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

Day 57 2020/12/16

LVLUP glaucous +16, Hallow +2–3, Leveret & Idril +10

• OK SO fed everyone medium carcasses; with 12 wolves/24 uses a day I can get away with a mere 3 medium (8-use) carcasses. That doesn’t include Hallow and tbh I kinda like the factor-of-8 system (or 4 ig, but small food goes for 5SC which makes selling more worthwhile), so fiiiine maybe he can stay along with three new prospective members…
• That’s 16 wolves total (not including Diorite), with—wait no shit Myrtle’s dying soon, and Idril+Oriole are getting old too. Easy there @self, stick to the 15-slot plan with ~10–12 keepers. Just gotta be more picky with the rest >:V

• “be picky” [15 minutes later] OK BUT CHASER ON THE TC AT AN ABSOLUTE STEAL… Wickfen has a friend now :D (Phew, I was almost considering a personality change but y’know, hypothetically speaking, I could have Andesite and glaucous hunt when they hit lvl20 since scouts are so good at gaining experience....)
• Zephyr came with that name and you know what I am a fool. I am a fool! Her and Wickfen, there’s a good pair bond.
• Anyway, on top of being the second bought wolf and second T2 (and a second pale, coincidentally; clearly I have no one-base-only rule except for glaucous), Zephyr also has the distinction of having been in not one but three packs before joining the Jackdaws (seller included) :O She’s here to stay now, but it’s cool to have onsite proof that she’s been around.
• More Zephyr weirdness: has been bred at least a couple times, with just under half the pups still kicking. Of the second of two onsite litters, the pups are all different ages because they belong to different people and thus have different rollover counts.
• Zephyr herself was actually born on September 30; I was gonna say something about her being older but actually nah, it’s a 77-day gap. I was forgetting your starter duo are already a year old when you get them; subsequently she is not in fact older than Diorite + Andesite, IRL gap month be damned. Still wack.
• You know, I have been thinking Hallow’s mysterious nature and this glacier thing could be a way to introduce supernatural elements in my lore, even if it’s lowkey on a “early Warriors” (you know, the battle cat books) level. Although site events might put anything on the table. Point is, though, Zephyr’s now the first wolf I have who was “canonically” born during early access. Not sure what to do with that info but that’s interesting!
• Oh yeah, and Zephyr’s the first addition to already have levels and proficiency. And a name. Phew, that’s a lot of firsts!

• In other news, the mutie tracker on my spreadsheet is now for lethals only, because melanism and (to a lesser extent) albinism are proliferating like wildfire. I keep seeing people offsite mention that the Lioden equivalent(s) are, if not worthless, Basically Everywhere, and at the rate more are being born here there’s no way I’m gonna keep up >:V Lethals are the ones I’m most interested in anyway…
  • Incidentally that also saves me some link-breaking trouble; most if not all the lethals so far are made immortal asap, so presumably I won’t have as many issues with y’know Wolf Death. (I don’t thiiink any albino/melanistic pups have died yet but still, it Will happen.)
• Also, after selling a bunch of carcasses (including small catches from yesterday) it’s dawned on me that, actually no, I am not in the clear food-wise unless I start going after medium trails more often (which only Hawk’s Eyes can do right now) and/or ration my HP for the Coniferous Forest better. Challenge (re-)get? But Hawk’s Eyes just took down a moose bull so I’m at least set for tomorrow >:3

• Oh sweet, Hallow leveled up twice today?? That’s a first >:o Haven’t even maxed out hunts for the day; I don’t pay much attention to experience numbers but that’s gotta prove they’re higher.
• Last update today: you know what, I will continue tracking prey, but ONLY if it has >=2 uses. I was already not bothering to count eggs from explore, and this just minimizes clogging via critter carcasses. If Hawk’s Eyes can take down one large trail a day, give or take a small/medium, we gud.

Day 56 2020/12/17
LVLUP Wickfen +4

• Bought a new slot so Micah can grow up tomorrow and god, the list of wolves is too long. I don’t like it >:V Having a small pack for a while was an especially good idea because of that, actually; when the >6y-olds die (RIP) that’ll bring me down to 11 (minus Diorite), or even 10 if I sell Leveret. Whiiich is less than my 12 thing but like. I just want to have everyone on the horizontal screen comfortably >:V
• Wow okay I spent most of my day drawing and thus have a whole lotta nothing to report. But since when did I have 6 gifts 👀

Day 57 2020/12/18
LVLUP Hallow +4

• Micah grew up today! …Meanwhile, Husk and Drove are pretty beat up (>10HP but still) and at roughly half EXP, bleh. And so the unlucky streak travels....
• Aaand 15th slot get! Phew, that’ll be the last one for a while; the pack as-is (14 adults) devoured a moose cow carcass and then some.

Day 58 2020/12/19 AUTUMN START
LVLUP Diorite +14, Oriole +8, Andesite +18

• “ugh I wish something interesting would happen over rollover” I said, and so the monkey’s paw curled and Micah got fucking distemper. Had a cure on hand so nbd but like y’know WELP.
• You know, come to think of it, I think Myrtle is one of the only wolves who hasn’t gotten sick with anything so far? Maybe Andesite and Oriole too? Now I wanna check the logs; I know for sure Drove and Talak have come back from the hunt with a few fleas and ticks and wounds, and Husk and Leveret probably have too, but I got some lucky suckers in here.
  • Ah wait nvm, Andesite had an infection once. So it’s just Myrtle, Oriole, Carcass, and the new guys (Wickfen, Hallow, and Zephyr). Amazing.
• FINALLYYYYYY leveled up Diorite again! And remembered to do it before turning in the quest this time!! GodDAMN IT you know lately it’s been like, feels like a breeze for the first quarter/half, an utter slog in the middle, and then one final kick in the upper 90s until at last. Haven’t encountered a single chased wolf yet but here’s hoping lvl15 will be more interesting >:,D

• Hm. Somewhere along the line my prey tracker code got fucked up, and unfortunately I don’t have a backup >:V Ah well, it’s getting unwieldly anyway; it’s also the end of the season so I thiiink it’s safe to call the pack Established:tm:? At this point I’ve sold all my excess from before the move, so I think I’ll be gud as long as I auto-sell all those peccary carcasses and any small chunks I pick up from exploring different biomes. Let’s see how this keeps up over winter >:3c

• Talak turned 6 today :o I haven’t bought any backgrounds since Oriole’s after realizing they don’t stay on the darn wolf after death, which imo renders them kinda useless (which I mean, they were to begin with, but I’m willing to shell out it it sticks). But ah well. If they ever add dynasty decor then my wallet can bleed, but for now my SC this round is probably gonna go into more GC.

• In other news, callout for all my got damn females. Some end tomorrow but still. Wouldn’t breeding them today have them giving birth in winter? Guys???

• -recruits this level 2 lad from the desert- hm. Why Did I Do That. The red dilution is kiiinda interesting ig but he’s getting yeeted first opportunity.

• Aaaand Carcass got an open wound. [deadpan] yaaayyy. Insta-cured as per usual :V

• Andesite now has over 600 stats! Holy fuck!! @Diorite GIT GUD!!!
  

Day 59 2020/12/20
LVLUP Talak +11

• Welp, got the reptile-slaying quest for the first time. Nothing notable about the first snake fight, but nabbed snake meat from the second >:o
• …Snake meat rots like any other meat, huh. Some trophy :pensive: —Although it does sell for a whopping 10SC (for 3 uses!!) so I’ll take that!

• Chased the creamlighter NBW so an adol I’m holding for someone can grow up. I got another gift at some point for a total of 7 👀 Aaand that’s about it today!

Day 60 2020/12/20 | LVLUP Wickfen and Hallow +5, Husk +10 [nothing else to report]

Day 61 2020/12/22
LVLUP glaucous +17, Zephyr +10, Drove +11, Micah +2, Carcass +8

• …I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t at least a little gutted to not see an herbalist notification among the usual rollover bars today :,) Myrtle has died, at 7y 7½m in the Coniferous Forest, about halfway through level 10. Survived by son Micah, who’s now taken her place as herbalist, and daughters Noki (currently a hunter) and Macy (still an adolescent, in no-rollover limbo at—go figure—7½ months). Faewell, ya big puppy….
• Meanwhile, got beat to shit by a lvl10 bobcat after (foolishly) challenging it at ~half HP and about 25% energy. Seems like bleeding is easier to cause when at full energy? But anyway, I have been thinking: do local packs appreciate their new neighbors, especially when it’s clear the Jackdaws have little experience claiming and guarding territory?
• I escaped the bobcat fight but what I’m getting at here is like, did I ever float the idea of “die in battle = kill a packmate”? Because despite all better judgment… I Am Tempted. Just for spice. We can say Diorite got attacked by wolves again, not a random bobcat, for ~lore purposes~.
• Basically, if enemies are gonna strike, it’d be now, when it’s not quite winter (smarter for their own side to cut their losses) and the pack’s grieving their herbalist. There may be no ill will for the rest of the pack, but Diorite specifically is bad news… and Hallow’s not necessarily putting a good word in for them.

• Note to self for later: update portraits (new for Micah and Zephyr); change Myrtle & Noki’s links on the spreadsheet; update doc; resume YWHs (one a day til caught up?); add Myrtle’s death date + location to bio
  • Done!

• Reading this article and “wolf societies are more congenial and stable when elders lead.” Interesting.... It makes sense from both a realistic and storytelling perspective, but Wolvden’s gameplay would probably dissuade this unless you want to be swapping leaders a lot. Which… 🤔
• In unrelated news, Wickfen and Zephyr’s little team could use a finisher. I have half a mind to breed Drove and Oriole or even glaucous just for that sweet strength stat. (Not that it guarantees a personality match, but maybe there’d be a Drove replacement. Noticed the other day that Taru’s dishonest personality didn’t match his parents’, so.) He’d feel weird about it but hey, Idril’s his friend, he’d give it a shot. Although it’s far from the best time for the pack to have pups, I’m pretty sure Oriole’s next heat will be her last, and it makes more sense strategically to breed her with a higher-stat male than Hallow’s new (and chaser) ass.
• On that note (seeing as Oriole and Drove are in separate hunting parties and thus wouldn’t necessarily have a lot of chances to talk), even though everyone’s back to business as usual in gameplay, I’m thinkiiiing things are a lot slower lore-wise. There’s still hunting and scouting and foraging to be done, but it’s not like when the pups died/left, where no one really knew them before. This was one of the pack’s oldest members. Micah is distraught, and if they’re not down in the dumps over Myrtle herself, they might at least want to stick around for someone who is.
• Incidentally, if I don’t go for a RNG-assisted pack nuke, this could help explain it: they’re not gonna be attacked when almost everyone’s home to help the defense.
• Oh hey, but anyway—they’ve both been in the pack for well over 7 rollovers >:o I’m not too concerned about the pair disbanding mood nuke (idk if it kicks in when one dies, anyway) and by the looks of it the quest doesn’t force a breeding,  so finishing it now it is!
• —Oof, okay, death affects mood too. Ah well. I got more than enough amusement items to compensate; in any case we call this #solidarity and if they stay “pair-bonded” after death I’m gonna laugh.
• Aaand pair bond quest done! …also realized Oriole is actually gonna be one day too old to breed when her next heat cooldown ends, buuuut I can totally get around that with the elk heart >:3 I’ll give it a day, or at least until after I finish a ywh (incentive!), but after that? Screw “breeding season,” we’re runnin’ outta time :V

• According to this formula—wait hold on there’s a spreadsheet, nice. Okay:

• Oof, okay, a liiittle on the low side BUT then I realized Husk had a whopping 183 stats at birth, so it’s a definite upgrade. (Micah had 292 but his dad is at level 15 at the time of writing; not a fair comparison. —Wow, I didn’t use a lvl20?? Neither is Fallow??? Dang.) Also, Drove’s about 1k EXP away from level 11; I think he couuuulld make it in time? Oriole’s 7y½m, so I got like three days and that’s plenty of time for Drove to level up. I’ll use salves if I have to. Hell yeah, operation second in-pack breeding is a go >:3
• The ONLY snag in this plan is if A: Oriole dies and B: I don’t actually have extra wolves for pupsitting at the moment. As for dying, I’m now seeing stuff about wolves not kicking the bucket til they’re 7y 6 months?? I’m not too sure I want to test my luck on that but I’ll see how the Drove leveling quest goes. And B can be remedied via random NBW, or switching someone else out for a while; lore-wise Idril and Oriole would want to look after their pups, but we’ll see how that actually works out. I’m not super inclined to actually change their roles again, though, and seeing as the pups will be born in winter(? how do math) and their parents have minimal markings, I’m not expecting anything stunning appearance-wise. So erm. We’ll see :^D
• …Oh yeah, meanwhile, glaucous is also buffed to shit in the strength department. But the pair is bonded and it’d be much harder to justify that setup lore-wise, Ah Well. She’s still young, as is Drove, if I need another high-strength pup in the future.

• Meanwhile, at lvl3 in the desert:

• Went for a Play Bow first and she was aggressive so it didn’t work, rip. Although she looks like a plain NBW or breeding reject so uhhh not too disappointed there :,D Ah well. That did remind me to keep that befriending guide-chart open in a side tab though, in case I find a pretty chased and really don’t want to scare it off.

• ASDFJSKFJSLFJKL;; so I just happened to poke at one of Zephyr’s pups’ bios and

• His footnote says he’s trans! Good for him!! Also this is apparently a known bug and honestly that is the funniest fucking thing. This seems to be happening to (some? there are three pages of comments and counting) paired males who breed and if it happens to Drove I will lose my shit. Yes, yes, you can call me out for transphobia now, I know. But still. God. i can’t believe wolvden mpreg real,
• this has been one hell of a day and it’s not even noon yet my god

• …You know, it just dawned on me: if all this trouble is about Diorite Specifically being a sporadically-violent ass, why don’t the rest just like. Leave. Maybe Andesite and glaucous have their individual loyalties but everyone else? Unionize! Go off, make your own pack! Unless we handwave it with like, Diorite still being good friends with most if not all of them. Ah, the struggle between Needing to keep focus on Diorite (if he’s going to live to 8 years old) versus him being a terrible horrible no good very bad leader who everyone is probably better off leaving.
• I mean, that’d also essentially leave him for dead, so I guess that’s a good enough counter for now. Still, someone’s gotta change/give, and we’ll see if it ends up being him. IDK, maybe instead of waiting for a whole new leader to impose the “fighting as pacifism” thing, Diorite can get some sweet ~character development~ and do it himself. But I would also kinda want to save that for uhhh -throws dart- arriving at the glacier or some other Significant Milestone. Unless a bloody fight with the neighbors sets his head straight. Much to think about 🤔

• I am going absolutely ham on the screenshots today but look at the latest lethals:

• Seeing as I’m apparently on a Big Wolvden Day today, what the heck, let’s give Idril and Oriole that joint surname: Aspen, because I like the sound of it. The Aspen Parklands are one of the sub-territories in the deciduous forest, and we can say they went on some big celebratory hunt there or something. Which, hey, actually works out gameplay-wise (minus them being on different hunting parties), since Drove’s leveling quest means I’m having Hawk’s Eyes go after the largest trails they can find today until they run out of hunts :D
• This wouldn’t be on the same day as Myrtle’s death because, uh, Tact, but for lore purposes? Hell yeah, a celebratory pack hunt sounds cute. Theoretically everyone should know how to hunt whether they’re in a party or not, anyway; it’s just that some (the leader, scouts, and herbalist) are more likely to hunt solo than in a group like that.
• Also giving Drove the Hawkeye surname while I’m at it \o/ (Hallow sulks in the background.) Leveret is once again offered the same but declines, which makes the others go ??? but they respect her decision.

• Updated the doc! And rewrote Myrtle’s “bio” in full sentences with a conclusion because I’m a sap. Pixel wolf obituaries, gotta love ’em.

• …I just noticed Micah has yellow eyes, not orange like his mom. Whoops. Anyway, he has a “baby face” here (this is actually a scrapped sketch for his pup portrait), but tbh I could see that sticking so stick it has:

• Also, unlike Myrtle’s ambiguous herb-looking scribbles, this is supposed to be mullein since he’s foraged exclusively that so far >:o
• Zephyr, meanwhile, ended up looking like a coyote. Also tfw I zoomed out a lot to show that side Z-marking and it got mostly cropped off anyway. Ah well. Profiles done \o/

• YESSS Drove leveled up!! That was fast >:O Here’s the new stat projection (minimal difference, but still); I’ll go do a YWH and then commence breeding.

• >goes ham in the wardrobe again real quick instead

• OK THERE DONE. In other news first though, I completely forgot about the medicine forgetting thing that happens when you switch herbalists—although Micah still knows 13/19, nice! He’s gotta relearn the Diarrhea Cure, Heatstroke Remedy, Influenza Cure, Mange Salve, Tapeworm Remedy, and Tick Remedy; the influenza cure is the only one I don’t have the herbs for, and I’m not 100% sure Myrtle ever learned it either? In any case, just sent him foraging by accident, but I know what he’ll be doing tonight >:3

• . . . Hm. On one hand I aaaalmost had Doubts because the pups will be born in winter and there’s always like a billion on the market, and the odds of this breeding making anything pretty is uhhh Low. On the other hand, could’a said the same about Myrtle, and yet! What the hell. Live a little @self. Even if it’s also dumb in lore we can call it an early accident :V It’s not like I’m gonna make any money off that elk heart and it’s a measly* 3GC in the Grove (*as in I could easily get another with a ywh headshot), so!
• “Your chosen wolf eats the elk's heart. It's the most thoughtful and romantic gift among your kin.” Amazing. We’re ignoring this for lore, though :3c
  
• First try didn’t work, but second was a go! Them bred. Let’s see how this goes.
  

• Okay uhhhh I’m in the process of (finally!!) backing this sucker up, and I somehow doubled up on Day 31? And somehow only just noticed despite my wolf stat spreadsheet consistently being a day behind (because it’s counting by rollover, not day)?? Great! Cool. Awesome. Uhhhh I’m just gonna make an advance post for tomorrow, but with the same day number as the spreadsheet rollover >:V Today should be Day 65. Amazing.
  
• Backup of finished posts pages 1–4 DONE; I say “finished” because I’m not including the code test/prey tracker, original post, or this monster of a reply. I’ll get this particular one tomorrow probably because jesus christ I think it’s the longest one yet (or maybe it’s just the images artificially making it look longer; the pup roundup posts ain’t short either) and clearly I’m not done editing it.
  

Day 66 2020/12/23
LVLUP Micah +3

• Hewwo, 8 gifts now 👀

• Welp, Andesite is officially Micah’s first patient, courtesy an open wound from a scouting mission. I did not realize open wounds from scouting were a thing that could happen. Insta-cured, but uh, wow, it looks like that took her down to 0 HP??
• Anyway, I like how last night I said “I’m clearly not done editing [this post]” and then I was done editing that post. Today I wanna do non-Wolvden stuff but here’s a Thought: once Diorite hits level 20 there’s effectively no more incentive to battle, again, ever. (Arguably applies at level 15 too actually, since afaik there’s no extra NBW bonus for maxing out, but the achievement would be cool.) That sounds like a good time to kick in some pacifist run lore. [dramatic movie trailer voice] But will be too little too late??? (Ha ha of course it won’t, he’s still not dying til he hits 8 years old.)

• Soo, not much to report today, but as a side note I’ve basically been having Micah go ham on cure stocks (for the ones I have an abundance of herbs for, anyway) in an effort to level him up faster. Diagnosing Andesite earlier only cost 19SC but still, free is Better >:V I guess that can be a character trait, wanting to be more prepared as opposed to relying on the network, whether he’s re-established that connection or not?
• Oh yeah, had a stray thought earlier that Andesite’s open wound could be attributed to an attack, and today’s snake quest was defeating two wolves so Diorite beat up a mid-level timber wolf pack back in the mountains to kill three for one quest. Violent path says Andesite was attacked by the old neighbors and Diorite went back for Vengeance; less bloody path says he went back to make a peace offering or something, because holy fuck, leave them alone. Highkey kinda want a hunter or two to get an open wound now, just to open the lore opportunities….
  

Day 67 2020/12/24
LVLUP Micah +4, Leveret & Idril +11, Wickfen +6

• Sweet, dug up the recipe for bone decor, which is pretty much the only one I care about >:O Tempted to make one for Drove since -gestures at ms paint icon-, but the decor coming off after death still kills me....
• …Eh, you know what, he’s only 4y11(.5)m. #YOLO he can haz bone

• Whoa, managed to Crush a snake to death for the daily quest today, that’s new; didn’t take a single hit but the first >:O Snagged a rattlesnake skin as a trophy too, heck yeah!

• owo 9 gifts.... ik everyone and their mother is using those mass gifting threads for the achievement but there ain’t nothing like a nice random surprise, especially since I haven’t been too active on the forums lately <3
  

Day 68 2020/12/25 WINTER START, MERRY CHRYSLER
LVLUP Hallow +6, Micah +5

• Oriole is nesting! Aaand I have a bunch of notifications and also those gifts to get to shdjdsfjsd but irl stuff first, I just Have to rollover first thing in the morning. This is what the kids call a healthy habit.

• The werewolf thing is absolutely sending me. Merry Christmas, wolf rp community. (That caveat about making onsite money with it has me thinking I could try out the “Wolvden style” with little edits, hrm.)

• The coniferous forest in winter is A+ very Christmassy 10/10 would conifer again. Slapped a screenshot of the hunting party at the top of this reply to serve as a nice visual header >:o

• no one:
  absolutely no one:
  glaucous, twice now: i am going to contract an illness that is so jarring

• OK… OK. COOL. This round from a rainforest scout and not over rollover but god. Just in time for Micah to return from foraging, glaucous got mange. Merry crisis! Insta-cured but jesus,, fUckign

• But seriously, what the hell do I do about these major illnesses in lore 🤔 Can I translate this as glaucous also getting beat up on a scouting mission, having fur ripped out? (Haha, yes, of course I can—no canon no gods no masters, But) It’d certainly be dramatic but it would also probably kill. …Then again, so would distemper.
• I’ve been shifting my creative focus elsewhere lately but boy, now that both scouts have come back with Something Terrible, there’s no way I’m not gonna include that in lore somehow.
• Unrelated to that, I also had the lovely thought earlier of, if Oriole’s litter has any duds, instantly chasing them and attributing it to Hallow or attack or something :3c (And if I chase them all, then I might snag a pup or two off the trading center?) IDK we’ll see. Again, not expecting anything great appearance-wise anyway, and tbh lore-wise she miiight be regretting this whole arrangement :,D Time will tell.

Day 69 2020/12/26

• Four kids! One has 287 stats (the projected average) on the dot, and that’s the highest of the litter—though only by 5, thankfully. I’ll mess with wardrobe stuff “tomorrow”/at a decent hour later but ngl, they’re not as ugly as they could have been :O
• Actually, they look like a mix of Oriole and Drove, which I was not expecting tbh?? Two skarn, and the other two have 3 markings! Aaand everyone has 77 strength exactly except the last, with 78 (and the lowest stats overall). Also, they all have a whopping 49% survival chance :,^D
• …Hm. Oh no. I actually highkey wanna keep them all. If I had to pick one it’s the first because the colors and markings make her look like a perfect blend of Oriole and Drove, but I’m really digging how they all actually look like their parents whereas basically all my other breedings have had completely wild bases (hello, khaki and honeydew). Is the warm range just Like That? God.
  • Okay, the Andesite x Charcoal litter was predictably monochrome, and also plain. But still. Goddammit, not me warming up to that random beige neck/back marking just because it passed on to the kids....
  • Cream. Beige. Whatever. This was supposed to be “I’ll rollover real quick before sleep because I want to do more non-Wolvden things tomorrow so I should get this out of the way asap,” but I should’ve known....

• All right, before I go for the night: the pupsitting situation. So, I could (and maybe will?) take Oriole off hunting duties, entirely because it’s not in-character for her to go right back out there—not in the dead of winter, not with enemy wolves at the border, and especially not after the personal traumas of Y2’s lost pups. And I miiight do the same for Idril, effectively retiring both from hunting indefinitely; so what if they’ve both lost proficiency and thus can’t guarantee their pups’ survival, they’re gonna try, dammit. Just two gay moms raising their kids as well as they can.
• Drove would probably want to chip in too, since even though the arrangement was Just For Usefulness he can’t help but feel attached, especially when he sees half the pups actually kinda look like him. (One has the exact same base, sooo.) This would leave Hawk’s Eyes without a finisher, though, and while the others could step in, they and he all know damn well he’s the better than all of them. The pack is not permanently settled and, even though they’ve built up a nice little store for the winter, they can’t necessarily afford to have him out of commission for so long.
  • No, I’m not crazy about how this maps to “the male supports the family by going out and working” bs, but alas such is how things have played out. Hawk’s Eyes can afford for Idril to retire, if Carcass steps up to take her place as stalker. But there’s no dang finishers besides Oriole and Drove, and glaucous’ personality isn’t compatible.
• Of course, selling the pups is always an option—BUT. Lore-wise the sold pups from last round were explained as Myrtle helping them find other homes through her magic totally-not-a-player-interaction-stand-in trade network. Micah, however, has not reestablished that connection since the move, and it’d be dangerous to go out and do it now. Point is, unless I get very lucky again (and these pups’ stats are lower than the last round), it’s very likely these kids are gonna stay here til they grow (and/or I run out of room) OR they die.
• This is because I own both the parents for a change (and it’s not the tutorial-obligated starter breeding), isn’t it? Back to the pupsitter situation: basically the only way to guarantee all four’s survival is to magically get four 100% proficiency pupsitters (or just 2, if I want to gamble with the 99%) by next rollover. Which is something I have neither the space nor the desire to achieve :D Looks like we’re giving this one back to the RNG, bois, except this time It Might Hurt!
• God, we’re not an hour into the (wolvden time) day and I’ve already churned out a text wall. Okay, I’ll deal with the pupsitter shuffling tomorrow; for now, both Hawk’s Eyes and Carcass’ little team have gotten a hunt in (with the latter out as I type), so here’s the plan:
  • Idril and Oriole retire from hunting, permanently, to take care of the pups. (Drove wants to follow suit but is obligated not to; also, gameplay mechanics don’t allow for stacking pupsitters, so it’d be kinda pointless.)
  • Carcass’ team disbands; Carcass himself takes Idril’s place as the stalker for Hawk’s Eyes, and Hallow… idk. Either Hallow joins the pupsitting squad or I sell.
• One more lore note: so yeah, in parallel to my gameplay/lack of forethought, neither Idril nor Oriole were fully committed to dropping their hunting duties when their pups were born, but then surprise guess who conceived despite thinking her heat was over. Oriole was frustrated with herself over it for a good while, both from the horrible timing and because she knew helping her pups survive would likely mean foregoing her hunting and returning to pupsitting, while Idril tried her best to be supportive and not drown herself in hunting to avoid worry as well. With the actual birth of their pups, their troubles briefly melt away, but not for long.
• Idril finds herself reluctant to hunt anyway, fearing that something could happen the moment she leaves the den even if the pups haven’t even weaned; Hawk’s Eyes catches on (after an unsuccessful hunt, which for lore purposes we’re gonna say was unusual and not like 50% of the time) and they quickly agree she can retire for a while, even indefinitely; they’ll talk to Carcass about it, since he’s been hunting with Oriole for a while now and she can attest to his own stalking skill—but for real, don’t worry about hunting right now. They’ve gathered enough over the autumn, especially with those big celebratory hunts, to last the season. Those pups can take priority.
• Oriole, ironically, might be less pleased by the whole arrangement; who knew, watching pups and having pups are a world of difference. She’ll do her best of course, but she’s highkey gonna be annoyed the circumstances forced her to pupsit again, and this totally won’t bleed into how she raises them or anything. BUT that will be lowkey probably, or at least not enough to force a rift between her and Idril. They’re well aware this was a hasty biological-clock-is-ticking decision from the getgo, and if they’re gonna be fussed about the consequences, they’ll be fussed about it together. …We’ll see how this affects the pups.
• Meanwhile, Drove (as mentioned previously) has felt variously weird about this whole thing, but he gets a good strong dose of Protective Instinct the second he sees the pups. Hell, he’d probably even be like “ok but why don’t we ALL stop everything and watch the children” in a haha-but-seriously way. But alas he would crowd the den, and the hunt must go on, and half the reason he got roped into this at all is because he was the best candidate for more strong Jackdaws. (Oh hey, first litter to be born into the Jackdaws while they’re called that, and also outside the Mountains!) He can save all his wannabe-parenting for training whoever stays.
• Speaking of that, though… no, they can’t and shouldn’t expect everyone to stay from this litter, either. (“One more note,” I said. “It will be quick,” I said.) Whether death or voluntary leave/rehoming takes them, the pack can’t support four more wolves… or can they? They are on the move, and theoretically, if their next home is big enough….
• All lore hypotheticals, mind. I don’t actually need or want four high-strength pups, even if I’m aesthetically attached to them all now. And like, in-lore, it’s not that anyone’s gonna say no, you must ditch your children, but also that’s been the norm so far. Some might say it’s almost selfish, wanting all one’s pups to stay like that, when everyone else has sacrificed before… as if those “sacrifices” were voluntary, and one mother isn’t one of last season’s parents on question.
• Yeah, about Hallow… he’s Arrogant. I really hate to say he’s like, Ashfur 2, but it is entirely possible he’s forcing down some degree of bitterness over this litter, between the changed arrangement (he suggested having an in-pack sire, dammit) and now because his hunting party has disbanded. It’s a neat parallel/contrast to Hawk’s Eyes, actually; they’ll be sad about Idril’s retirement but still wish her the best, and even if the party’s never the same, they still have a home and place in this pack and that’s more than enough. But Hallow? Hallow claimed to stay out of amusement only, positioning himself as a sort of guide or even guardian when the Jackdaws first moved, and no one was thrilled about his arrival but they didn’t say no either. And despite himself (and maybe in some part from spite), now he’s attached. Now he was feeling like he had a place here, a chaser in a trio with Carcass and Oriole, and now these goddamn pups—
  • Dude, Oriole’s like twice your age. Get therapy. But there is no wolf therapy so for now we will have Boiling Resentment and maybe our first murder. (Hallow? Someone killing Hallow? Hmm :D)
  • —oh okay wait actually Drove is like. half a month younger than Hallow. Honestly I’m not gonna start being Fussed:TM: (wow I’ve been using that a lot suddenly) over pixel wolf ages, other than that it’d probably be weird for a wolf to romantically pursue someone they watched grow up (ex. any of the og Hawk’s Eyes and Husk), but outside studs? bought wolves or NBWs? Fuck it. The fact that Idril and Oriole are only about a year apart is a stroke of same-day-recruit NBW luck, nothing intentional on my part.
  • ANYWAY wolf age discourse aside (the things I write in this fucking thread), Hallow needs to get over himself regardless, and if he cannot do that then the Jackdaws will cause problems for him on purpose.
• Oh, you know what would be fun? Oriole takes a pup, Idril takes a pup, Hallow watches the other two. (Like, gameplay-wise; in-lore the responsibilities are once again split.) He says he just wants to help out too, even if he isn’t biologically related. The mothers allow it, largely because they’re grateful for any help*. They miiight still get weird vibes but, unless the pups manage to all survive and I end up retconning the Hallow Sus storyline, Oriole did hunt with him for a while, and if he wanted to backstab them he had plenty of chances then. He doesn’t remotely let on that the hunting party disbanding has upset him, so… thanks for your help?
  • *I guess Talak, Husk, and/or Leveret could chip in too? But I’m gonna go with the Hallow route for the potential drama. (Well, drama that isn’t “oh no I’m sorry I let your kid die D:” round 2.)
• In the time it’s taken me to write all this, hunting round 2 came back, so… guess now’s as good a time as any for The Shufflening! So to recap the changes (again, with brevity):
  • The “carcass and pal(s)” hunting party has been disbanded. They had 60% synergy, with individual proficiencies at Carcass 100%, Hallow 45%, and Oriole 71%.
  • Oriole and Hallow become pupsitters.
  • Idril leaves Hawk’s Eyes and Carcass takes her place as stalker. The swap leaves the party at 77% proficiency, and Idril also becomes a pupsitter.
  • The pups are, because I apparently neglected to mention this earlier: bossy chestnut (F 283), obnoxious brown (M 287), imaginative skarn (M 284), and dutiful skarn (F 282). (Links and previews forthcoming.) I’m just gonna follow birth order because it coincidentally aligns with personal preference: gameplay-wise, Oriole pupsits chestnut, Idril pupsits brown, and Hallow pupsits the skarn duo. This brings the first two to 100% and the latter two to 79%.
• Sorry, skarn pups. I like the two-tone base but otherwise they’re the plainest visually; dutiful actually has the most markings, but all but one are invisible courtesy skarn’s brownish top, and her stats are lowest of the four.
• Technically, everyone but chestnut will have the same lower survival chance because Idril lost all her pupsitting proficiency since last round, but Oriole still has 80(!!). But no one’s at 100%!
• WAIT. NO. FUCKIGN,,

• I know the calculation rolls are weird and it’s still possible the first two could die (death before boost iirc), but holy shit, this did more than I thought. Hell, Oriole could take two, and it’d have everyone at 79% or higher. All this dramatic overthinking and for what. For WHAT!!! This is why I can’t Wolvden at [time redacted]A.M.!!!!!!
• It’s in the RNG’s hands for like one rollover and then I think Oriole’s bonus will take them all to 100%. All of them. Jesus christ.
• Anyway, as an actual final for real this time thing I do before going the fuck to sleep, sent out the new Hawk’s Eyes with Carcass. (I guess Carcass is entitled to the Hawkeye surname now, if he wants it? Probably won’t but it’s on the table.) As usual I won’t be recording every hunt, but it could be worth noting how they do this first round or two.
• BUT SERIOUSLY WHAT AM I GOING TO DO WITH THESE KIDS AAAAA

• . . . wait. Wait. oh my fucking god I just realized Oriole’s not gonna live to see them grow up no matter what HSJDSDJDH AWWW...... Idril might but at 6y10.5m the odds are not in her favor. Jesus fucking christ. I have set myself up for a got damn tragedy here is what I’ve done.
• Unlike Myrtle being ready for death for like a year, these two uhhh… think they have more time left :,) I guess. I’m actually not 100% sure I can justify “we’ll have new baby kids even though we won’t live to see them grow up” in their lore but what the hell, I’ve already fudged Oriole’s heat, Drove’s gonna be a good single dad ig. Point is they don’t know because semi-arbitrary age maximums are not a Thing in lore anyway, and also they probably weren’t 100% expecting this to work anyway. FUN. FUN TIMES. I CAN KEEP THE CHILDREN BUT AT WHAT COST
• coughs if Hallow doesn’t get murdery on the pups maybe he will decide to be homophobic. we shall see. ok now I wanna give him some positive character development before he becomes a cardboard cutout shell but FOR NOW I LEAVE IT’S BEEN 2 HOURS GOOD NIGHT

-

• Hunt update: they caught it \o/
• Yess, I keep seeing this piece of flavor text but finally copied it: “You tread a familiar path and feel instantly at home. You breathe in the air and feel comforted.” Awww. Did I ever get that in the Mountains? I forget. Shame this won’t stay home forever :D
• …Goddammit, had a very close battle with a lvl20 red fox (curse bleeding…) and Diorite picked up an infection >:V Insta-cured but it’s still fuckign annoying.

• SO finally went on a giant gift-opening spree and in a word meme:

• Anyway, I am going to create a post that is so long. Pup preview hell time. (Skipping the highest stat part because, yeah.)

bossy chestnut ♀

283 stats 77 STR / 53 SPE+AGI / 51 WIS / 49 SMA
3 markings Brown Saddle 12% / Cream Half Cape 46% / Beige Underbelly 38%

obnoxious brown ♂

287 stats 77 STR / 53 SPE+AGI / 52 WIS+SMA
3 markings Cream Half Cape 39% / Brown Half Cape 7% / Beige Underbelly 38%

imaginative skarn ♂

284 stats 77 STR / 56 SPE / 53AGI / 49 WIS+SMA
1 marking Brown Blanket Ticking 8%

dutiful skarn ♀

282 stats 78 STR / 53 SPE+AGI / 49 WIS+SMA
4 markings Brown Saddle 23% / Brown Blanket Ticking 18% / Cream Half Cape 45% / Brown Half Cape 2%

• …Yeah! I don’t really have anything to say that I didn’t dump last night but ~them’s the kids~. They need names at some point too, gh.
• For now, though, updating the wolf stat spreadsheet, and Diorite has exactly 100 days left. Ominous :D

• Final note of the day: apparently we are just going to have a stock of 5 uses per cure (except for 2–3 that use herbs that are harder to come by) from now on. I was keeping one onhand before and replacing as needed, but between some last-minute “might as well have Myrtle remake everything” crafting, Micah needing to relearn a bunch, and now crafting more duplicates to make the stocks same-numbered as possible… stonks.jpg but it’s Micah with all these cure bowls
• I just have the mental image of someone being like “hey Micah it’s time to move, you’re not gonna be able to bring all these extras” and he crams as much in his mouth as he can fit, drags the rest in a makeshift leaf-bag, picks that up too, and says all determined “MDGMHDF MFFGMF” which translates to “Try me >8(“. He’s doing his best.
• Oh yeah, seeing as I didn’t actually end up resetting my herb & cure count, let’s just say he found a nice lil herb patch somewhere idk it’s not important. Herbalists took all the hunters’ “got to keep extra stores during the move” rights.

• …There are multiple ways I could caption this (“much beauty such charm.” “achievement unlocked: shitdoodle with multiple wolves! achievement unlocked: wolvdoodle with dialogue!” “where do herbalists even get those cure materials” “everything about herbalists is bullshit actually”) but I will settle for the parentheses and drop this here as the final thing in the post for real this time. @wolvden hire m

Day 70 2020/12/27

[posts this minutes after rollover] hi I’m tired welcome to healthy habits R us

• No pups died or got injured. Also there was a slight miscommunication wrt some adols I’m holding; as a self-reminder, if there isn’t space to reclaim the runaway by expiration, then Leveret and/or Hallow gets the boot. Extra incentive to cause drama on purpose \o"/

• Today’s daily quest has Diorite exploring the Tundra again, after a very very long time of keeping exclusively to the desert and coniferous forest, because that gull carcass is gonna be a pain to find otherwise >:V

• Aaand updated the doc again! God, the potential for drama surrounding the Aspen couple is there, but I can’t develop it until we see what comes of onsite developments. Steeples hands.
• Oh yeah, and the pups need names. Okay, four pups, four wolves involved here (the parents, Drove, and ig Hallow), except Hallow is a sore loser and would probably decline the offer to name one. But the rest? :3c
  • The one that looks like Drove (“obnoxious* brown”): Jackrabbit, for his brother. Rechecking the doc on the lepus trio, Drove probably remembers the youngest litter as pups/adolescents and didn’t necessarily remember them well, but he does remember Jackrabbit since that sneaky son of a leporidae actually came back for a lil while. (And aww, Drove naming the pup that looks like him after his bro and not himself is kinda sweet. Love this tsundere doberman.)
    • As a side note, I’m probably gonna change this one’s personality, both because the Wickfen/Zephyr duo still needs a finisher and also that’s the third obnoxious wolf now come on @rng.
  • IDK what Moriche’s deal was but I’ll pass on naming a pup after him; given his age (<2y) Oriole wouldn’t have known him before he showed up anyway. Although that leaves me at a blank forrrr basically every other pup, brb gonna recheck my ideas for earlier litters and names.
  • TIL “Elvira” is the (stage) name of a famous horror hostess because she’s like 99% of the image search results unless I specify “elvira rat.” Wonder if that’s a coincidence or not? But anyway, the rat kinda looks like skarn, and while the litter doesn’t exactly have any runts the 282-stat one is lowest and also skarn, so guess what? You’re Elvira now. (We ignore that this is a traditionally feminine name because they are wolves and who gives a fuck.)
    • Huh, apparently that’s pronounced ehl-VEE-ra. In my head it was the long I sound, like el-vEYE-ra. Proper pronunciation sounds a liiiil too similar to Micah for my liking >:T Uhh let’s see, what sounds similar… Eliza? Too human.
      
• Additional thought: this whole pup-naming thing is probably crawling under Talak’s skin a bit, because letting everyone have a say in it would suggest these names are gonna stick whether the pup likes it or not. And like, realistically, this will be the case because it’s more traditional and also I flail at names forever, but still. So much for placeholders…

• Okay so I was off doing other stuff for a while there but HEY Y’ALL WATCH WOLFWALKERS IT’S REALLY GOOD. This non-sponsored advertisement is brought to you by kid!me would’ve loved this movie and also current!me loves it. It Gud. Beautiful animation, wonderful story, overall A+ experience >:D
• Anyway, randomly felt like seeing if “wickfen” is an actual word, and:

• yer a search result, harry

• But okay, okay, uhhh back to names… -slams BIRD button- Grackle, for imaginative skarn. Randomly considered a “Dr---” name (from the sound in Idril; similarity is fine in this case since Drove’s the dad) → “Dren” means “deer” and Idril’s first litter was named after cervids → wait no that has the same end sound as Wickfen → searches names with “dro” instead → Drogo?? It’s like doggo, but typo’d. Eh, I’ll keep diggin’, but 1) behold my extremely convoluted name-searching process, and 2) just gonna save these brainstorming paths for later.
• “Idril” is a Tolkein name apparently and thus doesn’t have an official pronunciation, but in my head it’s like “EE-dril” and something that sounds similar is Liesl so bossy chestnut is now Liesl.
• -skims the Wikipedia page for aspen parkland- red-osier dogwood → Osier. OK COOL NAMES GET and they didn’t even have to die first!!
• As a side note, I don’t know if I’m going to save their dynasty records if something does happen, and that is entirely because I didn’t bother saving the Y2 fatalities either (much as I kiiinda regret it for Taru, since he was the very first death and thus sticks out to memory among all the lost pups) and it dosen’t seem Fair to suddenly start saving pups now :V Wardrobe images suffice; at least adults could have like, offspring records and levels n shit. Anyway!
  

Day 71 2020/12/28
LVLUP Micah +6, Andesite +19

• So today was busy but I’m staring blankly at my wolves, as you do, and had a few little Ideas with varying levels of relatedness:
• First, given the Aspen pups have 100/93% survival chances, I am either going to eat my bullet points or all that drama brainstorming will be fruitless. I could give myself a bonus challenge in that, if one of the skarn pups gets hurt, I flip a coin or roll a die or some other thing and if it hits a certain number they “die”/get chased. I’m very good at coming up with these bonus challenge ideas and not committing to them because I am a sentimental sucker who doesn’t actually want to “kill” my pixel woofs (except via pup flood negligence ig), help.
• Second and completely unrelated, had the galaxy brain thought of pairing Leveret and Zephyr. I’m not really doing much with either of their characters, and it could also explain why Leveret hasn’t left despite wonderings to the contrary. (Which is totally not because I haven’t committed to actually making a sales post I mean what.) On the other hand, both of them going off together? Hello???
• Third, playing topic/wolf boomerang: supposing none of the Aspen pups die (or hell even if they do), just to have the Hallow thing have some payoff, could heeeee cause problems in less lethal ways? He doesn’t even have to go full-blown manipulator (surely someone would notice and idk to what end he’d want to anyway), but he couuuld plant the tiniest little seeds of Doubt.jpeg via bedtime stories about a vicious monster who prowls the lands searching for blood…. And like, it’s not explicitly about Diorite, but it’s also totally about Diorite. If the hope was that most if not all pups might stay to support the pack and carry on their parents’ legacies and all that, and Hallow’s not gonna do a murder, he can still make them paranoid enough they don’t want to stay anyway :3c
• Being romantically scorned is still a bleh motive though, imo. Or like, it works, but I like more character ~spice~ than “he’s a Nice Guy or smthn lol” >:V Revenge?? Eh, also too easy. Maybe I can lean into him being a Talak parallel/foil? Both showed up early into the pack’s arrival in $homeBiome, and while neither necessarily intended to stay, they didn’t leave either. If Talak just wants to belong, howsabout Hallow? Could he have the exact same motive, but since he wasn’t received quiiite as warmly, it’s getting to him?
• Aaand there goes my “plans” to sleep at a decent hour tonight probably; brb, this calls for another character development doc :3c

• Update: it’s past rollover now but it throws me off when I don’t have the actual doc linked until way later on here, so even though it’s ugly/unformatted/unedited, here. Idk if I made too much progress but it includes a lil prose story that was fun to write; ~enjoy~
• also all the pups have 100% survival chances now god,, fUckign

Day 72 2020/12/29
LVLUP Wickfen +7

• I am realizing I phrased some things weird yesterday (ah, such is writing past midnight) but to clarify: “On the other hand, both [Leveret and Zephyr] leaving the pack together? Hello??? [Why wouldn’t they?]” and “idk [for what reason] he’d want to [mess with the pups] anyway.” I could edit these into the post but I could also not do that because I am weird about editing ephemeral-type writing after it’s done.
  
• Anyway, I’ll go clean up that Talak/Hallow doc, but first my terrible gremlin brain was like “oh? you’re trying to sleep?? HAVE MORE IDEAS” and I jotted them down in a note, so:
  • husk @ the pups: aww lucky them, they get to grow up here together... with no space limit.... oriole also doesn’t seem to be as big on the Purpose thing, she’s just happy if they all survive.
  • ok but: drove dies. 8,,) rng it? Something Happens on the move, he’s got like a third chance daily. could be hallow? could be sacrifice to save a pup? could be random anticlimactic hunting injury. leveret will have to mentor, get some development outta her.
    • THIS WOULD MAKE ME SAD TBH which is like, maybe all the more reason to actually Do it :,^D if I’m gonna cause drama on purpose it’s gotta be Narratively Significant
  • also: start developing pups now?? they can be An Aggregate since they’re still young but the sooner they get Interesting the better. already want liesl(? the chestnut one) to be Important, for better or for worse (likely better so she sticks around). oh yeah, and personality change at adolescence—could coincide with drove death?
  • Wasn’t jotted down, but also from last night: What are the actual leaders doing about this? …Nothing, really :V Andesite’s got her eyes on Hallow but she’s not gonna kick him out on suspicion alone, and Diorite is Diorite; he’s not oblivious but he doesn’t feel the need to step in. I’m imagining this whole thing as like, Hallow isn’t a missing stair (and definitely not in the harassment context that term was developed in, although I find it a useful metaphor anyway), but he’s still Sus. To be fair, Idril and glaucous weren’t necessarily warmly-received either, but look at them now. Time will tell~!
    

• Doc from last night is formatted \o/
• And hello, a wild shoutout appeared? This one goes out to the two people I know read this thread, and on a ~totally unrelated~ note, if you are following these ramblings, go check out the Fierce Grace pack tracker and the Dweller’s Secrets! Cool lore by cool people ;D

• BRUH PLOT TWIST I FINALLY GOT A SCAR

• Shame this wasn’t for a daily quest or something else Significant but like: I called the place Cougar’s Prowl, right? vague and undefined as it was? They chased one off to get here but they didn’t kill it. Forget Hallow wanting revenge, the real enemy was the cougars you displaced along the way :3c
• I gotta go deal with irl shit but. taps mic. winter move. The pups are a month and a half old, there’s more than enough pack members to carry them—although that’s probably too young to be safely moved. Maybe I will just roll 4 d4s a day and if I get a 4 then someone dies :^D
• Side note before I go, though: I love that the scar counts as a trophy. Like, of course it does gameplay-wise, but “Congratulations! You suffered a grievous injury!!” (Now, hmm, who to put it on…)

• The lore can be figured out later let’s gooo

• While setting up all the food trades, Zephyr and Wickfen came back with a pheasant hen carcass. I imagine they return to the cougar attack like,,
• Also, it is dumb for one (1) big cat to attack a pack unprovoked, never mind the fact they chased one off to get here. (And yeah, realistically, much as Diorite’s a wannabe-hulk he wouldn’t take this solo; I’m just using the scar as a Sign that it is time to commence drama. Hm, maybe I’ll RNG a d10 for everyone just to see how they fare in the fight? It won’t affect the gameplay but could help me flesh this out more.) Suppose those hostile neighbors closed in too ;3c

• It has dawned on me that 1/4th chance is uhh A Lot, but also I only really want to keep 2 and this is just determining how soon they kick the bucket. I am a very nice and benevolent wolf god. Anyway:

• Spared today…
• One more bonus round though, the aforementioned Fight Development. 1 = got their ass kicked, 3 = emerged victorious, 2 = somewhere in the middle. 1:Diorite 2:Andesite 3:Talak 4:Idril 5:Oriole 6:Husk 7:glaucous 8:Drove 9:Leveret 10:Carcass 11:Micah 12:Wickfen 13:Hallow 14:Zephyr

• ass kicked: Andesite, Idril, Oriole, Hallow (wow, double oof @the Aspens)
  
• kicked ass: Diorite, Talak, Husk, Drove, Micah(???), Wickfen, Zephyr
  • Side note on Zephyr: She has 15/39 (less than half) HP at the time of writing, and is about halfway to the next level. If she has to take a break then ig she sustained injury from this anyway, F.
    
• everyone else: glaucous, Leveret, Carcass
  
• Anyway now I gotta go do things but THIS IS FUN I SHOULD DO THIS MORE OFTEN

• [~3 hours later] The one walking into the room on fire is me actually and instead of fire it’s all these got dang notifications. Aaaaaaaaaaaa.