Atlas

## Application Sheet

Atlas was a grayish-brown male wolf with a single dusty-yellow eye. He was a Delta Vanguard of Fellfang under Jarl Fable's rule, serving through the tensions of the Blood Curse and the fox Valda's manipulations. Eventually, he vanished from the pack, and hasn't returned to the Domain since. He was created and RP'd by lightningspam.

## Personality

* ***Distrustful/Wary.*** Having lived through his pack being slaughtered he learned well that one earns trust. As a result, he tends to be suspicious of every new wolf entering his life. Atlas believes whole-heartedly that the day he lets his guard down is the day a pack like the old Fellfang forms and returns to finish him off. It only takes one wolf to lead a pack down such a destructive path and with Atlas aging; he doubts he could survive such an onslaught again.
* ***Loyal/Protective.*** Once the trust is in place, Atlas is fiercely loyal. He will lay his life down for his pack this time. The old wolf deeply regrets his failed attempts at protecting his last pack and feels no different than the ones who turned tail and ran. Atlas wants to right that wrong and feels the only way is to be willing to sacrifice himself for the new Fellfang. With individual wolves, Atlas is quite picky about who he can claim to be loyal to. Those deemed untrustworthy simply experience his pack-oriented loyalty for protecting the pack is protecting the few within he truly trusts.
* ***Serious***. Atlas tends to have a stoic look on his face, trying hard to remain neutral. The old wolf is a killjoy for the younger members of the pack. He has little patience for joking matters when it comes to morbid and serious subjects. Atlas’s life as a loner hardened him to the carefree nature his younger self embraced. The tragedy makes it easy for him to forget how he used to be and isn’t above scolding a wolf stepping over what he perceives as the line.
* ***Aggressive/Hostile.*** Wolves that Atlas finds to be dangerous or untrustworthy get to see far more than just a cold shoulder. Atlas will flash his teeth at them as a warning but he’s more than willing to fight despite his age. Atlas’s philosophy is to squash the problem before it can even become a problem; a negative trait gained in an attempt to prevent dangers that backfires more often than not. This is Atlas’s vice. It became a part of him the moment he became pack-less. This aggression festers inside of him like a beast. When Atlas is pushed, it explodes. Strange wolves beware; he’s quick to bite if you make the wrong move.
* ***Adventurous.*** This trait is perhaps the only part of his old self that still exists within him today. Atlas finds joy in exploring and knowing the area around him. This aspect of his personality made the time he spent wandering far easier on him and allowed him to find some happiness in seeing new lands he’d never been to before that. It is also how he finds an escape from the demons that eat at his mind sometimes. A brisk walk through a new part of the territory helps put him at ease.

## Pre-Group History

Atlas was born to the alpha pair of a small but tight nit pack. He had two siblings who spent much of their time following in their parents’ footsteps. Atlas, however, was more intrigued with exploring their territory long before he was of age and joining scouts on their trips. There was one such scout who notoriously gave into Atlas. The scout introduced Atlas to his love of travel and taught him many things about their territory – like the best hunting spots and where secret drinking pools with the best water were hidden. It was on one such trip that the scout told Atlas of the Fellfang pack. He shared how Fellfang had come through their territory many times before and stayed a short time to rest but that it had been a long time since their pack had seen even a single Fellfang member. “Do you think the pack still exists?” Atlas had asked intrigued by the nomadic life of this pack. “Hm. I believe they do. Perhaps we’ll see them again one day during your time.” That was all it took to plant the seeds within Atlas’s heart to dream of one day joining the Fellfang pack. Atlas romanticized what it must be like to see so many lands and pass through so many territories peacefully until he finally became a young adult.

Atlas, with the scout by his side, finally announced his desire to find and join the Fellfang pack to his parents. He was met with some resistance at first and questioning by many pack members but eventually they came to terms with it. However in a cruel twist of fate, Atlas wouldn’t need to find the Fellfang pack. They found him – they found them all.

Word of what Fellfang had become never reached Atlas’s pack so when they razed through the territory and attacked, the pack was unprepared. They fought but were slaughtered. Not a single pack member was a match for such strong and cunning wolves. The fight left Atlas gravely wounded and unable to fight. He watched with anguish as the scout he’d come to trust and respect abandoned the pack, his family and Atlas to die.

The result of the attack left Atlas a loner. He spent the entirety of his adult life wandering unclaimed territories becoming stronger. He fought with other loners – and occasionally bears – who crossed his path. Atlas’s life was lived like this – devoid of purpose – until he met a member of the Fellfang pack alone. At the time he had no way of knowing that the wolf was a part of the pack responsible for the death of his own nor that Fellfang had changed their ways drastically. Atlas treated this wolf like any other stranger he encountered but didn’t attack. The wolf announced that it was part of a pack and that Atlas was dangerously close to entering their territory. Now an aged adult, he was intrigued. Seeing the wolf and knowing it had a home and a family caused a sharp pain in his heart but also a new, strong desire to join a pack.

Atlas continued to have encounters with the same wolf, developing a relationship with it until finally deciding to join the pack his acquaintance called home. It was at the introduction that Atlas learned that the pack was Fellfang. He nearly went mad with rage but kept most of his anger held inside knowing that he was outnumbered. Atlas had begun to consider living out the rest of his life as a loner instead but was swayed to give the pack a chance by the wolf. The old wolf kept his distance but could easily see the change Fellfang had underwent. The pack was no longer nomadic and they seemed very opposed to such raids that had slain his pack. Atlas, still a bit wary, decided to trade in his nomadic life in the same way Fellfang had and settle down.

## Group History

Upon his arrival in Fellfang, Atlas was followed by an inquisitive packmate named Requin. Atlas tried to be polite when Requin was revealed, but the young wolf was immensely awkward and uncertain under Atlas's watchful gaze. They sheltered from the rain together under a tree.

Other meetings were less awkward, of course. Atlas met a young male named Nach, who observed his scars and triggered a short, snappish response from Atlas. Nach tried to explain that his mother had taught him that scars were something to be proud of, and showed how strong you were. Atlas didn't think so, explaining the circumstances of how he got his scars, and Nach apologized. They parted ways on better terms, though, with Atlas giving Nach a kind word of farewell.

Other meetings were more tense, though. When Atlas finally came face-to-face with wolves who had been a part of Fellfang's Dark Ages, things were different. Atlas met Rutnik, and learned that his *mother* was the wolf who had given him the scars on his lower body, in an effort to paralyze him. Rutnik offered his own flank to Atlas, to disfigure for revenge, but Atlas refused to stoop to Old Fellfang's level. Rutnik was impressed, and decided, privately, that Atlas was an extremely trustworthy wolf, and a key ally.

Atlas decided he needed to find a task. He tried his paw at hunting, asking Calida to accompany him, but before they could catch anything, *they* nearly became prey to a young grizzly bear. Fortunately, they were able to fight it off, and Atlas decided he was better suited to be a Vanguard.

Atlas tended to talk in his sleep, plagued by dreams of his old pack, his friend Oberon, and the night that Fellfang attacked. Normally, he slept away from the rest of the pack, in order to not disturb them, but one night he woke up Isabau, who'd been struggling to sleep herself. He admitted what his nightmares were about, and they bonded over their traumatic pasts. Atlas invited her to join him on a scouting trip the next day, to learn about the territory. Isabau agreed.

Things were good, for a while. He was a Vanguard, he did his duties well. But he never let himself get too close. As Jarl Fable started acting strangely, and odd things began happening around Fellfang, he started to believe his suspicions from long ago were right. Who was this fox and her wolven companion, Durzin? How did they have so much say in what Fable wanted? Atlas didn't trust them, or Fable, at this point. He didn't trust *anyone.*

He intended to leave, but he was gripped by a need to protect Polaris, the Lady of Fellfang, from whatever darkness was trying to take them. On his way back, he crossed paths with Durzin. Their meeting was short, tense, and interrupted by Nach. Atlas accused Nach of being a murderer, like all Fellfangir, and intended to leave, when Durzin, unable to control his glee, lunged and ripped out Atlas's eye. He tried to attack Durzin, but half-blinded, he struggled. Nach tried to offer aid, to take Atlas to a Witch-Doctor, but, paranoid, Atlas chose to flee, believing Nach to be on Durzin's side.

He isolated himself from the pack, but remained within the territory. Eventually, Moth found him, and helped him to heal. Because he was outside of the main den, he was unaware of current events...such as Fellfang's decision to overthrow Valda and Durzin. So when he heard a howl through the forest, he got up to answer it - he was still a Vanguard, after all.

Atlas found a group of wolves near the border, including Moth and Polaris. They were facing Temperance and Baely, who'd been exiled by Valda. Atlas was ready to attack them if Polaris asked it. But she did not. Still, he remained warily at her side.

Valda was successfully overthrown (not that Atlas had anything to do with it). Jarl Fable returned to normalcy, slowly but surely, and Polaris - dear Polaris, the only wolf to whom he was completely loyal - had puppies. Four of them! The pups liked Atlas, especially Saga. It was common to see Saga sleeping on the old wolf's back. He also met Lincoln, who was a little less certain about Atlas!

Atlas vanished from Fellfang sometime after the pups became juveniles. Nobody knows what became of the old warrior, but it is hoped that he found somewhere peaceful to live out his retirement.

## Trivia

* Atlas's scars were given to him by Rutnik's mother, in the raid that destroyed his pack. According to Rutnik, "their aim was to cut through the skin and muscle to the vertebrae underneath, severing control over the body's lower half. Only a male wolf could have inflicted such damage properly though, so Rutnik could only assume a female was responsible." Due to the staggered nature of the marks, Rutnik drew the connection to his mother.
* Atlas lost his eye to Durzin.

## Quotes

* "I only survived because I played dead while my family lay slain around me. So yes, some wolves earn their scars but others only have them because they were too afraid to finish it." (admitting his dark burden to Nach, *Scars*)

## External Links

* Official Application Sheet
* lightningspam's deviantART Gallery