Sage

## Application Sheet

Sage was a brown-furred she-wolf with dark green eyes. She was a Beta Hunt Master in Havir, who served her pack well until her death. She was created and RP'd by Uniskorne.

## Personality

* ***Competent*.** The wolves of Havir don't frown upon weakness but they also do not give it any leeway. It was into this mentality that Sage was born and then raised to be self-sufficient and useful. It would be cliched to say she is a survivor, but that is the best description for her--she will find a way to live and prosper.
* ***Well-mannered and Respectful.*** The elder wolves are those who proved themselves in the cold, harsh lands of the Havir, and, for this, they deserve respect. With this respect comes manners. Sage might not like you, but she will do so politely.
* ***Ambitious and Driven.*** Ritual, Respect, and Rank. When these are the tenants of your life, you can't help but grow up wanting more than just to survive. Without rank, you've not worked hard enough, not proven yourself worthy to your pack and the gods. That is a fate worse than death. Sage's goal in life is to become Hunt Master.
* ***Parochial*.** The wolves of Havir protect their own and are hostile to outsiders. There is another term for this: clannish. Sage's entire worldview is of Havir and Havir alone. If she was to even know about other ways of thought, she'd be highly suspicious and critical of it, probably rejecting it outright for being blasphemous or idiotic.
* ***Zealous*.** The gods control all, from the skies to the blood in your veins. You exist merely because of a god's whim. The gods are good, but, if things go wrong for you, it's your fault.
* ***Cognizant*.** Sage has studied the flora and fauna of her lands since she was a juvenile for the sole purpose of better hunting skills. Although not a master as of yet, she has fine tuned what she knows to a point where she can almost think like her prey.
* ***Arrogant*.** She acknowledges that she can have an ego sometimes, particularly when it comes to her hunting skills. The biggest way this manifests is she will almost convince herself that she can take down, by herself, prey that requires a hunting pack. She also will 'show-off' her tracking skills and be pretty proud of herself in the process.
* ***Self-Aware.*** In recent seasons, Sage has become in touch with her herself, realizing the depth of her emotions, her weaknesses and strengths, and discovering some desires and dreams she didn't realize she had before. This has help her put into perspective her place in the pack and, ultimately, the world she lives in.

## Pre-Group History

Sage was her mother's last litter and the only survivor. As soon as she was able, Sage was put to work providing for her parents, as both were entering their elder years. She would go with her father on his hunts and help track the prey. As she grew, she began to take down the prey with him more until her father could no longer make the kills. This made her fast and strong and prepared her for life as an adult, focusing her thoughts on her future in the pack. She would become a Hunt Master one day. With the passing of her parents when she was almost a year old, Sage began her own informal education of the ways of the forest and the creatures within it. She also hung around the hunters of her time, watching and absorbing their techniques and any knowledge they might share as they casually talked to one another. She forced herself to run a little further each day while carrying branches on her back. She taught herself to go without food and water for days or to eat grubs and tree bark, drinking dew or melted snow. All this has refined her into a slightly odd, resilient untrained huntress.

## Group History

Upon her arrival in Havir, the alpha Saurugol quickly put Sage to the test. He took the omega out on a hunting expedition, and was impressed when she helped him to bring down a bull moose, informing her that her path must be that of a Hunt Master. She eagerly accepted the position and set about working on her new task.

Briefly, she would butt heads with the blind wolf, Fallon, but beyond this, Sage seemed to get along well with her packmates.

Sage would fall into training underneath Ira and Shandris, higher-ranking Hunt Masters than she was. She had immense respect for them, Shandris especially, who often hunted with her. Sage would work her way up in the ranks, catching a deer while Saurugol watched, and getting promoted to gamma.

Not everything was perfect, though. Life in Havir was rough, especially around this time, and Sage would sometimes question the will of the gods. She approached Silvanus to ask the High Priest if the gods were punishing them, and whether she should offer herself to appease them; Sage was reassured by his explanations of what the gods expected of their followers, and it was not sacrifices of Havirian blood.

As the months passed, Sage began to feel a deep, gnawing sense of loneliness within her heart. The wolves of Havir were rarely warm and social, but even though she was welcomed as one of the pack's gammas, and a central member of Havir's Hunt Masters, she still felt lonely. She wished to share her life with someone, and prayed desperately to Ademalik to send her a sign.

The loneliness got worse, causing her to struggle with falling asleep and staying asleep. Eventually, she approached one of the healers, Aphrodi, to ask for advice and a possible herbal remedy. He helped her, and discussed her lovesickness with her as well, and Sage, reassured, asked him if he'd like to be friends. Aphrodi agreed, delighted to be Sage's friend. Finally, she was able to get some sleep.

Sage would be distracted from her loneliness due to events in Havir, however. Several of the pack's she-wolves had vanished, including Saurugol's daughter Ira. Saurugol was injured, and with Ira missing, he needed a Hunt Master to step up to the task of leading - a *beta.* Saurugol asked Sage if she would take the position.

Nearly sick and dizzy with joy, Sage agreed, and was promoted to Beta Hunt Master. One of the duties she would take upon herself was training Saurugol's young son, Arthur, some hunting skills. Though the prince was becoming a Guardian, with skilled hunters going missing, Sage believed the pack needed all of the capable hunters they could get. Arthur agreed and eagerly threw himself into his studies whenever Sage asked it of him!

Sometime thereafter, Saurugol called a pack meeting, to alert everyone about the missing wolves and ask the Hunt Masters to try tracking them. Sage agreed, but warned that the trail, wherever it was, would run cold after a few days of searching. The pack only had three Hunt Masters at this time: Sage herself, Tilika, and Shandris. Sage warned that they would have to use their time wisely, to not let the pack go hungry while using their tracking skills. It was agreed that each Hunter would work with a Guardian, instead of the three wolves traveling together and tiring themselves out. Dutifully, Sage set to work.

The patrols would be successful in discovering the scent of the missing females, as well as the scents of three male loners. Sage would report this to Saurugol and he would consider the next plan of action. They tried again and again to catch the loners, but the loners were clever and outwitted the Havirians at every step, it seemed.

Finally, Shandris approached Saurugol and proposed a plan - *she* would play a helpless she-wolf and Sage would be nearby, tracking her scent, to try following the loners wherever they took her. The loners departed with Shandris, but one fell back - Tadashi - to give Sage information, feeling a strong sense of guilt for the kidnapping of the she-wolves. Sage didn't trust him at first, but he provided valuable information, and could prove he was an ally, so she took a risk and agreed to share the information with Saurugol.

She raced back to Havir's den-site, and immediately went to speak to Saurugol. He would call a meeting, after hearing Sage's information, and the pack decided to send a rescue party, to follow Tadashi's directions. Sage would accompany Saurugol, along with Arthur, Quidel, Nadina, Cyrus, and Faust, in rescuing the females.

Sage was nervous - she didn't know combat techniques! - but Cyrus agreed to teach her some when they were done. She'd do fine for this one attack against two wolves, though, she was reassured. And she was! Unscathed, she and Arthur pinned Ha'an to await Saurugol's verdict.

His life would be ended swiftly.

Sage returned to Havir's main den with the rest of her packmates, relieved to have rescued all of the females, and to see Ira - who had been believed dead - alive!

As life returned to normal, and lovely warm weather reached Havir, Sage took some time to enjoy herself near the borders. There, she ran into a loner named Kaiser, who flirted shamelessly with her, complimenting her beauty. Sage was flustered but appreciated the attention, and couldn't help feeling a bit giggly as he bade her farewell, silently hoping he would, perhaps, return to the borders someday.

However, despite the warm weather, Sage was struggling to keep up with her duties. She was missing catches, no matter how hard she tried, how fast she ran, the prey eluded her. She was easily exhausted and weak, and couldn't understand why. One day, after failing to catch a rabbit, she collapsed to rest.

A strange wolf approached her, and told her to stand and help him to hunt a large white moose. She didn't think she'd have the strength to, but the wolf told her the gods had blessed her, and would guide her paws. It was at this time she realized she had, in fact, passed, and this was one of the gods, bidding her follow him into the afterlife.

Sage would miss her packmates, but knew it was time, and gladly departed this life for the next. She would be deeply missed by her packmates, who honored her after she was gone.

## Trivia

* Sage is the wolf equivalent to that woman who drives the huge pickup truck with a gun rack, is not afraid to go under the house to pull out the raccoon, and who always has a freezer on the back porch full of venison. She's friendly, outspoken, and will only laugh if you point out that she's covered in dirt at the grocery store.

## Quotes

* "Tell me how I can help during this awful time. Guide my paws in ways that can ease the suffering of others. If the Gods so wish it, let them put me to the test--one soul for all of Havir! Let them manifest their disapproval in some beast, I'll bring it down in Their Names, and, in doing so, both prove Havir's worth and appease Them. If I fail, then let my death serve as a warning and a lesson, and let no other harm come to Havir. Would the Gods allow this?" (to Silvanus, *Words of Wisdom*)
* "I would not dishonor you by telling half-truths or lies, my Alpha. Nor would I endanger the pack with falsehoods or biased opinion. But, please, as I council you, council me when passion and ego replace intelligence and reason, AdeSaurugol. I struggle with my own arrogance and might seek to bring down the biggest bull moose with only a feather, so to speak." (in response to her promotion, *Havir's New Beta*)

## External Links

* Official Application Sheet
* Uniskorne's deviantART Gallery