Tick

"*I'm.. I'm Tick. I don't know what an unbound is, but I come from a tribe of warrior hunters, and I am supposed to be completing the ritual of killing a hawk with my kin, but... we got separated. Are... are you god?*"
—Tick no longer in Kansas
**Tick** is an Unbound Micro-wolf, not native to the Lucii Kingdom. She is played by **JustVibing#8513.**

## Description

True to her species, she is rather tiny, only about 1 foot long, with short legs, long, blunt claws, large ears, protruding canines, and brilliant red eyes. Her pelt is stripped, with somewhat tribal looking markings across her flank. She has a cut along her ear, likely from play fighting, but otherwise has no scars, only recently having been introduced to the wild world. Her shoulders and neck are protected by a massive mane of dark fur that stops at the middle of her back and head.

## Personality

Bold, brash, loud, enthusiastic. She dreams of becoming a hunter and later alpha, and will fight tooth and nail, risking blood and life for her goals. Having lived in her tribe’s little bubble for all her life, she is arrogant and proud of her abilities and tribe, even if their prowess doesn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things. She seeks to conquer everything in the forest, but soon might find herself in over her head. While she has a soft spot for her kin, she knows what they all need to do to survive, and will try to push them, even past their limits.

## Strengths/Weaknesses

* Born to hunt, with a powerful jump and powerful claws.. at least for anything smaller than a cat. Excellent climber, has a naturally good sense of smell and hearing, able to distinguish the rustle of grass from the rustle of prey. She has an unbreakable drive, and a good amount of dexterity, mentally and physically.
* Most things here can one-shot her, and having grown up learning to hunt in a pack, she will be severely hindered on her own. With short legs she is slow and clumsy for long-distance running, has poor eyesight, gets tired easily, and can’t swim.

## Micro-wolf Species

The micro wolf is a niche variant of wolves, living in a small tribe of 10-15 members, in burrows. They are a proud group, having a culture of hunting as they vanquish birds, rats, small snakes, and  squirrels. Truth be told, even the largest of their species is only 45 cm long and 20 cm tall. Most clock out at 35 cm long and 15 cm tall. (Probably not a perfect estimate, they are about the size of a medium-large sized rat)

### Customs

The micro-wolf species only has one alpha, who participates in and coordinates hunts with the rest of the tribe being hunters. They need this sort of dedication to hunting due to their fast metabolism, as they can only go about 3 days without food.

### Alpha choosing

Generally, alphas can remain alpha until they die, with no elder status being earned. They may fight with many others throughout their lives, male or female, for their status. At a certain age, they can no longer be challenged, but will not hunt, instead continuing to coordinate the hunt.

Generally, choosing an alpha has three parts. The event is held outside the burrow, and somewhere secluded, where only a select few wolves, all unrelated to either competitor, serve as witnesses. The first part has either wolf, let’s call them wolf 1 and 2, aim to pin down the other. If wolf 1 pins down 2, he has to hold him there for all of 8 seconds, and can then offer to yield. If wolf 2 yields, Wolf 1 wins. If not, the second phase goes on. Wolf 1 then has to try to hold down wolf 2 for 8 more seconds. If he succeeds, wolf 1 wins by default. If Wolf 2 recovers, the last phase commences, where each tries to kill the other. Either can technically yield at any point after this, but it is not by law that the other has to listen to them. Thus, they can both kill each other legally at this point.

Coincidentally, the large incisors and mane that the species has also helps in during bouts, with their large fangs allowing them to grapple onto and pin down opponents, and their mains serving to prevent potentially lethal injury during combat.

### Motherhood

The only member who can opt out of hunting is expecting or rearing mothers. They will remain in the burrow, as hunters bring food to them, until the pups(called mites) are able to talk and play on their own, about adolescence, at which point the mother will rejoin the hunting party. Each brood can have from 3 to 5 pups. Because motherhood removes one potential hunter and brings many mouths to feed, only one wolf is allowed to be a mother at a time.

### Right of passage

Eventually, the pups will come of age, and their entire litter will be forced from the burrow with one goal in mind: Kill a hawk. Together, they will need to take down a hawk and carry both talons and a feather as evidence back home, or die trying. If they come back unsuccessfully, they will be banished immediately. Both females and males take part in this tradition.

As harsh as it might be, this is a somewhat necessary endeavor, as the tribe very rarely integrates, keeping to themselves in blissful ignorance of others of its species, thus potentially creating a problem  of incest. Thus, a constant flow of banished wolves, some of which manage to survive long enough to find another tribe and effectively prove themselves, allows for a steady gene flow. For this reason, tribes will often kick out members that aren’t good enough in hunting, even after the right of passage. The very tight window of opportunity to breed also slows the problem of inbreeding.

### Biology

The micro-wolves are designed as ambush predators. Due to their heads generally being below tall grass and living in burrows, they don't rely on their eyesight too much, instead having incredible hearing and smell to locate prey, although their eyes are slitted to allow for better horizontal vision, and to protect their eyesight. For additional help with senses, they have long whiskers to help brush up against and manage their surroundings, or to detect vibrations in the foliage. The alpha will coordinate their positions, before they use their powerful back legs to spring onto the target and crush their necks in powerful jaws. Their entire head is essentially a mouth, with four massive incisors to grab prey and opponents \* alike, thus leaving very little room for… brains. While they are adapted to coordination and hunting, they are not adept in much else, thus leading to a rather primitive and simple-minded society. They are squat, with short legs to keep them low to the ground, and short tails to avoid hindering their jumps, or producing sounds in the grass. To prevent potential injury from raptor (bird of prey) attacks, the species has a large amount of fur covering their necks and shoulders. They hunt at night and day, to ensure a constant food supply.