (more than they were in the overcrowded Maw, at any rate), but still. Wickfen finds a friendly rando (Zephyr), Micah finds a friendly rando (NPC!feline pack wolf), I am a sucker for parallels.
• I’ll resist giving npc!wolf an appearance juuuust in case they show up later via NBW, which I am leaving very open* because Micah not getting hurt this battle suggests to me someone was looking out for him. He’s an herbalist, and while warrior healers are surely A Thing, archetype (and upbringing) says he can’t fight for shit. For him specifically I’m reinterpreting “kicked ass” as “didn’t get beat to shit”—and while neither did Wickfen and Zephyr, Wickfen doesn’t exactly have battle training either, and Zephyr can only do so much.
  • *Do I need to recruit more wolves? No. Is this traitor gonna immediately suck up to the Jackdaws and try to join? Also hell no. All I’m sayin’ is that they could travel alone in the vague direction of the Jackdaws anyway, as if to keep an eye on them and especially Micah (and absolutely not because they got exiled from the feline pack and thus no longer have any sense of purpose), and there is potential for a later encounter that ends with them joining. Bonus points if this is a chased!NBW. (Which they should be. I gotta stick to that self-imposed rule more; Hallow was an outlier and got to stick around largely because he got lore instantly >:V)
    
• Hell, none of the Jackdaws have battle training, really. They haven’t had to. The most likely to have fought before would be Talak, Hallow, Idril, and Oriole, all from past packs—and all but Talak got beat up, maybe specifically because they were spotted as having had fighting experience. Wrt the Aspens especially, I was thinking the catalyst of this whole attack was the cougar realizing one of the wolves had had pups in winter and went “it’s free food estate,” so they’d be on the front lines from the getgo.
• But yeah, that said: even if Micah’s not-really-friend ended up defending him, and even if 7 wolves emerged victorious in their own little battles (as opposed to the 4 who got more badly beat, and 3 in between; a half split is pretty darn respectable for a non-fighting pack), they don’t feel safe here and they certainly don’t have the skill to defend their territory again if attacked. They fled on the spot.
• Also, in the interest of not villainizing these randos completely, it’s not like they were out for blood anyway. Maybe the cougar was, as reckless and vengeful young adults do, but the feline pack jumped in as defense/reinforcements. Or the whole thing was coordinated from the start?

• Got sidetracked for a bit but oh hey, finally found a timber wolf pack, level 14; the subsequent battle got Diorite down from about mid-20s to a whole 1 HP, with a first-turn Lucky Foot and a couple lucky latches :^D But 3 down, 3 to go… Healing encounters do not seem half as abundant here, alas, so it miiight be another day. Which is fine with me. Drag out the exodus.
• oh yeah sure NOW I find like two lone timber wolves while draining the rest of the energy, and bar depleted at a whopping 5 HP. At least I know they exist >:V

• But anyway. Yeah. It is time to give Micah (and everyone else really but mostly him, F) trust issues! Out of seemingly nowhere the pack gets attacked by (what seems to them like) complete strangers and the same cougar they chased out to get here, what fun. The pups are saved and they escape without sustaining any lasting injury, nor are they followed out; normally the feline pack might’ve sent one or two wolves out to make sure the attack worked, but seeing as the one they usually trust with that kinda job defended the enemy, they got drama of their own to deal with first. Still, yeah, so much for that home; it may be nearing the end of winter but it still Sucks™. Spring is around when young wolves would be leaving their birth packs/families to set out on their own, too, so that’ll make finding a new territory extra fun.
  
• Were it not for the (now-)2-month pups* in tow and the need to recover from battle wounds, the Jackdaws might’ve become nomadic on the spot. Or hell, maybe they’ll have to anyway. Since the first fight was against an entire pack and nearly nuked Diorite, let’s just say that even if he tried to approach them pacifist-run style, It Did Not Work.
  • *Side note: going once again by this age chart (which I linked earlier but it’s been a while), the pups are around 3–4 human!years. Their earliest memories will probably be vague impressions of the move, if not the attack itself \o/
    
• All in all, bad time to be a Jackdaw, 0/10 would not recommend. Although it has lit a fire under their ass in that, if they do want to start being territorial (read: if they can’t find another secluded place like the Maw, and/or they keep making enemies), they will have to fight for it. Between the pups and age, Idril and Oriole couldn’t give effective battle training if they wanted to; I get the impression the former was on her own for a while before joining the Jackdaws anyway, probably left her birth pack as a rebellious youth long before getting any proper training down. (Also, she was impressed by Diorite’s sudden display of violence, which is not something an experienced and knowledgeable warrior would smile upon.) So it really comes down to Oriole, Talak, and Hallow; the former could still give instruction, mind, but she’s not gonna be sparring any time soon. Hallow also got beaten up, but now could be a good a time as any to reveal his former pack wasn’t too friendly either (maybe his suspicious behavior was just like, Normal by their standards), and Talak… hell if I know how they did so well that battle, but I will obey the RNG’s whims nonetheless. They were nearly 3.5 years old upon helping found the pack, which is plenty of time to get in some experience—if not through training, then through being a lone wolf who had to fend for themself sometimes.
• Though really, I keep talking about training like this is battle cats 2, and I don’t think prolonged bloody battles are realistic for them let alone wolves. (Ah, sweet selective adherence to “realism.”) TBH I’m just not that interested in developing like, Physical Warfare, and iirc (from some internet rant on realism, so take this with a load of salt) wolves don’t have the claws to do the scratching thing even if Cool Slashmark Scars would demand it, so. …Idk lemme go see if there are documentaries (or clips from thereof) on wolf-vs-wolf fights that aren’t quick dominance displays >:Vc

• Okay, see, like—ignoring that this is an illegal upload (it seems to have aired on National Geographic, and miiight be from this?), while it’s possible they cut more bloodshed, a lot of this “fight” seems to be running; even once the Druids leave, they’re not exactly bleeding out (at least from a distance). Unsurprisingly it reminds me of videos of wolf hunts; ambush predators, a lot more running in a challenge of stamina, and only once the prey is cornered and/or tired do they go in for the kill.
• Meanwhile however, We As A Society sure do go apeshit over stories of bloody battles, returning from the trenches with scars n shit, so EVEN THOUGH animals could probably not sustain injury like that on the regular (they don’t have “herbalists” and little wounds can get infected and all that jazz), we take creative liberties. How did this turn into a little animal storytelling rant again?
• It is actually perfectly realistic for no one to have died in this fight while Hawk’s Eyes still takes small injuries on the regular, yes. (Oh boy, taiga hunting is gonna be fun; I suspect we’ll be there for uhhh A While.) Plot armor, but for gameplay. Also TBFH I do not want to shell out like a grand for the retirement fee to actually save my fuckign wolves’ profiles (which I think is kinda dumb when it’s basically just chasing but for the dynasty), but I digress. What was I talking about here?
• Oh yeah, ~battle training~. Whiiiich I think just amounts to “it’s like being a finisher, but against another wolf; here are things to watch out for & moves to try yourself.” And speaking of finishers, makes sense that Drove would kick ass, and Husk would have backup from the rest of Hawk’s Eyes. (Also, since she was more outgoing/rambunctious from the getgo, it’s possible she picked up a few tips from Oriole growing up. Pros of not fleshing out their day-to-day lives: I can shove in stuff like this long after the fact.)
• Actually, it’s kinda funny that Hallow got beat up and Talak was stronger. All that mysterious just-barely-not-evil-sounding talk and he gets beat up significantly worse than local dreamworks face, amazing. (Yeah, see, this is what I care about; forget the technicalities, how does the result of the fight reflect on & affect them personally? Which plays into the specifics and vice versa but sill. It’s hard to characterize a fighting style when all you care to develop as the basis is “uhh bite shit.”)
• God, this all warranted an offshoot doc a lonnng time ago, but like, fight me. Anyway, Diorite doing well is no surprise, and Andesite… well, F, but she did get hurt on a scout not long ago. I feel like glaucous could’ve done better considering her strength stat but ah well, mange-as-injury means she’s also physically recovering to some (if a lesser) extent. Leveret and Carcass… I never had much to say on in the first place, rip. With Carcass I was gonna brainstorm with his breeder, who’s since dropped Wolvden, and Leveret…
  
• Leveret wanting to ~see the world~ is just gonna be one of those unfulfilled dreams at this rate, isn’t it? Unless I kill Drove, which, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.* At this point she’s probably starting to think staying with the Jackdaws is more trouble than it’s worth, but she’s also not gonna ditch them right after they get chased out. But if not now, when? There is no good time to say “hey y’all, it’s been fun, but I’m gonna yeet.” What the hell, sure, let’s play that trusting generically-friendly nature for a character flaw: it also makes her passive, dawdling and delaying this decision that she’s increasingly sure is the “right” one for her, because it might Start Shit (or at least upset her packmates, including the bro she came here for in the first place). Ah, the lingering trauma of her dramatic severing from the birth family, gotta love it. haha plot twist I kill Leveret
  • *“But wasn’t killing Drove supposed to be incentive for her to stay?” Yeah, but also, it could be incentive for her to leave if she responds to that with “hm, no, I’d Prefer Not To get shoehorned into taking care of my baby relatives again.” Also I have said a lot of things in this thread that I changed my mind on later, so.

• It’s not the end of the season til tomorrow, but I’m just gonna go ahead and update the doc while this is all fresh in my head. I like how the last note I wrote in the timeline there was “Despite everything, the coniferous forest starts feeling like home” :,)
• >there isn’t actually much new to write in the timeline because nothing actually happened today except Wickfen’s injury; allllllllll this text is brainstorming & development
  
• Oh dang, Andesite’s wound was at the end of autumn? Time flies. Uhhh guess she broke or twisted something, idek. For all intents and purposes she should’ve landed in the average or better section, but RNG is what RNG is.

• …In other news, it took way too long to notice Wickfen and Zephyr’s hunting party was still just called “wickfen.” Speaking of names, first cave is now “The Jackdaws.”
• . . . It also took me this long to realize Hallow looks kinda like a jackdaw, with the grayish back and darker face. Goddammit, he could’ve been some sorta prophet. But I guess I can (again retroactively) make that an additional reason he’s been allowed to stay? I don’t want to overhaul his whole character at this point but >:V . The pack probably jokes about it sometimes, if nothing else. It’s not like they’re actually that close to their namesake bird, go figure.

• Stray thought: considering Andesite’s disappointing performance this battle, and that her hitting level 20 soon means I’ll be retiring her from scouting (although idk who to swap in yet), maybe she takes this as a sign to spend more time with the pack? The hierarchy has never been strict but this is an especially devastating loss when she’s supposed to be co-lead; if anyone wanted to challenge her, she couldn’t back it up. She doubts anyone would, but still. (She hasn’t got a good read on Hallow, at least—though she’s grateful he fought for the pack. Badly, but like, you-tried.jpg.)
• Point is: Andesite might decide to “step down” and take up hunting, in an effort to spend more time with her packmates on a more personal level. Keyword might; she could be co-lead and a hunter, it’d just be a break of semi-established norm. But the driving sentiment of “I want to be with the pack more, not above them” is still there. Part practical, part sentimental. That no one died from this is, in-lore, something of a miracle. also jesus christ as the co-lead she desperately needs more interesting character development

• Today on “the RNG insists on being anticlimactic actually:”
  • plaintext for ease of searching later: trophy get
    

• Hm. All right. So that was another close one, maybe against the same pack? There’s no way in hell Diorite’s gonna go fight mode on this move; suppose they ran into a strong pack and he (and Andesite) decided to try for an alliance. But if they were friendly then that would be too easy, so what if they demanded the Jackdaws prove themselves in a fight? Or two? Or ten.
• But do I want to develop a whole-ass other significant pack 🤔 I mean, the Jackdaws are pretty beat up (hypothetically, in lore) right now, and even if they don’t like these taiga tough guys it’d be kinda dumb to turn down their offer. And by offer I mean “you can live on our territory but we’re allowed to take your shit sometimes, and also if you can’t prove yourselves to us in regular fights we’re kicking you out.” Feudalism but for wolves. I’ll consider it but it also sounds too cartoonishly evil; what would they want from the Jackdaws?
• Alternatively: this is where Hallow came from 👀 Mobius double agent reacharound: Hallow isn’t working for them, but he did leave them, and they don’t really care about the Jackdaws as a whole as much as they care about keeping Hallow around. Why? That I will figure out… [dramatic movie trailer pause] right after this. By which I mean I unfortunately need to do things besides write about wolves all day, smh.
• But oh yeah, before I forget: something needs to Happen before I can officiate the move. Another wolf pack battle? RNG? Both/neither?? We’ll see, but I kinda wanna hold off at least til spring/tomorrow. New season, new home. Could just say fuck it and officiate without additional gameplay fuss :V
  
• Ah wait, consider: Diorite hits level 15! Doubles as extra incentive to battle. 91%, 17,662/19,308 at the time of writing, let’s gooo

• Much later day update: oh god we’re gonna be moving for 50000 years, the Desert has thoroughly spoiled me with its 8HP encounter.
  

Day 74 2020/12/31 SPRING START

• Pups weaned today \o/ Also in the interest of not going batshit insane over how rare healing encounters seem to be in non-Desert biomes, I’m lifting that particular restriction. Today’s snake quest also calls for bird-slaying, and the desert is one of the biomes with not one but two birbs (turkey vultures and… hawks/eagles, iirc?), So.
• Also man, the coniferous forest spring hunting is gorgeous >:O I’ll slap it in this post as a visual break for when the move is officiated, which will prooobably be after the snake quest.
• Oh yeah, time for death roll :D

• Oh, okay ☠️☠️ RNG really saw I’m gonna officiate the move today and thus put an end to pup survival rolls so it went “oh yeah? You wanna yeet two?? HERE have two 4s.”
• Bonus round because I’m indecisive and this is fun: how they die. (Separating this clearer in case I reuse it for future manual deaths :3c)
  • 1: frostbite/illness
  • 2: animal attack
  • 3: wolf murder (Hallow? enemy?)
  • 4: fell into a river
  • 5: spontaneously overnight
• Oh damn, two 2s 👀 And today’s quest is bird-slaying, suppose they were left unsupervised and/or wandered off juuust long enough for a raptor or two to swoop in. Tragically tragic.
• And it can still absolutely play into the ongoing Hallow drama, and could even be not his fault 100%: If he’s somehow related to this new larger pack, they could very well have dragged him aside for a while, lied about having someone fill in for him while they spoke, and well bam.
• Meanwhile, in the interest of still making Diorite hitting level 15 Significant: the Jackdaws are stuck with this pack until that happens, at which point in-lore he challenges the leader or something for their freedom/to keep their own territory unsupervised, and wins. At that point keeping the Jackdaws around could be more trouble than it’s worth, and the enemy lead would rather fake a semi-easy defeat than give it their all.
• Or so that’s the plan. Diorite is Diorite, and that has always meant going for the throat in a serious fight. He still doesn’t necessarily win, but after seeing that, enemy lead is like “jesus fucking CHRIST dude that was not in the rules, take your wolves and go.” —althouuugh, hm, wouldn’t that actually be incentive to like, keep him there in their watch? Maybe even kill him??
• Alternatively, if the lead fight is less staged for the packs and more one-on-one (no arrangements only Diorite random assault now), the opposing lead is simultaneously impressed and terrified Diorite’s not playing by normal dominance rules, and subsequently agrees to let the Jackdaws go—IF Diorite swears he and the pack will never attack theirs. It’s a gamble, and still arguably a stupid one, but at that point the poor sucker just wants Diorite off their neck. And they can at least tell Diorite is a trusting fool who would keep his word about that, and not rally forces for a counterattack in the future or something.
• Diorite strong… Diorite kinda dumb (onsite wisdom/smarts stats be damned; he’s at least overly trusting)… shit, did I make my lead a himbo?? AHAHA that’s fantastic I am keeping that hands fucking down.
• For bonus drama: after he gets up and leaves, enemy lead attacks (not playing by the rules either) because hm actually no they’re not letting this dangerous idiot go, and then some Jackdaw (Hallow? Hallow.) swoops in to be a hero. Might die in the process, though. But also I don’t like “villain heroically self-sacrifices for the ultimate redemption” plot devices (redemption is work dammit, and also Hallow wasn’t exaaaactly a Villain to begin with) so that’s enough to just end the fight. But y’know, “don’t you dare show your faces around here/my pack again” still applies. And the lead’s making no promises about not launching their own attack in the future...

• BUT that is all for later. For now the “stuck with a larger/stronger” pack arc continues, and in other news:

• jfc guys calm down. I’ll breed Andesite and glaucous again when they hit lvl20, probably by next year, and maybe with Diorite in hopes of an heir? (Ideally he’d also hit lvl20 for maximum stats by then but battling’s a bitch.) But everyone else can wait >:V Idril specifically already had a turn; if she had +500 stats I’d be temped, lore be damned, but nah gonna let her rest.
• Notes to self for desktop later: move the skarn pups’ info to the appropriate sheet (“visitor log” aka Yeeted); add all four to Idril, Oriole, and Drove’s bios.
  • Done!
    
• But for now, at the tender age of 2½ months, which is getting pretty big but apparently not big enough for a starving bird… RIP Grackle and Osier Aspen. They hold the (dubious) honor of being the first wolves to be killed in-lore on purpose, and the first casualties of the coniferous forest/taiga. Big F x2, they will be missed.
• This puts Hallow out of a job again (there’s no hunting party to return to) but frankly, I don’t think anyone really wants him around after this :,) …Unless, for the sake of keeping him useful in gameplay, I reroll his personality and have him go hunt with Wickfen and Zephyr. I doubt he’s gonna be too Arrogant after this mess.
  • Then againnnn Talak’s nearing his last legs (big RIP) and the romantic/aggressive squad will need another chaser for a full 5 after that. Hrm.
  • I was gonna have him go solo but then he gains stalking proficiency :T Hm. I guess he will just have to be deadweight for a while. Just like how the pack feels about him!
• Oh yeah, speaking of personality rerolls, let’s get something less Obnoxious for Jackrabbit, shall we? Stoic (even) or Friendly (odd) would work with the Wickfen/Zephyr duo… RNG said 99 = odd = Friendly.
  • ”Jackrabbit Aspen seems to freeze for a moment before giving you a bright, happy smile. Looks like it worked! His personality changed from Obnoxious to Humble.”
• Ignoring how fucked up it is to force a personality change… HUMBLE. AWWWW. Same as Wickfen, go figure, but Jackrabbit probably won’t be as much of a(n outwardly) timid mess. He just had a big whopping serving of humble pie after blaming himself for his siblings’ deaths, because someone had to have attracted that eagle :D (A golden eagle is the only bird I’ve slayed so far. I don’t think they live in the conifers/taiga but bald eagle can suffice instead.)

• Anyway, time for food—aaand there’s already a stockpile of 8-use carcasses, amazing. I’d be half-tempted to rng whether or not I get to keep them or feed everyone, but that imo falls under the same “no desert exploring” caveat of being too much of a pain in the ass for too little benefit. Everyone eats.
• Also I keep passing the scar when selling in raccoon wares and having a heart attack. Fuck it, burying that for now; it can be assumed these guys have some various scratches that aren’ showing up on decor anyway. Maybe if/when they add dynasty decor, but for now I’m just not gonna waste the use :V But god, scar as drama catalyst is great, I gotta do that again.

• Just for the hell of it, designs for these important NPCs (using the randomizer and then manual adjustments for color/coherency): the lead and someone else who knows Hallow. His ex, maybe? sibling? (Note to self: add images above this section later.)
• First names that came to mind were Silverback and Mouse, so fuck it, let’s go with that. They both look super different from Hallow so, ignoring how breeding genetics actually work on this site, they’re probably not related—to him, anyway. But to each other? Mayhaps. Similar skin/claw colors, similar distinct-ish lighter undersides.
• Hm, so, what do we know about Hallow so far? Showed up out of nowhere, seems to genuinely be trying to help out, but also is afraid of intimacy likes messing with people, because apparently this pack attracts that kind of wolf. What do we know about this taiga pack? Big, strong, refused diplomacy at first brush but the second round convinced them to hear these stragglers (the Jackdaws) out. The lead and a(nother?) wolf closely involved with Hallow are related, and they decided to keep the Jackdaws under their figurative thumb specifically to keep Hallow around.
• If Jackdaw’s Flight is small but relatively tight-knit (if easily strained by personal conflict), then this pack functions more like a pyramid scheme an empire: most wolves don’t know the others outside their own little factions (hence Hallow not catching their interest the first round), but they’re all fiercely loyal to the lead and maintain this whole arrangement regardless of personal hang-ups. Except for hallows georg who thinks he’s tough shit and decided to stake it out on his own.
• Oh yeah, and a side note on taiga packs/general world development: The further we move from the starting biomes, the more we’re gonna meet neighbors with context. This is both because I’m more invested in story development and because, realistically, harder biomes = packs have to be better-established to even think about moving out here. They don’t have to be behemoths like this taiga crew, but the nigh-nomadic Jackdaws might be something of an outlier; three years is nothing on these bitches.
  • In other words: three years and one (1) leader, who’s barely-middle aged? bro do u even lift have a bloodline tracing back countless generations and decades upon decades?? git gud u fuckign plebs.
  • Hmm, the vague desire to have the next lead related to Diorite vs the Jackdaws having no good reason, and in fact now being actively dissuaded from, having some kind of ~keep it in the bloodline~ schtick. Maybe it can skip a generation or two. We’ll see.
• So what did Hallow do to incur the wrath of this pseudo-monarchy? Be, well, arrogant. Duh. Even if he’s getting the shortest end of the agency stick as of late, I don’t want him to suddenly be this innocent victim either (hell, he prooobably should’ve known Mouse was full of shit about having someone watch the pups while they talked—and that’s if Mouse didn’t handwave it entirely with “it won’t be long,” which is an even flimsier excuse and puts Hallow in a worse light* :D)
  • *Of course, it’s not like Mouse or anyone was intending for pups to die here. But negligence is negligence, and the pups are old enough now they could very much walk and go get into trouble. (As a side note, what the fuck are Idril and Oriole doing?? Did Hallow finally gain their trust enough they decided to go hunt or something and then wham this shit happens? Fun and dramatic, but also seems dumb if they knew Hallow had Connections here. They couldn’t not have picked up on it by now, surely. Hmmm.)
• But okay, back to Hallow. He, uhh, tried to romance Mouse, failed, got kicked out? Eugh, too easy/cliche. For the pack to want to keep Hallow not only around but close enough in sight that they basically hold all the Jackdaws hostage, Hallow must’ve done SOME shit. Murder? Did he actually go and pull an Ashfur as a dumber and more hotheaded youth, and when Mouse pulls him aside they’re actually making an attempt on his life?
• Hmm, suspicions, suspicions. If the pack wanted to do anything with Hallow, it was evidently not bad enough for him to be recognized by the first party the Jackdaws met, and the fact he was back to pupsitting implies he was left to his own devices again. Which… seems odd. Unless they’ve been watching him and wanted to make sure he wasn’t the entire Jackdaws’ real leader. That implies a more manipulative direction, a power play—and that could be way more fun on Mouse and Silverback’s behalf. Sure, yeah, maybe Hallow rolled to seduce the Mouse, but it wasn’t just about them: they’re the sibling of the lead. Said lead doesn’t have, and has been consistently unable to produce, an heir. (Wolf overpopulation controls #goddem.) Therefore, if Mouse has pups, one of them is next in line—and if Hallow was the father, guess who slides right into that position of power by extension?
• Wow, holy shit, that puts Hallow’s “I would like to father your litter” schtick in a new light. Almost hilariously so, actually, because it means he was like “I see an old experienced wolf in this pack who seems to be celebrated and regarded as an authority, and I am going to assume that’s because she does have hierarchal power and it’s not because she’s been the token pupsitter for years. I am going to roll to use my old power-gaining scheme again except it actually means jack shit here, and I would know that if I’d cared enough to notice.” Amazing. Presumably he’s had a biiit of a change of heart by the time the pups are born, though; the fact she picked fucking Drove, a finisher but also a “commoner” with no authority in Hallow’s eyes, AND through that the (re)affirmation Things Work Different Here and her actual mate is still Idril? Yeah.
• SO Hallow is a pompous ass because he used to think he was Haute Royal Instigator Shite, and only recently has he come around to the idea maybe not everyone is obsessed with rank and power like that. Just in time to go do a heroic save for Diorite, too, in a few days/later in the year :D
• Wow, who knew I could actually care about monarchial romantic-political drama plotlines. I sure didn’t! Just Add Furry.
• Before I go do things, I want to stress again that Hallow can’t fight for shit and that really makes everything about this even more pathetic/pitiable. Arrogance as a coping mechanism, anyone? He would, realistically, be a godawful leader, because even if his attitude wasn’t Like That he couldn’t actually back his authority up. (Because, as power=status societies like this tend to do, strong leadership is equated with potential for Violence. We love a not-even-fictional dystopia.)
• Up next is figuring out why he wanted that power, although it’s probably not hard: ego-stroking? fear? I guess a nobler family motivation is possible but two NPCs seems like more than enough unrelated randos to me; and even if he said it was a family status thing, somehow I don’t think he’s gonna stick around once the Jackdaws leave. It is all for Him.

• Did some more Wikipedia skimming and damn, had no idea wildfires were such a big thing here 👀 So I guess that’s as good a kick for a future move if any, although I don’t quiiite anticipate moving again any time soon; the hunters are consistently finding critter and small trails just in the conifers, with the rare medium. This move is totally premature from a gameplay perspective too, far as hunters being able to keep up is concerned. Nice.
  • This maaay put an end to Diorite’s glacier-living dreams, F, but the pack’s probably not thrilled with all this goddamn moving trouble as-is. They’re still sticking together but like, if he wants to go freeze to death so bad, they’re not following.
  • Also, as previously mentioned, it’s a good long-term goal aka it gives me something to keep playing for beyond intentionally-manufactured drama. From an irl/gameplay standpoint it’d make sense to cool it on the chaos for a while too; idk if they’ll start adding events with the new year, but regardless, I start school again later in the month (alas!) which means no more sitting around wolf brainstorming half the day. Big sad.

• End-of-day update: can not kill this third goddamn bird >:V Karma for villainizing them in my lore or something, gdi. Tomorrow for sure. For now I guess the hunting image will just Sit Here awkwardly at the bottom of the post, signifying nothing—although I will be editing this post again since I completely spaced out on the earlier notes to self/spent the rest of the day off Wolvden in general, so maybe I’ll shoehorn it somewhere else then.
  

Day 75 2020/01/01

• >finally gets the third bird >next quest: 3 wolves
• . . . That miiiight take Diorite to level 15, actually? We move after that, then 👀

• >finally finishes quest after a frankly stupid amount of energy bars just looking for the damn woofs (who ended up being a level 1 timber wolf pack, amazing)
• >can’t move because I sent hunters out right before that exploring round
  
• >Fuckign

• FINALLY

• On a less frustrating note, even if the hunters are finding nothing but critter trails for ages (and it has occurred to me I swapped out my best stalker recently), that thing about gaining more EXP from a failed hunt in a more difficult biome than a successful hunt in an easy biome? Real shit. I still manage to spend enough time on this site I’ll probably be able to compensate via explore carcasses, even if I’m only casually throwing an energy bar to the desert every few hours, so unless that ever becomes an issue I think we’re here to stay for a good long while :D
• —Oh, shit, also, both quests today took Diorite to… 99% >:V Ah, whatever, I already know how this goes down in lore; the pack teeechnically “moved” at the start of spring, and it’d make sense for them to not get too comfortable with $wolfMonarchy before Diorite gets fed up and attacks Silverback.
• Hm. Diorite gets fed up and attacks… Did someone see his pack almost-scarcely-just-a-little-bit entertaining the idea of leaving him, never mind who they’d be leaving for (these pompous assholes or even staking it out solo), and have another little mental snap? :^D I mean, I did note he got more aggressive after Bone left. Ah, yes, if Hallow’s gonna have his own little “redemption” arc now (well not really in the slightest, but the Jackdaws can be preeetty sure he’s with them now), why not lean in to Diorite’s own questionable traits again? He’s got less than half his life left now, chop chop; clock is ticking, your wolves are dying, what have you accomplished? What’s it all been for? Are you still content to let “your” wolves do whatever they want if it means losing the foundation of your identity?
• Guess what, that’s another opportunity for ~parallels/foils~, because Silverback might be a jerk but at least he’s upfront about it. Diorite? Beast in wolf’s clothing. He might Mean Well:TM:, and he probably still will allow the pack lots of personal freedom (definitely not going for a “suddenly Diorite was a dictator” thing here), but on a personal level? “Mostly friendly but will go for the throat at the slightest (if any) provocation”? Shit, man, I will spare the silly wolf fiction thread my personal gripes with the trope, but suffice it to say I think that falls solidly under traits to get away from really fast. You don’t want to be on the receiving end of that righteous fury, and if you don’t know what will set it off, run.
• GRANTED my issues with that are largely centered around it being written without self-awareness, like when the writer also doesn’t seem aware they’ve written a potential raging hypocrite. Lean into the righteousness though and I am fuckign sold and oh goddammit it really would be predictable of me to make my lead like that huh.
• I mean, I haven’t really explored what this Sporadic Violence thing means for Diorite, beyond that sometimes he attributes it to the questing snake? Which is probably a thing I’ve mentioned before (I admittedly do not reread this thread much), along with the fact that, if I do lean super into it, it does bring up these Problems and that’s not necessarily something I always want to write about in depth? But Also the longer this goes unchallenged the more sus it is, and even on silley wolf gaem I am contractually obligated to Write Gud (or at least meeting my own arbitrary baseline standards; see also the “no cardboard cutout motivations for you, Hallow” brainstorming), and sometimes that means facing the fact your wolf with the most gameplay-plot armor is an absolute fucking asshole. Sometimes. Enough times to be more Concerning than it actually has been.
• So I’ve mentioned how most wolves aren’t even here for Diorite at this point, it’s a sort of “found family” and leadership is mostly in name only (minus the, uh, moving thing, which has been Pretty Fuckin Big). None of them have seen Diorite go feral, and there’s been no indication he ever would on any of them; attempts to bring this up with him have been met with a shrug and promises he never would. Hell, he’s not even necessarily aware he’s unusually violent? His whole origin is a mystery, he dreamed of Tala and the snake, of course he’ll have some “quirks.” It’s not “he knows he’s violent and is self-hating” and it’s not “he knows he’s violent and thinks his enemies deserve it,” it’s “everyone keeps acting like this is some unusual worrying behavior and he’s just like ????”.
  • Thing to come back to: his fight with Silverback is (seemingly) private, yes? Except Hallow intervenes—maybe more to split both leads up before they maul each other. (Diorite’s still losing by then but y’know.) And then there’s the matter of telling everyone, and getting the hell outta here before anyone else finds Silverback and enacts bloody retribution :D Revelations for all; the Jackdaws kinda can’t not pay attention to this anymore!
• But anyway, Diorite genuinely not thinking of his “yeah sometimes I’ll go fight some wolves and take their teeth as prizes” schtick as a problem in any way is… interesting. If it was a trait like, say, not talking (hi glaucous), it’d be much more sympathetic, but Bro You’re Literally Physically Hurting People. If it’s not murder (and for lore purposes I’m kinda skimming over trophies anyway, they’re a Lot), he gets into fights a hell of a lot more than the average actually-minding-their-own-business wolf. And I have set up a world where survival of the fittest mantras are bullshit, so he can’t even fall back on having to be a Tough Battle-Hardened Alpha (which is also bullshit, but I don’t care about it personally; common misconception, y’all do you, I just got this here as a disclaimer). The cliche is like, there, at the periphery of his awareness, subconsciously feeding into his idea that the questing snake’s whims are calling him to “prove himself” as leader, even if the motive is his own making.
• I was not planning to write a lot today but no, here I am, rambling about woofs again. \o"/ At least it’s finally giving Diorite some much-needed Character Interest Points, and with the move officiated onsite plus the circumstances of said move in-lore, diving into this for the next “arc” (lol manga storytelling wolf edition) seems like a natural progression. PLUS it could line up nicely with the aforementioned “maybe at 15 I’ll chill on the battling,” if that’s a thing I end up doing; said the same at lvl10 too but look how that turned out, smh, and I do wanna breed him again at some point regardless.
• BUT SERIOUSLY even though I’ve spilled the whole thing here as I’ve brainstormed it, I kinda wanna make another offshoot doc just to outline this entire move?? It’s a lot more “plot”-heavy than any of the pack’s previous shenanigans; feels like I need a day-to-day timeline or something just to get it sorted out. Or I’ll see how it looks on the ongoing overall-summary doc, and… well, I keep talking about making a wiki, but taps watch @self; the more in-depth this lore gets the more intimidating that project becomes. sweats profusely
• In any case, shoving aside all the backstory stuff for the moment, the tl;dr of it is like: feared being chased from the mountains, moved preemptively in summer → settled in coniferous forest, but surprise chased in winter → had two encounters with what turned out to be giant taiga pack, given shelter/held hostage by them into early spring → they were mostly trying to get a read on Hallow → Diorite gets sick of it all, challenges/attacks $otherPack leader → Jackdaws yeet again. Sounds kiiinda short when you put it that way?
• The Jackdaws actually leaving was, again, probably abrupt and understated. Or so Diorite tried to make it? Hm, yes, this is the Problem (more in-universe; I’ll write around it) with a private fight; everyone else has to rely on the word of the wolves involved on the result. Hallow was there as witness and intervener, but neither pack has any great reason to trust him. It’s all on honor, and for what? If the Jackdaws weren’t outnumbered, they wouldn’t be stuck here in the first place. It is actually an extremely reckless and downright stupid move, come to think of it, and relies heavily on Silverback actually playing fair/sticking to the terms in the end, and not chasing down & mauling every last Jackdaw on their way out.
• Which is, y’know, the kind of Big Stupid and extremely trusting thing an increasingly-desperate Diorite would actually do :D The fact the Jackdaws haven’t actually spent that long here (bearing in mind the irl!day and lore!season correlation is loose; a day or two irl =/= a day or two in lore, I ain’t that strict beyond rough chronological order—but the point is, there’s still lots of springtime to go) adds to just how questionable this whole thing was; it’s not like they’ve been kept for days and starved. It’s very likely that Silverback planned to either have the Jackdaws assimilate as another “satellite pack” of the larger collective, if they didn’t disperse into the fold separately, or maybe even eventually let them be once they determined Hallow was no longer trying to start shit. But surprise, Diorite decided to start shit instead!
• Fortunately for Diorite, Silverback actually has an honor system, and that means they won’t kill the Jackdaws (yet, anyway) despite the fight proving to them* that Diorite is an idiot but a dangerous one.
  • *I keep unthinkingly referring to Silverback with he/him, and it would fit with the vaguely-regressive gender bs this wolf monarchy’s got going on, but also Shit’s Boring and there’s too much testosterone in this house. But also would that make it apt as, like, “commentary” on that very power-as-dominance dynamic?? just write a fucking masculinity manifesto into funny wolf story just fuckign
  • Eh, on further thought, what the fuck; m!Silverback and f!Mouse parallels Diorite and Andesite better, and they kinda have been written with that ~role bs~ in mind. Inverting it could be fun but whatever, we’ll see if these guys even end up relevant again. (Which, uh, they might? since the Jackdaws are living in the taiga now and all?? ~We Shall See~)
• Ok ANYWAY (see this is why I use bullet points and sub-bullets, it fits my wild tangent thought trains well), Silverback gets surprisingly beat up when he starts out by going easy; he’s thinking “wow this guy is a Dumb Shit, and since I was thinking of letting these probably-harmless losers go anyway, if it’s after a fight then it boosts my image as a fair and benevolent leader” and then the actual fight happens. When Silverback gives it his all he does start to overpower Diorite, and the latter’s getting even more frantic now; he feels like he’s fighting for his life suddenly, and hell maybe he is? Silverback isn’t thinking strategy at this point, just that this absolute bastard had the gall to fight dirty and actually get a leg up on him, and he (Sb) still isn’t aiming for the throat buuut if Diorite dies then Diorite dies. The repercussions can be dealt with later.
  • Bonus irony: Silverback doesn’t know about this “habit” of Diorite’s, hence going easy in the first place, but if he did he might actually have went for murder. It’d be too easy from there, surely, to convince the pack he was a helpless victim fighting for his life (sorta-true) and they’re welcome to stay here with his own wolves now instead (very true). Maybe he couldn’t get Idril and Oriole, after what happened with Hallow and Mouse*, but they’re old anyway. The fresher blood could be of use.
    • *Oh yeah, I haven’t figured out what Mouse was pulling Hallow aside for and why (attempt on his life? something more scandalous? both??), or whether he manages to shift the blame onto her. Although it’d be a neat lil piece of character development if he didn’t and just took the big L. Mouse sure doesn’t feel responsible, in any case; some random hungry bird and wayward pups ain’t her problem. Idril and Oriole simply shouldn’t have been out hunting if they were that worried about random death, smh.
    • Man, not me entertaining the thought of future lead!Mouse and this other pack indeed becoming recurring NPCs… not onsite, still, just because gameplay-wise I neither need nor want a whole ‘nother group, but it could still be fun when I don’t just want to attribute stuff to vague handwaving about nonexistent “neighbors.” But anyway.
• (In the middle of all this, went for another energy-draining round, and I can NOT get this last fucking enemy, literally whoever, to go down. Bleeding is the worst when it happens to me, actually. We call this hubris.)
• So Silverback and Diorite fight, and it’d be one of those dramatic moments where the antagonist calls out the parallels except they’re both too busy trying to kill/not die to monologue. Hallow, who hasn’t been earning anyone’s favor since the skarn pups’ deaths, somehow butts in to save Diorite’s tail and split the fight in general; maybe by now it’s attracted some attention anyway? But not so much attention anyone else has the chance to jump in, because that would definitely result in one or the other dying, and then the Jackdaws are curbstomped regardless.
• Wow, Diorite really went for this guy in a secluded space with no one else around, huh. My lore is “complete” as it’s ever gonna be between this rambling, the docs, and the hypothetical wiki-site, but I’m digging the idea that this is the first time the “audience” is “seeing” Diorite’s violent bs as an actual dramatized fully-“onscreen” scene. (Which, hey, it is in a meta sense too; like hell if I’ve developed any encounter like this before. Closest thing would be when he recruited Idril, which was literal (onsite!)years ago.) What I’m getting at here though is like, Diorite may not be an intentional murderer most of the time, but literally everything about this setup is suggesting he didn’t intend for Silverback to make it out of here alive. That’s totally how normal dominance challenges work, right, guys??
• But he didn’t account for Hallow being familiar with the place, or (most likely) the environment being against him in general when Silverback started to fucking go, and so yeah it went to shit. And as for why Hallow would save Diorite? Spur of the moment. He probably wasn’t following this fight from the getgo and kinda just stumbled upon it by accident, upon hearing Violent Noises on an evening walk or something. He’s clearly never regarded Silverback as his leader, and while he might not bow to Diorite, if he didn’t have a choice before then he sure won’t after this (unless he wants to end up alone again. Which he doesn’t, frankly, because he can’t fight, and had he not fled to the coniferous forest he might’ve been toast a long time ago.)
  • Okay wait, wait, no, follow that thought. The first party didn’t recognize Hallow, ergo he was not a Big Known Wanted Criminal, even if he recognized them (by scent alone or something, maybe; could’ve been a young patrol). Did he get exiled for whatever power play went down—or did he just end up shunned but allowed to stick around, and he left of his own accord later anyway? The latter is sounding more likely to me, if he didn’t make an attempt on anyone’s life, and since he can’t fight for shit he probably didn’t.
• —Oh, yeah, hm, Problem: if Hallow can’t fight, how’d he “save” Diorite? Unless he wasn’t alone after all, had a Jackdaw or two with him? and/or just interjecting at all, being a sudden new warm body in the fray*, was enough to throw both leads off enough to just Stop. (*Yes, despite all prior “research” and rantings about wolf fights, this is gonna have to be a more direct teeth-at-throat one. It’s right there in the “plot point” description.)
• Hm, another Jackdaw being with Hallow would be useful actually; first thought was Andesite. Say she decided to pull him aside for a talk, having noticed his exclusion in the wake of the pup deaths (and the whole Thing with this pack in general; she’s Observant, after all), so he dumps his backstory and then oh jesus shit what the fuck is happening down there. She was going to ask about which pack he intended on staying with, assuming Silverback kept his word and let the Jackdaws go, but then This Happens and it looks like the decisions have been made for them.
• Silverback has enough energy for a small callout in the vein of “you’re following this guy?? after he nearly ripped my throat ou—tried to rip my throat out????” before delivering his “fine, you’re free; now fuck off and don’t ever show your face around here again” ultanium. I was actually getting into this again with the thought there’s some scene with the whole pack involved somehow, but nah, seems more likely Silverback just wants them out of his goddamn fur for now, and once again he’ll run damage control Later.
• Diorite doesn’t need to be told twice. Although: he’s beat up enough that he realistically can’t grab everyone and run, and quite possibly passes out on the way back. (Man, I wish I’d gotten a more dramatic scar.) Although Silverback theoretically has enough power to call the Jackdaws liars, he again just wants them Gone, and it’s possible at least Andesite has earned herself a lil respect around here for actually having a head on her shoulders and acting more leader-ly. Hell, she might even pay Sb a visit while Diorite’s recovering.That’d be a scene….

• -throws dart at wikipedia page- Boreas, from boreal. Greek god name, sounds regal, these guys are just such Tough Shit they can name themselves after the whole biome and get away with it. Yes.
• Generated another rando for story purposes; that’s linked as-is and I’ll mess with the markings later. —Probably didn’t need it actually but oh well maybe it’ll be useful someday.

Day 76 2020/01/02
LVLUP Diorite +15, Micah +7

• So this happened last night! Also FML Diorite actually hit 100% but I was too absorbed writing that to update anything or actually level him up. It was a snake, though. Take that, ya quest-giving bastard >:V

Day 77 2020/01/03
LVLUP Drove +12

• Diorite and Andesite are a hundred rollovers old :o That’s as many as ten tens. That’s old. HIT 20 YOU FOOLS
• Today is probably going to be another not-Wolvden day but here’s a thought: I need to start seriously thinking about the next lead, and in parallel the pack starts considering organization—or lack thereof. “You’re loyal to us, just do whatever” served them well in the mountains, specifically when it included access to the Maw (prime real estate, apparently), but now? Probably pseudo-nomadic, with Diorite’s injuries severely limiting how far they can scope out the land in a day. Andesite has been a much stronger lead to boot, having declared both that Boreas is not to be trusted and that no Jackdaw will be left behind. Neither of which were things anyone really challenged, so it’s kinda weird she’d decide to clarify, but whatever.
• I’ll flesh this out later maybe, but:
  • in favor of more structure: Andesite (sense of security), Oriole (more like her old pack; stronger?), Leveret (might help it feel like an actual pack not ragtag vagabonds), Micah (sense of stability)
  • against more structure: Talak (has never associated it with good things), Drove (rules no fun)
  • indifferent/undecided: Diorite himself (but he wants a say in whatever happens), Idril (similar to Talak but maybe it’d help the pups), Husk (loyal no matter what), glaucous (just here to scout), Carcass (characterization still dubious), Wickfen (just here to hunt), Hallow (needs more detail), Zephyr (same as Wickfen), Liesl & Jackrabbit (have a vague understanding of the stakes but don’ really care)
  • For later: also dissect who thinks their say matters. Maybe it’s time for another lil interview?
• …Oh boy, that’s four in favor vs only two against :Dc And that’s not even considering what “structure” would mean for them in the first place :Dc Perhaps the arrangement of a decision-making council is in order? But would that even be fair? (Talak wouldn’t be down tbh; it’s excluding someone whether based on seniority or will to participate, but their decisions affect everyone regardless.)
• Although, if there’s one thing everyone can agree on, it’s formalizing the rule don’t fuckign kill anyone (unless in self-defense). This, alongside sharing prey with the pack and generally not starting shit, has always been a given, but apparently now they have to formalize not doing a murder. Diorite’s like “well jeez you don’t have to @ me,” and while he didn’t succeed and therefore the repercussions will be no worse than having to live with the pack’s destabilized trust in him, there will implicitly be some additional consequence if he ever tries again. Helpful? punitive? We shall see—or, the pack hopes, they won’t have to.

• Oh son of a bitch, it just dawned on me that if the heir is bred in this pack (which is likely) then they have to actually like, Grow Up before I can start spam-scouting I mean leveling them. Although really, since there is no good lore reason for them to crown some rando new kid who just happens to be the offspring of the current lead(s), maybe I’ll end up swapping through some actual older wolves for a while? Mostly I just don’t want to end up below level 10/15-ish again because That Will Suck.
• God, it really is a shame glaucous is older, although ig it wouldn’t Work in-lore either. Andesite makes the most sense but she’s also most likely gonna die sooner for lack of the lead 8-year guarantee, and if the pack had to nominate someone else it might be Talak (longevity) or Drove (has proven capable of stepping up when necessary) and guess what they’re also gonna die first, GAH. Alternatively I kill Diorite sooner but no, he is my first lead ever and I will not allow it >:U
• At the rate things are going, iiiit actually seems most plausible that the pack slowly disperses after Diorite kicks it? No one around right now is particularly ambitious (Hallow’s dreams have been thoroughly nerfed, and He’s Old anyway), and while I won’t pretend to know what the pack will look like in <4 game!years, the fresh blood at that point will be, well, fresh blood: not wolves who anyone will necessarily trust to take charge. They could really just get folded into Boreas after all.
• Unless Husk steps up 🤔 She definitely wasn’t intended to be The Heir:tm: but she’d still be kickin’ (if only for about a year) and would probably sooner die a Jackdaw, even if the pack is on its last independent legs, than see everyone split. I don’t know if she’s thinking that far ahead (probably not), but Andesite might be, and if Husk hears about it? Well. (Mayhaps she can start also trying to Influence the Aspen kids…)
• There’s also Micah but I feel like he’s overwhelmed by the moving drama as-is, never mind having to take responsibility for an entire goddamn pack. No, there’s nothing saying leader and healer can’t overlap, but far as he’s concerned the rest of you guys can figure out this Jackdaw identity crisis. He just wants to mow hay hoard herbs and help out, wherever he’s needed.
• So yeah, additional interview/development roundup question for later: how they’d feel about becoming a Boreas wolf, or otherwise seeing the dissolution of the Jackdaws.
• My two cent as writer? Would like to see these guys maintain some shred of independence, just so my gameplay lead can be A Lead in-lore, but if they have to be a satellite pack for a while then so be it. I wrote my grave and I will lie in it :V Worse comes to worse (though I’d very much prefer not to) I snag some high-level NBW off the TC and customize them as Mouse, or some other poor rando who’s been assigned to look after these losers. I need some thread keeping the wolves together, and that thread being the lead makes the most sense from a gameplay perspective. That, and/or families of the founders, like the Aspens or a currently-nonexistent litter.
• I guess that makes the tentative plan for now (ha ha much as I have plans) to be like: Husk as immediate next lead, train a longer-term wolf like hell, and then that one takes over for a while. Could be an Aspen, could be a younger Diorite spawn, who knows.
• Additional idea: even if the pack tries to be all egalitarian everyone-makes-decisions no formal lead still, if they do have to get folded into Boreas, those guys are gonna want a wolf in charge to at least report said decisions. IDK this is all very far ahead, but still. Can’t wait for the Y2 unplanned pup crisis but for “who the fuck is lead???”

• Oh, and final note for real this time: I guess I do still have “get a bunch of pretty monochromes and THEN do a legacy “no buying only pack breeding now” thing?“ under my little note-to-self goals :V The founding crew not being monochrome kinda threw a wrench in that but now I can afford to be read: must be pickier. It might start with young randos again for now, but in the long run....

• Prettied up that Boreas herbalist, who I just noticed has fox eyes >:o Another opportunity to introduce ~supernatural~ stuff, especially if I customize Andesite when she hits lvl20? Maybe they have a fox companion? Cool stuff either way.
• I’m also just gonna go ahead and dump these three designs in the second-page post I’m not otherwise using, because until we can delete posts it’s just a dumping grounds for whatever the hell I want now ig :V Deleted the prey tracker too; it’s a neat lil record (especially as proof that coniferous forest hunting wasn’t a significant difficulty spike, unlike the Taiga) but doesn’t need to take up space in the long term.
• Also name for the herbalist, just for the heck of it: Cedarbark. Creativity \o/

• Followed a sweet scent in the Taiga to the first rarity 1 recruit: a glass-eyed combative cheeto! …Uh. Yeah. Nah. I’ll see if anyone’s lookin for glass eyes, and put him up on the TC regardless.
  
• I mean, I could keep him around just to maybe hopefully possibly pass on those glass eyes to actual prettier wolves 🤔 It could be a #look if I get the rest of the pack monochrome with black/white/gray/glass eyes. But eh, I don’t care too much about the fine details like that right now (wanna focus on bases/overall look and then sussing out skin/eyes/claws/nose). Guess we’ll see if/how he sells? The 264 stats are nice, ig.
  

Day 78 2020/01/04

• At level 7, Wickfen seems to be better at scoping out small trails than Carcass, who’s at lvl 9?? Wickfen & Zephyr even have less synergy, 86% compared to Hawk’s Eyes at 90%. That said, though: Wickfen already has 408 stats and Carcass has 333. Dang, what a difference >:0
  • Unsurprisingly, though, Hawk’s Eyes is better at actually bringing prey back. Having a dedicated finisher and multiple chasers would help with that.

• Oh holy shit, cheeto sold and got sex-changed, base-changed, and bred* o_o Didn’t get a chance to add them to the spreadsheet, so as a note to self: screenshotted the stats and here’s a wardrobe link of the former appearance.
  • *Looks like there were four pups and only this one stuck around. What a weird-ass dog, I love them.

Day 79 2020/01/05
LVLUP Leveret +12, Wickfen +8

• Welp. Oriole’s dead. :,) She made it to 7 years and 7 months, just half a month less than Myrtle, and got to see her pups reach 5 months. I miiight rng the cause of death because, as previously noted, this was not as heavily-prepared-for as Myrtle’s.
• Also, that leaves Liesl without a pupsitter; Hallow has stepped back up, since even though Idril should technically be fine with two, he just wants to help out and be useful again. Sucks having to grieve your mate and watch the kids and all.

• …Eh, nah, I’ll be nice: went to sleep, didn’t wake up, simple. As far as post-death rituals are concerned, since she was from an established pack (hence the surname) and thus probably had one… could be simple as burying the body? I forgot if she was spiritual or not, but leaning towards not—lemme recheck.
• ”The only ‘prophecy’ anyone needs is dedication and hard work.” Yup, that’s a no to strong beliefs in the spirits or what have you—though of course, it’s possible she was an outlier and maybe that motivated her leave in the first place. I never did figure that out. 🤔
• Ah well, if we wanna get romantic/sappy about it anyway, we can say she and Idril wandered off for one last hunt in the aspen forest, before the pack wandered too far away, maybe took the pups there for an early practice hunt. There was an unspoken sense of finality to it all, and they ended up staying the night. When Drove and/or Hallow* finally went out to find them, well…
  • *Drove because, if anything bad had happened, he’d be most cable of fighting it off—and knowing him, he probably volunteered, hell insisted on going. Hallow because some backup is nice, and he probably wanted to be useful too.
• Speaking of Hallow and this motley little family, even if the adults didn’t trust him much after the skarn pups’ demises, Liesl and Jackrabbit probably never held such a grudge? He helped raise them, after all, and tells the best bedtime stories. He’s their parent just as much as the Aspens, even more than Drove since the latter still spends a lot of time out hunting.
• Whether Oriole ever forgave Hallow or not (probably not, rip), Idril and Drove take one look at the pups’ faces when they see Hallow tagged along, and they’re like “okay, fine, we can let him back into our lives—for the pups’ sakes, if nothing else.” On Hallow’s part, he’s genuinely humbled to hear this.
  • The “Arrogant” personality fits him less by the day, but lbr Idril also stopped being “Obnoxious” a long time ago. It’s not like personalities get saved in the dynasty either, apparently, so Lore City Now.

• In other news, whoa, Leveret hit 500 stats on the dot at level 12–which is like 20 higher than her same-level bro. Do I need more wolves? No. Might I breed her next season just for that, and because she’s gettin kiiinda old (6y1m as of today)? Mayhap—oh no wait goddammit that age means I’d need an elk heart to force a heat, which I don’t care to. Ah well, guess it’d be ooc anyway.

• Meanwhile, following a sweet scent found me a 6-rarity wolf: khaki with honey points. You know, I think cheeto was a sweet scent too; I wonder if that has a higher chance of getting you a special NBW? Haven’t had any luck with random leveled encounters but this feels Notable 🤔
• On the other hand, I think that chased wolf I passed up was leveled? Yeah, level 3. Could be a coincidence.

• Updating the doc again; at the time of writing, left off at the start of spring, still need to fill in the timeline and rewrite some bios. Also added a section on the Boreas wolves, even if it’s making this whole thing more unwieldy by the paragraph :^D
• Meanwhile, points NBW sold like <5 minutes after setting up the trade. I think that’s a record o_o

• Niice, hit 5000SC on the dot from Explore encounters >:3 …Might throw the excess at an artist, actually. I have been wanting a couples drawing for the Aspens, but not enough to do it myself.... 👀

• CASH YEETED SUCCESSFULLY. Also, notes to self for later: finish the doc updates, reply to your got dang messages
• +maybe some mspaint icons? pups need Character Development™ but at least use placeholders. Hallow looks too ominous for what his character turned into. maybe something nicer for Drove?

• HEY LAST BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST LOOK AT THIS ART (IN THE BIO). GAY RIGHTS
  

Day 80 2020/01/06 SUMMER START

• I’m up too late again and sorely tempted to blow SC on a mutation scrying binge. Please do not let me do that. Maybe once I get some nice monochromes and thus have better incentive than stats to breed, but for now.... >:V
• In other news, selling food to raccoon wares for the first time since moving,* and something about how far from the “camera” the taiga raccoon is just feels Wrong. Unless it’s the time talking. Do not judge me, little man.
• *The pack is mostly eating muskrat carcasses and the stray chunk, because as a little self-challenge I’m avoiding those desert peccary carcasses (until I get sick of it anyway) and ngl, it’s kinda tricky? There’s usually still a surplus but only of 1–2, which is mildly sobering.
• LOL NVM right after writing that we ran fresh outta muskrat. Ah well, we ain’t moving, peccary stores it is. Maybe just to jazz things up though, I’ll impose another rng tidbit until we have more food: roll default 100, odd = Leveret gains 1 Leaving Point. If she hits 3 she leaves, because she ain’t getting any younger and the world ain’t gonna see itself. I imagine she’s been talking to Zephyr and the latter’s just like “if you wanna go then just fuckin go,” especially if it’s rubbing off on the other hunters. Morale’s kinda low overall.
• This is partially because her character just bores me and, while she’s served the pack well, I don’t have nearly as much lore incentive to keep her around til she dies. Sure, she’s related to Drove, but then so was Jackrabbit (the og) and :^V The other part is that I am well aware we only get 20 free dynasty spaces and, seeing as a good lot of  pups have already gone byebye unsaved, I’m thinking I’m only gonna use those (and beyond) for wolves with Significant Impacts on the pack. And alas Leveret does not fit that bill.
  • Side note: Carcass and Zephyr are also fitting the “uninteresting scarcely-developed character” bill, but I have sentimental incentive to keep the former, and the latter was a lot of firsts for the pack and is thus Cool and will stay. They’re also both significant hunters—and unlike Leveret, I did not foolishly give them a character motive tied to leaving the damn pack :D
• As for where she’d go, since she’s too old to breed I might just give her away to a newbie, put ‘er up on the TC with a single pinecone 🤔 I’ll always have the wardrobe link and the data saved via spreadsheet… man, am I just talking myself into chasing her at this rate??
  • Newbie giveaway and/or sale would be nice, but also, there is a high chance the new owner’s gonna care primarily because she’s a hunter—and given the backstory the lepus trio have, that just feels Wrong. So am I prepared to chase a perfectly good wolf into the data void to maintain the flimsy integrity of her attached backstory, none of which technically matters once she’s left my hands? …Mayhaps. Or I just gently whap this notion with a newspaper and say nah bro your lore’s your lore no matter what, go do the nice person thing. Anyway.
• Fuck it, Leveret indecisiveness count: … 35. 0/3, not today. Although I miiight recycle that sales post later anyway; I’ll sleep on it :Vc
• Oh yeah, and here’s a quick lore idea: since again morale is low, it’d be a good time for some kind of event to boost everyone’s spirits. A pack hunt isn’t super feasible right now, if Diorite’s still recovering, but the Aspen pups are nearing adolescence; maybe they can have a lil coming-of-age celebration? Even though there’s no onsite apprenticeship mechanic, it makes no sense for adols to be doing Absolute Jack Shite until they grow up, so.
• In any case: event suggested and takes place. Leveret is absent. She’s not too upset about it and the leads get mad; Lev ultimately declares her leave. Might as well go now, early into summer, before it gets cold again. Although the pack bids her farewell amicably, having sensed for a while she’s been having second thoughts, Diorite also abruptly declares a new rule in her wake: wolves who wish to leave must consult with him/the leadership in advance, or they’ll be considered enemies.
• He leaves, hurt, and Andesite chases after like “no!!! no no no wtf dude you can’t just do that, there goes all the goddamn morale.” “Leveret killed morale first by leaving >:(“ “if you keep this up everyone is going to leave, don’t be a pill” and so forth. They talk things out and return with an amended announcement: wolves are still allowed to leave if and when they wish, with no ill will, but the leaders (implicitly mainly Diorite) would strongly prefer advance discussion.
• Hm, that throws a biiit of a wrench in Andesite stepping down from scouting—or does it? Leaving Diorite more explicitly In Charge is a hell of a gamble at this point, but she could also be playing her own cards; bonding with the pack means that, if it does come to a split and/or having to challenge Diorite, she’ll find more support if she’s closer with everyone and understands them better first. She doesn’t have his gnawing Need to stay in charge to fulfill her purpose or whatever, she genuinely wants what’s best for the pack, because they’ve been together so long it’d be strategic suicide AND just a jerk mood to turn one’s back on them suddenly.
• Man, now I’m starting to feel like the pack really will split?? Diorite’s being an ass. A heartbroken ass who doesn’t understand this better than anyone else, who’s clinging to the increasingly-frayed shred of purpose that leadership offers, and who still wants the best for the wolves he considers friends—but an ass nonetheless. It is becoming slowly and devastatingly clear that he has greater “trust” in the intentions of these silly dream-figures, in this idea he’s destined for something, than of his fellow wolves. For the second time this rambledump, if to a different character than the first, I must say: dude get therapy
• This will continue to be an excruciatingly slow-burn issue because they both still have a good lotta life left, and far as gameplay’s concerned I’m still committed to Andesite as hunter. And yet the lore. Genuinely not sure if Diorite will make it to 8y at this rate, we shall see :^D (Damn, now I’m feelin what a shame it is you can’t retire a leader without condemning them to the dynasty instantly. A role swap would fix this very easily but nooo, instead I gotta double down on Diorite being attached to his position. But what’s a lead without followers?)
• Final thought: love how, despite trying to do something Different with his character via being genuinely (and, at this point, willfully) ignorant to how harmful his outbursts have been, Diorite 🤝 at least a couple major non-wolv characters of mine, being a jerk and driving everyone away even though it ironically stems from fears of abandonment and their sense of self-worth being inextricably linked to how others perceive them. We have fun writing in this house!!
• Ahaha, onnne more bonus: immediately fought and defeated a timber wolf in the last energy drain of the night. This doesn’t matter to lore or anything but I love the irony.

• [can’t sleep only woofs now] Okay, okay, I will admit my author judgment is showing Bigtime in my declarations of Diorite being a jerk. One one hand this is more or less a writing journal so the “narrative judgment” via author opinion is part and parcel of the brainstorming; on the other, I refuse to leave things so clear-cut. “Cool motive, still (attempted) murder” vs “this stems from fear, not malice, and if he’s reminded that plenty of wolves still support him despite everything then maybe he’ll calm down and sleep better at night, and that works out better for everyone” :,)
• Quick rundown: Andesite, despite aforementioned chiding, does care about the guy; if she didn’t then she would’ve taken the doubtful and fucked off instead of continuing these talks. (The aforementioned “chiding” could very well lead to an insecurity confession on Diorite’s behalf, and from there Andesite’s able to talk him down and they agree on the amended announcement. This would make a nice little classic-hurt-comfort scene except it is not getting any earlier and I do not need more incentive to stay awake, so instead of prose that description will have to do.)
  • But ok more rundown: Talak’s been spending more time with Hawk’s Eyes, obviously, but even that little group’s been changing (not dissolving; hm, that’s a Lesson he could impart to Diorite—the Jackdaws have young members in Micah, Wickfen, Zephyr, and the pups. They don’t have to disperse as he fears, they’ll just look different.)—anyway Talak’s also been spending more time with the non-hunter pack, and with that comes a special opportunity to reassure Diorite they’re (they as in Talak themself, but also anyone else who still considers him a friend) still here for him.
  • Idril, unfortunately, would be lying if she said she didn’t have any doubts; she’s changed quite a bit from the days where his spontaneous violence impressed her, and the recent “display” towards Silverback did quite the opposite. But, well, she is staying here, because it’d be stupid to take the pups and go when they’re in this big unfamiliar territory.
  • Husk? Still trying her best. glaucous? Diorite stan. Drove? Also has doubts, but like Idril he’s here for his personal family (well, sans Leveret; she didn’t suggest he and the Aspens start their own pack, since the Boreas threat would make that setup even less sustainable than the Jackdaws, and frankly she just wants to go off alone by now anyway). The rest, I want to say, are largely indifferent—although Micah’s most positive towards Diorite, if only out of sheer old sentiment, and Wickfen and Hallow appreciate that they’ve been allowed to stick around.
• Does all this sound like a bunch of stockholm reasoning? Or is it a nice and long-overdue change of pace from Diorite being cast more as a bad guy? Is there any hope the pack can, or even will, help figure out his origin story, or will he ultimately have to find answers in the glacier alone? The first two are for you, dear semi-hypothetical reader, to answer; and for the third, tune in next round for the gratuitous ramblings of wolf emoji user number 9672.

• I am actually incapable of shutting up when overtired and also I forgot the pups. They’re both staying. They are both staying because I bred them specifically for this and also chased their siblings already. Jackrabbit is set to follow his parents’ hunting pawsteps, and in the wake of parental drama he’s found solace with Wickfen and Zephyr—oh, huh, there’s another relationship dynamic to explore (LATER @self), and a nicer one at that! Meanwhile, Liesl’s also more curious about the big wide world (will take Andesite’s place as scout to train before Drove dies), but is down to join Hawk’s Eyes if and when (oh yeah, side note, Hallow can replace Leveret) they need a new member.
• Hallow’s earlier doubt-seed-planting talk would’ve gotten to Liesl the most, probably. Poor Jackrabbit had a drastic personality change, and now he just wants a nice chill life hunting with his cool older friends. But bossy Liesl (don’t @ me for sexism, that’s the site’s doing) has Ambitions, having inherited her mothers’ headstrong and purpose-driven natures. It’s almost an echo of Gravel’s attitude—but unlike her and that long-gone youth exodus, Liesl aims to make her place known in the world here, as a Jackdaw. #Liesl4PresidentLead2021
• Every day I wake up and recycle the “assertive gal, timid guy” archetypes. Although I wanna say Liesl isn’t being half as upfront with these vague schemes/desires as Gravel, primarily because she’s had an uninteresting puphood (wasn’t Gravel the one who fought Cobble, who ended up dead? #hashtagGirlboss /s), as far as her own actions are concerned. But she’s looked around and decided she’s not a huge fan of how things are run around here, having grown up in some of the pack’s most chaotic times yet, and has very much entertained the idea she could run things a lot better.
  • calling it now: fuck my plans, if Diorite’s death brings with it a trend of nominating older wolves as the next lead (which tbh makes the most sense in lore), born here or not, Liesl will get a turn when she’s high-leveled enough. She can be a scout, finisher, and leader. As a treat.
• But yeah, the cool thing about having had Interesting Shit happen in the Aspen siblings’ puphoods, in contrast to the notably uneventful youth of Husk and Bone & Micah being born on the tail end of that season’s pup death drama, is that I can point to something really significant that shaped their characters from the start. Like the chronological version of “how did they become who they are today?” character development. Big Childhood Event: their siblings fucking died. Characterizing response: Jackrabbit lost his exuberant nature (shit dude, did he dare the skarn duo to stray far??), in hopes being Less would prevent further harm; whereas Liesl decided the tragedy could’ve been avoided if the pack had been more organized, had stronger leadership (if not physically then authoritatively), and subsequently doubled down on her already commandeering tendencies.
• She’d actually make a great Boreas wolf (hello, future Mouse parallels?) except She Is Staying Here—unless I cordon off part of the pack and say they’re actually chillin’ with Boreas with the intention of returning eventually, which is very much an option but we’ll see how things play out. But also, much as Idril and Oriole may have doubted Diorite, Oriole specifically grew up with a pack-first nature; sure, you can find your Purpose elsewhere like Bone did, but what is life if not noble servitude? (And/or gay shit. Servitude to a higher cause was her first and previously only motive, and while she did soften eventually, she never quite shook off that attitude.) Point is: Liesl (and Jackrabbit, to a lesser extent) have been growing up juggling these conflicting stories, one of staying true to one’s pack (from Oriole) and another of there being better things elsewhere (from Hallow). Hallow’s eating his words now, probably, but if nothing else the takeaway for Liesl has been put someone else in charge, please.
• Besides, in her eyes, the Jackdaws have potential. They are a distinct contrast from the Boreas wolves with their lack of firm structure and monarchy and all that, not having much of a hierarchy beyond one or two wolves in charge; Idril, for one, has always appreciated that. That’s a core aspect that no one here has issues with, and if they do then They Leave. The pack just needs someone in the lead who don’t make impulsive irrational declarations trying to clamp down on that freedom. Surely that’s not hard…? If the thought of leading herself hasn’t quiiite entered Liesl’s mind seriously (yet), she at least does not think Diorite’s fit. That’s the big takeaway here.
• TL;DR of the night: Diorite sympathetic? Maybe. Diorite incompetent lead? Big yes, far as Leveret and Liesl are concerned. (Oh hey, the L names were coincidence, but… take the L, my man Dio, take the Ls.) The former will almost definitely leave sooner or later, or die dawdling on it; the latter plans to stick around. Regardless, Diorite needs to get his act together—and that starts with figuring out just what his “act” is supposed to entail.

• Oh wow, another fuckening thought! So like, most of the time, if kids witness/experience bad shit they’re prooobably gonna blame themselves in the absence of support and explicit confirmations otherwise, yeah? even if it’s not on a conscious “yes I will vent about being guilty about it” level? Yeah :^) Maybe part of Hallow taking all the blame was him trying to avoid this, especially given how drastic Jackrabbit changed; he (Jackrabbit), alas, is getting hit with the guilt stick, whether he goaded the skarn pups into open ground or not. Liesl, however, is the “deny it so hard it’s obviously true” variety. It’s not Jackrabbit’s fault, she thinks, and only a little Hallow’s fault, but it doesn’t even occur to her Sometimes Random Bad Shit Happens For No Reason—no, it must be the whole-ass pack who’s wrong, for not being structured enough to prevent the circumstances of Hallow’s temporary negligence in unfriendly territory from occurring in the first place. (Galaxy brain there, kid.) If you impose order, nothing can go wrong… right?

I am making another post for the rest of Day 80 because, not only does me going the fuck to sleep make it a “new day” from my personal perspective, this page of the thread is a got damn monster already and I don’t even have the screenshot/image spam excuse. Wolf novels! (Wolvels?) Gotta love ‘em. They just don’t end!!

todo: finish doc updates, reply to messages, ?new icons, THREAD BACKUP

-

Day 80, continued

lol it’s been 3 hours

LVLUP Zephyr +11

• Oh cool, now I have the (very, very dubious) bragging rights of being up before the day’s newspost >:O Same-sex pair bonds releasing the day after Oriole’s death is homophobic tbh, but seriously good shit and ig I’ll use it for any gay wolves who I don’t plan on breeding? Though tbh, if it prevents the wolf from breeding with any other (not 100% sure if paired females can breed with studs) then it’s not a useful feature to me beyond the tiny lore affirmation. Ah well. Neat stuff regardless!
• Talent trees FUCK yeah make this leveling stuff worth it; depending how it works that miiight even be incentive to try a new lead from scratch some time 👀
• Otherwise I got nothing to say but HYPE, and I know it could be a while but it’s still cool to hear stuff’s happening! …This really should be a comment on the actual newspost but I fear no god.

• hello I deliriously thought this wolf had shaded send help… cool gradient but not special, yeeting :V
  

Day 81 2021/01/07
LVLUP Carcass +10

• Aspen pups are adols today \o/ Whoo, effective deadweight for 6 months…!
• In lore, of course, they’re now tentatively joining the hunting parties to help chip in. Everyone involved is pretty pleased with the arrangement, although it makes Idril regret stepping down. (She can still join them In Lore, ig; maybe I’ll throw her on a side team with Hallow?)
• Meanwhile, didn’t get around to selling that NBW yesterday; I’ll record the stats and then yeet.
• But anyway, looks like Idril and Hallow didn’t do too bad for all the hunting time lost; 88 and 33 proficiency left, respectively. Haven’t been using up all my daily hunts but what the heck, out ya go. Go bond or something.

• …Hi, I am a genius, Leveret has like a year left to breed. Idk why I had it in my head it was a SIX-year limit but sleep deprivation will do that. Could still have her move out in lore but uh, yeah \o”/
• Regardless, today would be the day all that ceremonial drama stuff happens, so -gestures vaguely at all the brainstorming above- There Is That. I don’t want to make “wolf leaves the pack in lore but sticks around onsite” a Regular Thing because, as I’ve learned from other petsims, that’s a one-way ticket to managing multiple whole-ass groups. Maybe if we had side accounts, but we don’t, so :V
• That said, exception for Leveret? Exception for Leveret. Just because she’s one of the core members, and it’d be kinda cool to have one of her descendants come back later. They can be like… token non-Jackdaw wolf, for whenever I feel like exploring the (rapidly-expanding) world beyond this lil ragtag gang.

psst @self, yesterday’s to-dos all still stand; doc updates and message replying are most important. also format the Andesite/Silverback talk doc  ✔ 2/3 DONE

• Finishing those doc updates and man, remember when I kept the timeline to matter-of-fact stuff with no lore details? I’m kiiinda still trying to do that, at least for the little insignificant stuff like injury and trophies, but I can’t not record stuff like the Leveret leaving kerfuffle right there when it’s relevant.
• Speaking of that, yeah, forget the RNG count; she’s staying in the pack (and Hawk’s Eyes, for gameplay) but has been moved to the straggler cave, and is in-lore no longer a Jackdaw as of today. See ya space Lev, go have fun with the Boreas wolves or wherever your travels take you!
  
• Whoops, just noticed I dated this post as 2021. Did the same yesterday, too. Wonder how long I’ll be doing that :V (hint: probably A Lot)
• Rank shuffle thought: Idril and Hallow can keep hunting together for now, but after Idril dies, Hallow can join Hawk’s Eyes, and Leveret will be removed from the party & hunt solo. (In other news, keeping track of rank changes on the wolf stat spreadsheet is becoming unwieldy; might scrap that altogether and just note it on individual wolf profiles on $hypotheticalSite. At least having this unholy thread means I can check exactly what happened when, no matter what I missed on the docs or spreadsheets or what have you.)

• Every time I update the doc I’m not just doing the timeline and bios; I also run through the whole thing as a refresher, see if anything else is outdated (it usually is). That said, I keep forgetting about this herb trading network point, and I’m thinking that could be helpful—if, say, Micah or someone else meets a wolf with these Connections, and by extension they can help the Jackdaws find a new home—because guess what? As far as the pack not being nomads is concerned, I’ve written myself into a corner again :D
• I mean, I always gotta account for other actual onsite packs and thus leave room for the idea there are countless packs in the world That Exist and are chillin’, with no connection to mine whatsoever. Do I do lore crossovers? No, not really; I leave the option open but I’m not actively looking. But, that said, do I want to account for the possibility anyway? and also, has my general history as a RPer/writer has nailed into my head the idea that, no, you cannot make up a random group from the ether and say they’re actually Top Shite and everyone has heard of them literally everywhere? Big ol’ YES. So.
• But anyway, what I’m getting at with that is like, by making the Boreas wolves this Big Tough (seemingly-)Omnipotent Force of the Taiga, the Jackdaws can’t escape them unless they 1) go to some further-off region of the territory (possible) or 2) leave the Taiga altogether (also possible, but probably not for a while on account of hunting difficulties). But also option 1 means I can’t keep having them around as useful neighbors, smh >:V Unless they also move? or it’s a satellite pack?? shit boy I love not clearly-defining things and winging it all, it’s fun.
  
• TL;DR long-term territory establishment Hard—BUT!! if the Jackdaws encounter a friendly face via this network, maaaybe that wolf can play the nepotism card and help them find somewhere to settle down? even if it’s back in the Coniferous Forest if, for irl/gameplay reasons, I have to go back somewhere that hunting will be more manageable. I don’t heavily plan on bringing this network back unless I actually do something involving other players (pup sales and/or buying cures), but hey. Dangling “plot” thread is dangling.

• Going back to the rank shuffle real quick: I like how I kept writing like Idril “retired” from hunting, but the second her pups are old enough to go out it’s like “doing nothing? in THIS economy??” and she’s right back on the trail. Love working my wolves to death in gameplay so they’re not just sitting there.
• But seriously, I also noted on the doc she could put in a good word for Hallow if he wants to join Hawk’s Eyes, which also makes this kinda sweet; Idril may not have forgiven him, but Hawk’s Eyes could use a new chaser in Leveret’s wake. Drove may or may not be willing to put in a good word for Hallow (I’m not sure if I’ve fleshed out their relationship before tbh) and the others haven’t had much contact with him—but Idril very much has. Oriole could at least vouch for his hunting skills; Idril wants to see him in action for herself.
• And really, it’s just nice to see the guy back to happily Doing Something after his post-pup-death depression. Hell knows Idril can relate to the frustration of doing seemingly nothing (see: denbound after injury, before bonding with Oriole). If he does want to stick around long-term (and it looks like he will at this rate), Hawk’s Eyes is his next best bet.
• “Why not Wickfen and Zephyr?” Personality clash, in-lore and out. They probably didn’t make great first impressions, and I imagine that duo has mostly stayed out of the drama lately. So yeah, ~nepotism saves the day~ for Hallow’s sorry tail.
• Oh Also, about those two: now that Jackrabbit’s joining, not to mention Andesite and glaucous down the line, the party could use a name. The token friendly/stoic group is probably here to stay, unlike the other temporary parties so far (Carcass/Oriole/Hallow and now Idril/Hallow. gee Hallow who let you have three hunting parties). Buuut I’ll figure the name out when I actually add wolves :V

• Hm. I do not feel like rewriting all these bios, especially with the info discrepancies between docs. (Yes, I did that to myself, I know.) I am procrastinating on many things. Website time.

• Yeet, nabbed a fox skull! I’m not crazy about the base or eyes tbh but it’s cool to have.

• Found a desert wolf who looks almost like a clone of Bone. Almost. 3 years old, too, albeit 5 months. Kinda tempted to keep him anyway 🤔 …Just for the hell of it, lemme check for mutations.
• Albinism? No. Melanism? …Also no. Welp, there goes 100SC ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ Love (/s) the way it takes a lil while to load the images too; I get it acts like you actually bred the wolves for each scry, but it adds to the gambling feel. Then again, what are browser pet sims if not mobile games. Don’t get me started on that, actually.

• Hmm. I think I write a lot. Do you think I write a lot? Jesus christ, take it.
• In light of ^that existing… lemme just copypaste what I stuck on the doc, actually:

As of January 7, the site is a thing. Subsequently, I am no longer updating the Setting, Culture, Members, or Boreas sections of this document; HOWEVER, the timeline will continue into next season, at which point… idek honestly but I’ll figure something out.

• There’s a lot I can effectively nuke from the timeline (insignificant illnesses, rando NBWs, trophies…), but those records are still neat to have. I miiight switch over to using Google Docs (or better yet, A google doc, singular) for the timeline and a summary of lore thoughts, but literally everything else (and a cleaner version of the timeline) will get dumped on the site. Yes. Much organization. Such words.

• Anyway, backing up the thread again while I’m at it (minus this post, as usual). Adding this monster to the site isn’t a high priority, at least not publicly; I don’t need to have my misadventures in botched sleep schedules and eternal procrastination recorded for all eternity on a website. Forum threads at least feel ephemeral. But y’know, good to have and all, and if something does happen to this thread then now you’ll know where to find it ;V
  • thing done

• Dang, brown NBW got snatched up for breeding and chasing, but she (sex-change again no problem) got a base change to Vanilla first. Same one as cheeto, actually >:o Is that a Thing? Very cool tbh.

Day 82 2021/01/08
LVLUP Andesite +20!!

• Eh, put white NBW up for sale. I’m on the fence about whether I’ll include these encounters in lore (there is No reason for Diorite to go recruit-happy again) but the records must go on.

• ANDESITE HIT LEVEL TWENTYYYYYYYYY HELL YEAHHHHHHHH. 4 years 4½ months, 715 stats total (details noted in bio) >:D Extremely tempted to customize her (finally!!) but I’ll use that as Incentive to reply to my dang messages hgdjgshdgj
• >goes to put her on the Wickfen/Zephyr team >she knocks Wickfen out of the park for stalking >
• uhhhh his original stats were actually better for chasing (and that’s still his second-best combo), he just got stalking proficiency after all this time >:V So! Moving him to chasing from now on and Andesite’s taking over as stalker.

• no one:
  me: what if I wasted my daily quest reward on more mutie scrying for Andesite and Leveret
• Welp, that’s a big ol’ no on all ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ Which is fine with me tbh, spares me the weird feeling of Obligation to get a mutie out of either. I have a stud bookmarked for Leveret anyway, and then there’s the plan with Diorite for Andesite (and glaucous) for their winter heats. Being disappointed is okay sometimes actually.
  

Day 83 2021/01/09
LVLUP Hallow +7, glaucous +19

• Hello, got a red wolf pelt trophy from… a timber wolf?? A’ight.
• Anyway, Leveret is in heat and I fear no god. Warm autumn pups? Warm autumn pups. Sent a stud request >:3
  • Request accepted boiiiis, time to get a litter of chasers I don’t actually need >:,D Maybe one or two will stick around anyway, we’ll see.
• I could try to explain Leveret, a known gay, having pups in lore, or I Could Simply Choose Not To and that is going to depend entirely upon whether there are any keepers. In any case, that’s something to look forward to in 4 days \o/

• Forgot to mention yesterday but I should note that Andesite, despite her pretty dang impressive stats, is still finding small trails at best. Amazing. Success rate seems about 50/50 (with the usual caveat that I’m not keeping track); I’m curious to see if that spikes once Wickfen’s chasing proficiency is up and glaucous (who’s at 212 STR and counting, aka over twice Andesite’s 100) joins the team as finisher.

• Updated the timeline, even though there’s not much to report. Meanwhile Iiiii haven’t actually figured out how to explain Andesite’s sudden appearance change in lore, if that’s something I do at all, but maybe the hunting squad runs into something 🤔 I wanna clean up the site before I go ham on thinking of new stuff, though....

• As inspired by this beautiful cave (which at the time of writing features the likes of Dry Aged Filet “rich people pay so much money for this old meat” and Raw Beef “son of Baconator”) and Dr. Peppercorn of Fierce Grace, among other assorted meme packs/wolves I’ve stumbled upon but sadly have not saved the links to, new “policy”: NBWs get a meme name if I’m not keeping them. There is absolutely no real reason for this except that it spices up my gameplay ever so slightly, and also prevents my spreadsheet from ever drowning in redundant [base] listings. I’ll keep glass-eyed cheeto there because it is Funney even if no longer fitting, but I have hereby declared the white NBW “HAVE YOU SEEN MY SON”. I am a serious Wolvden writer.
  • There is also the very small chance someone might buy the wolf based entirely on the name making them laugh, but I swear I’m not doing this for wholly capitalist reasons. But also, like, this trade cracks me up every time because the pup was originally not named (spoiler alert, please check the trade name first) “Yeet, the c h i l d” but then.

• glaucous at 19… yessss…

• -wipes sweat off brow- Rewrote a buncha bios, and while it’s still not done it is Progress!! …also jesus, these got dang wolf shenanigans are gonna take over my GitHub history, aren’t they. I think once I get this initial editing done (no more redundant doc dumps) I’ll only make updates live once a month or so. It’d work better anyway, since half the time I rewrite or edit stuff in the timelines/bios as I flesh out relationships and events more.
• Speaking of relationships, things to revisit when I’m less tired: Hallow+Talak, Hallow+Drove, glaucous+Wickfen, and basically the everything surrounding this second party’s prior relationships. Especially glaucous, since her character unfortunately does not lend itself as easily to “hm suddenly I think I will go hunt.” Unless she had a similar “maybe I don’t want to be on the outskirts of the pack” realization as Andesite…? You. Get some character development too, finally.

• -wakes up in a cold sweat- Wh… why did I only move Leveret to “former” and keep Myrtle and Oriole under “current”…. You know, maybe while they’re all stuck on the same page, I’ll just keep Leveret in the first section and change the distinction to living and dead/unknown. Mostly I just want the second part to be wolves whose bios are no longer being updated, sans typo fixes or phrasing edits.