the human world

the twoleg factions

humans are not a monolith. the wolves recognize several groups.

silverrush and the twolegs

the river is a highway. humans use it for trade, transport, and fishing. silverrush has learned to share, a concept the other packs find incomprehensible.

the toll of tears

a century ago, humans built a bridge across the stoneroot. the wolves could have destroyed it. instead, the current at the time, swift-as-sorrow, made a deal with the humans through patient gestures and repeated offerings. the humans left fresh meat on the bridge each day, and in return, the wolves let them cross freely. over time, the humans began to leave more, sometimes the remains of their own dead, and the tear-drinkers say these borrowed bones keep the weeping stones flowing.

the factory upstream

ten years ago, a human paper mill opened north of the weeping stones. the water has changed, it tastes of sickness now. fish are dying. pups born near the mill are wrong, twisted spines, milky eyes, howls that sound like weeping. silverrush has sent three delegations to the mill, leaving dead fish and rotting carcasses at the gates as a warning. the humans laughed and threw the offerings into the river. the fourth delegation did not return.

mistmoor and the twolegs

humans fear the rotting mere. good. those who enter are lost folk, fugitives, madmen, researchers from the lowland university who think they can "study" the swamp's unique ecosystem. mistmoor does not raid human camps. they collect humans.

the bargain of flesh

the rotparent keeps three to six humans alive at any time. not as slaves, as offerings. when the maw hungers, and the maw is always hungry, a human is led to the belly-rip and given a choice through gestures and the wolves' patient waiting: jump into the sinkhole, or be eaten. the choice matters. wolves who witness the offering say the maw's chewing grows louder when the human chooses the fall.

the bleeding stumps

two years ago, a group of loggers tried to clear the swamp's edge. mistmoor slaughtered them but left their axes planted in the ground as markers. now the loggers' bones hang from the cypress trees, stripped clean by scavengers. the human authorities have noticed. a punitive expedition is being planned.

thistlehide and the twolegs

thistlehide's forest borders human farmland. this has been... complicated. the humans here are settlers, loggers, farmers, families fleeing the cities. they cut trees. thistlehide is the trees, in a spiritual sense. conflict is inevitable.

the compromise of rotten timber

forty years ago, a heartwood named briar-throat made a deal with a human family, the harrows. through months of careful observation and repeated offerings, the wolves learned that the harrows would leave fresh-kill at the forest edge in exchange for the wolves not attacking their livestock. the harrows cut only deadfall and sick trees. in return, thistlehide left them alone and sometimes left bones and antlers at the treeline as a gesture of peace.

the broken truce

last spring, the harrows sold their land. the new owners, the thorne lumber company, do not respect the old deal. they have cut twenty live oaks. thistlehide has killed four loggers. the humans are arming themselves. worse: some young wolves are whispering that the harrows betrayed the pack by leaving. the memory-knot is growing heavy.

the harrow daughter

the last remaining harrow, a young human woman who refused to leave when her family sold the land. she lives alone in the old farmhouse, still leaving fresh meat at the forest edge. she has learned to read the wolves' body language and responds with careful gestures of her own. she leaves offerings of bones and fresh-kill, and the pack has learned to recognize her scent. she is not a threat. cedarwind has forbidden her death. not every wolf in thistlehide agrees.

greyspire and the twolegs

the mountains are harsh, and humans who venture here are desperate, trappers, exiles, fools. greyspire has learned that humans are weak alone but dangerous in numbers. they raid human camps for steel traps, which they use as weapons, and dried meat. captured humans are sometimes traded back to lowland settlements for goods, a practice the other packs find barbaric.

the crow's bargain

twenty winters ago, a human prospector named silas crow stumbled into greyspire territory half-frozen. the highfang at the time, old grimfang, spared him in exchange for iron points, arrowheads and knives that the wolves learned to use as tools. crow taught the wolves to set ambushes using human techniques, communicating through careful gestures and demonstrations. when crow died (of age, in his sleep, a luxury no greyspire wolf has ever known), grimfang buried him in the tooth split. now greyspire wolves make offerings of fresh-kill at crow's grave before raids, though the maw's priests call this heresy.

standing with the factions

every faction remembers. a wolf can raise or lower a faction's standing through actions. the oak knot, five points of standing, marks a real relationship crossing over from tolerance to something like an understanding.

the oak knot

five points of standing with a faction. the oak knot marks a real relationship crossing over from tolerance to something like an understanding. at oak knot, a faction will warn you of danger. at oak knot, they will leave food out for you, deliberately. at oak knot, they will not shoot first.

oak knot is rare. it takes patience, luck, and a willingness to trust the enemy. but it is the only way the wolves can survive the human world.