Post by Icefall on Dec 15, 2011 19:09:36 GMT -6
For generations, the four wolf packs that live in the forests shadowed by the Barrierfang Mountains have had a truce, a treaty. The war that once raged between them is a wound long since scarred over by peace. Wolves have begun making friends and even taking mates from the packs of their former rivals. War is a story told to pups at night as a lesson to learn from the mistakes of the past.
But history has a tendency to repeat itself...
[/i][/center]Some grudges take a long time to die, and even in peace there are elders who remember the war. They don't think the wolves they once fought so valiantly against should suddenly become good neighbors and allies.
And, of course, there's the fact that rumors of other packs of wolves, living on the other side of the Barrierfang Mountains, have caught wind of the lush valley that the Four Packs call home. Some call for an alliance between the four packs against the supposed threat, while others say refugees ought to be welcomed and shown hospitality. This is creating dissent in and of itself...
...and of course there's still the dregs of the old contention to deal with.
[/i][/center]The eastern wolves, the jocular Morningsun Pack, who never hesitate to make friends, are all for finding new allies across the mountains. They're the strongest advocates for peace in all fronts.
The pack of shamans, Nightfall, who dwell in the open spaces to the west, under the stars, is cautiously optimistic; winds of change have been blowing and they see no reason to stand against the gale. But the other packs have always been distrustful of their methods, scoffing at them as fortune-tellers and worse.
The Longshadow Pack of warriors that lives in the pine forests to the south are deeply suspicious of both Morningsun and Nightfall, as well as any potential threat the rumored newcomers might raise. They'll protect their borders to the death, no matter what the cost.
The final, northern pack, wise Everwinter, has chosen to remain aloof from the brewing conflict until the veracity of the threat has been determined. Why waste energy arguing about land-grabbers, they reason, unless we know whether there are land-grabbers in the first place?
Most wolves just want to live in peace as they have for the past ten generations.
[/i][/center]Politics, as it does in all circles, floats above their heads, something to be aware of but not wary of. They continue their lives, fighting and hunting and falling in love, heedless of the storm brewing on the horizon.
How long can the Four Packs continue?
[/i]This self-sustaining state of unrest can only last for so long until it reaches one of two outcomes:
The Four Packs can meet and discuss the problem like rational, civilized wolves;
or
The leaders of one of the Four will become so fed up with this undercurrent of tension that they will snap and declare war on their three neighbors.
Alliances will be made and broken. Battles will be won and lost.
The forest may never be the same again.
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