Wolves at Curious Pastimes
Tales of the Dire Wolf
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Wolves at Curious Pastimes
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#Many years ago, there existed in the southern reaches of Wolf Lands, a three races of creatures.
In the forest, there were a group of Ogres. They were a noble and strong group of fighters, using their strength to keep the peace in the forest they inhabited. The strongest family lead the forest, with the eldest member leading the House. They hunted for food, and became skilled with bow, axe and sword, seldom wearing armour, as it made too much noise while they stalked their prey.
In the open land and wilderness, there lived tribes of Beastmen of many varieties and kin. These were skilled farmers, living in caves and huts, growing plants to eat, wheat to turn to bread, they wanted for little. The understood the balance of life, and respected the land, and the spirits and magic contained within. They cared for their lives, and their protection, and so they wore light armour, as it was suitable for some protection, but also did not get in the way while going about their daily business.
In the Swamps and marshes, lived a colony of Lizardmen. They had ventured far north from the warmer climes, and found a little haven in the chill north. Snow rarely fell, and when it did, the Lizardmen burrowed under the marsh to sleep out the worse of the weather. They were forced to eek out a living, eating fish from the swamps, berries from the shrubs, and little else. They became adept at using the plant life in and around the marsh to make ointments to aid the weak and injured.
After a time, the Ogres became restless in their forest homes. They wished to stretch their limbs, explore the world beyond their borders. To the north, lay much cold, and many humans. The Ogres distrusted the humans, as some thought the Ogres barbarous, and hunted them. To the west lay the Ocean, and the Ogres lacked the ability to make longships. To the east, was open land, and field, and hill. The Ogres set off, taking supplies of prey-beast with them.
The Beastmen lived a simple life. They knew the plants grew from seeds, so were careful to plant two seeds for every seed consumed. They knew the plant life fed off the soil, and water, so made certain to protect the soil from harm, and the soil kept moist. They knew they became part of the soil, and so when one died, they were burnt to ash, and the ash spread around their farmland, feeding the plants that had nourished them.
A group of Ogres approached a tribe of Beastmen. Neither had encountered the other before. The Ogres, who had only dealt with food-creatures before, saw the Beastmen as prey, and started stalking their new food source. The Beastmen, who dealt with very different looking creatures on a day by day basis, saw the new creatures were circling them like jackals, and called out in alarm;
“Why do you seek to hunt us, we are not food!”
The Ogres were surprised, to say the least. They had never met a prey-creature who could speak. They stopped circling, but closed in, nonetheless, weapons in hand. The Beastmen called again;
“Do not attack us, we may be smaller, but we are capable of defence!”
Again, the Ogres hesitated, confused by these prey-beasts now apparently threatening them. They looked to their leader, who signalled them to continue. Suddenly, they heard words like none they had heard before, a strong light around the prey-beast, and the grasses and vines around their feet came to life, grew up their legs and pinned their arms before any could shout in alarm!
The Beastmen spoke to the land, asking the plants for aid, and stop but not hurt these confused, albeit huge, creatures. The plants responded, and entwined up their legs to hold the weapons of steel and wood. They started forward, and with some effort, disarmed the large creatures. They could see fear in the big creatures eyes. The Beastmen saw this, and spoke words of reassurance to the Ogres, telling them they would come to no harm. They instructed the plants to release them.
The vines dropped from the Ogres arms, and the urge was there to strike out at these whelps who had humiliated the strongest of the Forest with plants! The leader stepped forward, towards the lead Beastman. The Ogre, a full head and a half taller, extended his hands with a look of despair, and dropped to one knee;
“You have taken our weapons, you have humiliated the Ogres of the Forest, we are defenceless. We bow to you now, masters of the plants!”
The Beastman leader threw back his wolf-like head and laughed.
“I have no need for you to bow, but I have needs. If you aid us to collect this harvest, we shall share it with you, and you may return to your forest, safe in the knowledge that you have allies here in the Open Lands.”
The Ogre Leader thought about this, and agreed it was a good agreement. He did have one request to make of the Wolf-man.
“Let us spend this night, with mead and warm food and good company, and tell each other of our past, so that we may complete our alliance in good faith, and good humour.”
The Beast Leader thought about this, and he too agreed it was a good agreement. The Ogres had learned a useful lesson; ‘not everything that is different is food, and some situations are made worse by violence’. The Beastmen, also, had learned a lesson; they could have picked up their weapons, but chose to talk. This nearly cost them dearly, until they used their allies, the plants. The lesson they learned was, ‘even the most mundane and lowest of allies have their uses from time to time’.
