#year nine

[discountmalinois]

Brown dogs - in a variety of sizes - begging for pork chops.

[tackminyard]

time for the annual no one look at me forcing myself to post art tory brennan. went digital for year nine!

[live-hargreeves-updates-nz]

Five is getting his new school uniform because he's about to go into year nine

[gutterclan]

Sanctuary Pack Wolves: Rathlow and Harvests Honey

Born in the ninth Autumn of The Sanctuary Pack

Mothers: Radun, Chews On Chicory

Rathlow

Personality: More like her reserved parents than her sweeter sister, Rathlow is cool-headed and tough. Or-- she tries to be. Rathlow seems to want her packmates to take her seriously, but she's a bit clumsy and awkward, and no one really takes her blustering to heart.

Naming Conventions: Environment. Pups in Radun's birth pack were named after an element of the place they were born, and given common-use nicknames derived from these. These nicknames follow shared conventions, passed down along matrilineal lines. Radun’s family share the “Ra” in their nickname. (Low Heather-> Rathlow)

Harvests Honey

Personality: An exceptionally sweet and loyal young wolf, Honey is, for the most part, very laid-back. She's content to let others act while she watches, and likes to sit and watch the world go by.

However, when pressed into action, she is single-minded in pursuit of her goals, and will dedicate herself to them with a ruthless determination-- and the same sweet, unruffled demeanor as always.

Naming Conventions: Wolves in Chicory’s birth pack were named for traits they have or feats they accomplish as they pass into adulthood, often involving a play on words or double-meaning.

She named Honey for her golden colouration, her sweet nature, and her willingness to undergo any hardship in pursuit of what she wants; like an animal enduring bee stings in order to get to a hive's honey.

She earns this name at her Rite ceremony, for her valor during the events of year ten. Prior to this, her packmates call her 'speckle' for her spotted coat, and this lingers as a term of endearment for years after.

[discountmalinois]

Just too cute. One day I’ll find clothing that actually fits him properly but for now he loves whatever I put him in.

[gutterclan]

Sanctuary Pack Wolves: More

Born in the ninth Spring of The Sanctuary Pack

Parents: Ceda, Cairn

Personality: A sweet young wolf, More loves to make his friends laugh, and spends a lot of time as a pup with Cairn's friend, Carnassial, under her questionable influence as a practical joker.

Naming Conventions: ‘Good Luck’, Second Generation.

More's family traditionally gives pups names that are gruesome or morbid as a sort of superstitious good luck charm (good luck being needed more by the lone wolves the tradition originated with than by more secure pack wolves). The idea is that unpleasant names get the bad luck 'out of the way’ early, to avoid misfortune later in life.

More himself was named after the mores, sprites that Sanctuary's wolves believe lurk below the surface of the river Tuckamore, seeking to drag unwary wolves under.

[gutterclan]

Sanctuary Pack Wolves: Lenok

Born in the ninth spring of The Sanctuary Pack

Parents: Eight, Dace

Personality: Though as bold and confident as her mother Dace, Lenok is a a little less rash than Dace was at her age, preferring to pause and think things through before committing to a course of action-- though once she commits, she's all-in, and her force of personality can sometimes bowl over other, less confident wolves.

She makes Dace- somewhat ruefully- understand why her own mother, Saturn, named her after a tiny fish; to encourage her to be less of a headstrong bully despite her size and confidence (it hadn't worked then, and Dace doubts that it will work now).

Naming Conventions: Fish, Second Generation

Lenok was born in a slightly chaotic time for The Sanctuary Pack, as Dace was devoting her every waking hour to training and testing the her prospective successors. One apprentice is usually a lot of work for a single wolf to handle. Dace, true to form, had decided to take on three at once, and- no longer a young wolf- she was running herself ragged trying to keep up with the work.

But though Dace was a stubborn old wolf, and had her whole life been somewhat headstrong and set-in-her-ways, not all things stay the same. When Lenok was born, Dace vowed not to make the same mistakes she made with her first daughter, Perch.

She delegated many of her training duties to trusted packmates-- old friends and proven council members like Rime, Eight, Grayling, and Carnassial. Though it pained her to step back even an inch from her self-appointed duties, Dace was determined to be there for her pup, and Lenok grew up very close with both of her mothers.

Her older sister, Perch, has complex feelings on the matter. She's glad to see the proof that Dace has changed, after all, but it stings a little to see that Dace is capable of being an attentive parent, and know that she wasn't that for Perch.

Dace's treatment of Lenok means that, years after Dace first apologized to Perch, Perch is finally ready to accept the apology, though her and Dace's relationship remains somewhat complicated. The family does begin spending more time together, though. Perch finds she gets along well with Eight, and Perch's own pup, Kit, grows close with his new aunt.

[gutterclan]

The Sanctuary Pack Leaders: Maize

The Pack's third leader, Maize, was named at the end of Year Nine, emerging from a small group of wolves all competing to earn the position. Below is a summary of her journey towards becoming leader:

Year Five

Maize is born to Finch and Hayseed. The boldest puppy of her litter, she spends her earliest days causing trouble for her parents and entertaining her older packmates. Her high levels of energy and enthusiasm make her seem a promising pick to be a hunter or scout once she's older.

Maize's litter is struck by a bad bout of pneumonia; her littermates pass away. While Maize survives, she's left with lingering effects from her illness. She struggles to breathe properly, and is unable to be as active as she was before falling ill.

Due to her sickliness, Maize is held back from being declared an adolescent, and remains in the care of the pupsitters when she reaches the age most wolves would begin their training.

Year Six

The Pack is forced to flee from their territory; the journey is especially hard on Maize, and she spends a lot of her time in the care of the herbalists. She's frustrated by this, wanting the chance to see more of the unfamiliar territories the pack finds themselves in.

After nearly a year in the care of the pupsitters, Maize- reaching physical adulthood- delivers an ultimatum to her leader, Dace; make her an apprentice, or she'd leave on her own. She's frustrated she has to ask, and irritated that she's been treated like a much younger wolf than she is. Dace reluctantly agrees, making Maize an apprentice pupsitter under her father, Finch. Maize has no real desire to be a pupsitter, but it's the only job in the pack that she's able to undertake due to her ongoing lung problems.

Maize's siblings, Farrier and Holiday, are born to Finch and Hayseed. Maize- spending all of her time in the pupsitter den- gets to know them well. The three become quite close.

Maize and Finch's relationship becomes tense. Maize's high spirits aren't particularly suited to pupsitting, and she neither enjoys the work nor excels at it. Finch tries to reconcile her to the role, but the two- both stubborn and neither particularly polite- usually just end up fighting.

Year Seven

The Pack returns to their old territory.

Holiday and Farrier are named apprentices; Farrier ends up a pupsitter alongside Maize, and he thrives in the role. Watching him helps Maize start to realize just how unsuited to the job she really is.

With this in mind, Maize goes to her leader, Dace, and asks that she not be forced to spend her entire life doing a job that makes her miserable. Though uncertain, Dace eventually agrees.

Maize is finally declared a full adult, and also retires from her pupsitting duties. While glad not to be a pupsitter, Maize still wonders what her place in the pack will be moving forward, struggling to reconcile herself to quiet retirement.

Maize and Rover grow closer, and Rover encourages Maize to internalize the lesson that it took Rover herself a long time to learn; that you don't have to do work in order to be worth something. Rover got herself hurt a number of times trying to keep scouting even though she was too old to do so safely; it's good that, in retiring early, Maize avoided doing something similar.

Maize does begin to accept this, but- while it's better than pupsitting- she still struggles with the many, many empty hours that her retirement has created. As a way to soothe this boredom, she begins to speak with her packmates, and gets to know The Pack's camp- the Jawbone- and its wolves better than anyone else in Sanctuary.

Year Eight

Maize starts to notice little things wrong around the camp that no one else seems to and, quietly, begins to solve these problems. This starts when she stumbles on a store of old bones hidden away by Verand and Kit back in their rebellious days that the two had completely forgotten about. Being quite close with Farrier, Maize knows the pupsitters are short on toys; she leaves the bones outside the pupsitting den.

Maize starts to really enjoy this sort of problem-solving; it's good to have something to do with her time, and nice to see her packmates' reactions when they discover their problems have been mysteriously solved. The pack begins to believe that strange beings are answering their wishes, and calls these beings "sprites".

Dace asks for volunteers to become the pack's next leader; she plans to train a number of wolves for the role, and pick from among them after she's seen what they're all capable of. Maize, believing she knows her packmates better than any other Sanctuary wolf, volunteers for the position. So do Daedon and Jumper, while Dace nominates Verand.

The four apprentices shadow Dace, learning what the day-to-day duties of a leader are. Maize struggles with some of these duties- scouting especially- but due to her long hours getting to know the camp and its inhabitants, she excels at most of them, proving herself very capably at problem-solving and managing her packmates.

Daedon drops out of the running to be leader.

Year Nine

Verand drops out of the running to be leader; she agreed to try when Dace nominated her, but doesn't really want the responsibility.

Jumper begins to emerge as the favourite to become leader; charismatic and clever, he's won many of Sanctuary's wolves over completely, and everyone's fairly sure he'll be named Dace's successor.

Dace catches Maize when she's trying to secretly solve a packmate's problem; Maize admits to being behind "the sprites" that are answering Sanctuary wolves' wishes, though asks Dace to keep it between them.

Having initially doubted Maize's potential as leader (she wanted Verand for the role), this wins Dace over to the idea. Seeing how well Maize knows her packmate's needs, she declares Maize her official successor.

Jumper seems surprised and a little upset by this, and argues that Maize isn't capable of being leader-- she hasn't done any real work for the pack for years, enjoying her cushy early retirement. Some packmates mutter agreement with this, but Dace is firm in her choice.

Maize discovers a store of fresh bedding has been left in her den; she had needed new nesting material for a while, but hadn't mentioned it to anyone yet. But-- it couldn't have been "the sprites", those aren't real-- are they?

At year's end, Dace retires; Maize is made the third leader of The Pack at Sanctuary