once you're inside the shaman's den, you walk up to a wolf who's sorting flowers into their respective sea shell holders. you ask her if she has a moment to tell you her story.
the female wolf only spares a single glance at you before turning back to sorting herbs. expressionless, she begins,
"i am nersa of the Sefeed, now the Margārīta. I doubt you'd heard much of them but the Sefeed used to roam the small islands around the western coast. while we lived a somewhat nomadic life, our den was hidden on one of the larger islands. life was peaceful back then. i'd often leave for days at a time with my friends on hunting on exploration missions, exploring the chain of islands.
i suppose that's what saved me from the downfall of our pack.
from the Zar pack, we heard humans had been migrating to the coast. our leader and by extension our entire pack believed that we were safe as we lived on the islands not connected to the land. but what we didn't know was that the humans were afraid of islands full of wolves and planned a massacre.
first it began with humans on small boats- watching us. then they began to capture some of my packmates, holding them for weeks at a time before releasing them again. we thought the behavior was strange. but now it made sense. they were trying to find our den.
while out on a midnight swim with dyaus, vellar, and manjara, we saw a large boat moving towards our home island, hidden by the darkness. dyaus thought to go back, believing they were going to take sleeping packmates away, but i had a feeling we should stay away. the pearlescent mother was warning me.
right I was to listen. we watched a pack of humans swarm the island. we heard the cries of our pack in the distance as they were captured or killed. and after it all died down, the island was set on fire. the haunting red blaze illuminated the night sky and I was afraid that would find us next. I urged the others to swim away to another island before they found us next.
we hid out for the night and once it was day, we returned to our 'home'. only ashes and bones remained. the island reeked of death and char. with nowhere to go, we took what little remained from the den, some pearls and herbs in clam shells that were protected by the fire.
we swam to the coast, looking for sanctuary. but it seemed that the humans had gotten to the other packs first. the Zar den on the cliff had been destroyed- crumbled and sealed up with stone. when we moved further south to the Vr̥dah lagoon, we found it void of wolves. only humans lazily lounging on the beach.
it wasn't until we reached the southernmost swamp of the Sabz pack did we find other sea wolves. hiding in a rocky cove were the last remnants of the other packs, only a pawful from each still surviving. they were united under Saraswati of the Vr̥dah, who thought it best to migrate somewhere else.
the other Sefeed thought her crazy but i understood staying meant eventual death. as a soon-to-be healer, they listened to me and stayed with the group of wolves, later named the Margārīta.
Saraswati thought it best to follow the river and the other healers and I agreed as it ensured freshwater at all times. we followed it for months and lost many weaker wolves along the way, either due to illness or exhaustion. the old shaman, the other healers, and I did everything we could but with so little supplies, few made it. the shaman didn't even make it herself.
after moons of walking, we were led to the mountain lake. it had a cave large enough to fit all of us so Saraswati proclaimed it as our sanctuary."
Heather Bundle
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