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this is Sunshadow, a newer member of the Rowan's Shade Pack.
They are one of the Eyes of the Elder Spirits, along with Catilius.
I love them, but I can't figure out if I prefer them to stay looking like an Adolescent, or leave them with the adult look.
I guess Motherly is also an option, they look like they're a little withdrawn, focused on something other than the "real world"
hmmmmmm
I CAN'T STAND HIM HE"S SO STINKING CUTE!!!!
Rowan's Shade Pack Traditions
NAMING
Pups are named when their eyes open. Newest generations choose names that have a root word in nature, although occasionally with an ending that harks back to the galactic origin of Enit: -xus, -us, -ani, -eo, -ix
THE FAREWELL
The Rowan’s Shade Pack doesn’t believe that death is the end of life, and that when a pack member dies their spirit travels beyond the stars to meet Enit where she dwells now with her consort, Pietro, and their ancestors in the Darkness Beyond the Stars, and that they can return to the pack with Enit’s help whenever they want.
It is still a period of mourning, for the loss of a friend/family member, and the wolves take a day to mourn, howling at the end of the day when they give the body to the Rowan tree.
This period involves a call and response by the Lead Wolf and the Pack:
Lead:
The body slows and dies, As plants wither, as seasons change, But the spirit lives on and runs On the paths between the stars
Pack:
The body returns to the soil, And nourishes the Great Rowan with itself The spirit rushes to meet Enit and Pietro In the Pack That Howls Beyond The Stars
THE EYES OF THE ELDER SPIRITS
Belief in Elder Spirits, Spirits that reside in a place beyond the mortal world, who can occasionally reach out to this plane, is strong and alive in the pack. The pack acknowledges that Elder Spirits have no concept of mortal morality, so they are judged on the actions they take in regards to mortal wolves.
The Eyes are a group of wolves that are chosen at the beginning of the Pack's year (Fall Equinox) to dedicate their time to contemplation and discussion of the Elder Spirits, Enit, and understanding of the greater cosmos outside their world. They lead rituals, they leave offerings for spirits and ancestors, they contact Enit and other Elder Spirits, and they are tasked with passing on the stories of their pack. They are conduits for the Spirits.
THE SUMMER SOLSTICE
A group of adult wolves travel to the desert, arriving at the place of the battle between The Rowan’s Shade Pack and The Pack of Golden light on the solstice. They eat nothing on the journey, in memory of the wolves that were forced to undergo that journey by Aurelius. At the location, during the day they stage a mock battle under the heat of the sun. As the sun sets, they howl to the sky, celebrating the defeat of the Golden Wolf and the rebirth of the Rowan’s Shade pack. They feast as they return to their home pack, and hunt along the way so that when they return the whole pack can feast and celebrate the rebirth of the pack.
That Dream AI artwork app helpfully created some representations of Enit in her eldritch space wolf in the darkness beyond the stars form. I think she's gorgeous ❤️
WOLF : EXALTED
I did a symbolic "origin legend" pic for Enit & Pietro, now its time for Aurelius's pic.
The Rebels within the Pack of Golden Light, while technically all of the Bound are part of the Rebellion, these are the ones who will actively instigate it. Szron. Wrzos, and Ziolo, who are among the bound, have taken the role of protecting the older members of the Bound (Exo and Lentica) and the youngest members who are unable to fight (Grus's pup, who is only 3 months old, and Exo's youngest, who is blind).
Cerbera - daughter of Damat and Caligo, an excellent hunter but farm more excellent spier with her hazy form and many-heads. She has used her near-invisibility to sneak up on Golden Light sentries to spy and her many ears have caught valuable information.
Czar - son of Eridani and a wolf from outside the pack, who is probably the most feared/begrudgingly respected of the Bound wolves by the Pack of Golden Light members, due to his many toothed maws and his absolute control over them.
Dreamwalker - Son of Lentica and a wolf from outside the pack, he can pass into the Dreamlands even outside of full-moon time, though he cannot interact with them. It was using this power that he met with Planeshifter, who shared his ability, and began to formulate a plan to save the Bound wolves.
Drift - daughter of Arcturus and Srokacz, who was born in the Pack of Golden Light but didn't follower her mom's opinions towards her old pack and wanted to see the verdant, watery lands for herself.
Dune - daughter of Luceo and a wolf from outside the pack, she was raised on tales of Rowan's Shade Pack from a tiny thing and is ready to do what must be done to return what remains of the pack to their rightful home.
Grus - daughter of Enit and Pietro, who suffers abuse and name-calling from Aurelius's supporters as a symbol of the Rowan's Shade Pack, but is stoic and firm against all of it. She knows the time is coming when the Bound will rise up and Rowan's Shade Pack will run strong again.
Halcyon - wolf from outside the pack who meets the Rebels in secret, she met Szron while he was hunting one day and sympathized with his plight.
Keir - wolf from outside the pack who joined the Pack of Golden Light but soon rejected their beliefs. He kept his position as a PoGL member while working in secret to aid the Bound wolves when he could.
Oort - daughter of Exo and a wolf from outside the pack who resents Aurelius's methods
Opik - daughter of Exo and a wolf from outside the pack who, who may be the second wolf after Czar who is begrudgingly respected by PoGL wolves
Planeshifter - daughter of Pulsa and a wolf from outside the pack, who rejected the PoGL's beliefs that her Mother clung to and worked to assist the Bound wolves
Sandflower - daughter of Arcturus and Aurelius, who denies her father's beliefs and resents her mother (now passed) who had been bitter about her old pack and who tried to force her daughter to follow the PoGL's beliefs
Shinefur - a young adolescent wolf who Halcyon had found wandering as a pup and began to take care of, he supports Halcyon in her work with the Rebels, and often carries messages for them as he is quite adept at sneaking about
Sterla - daughter of Theta and Esterlin who was raised on the tales of Rowan's Shade Pack told by her mother, and the strength of her father, Esterlin, who realized what a mistake he had made and had made it his mission to resolutely and stoicly defy Aurelius whenever he could.
The Wolves of Rowan’s Shade Pack Are
Normal
Absolutely - Completely
Normal
The Dreamlands opened once more, and in a hidden grove, near a pool fed by sparkling waterfall, three figures gathered at the shore.
"So," The dark wolf spoke as she neared, the grasses beneath her paws scattering sparkles of lunar energy with each step. "You came."
"Of course I came," The large pale wolf responded with a snort. "All this time, and you're still thinking the worst of me, Grymm."
"I wonder why," Grymm huffed.
"Don't be mean, Grymm," Growled the youngest, his violet eyes flashing. He'd hit something of a growth-spurt since the last time they'd met in the dreamlands, his legs growing long and awkward looking. He hopped onto a stone near the shore and sat down, now high enough that his head was on level with the two adult wolves. "Planeshifter is on our side."
The dark and pale wolves exchanged uneasy glances, and the young wolf groaned and rolled his eyes.
"This is the third time we've met already! And you've talked to Czar - I know you have, you're the one who told him Eridani is gone," His ears drooped at the words, but his tone was commanding. "We're not going through this again! It's getting OLD!"
"Yes, oh great Dreamwalker!" Grymm bowed to him with mock reverence, "Your word is our command!"
Dreamwalker shot her an annoyed look, but Planeshifter's lips quirked in amusement.
"We should probably get on with this," Planeshifter said, sitting close to the stone where Dreamwalker sat, "I'm not in the lands alone, and those floating sprites are only going to keep my sibling's attention for so long and I want to get back to them before they start to wander."
"Oh please," Planeshifter laughed, "They're babies, how far can they get?"
"Far enough," Dreamwalker snapped, "Now, Grymm, how are things with the Rowan's Shade Pack? Have you made any headway?"
"Enough, I think," Grymm responded, stretching her long legs in front of her. "Eridani's death has riled up a lot of the remaining members - well, other than Srokacz. I don't think anything can rile him up anymore... But Fen and I have gotten most of the rest on board with the plan."
"Fen and I," Dreamwalker repeated, a teasing glint in his eyes.
"Arat and Dura are fully behind it," Grymm glared at Dreamwalker as she continued, "And then there's Eridani's daughter..."
"The one pup that survived." Planeshifter said softly.
"Yes," Grymm's eyes lifted to look at the tumbling, shining waters. "She's... interesting. Star, Eridani called her, but she says it's just a 'now-name'. Fen took an interest in her from the beginning, taking her out for long scouting walks since the moment she could stumble along behind him. I think..."
"...what?" Dreamwalker's ears perked, and Planeshifter tilted her head, eyeing Grymm curiously.
"I think," Grymm's eyes turned back to her companions. "I think he knows something the rest of us don't. Something about Star."
"Is she anything like Eridani, with the... sight?" Planeshifter asked lowly.
"Oh yes," Grymm responded, "And more. She's so odd...she...she barely seems like a wolf sometimes."
Dreamwalker suddenly lifted himself to his paws on the stone, eyes wide and tail shooting up, trembling with sudden excitement.
"Do you think!" He said, eyes dancing between the two older wolves. "Do you think it's her? Is she back somehow?"
"I don't think anything," Grymm snapped at him, ears laid back and fur bristling along her back, and he dropped back to sit on the stone ears and head lowered. "And I won't. We can't be sure of anything right now. Not while he's still in power."
"Grymm's right," Planeshifter said grimly, eyes hard. "He's done something to the connection between the spirit plane and us. It's difficult enough to get to the Dreamlands even with his approval, reaching the lands of the spirits that are even further away? Or having them reach us? It seems impossible now."
"Besides," Grymm said, "We can't rely on her returning to help us. It's been years since she left, and we have to take a stand ourselves. Everyone who had been old enough to live with her leading the Rowan's Shade Pack had sat around on their haunches doing nothing for all this time!"
Grymm's fur bristled even more, and her tone grew so angry and biting that Dreamwalker shifted to the further side of his stone from her.
"It's true," Planeshifter agreed, "It's beyond time something has been done. There are pups growing up in The Pack of Golden Light who don't know anything about the old ways of the pack, who treat the members he had dragged with him to the desert with scorn and ridicule. The tiniest pup will bare their teeth at Grus and call her a madwolf and a mirage-chaser. Only Czar commands any sort of respect, and even that is only because most are too scared to challenge a wolf with so many tooth-filled maws to fight."
"It's time," Grymm said resolutely, looking at the other two wolves. "There's no sense waiting any longer. We're ready."
"So are we!" Dreamwalker yipped with excitement, his tail wagging. "We will be prisoners no more!"
"Yes," Planeshifter nodded, "You won't, and I and the others among the Pack of Golden Light who want change will help to make sure of that."
"How many do you have?" Grymm asked.
"Kier, Drift, Sandflower, and even Esterlin and Theta's daughter, Sterla, are with me," Planeshifter looked pleased. A fire was lit in her eyes, and all three wolves felt the heat of expectation, the coming winds of change, blow through them. "Between us, and those of The Bound who are strong enough to fight, and those from Rowan's Shade Pack who will come to support us - HE won't stand a chance!"
