» the plot

[[A.n.y.u]]

Years ago a small group of wolves escaping the warring outside world discovered Everfrost and eventually came to call it home. They lived in peace for a time, before they began their own wars and, before long, their own destruction. One pack managed to prevail over all of the others, but only because of a secret that they protected with their very lives.

It was called The Vision, though the name was inaccurate, since it came differently to each of the wolves infected. How they were infected by this was, for the most part, unknown. In a hidden glade deep within neutral territory is a large stone boulder that looks ordinary enough. The only problem is that, when a wolf touches it, it gives a new power to that wolf. A sixth sense, more or less. It gives some the power to heal, others the power to touch minds. It varies with the wolf.

So, the pack that discovered this rock out in the middle of no where kept it a secret for years, until eventually it became a legend that was told to each generation. Soon the rock was forgot and became simply an exciting tale to tell. There were always wolves who went out to find it, but few ever returned successful, if at all. Years later, just after the floods that drove the new packs out of Everfrost, a lone wolf discovered a beautiful hidden glade with a large boulder concealed in it's center. The loner had been injured in a nasty fall down a cliff and only luck had brought him this far. He slept by the great rock that night. It was the best night's sleep he had ever had.

When he woke the next morning he had been completely healed. Amazed by his discovery, he ran off into Everfrost, searching for someone to spread the news to. The rock could heal! But when he finally found someone to tell - the members of Nyack pack - no one believed him. It was then that a puppy who had been sick with a cough for a long time wandered up to the newcomer. When the two touched the pup suddenly seemed stronger and his cough was gone. With this new information, the pack finally believed that the rock had given this wolf some strange power. In his joy, the stranger gave them the directions that would take them to the rock. But, try as they might, they still could not find it.

The loner left and visited the other four packs, showing each his new power and giving them directions to the rock. It was up to them to find it after that, a feat that was almost impossible.

Eventually some did find it and were blessed with the power that the rock could give them. However, the stone was rarely in the same place that the loner had described to the packs. It seemed to appear in different places, making it hard for wolves to truly search for the magic rock. But some found it, and over time the number of wolves with magic increased steadily. Over the years a few of these wolves mingled with the packs, having puppies and living out their lives with their strange powers. Sometimes they kept their power hidden, other times they shared it with the world.

After a time it was found that children of wolves that had received this power were also born with some kind of magic. Once again, it varied with the wolf, and it didn't always get passed on to every pup in a litter. Even with all of the descendants of the wolves who first received the magic, wolves with power are uncommon. There are one or two here and there once in a while.

The search for the mysterious stone has continued, but few are able to find it. Wolves with power grow more common by the day, though they are still few and far between. A power struggle looms on the horizon as the packs try to gain every possible tactical advantage that they can. Who will come out on top? Only time will tell.

[[A.n.y.u]]

DURING SPRING OF THE THIRD YEAR...

As wolves continue to grow comfortable with the magic that has been given them by the Stone over the many years, the land has begun to change. More and more wolves journey to Everfrost and more and more wolves are finding the Stone each time it appears. Now, the Stone gives out more powers in a month than if ever did in a single year just a short time ago. And it seems to be getting easier to find and spends more time in one spot, instead of disappearing and reappearing as it had been before. Something is wrong with the Stone.

But it is not just the Stone's movement that is worrisome. Lately, wolves have not been getting magic from the Stone. Some have been getting a very different gift from the Stone - one that is more of a curse than a blessing. And that is what such gifts are called. Curses. These powers are almost impossible to control, though they can be if the user works hard and long enough. Some can't be controlled. Their effects are permanent and cannot be removed, or so it seems. These curses come in the form of powers such as omens (things that tell a wolf something bad is about to happen), repulsion (other wolves tend to avoid or ignore the user) or bad luck. It is almost as if these curses are the opposite of the magic that the Stone once gave out.

The Stone still gives out magic, of course. But it gives out curses just as often, if not more often, than it does magic. A wolf takes a risk when it visits the Stone. And as the Stone becomes more and more stabilized it becomes more and more possible for wolves to try to take control of it, and monitor who approaches. This, along with the curses that many wolves have begun to receive, have the wolves of Everfrost very, very worried.

There is something disturbingly wrong with the Stone. If the wolves don't find a way to fix it, they will have to change their way of life and lose the magic that they have coveted so much since coming here.