Wolves

## Wolf

A pack of wolves launches an attack on Decker's Landing, as pictured in The Green Ember.

## Physical information

### Distinctions

Viciousness, ferocity, lack of self-control

## Book information

### Appears

• *The Green Ember*
• *Ember Falls*
• *The Last Archer*
• *Ember Rising*
 • *Ember's End*
• *The Archer's Cup*

### Mentioned

*The Black Star of Kingston*

**W****olves**, sometimes referred to derisively as **snappers**, are a group of predatory animals that prey upon rabbits. They are vicious, disorderly, and often without self-control, filled with ravenous hunger for the death and suffering of their enemies.

## History

It is possible that wolves were responsible for driving the rabbits from Golden Coast. What is certain is that wolves became a major menace in Natalia, rivaling - and at times aligned with - the Lords of Prey. A major wolf offensive after the death of Walter Good resulted in the Red Valley War, in which the wolf King Garlacks was defeated and slain by his rabbit counterpart King Jupiter. Garlacks' cousin, the feared king Farlock, responded by dispatching Garlacks' son Redeye at the head of a large wolf army to join forces with Morbin Blackhawk's Preylord forces.

Several of these wolves participated in the ambush of King Jupiter at a forest crossing, which saw the death of Jupiter. Redeye then led them in invading the Great Wood, a devastating campaign that would afterwards be known as the afterterrors.

### *The Green Ember*/*The Last Archer*

After Lady Glen warned Whittle and Sween Longtreader of them, Redeye Garlackson and a party of his wolves attacked the Longtreader home in Nick Hollow, setting it aflame. As Heather and Picket Longtreader looked on, the wolves took their mother, father, and little brother Jacket prisoner as slaves for their ally Morbin Blackhawk. After discovering the presence of Heather, several of the wolves, including Redeye, pursued her to Seven Mounds, but were forced to give up the chase when Wilfred Longtreader and Smalden Joveson appeared. Several creatures allied with the wolves entered the mounds in pursuit of the rabbits, but both they and the wolves were unable to prevent their escape.

Sailing down the Whitmer River, the rabbits arrived at Decker's Landing only to find it in flames with wolves patrolling in the area. The wolves soon established a garrison in place of the landing, and it grew steadily in period leading up to the Citadel Congress at Cloud Mountain. During this time, Kyle made contact with the head of the garrison, and arranged for the wolves to attack Cloud Mountain as part of a plan to ambush Smalls. He was spotted one night by Jo Shanks from a tower hide, and the Bracers' attempts to investigate the sighting led to an altercation between them and several wolves. Helmer also constructed a number of wooden dummies meant to represent wolves during his training exercises.

Shortly thereafter, the wolves launched the planned attack, beginning the Battle for Cloud Mountain. Aided by Kyle's information, the wolves penetrated far into the confines of the mountain, killing and injuring a number of rabbits before the retreat was sounded. As the wolves fled the mountain, they were pursued by soldiers from the various secret citadels, with small battles breaking out as various parties of wolves turned to confront their adversaries. Among these engagements was a confrontation between numerous citadel archers and the wolves, which left numerous rabbits dead or incapacitated while the wolves were driven off.

Jo Shanks, who was among the archers caught in this battle, was badly injured, but Heather found him and attended to his wounds before intervening in another confrontation to aid rabbits led by Wilfred and Helmer. Afterwards, as she raced back to Cloud Mountain to get help, Jo was able to save her from a party of wolves including an archer before falling unconscious. Many of the wolves regrouped at Jupiter's Crossing, and advanced angrily after seeing Picket rescue Smalls by killing Redye. However, they were soon driven back by the arrival of rabbit reinforcements led by Wilfred, Helmer, and several citadel lords, forcing the wolves to retreat.

### *The First Fowler*

In the time following the battle, the wolf garrison continued to increase in size, though a number of wolves went rogue and had to be marshalled back into line by the ruthless Preylord Solus. Even after Solus took charge, several wolves refused to take orders with Redeye dead, and Solus had them bound and later personally executed them. The Cause was aware of both the garrison's buildup and the activities of wolves farther afield, though they were uncertain where the wolves had come from. Captain Frye of Halfwind took Jo Shanks, recovered from his recent injuries, to view the growing garrison, and informed him after a brief discussion that the Cause had a plan to deal with it. This plan seems to have involved, at least in part, a party of soldiers from Chelmsford Citadel.

Two parties of rabbits later set out from Cloud Mountain, following a roundabout route intended to lead them eventually to Halfwind Citadel. The smaller advance party soon discovered that a large force of wolves under Solus' command was barring their path, as well as endangering any attempt to warn their comrades or retreat. Commanded by Helmer and Frye, this group split up in an effort to lure the wolves away from their camp and thus clear a path for themselves and the larger force accompanying Prince Smalls. Though a number of wolves, including a force overseen by the veteran Black Stripe, were diverted and/or killed as a result, the majority of the wolves remained in place.

Changing tactics, Helmer's party aimed to eliminate Solus himself, and planted various loose articles in order to trick his wolves away from their ambush site. A few wolves spotted the rabbits and attempted to attack them, but were swiftly dispatched by the archers among the party.

### *Ember Falls*

When word of the Terralain army's approach was first reported to Smalls' council at Halfwind, the possibility of their being wolves was briefly touched upon before they were identified as rabbits. Meanwhile, General Flox, new leader of the wolves under Morbin, arrived at Morbin's lair accompanied by Captain Blenk in order to meet with Morbin and reaffirm the loyalty of their forces in the wake of Redeye's death. Shortly afterwards, a wolf force initiated the Attack on Halfwind Citadel, swiftly proving more than a match for the outnumbered defenders. Several wolves managed to enter the citadel, making it as far as the hospital, but were speedily dealt with.

The Terralain army arrived in the midst of the battle and joined the Harbone defenders in driving off the wolves. Some wolves remained nearby, however, with one later attacking Prince Kylen of Terralain and Heather while they were outside Halfwind only to be slain by Kylen. Word later reached the forces at Halfwind of Morbin's forces moving on Cloud Mountain. These proved to include a staggering number of wolves divided into two forces, either one of which was sizable enough to eliminate virtually any chance of victory for the beleaguered rabbits. In spite of this, the forces of the Cause prepared to meet the first army and its raptor air support.

Halfwind's rabbits attacked the wolf camp at Jupiter's Crossing, engaging in a brief skirmish before luring their enemies into combat at Rockback Valley. However, the Terralains' leader Bleston proved to be an ally of Morbin's, and he did not lead his forces into battle as promised but instead left the Halfwind force at the mercy of the wolves. Picket and the other Halfwind soldiers fought bravely, with Picket successfully slaying General Flox, but their situation remained desperate. Only by traveling to Cloud Mountain by glider cape and disrupting Bleston's attempted kidnapping of Emma was Picket able to tip the scales, giving the Cause the means to drive back the first wolf army.

Emma, recognizing the impossibility of defending against the full might of Morbin's forces, negotiated a deal to surrender herself to Morbin. In exchange, his forces would not attack Cloud Mountain, giving her friends the opportunity to escape. However, Heather interfered and was carried off in Emma's place, though the ruse did buy the Cause desperately needed time. Upon discovering her identity, Morbin ordered that the most senior surviving wolf officer be summoned immediately to his lair.

### *Ember Rising*/*The Archer's Cup*

Following the evacuation of Cloud Mountain, Helmer and Picket encountered a number of wolves en route to Harbone Citadel. After fleeing many of them and engaging a number of others, they reached the citadel, where they learned that many wolves had broken ties with the Preylords to form the Wild Wolf Pack. These feral creatures had menaced Harbone for some time, with a number of rabbits being lost as a result of their preying upon the disease-weakened citadel. In order to accommodate Helmer and Picket's entry into First Warren, a plan was enacted to draw the Wild Wolf Pack's attention and apparently succeeded. However, the wolves later regrouped to attack Lord Hewson's party near First Warren, with only a handful of rabbits surviving the engagement to return to Harbone.

Farther north, a force of wolves menaced the Black Lake region, including rabbits from Blackstone Citadel. Several of these were spotted by a search party from Blackstone that included visiting rabbits Jo Shanks and Coleden Blackstar. Later, the party was forced to flee from several of the beasts, finding refuge in a hidden tunnel network. Sween Longtreader also told Heather, recently arrived in Akolan, of seeing Captain Blenk step in to the role vacated by General Flox as leader of the wolves loyal to Morbin.

When the Battle for First Warren began, wolves garrisoned in the city advanced on the city square intent on engaging the resistance fighters that had appeared there. However, they were soon distracted as the united forces of the Cause invaded the city. Despite the aid of the raptor sentinels under Falcowit of the Six and rabbit allies including the Black Band, the wolves were defeated and slain. Their bodies, along with those of their raptor allies, were tossed into a recently created chasm, resulting in it being named the Brute's Gorge.

### *Ember's End*

In preparation for the Siege of First Warren, three wolf armies made their way to the city overland and down the River Flint on ships, ahead of and in tandem with the entire force of the Lords of Prey. The Wild Wolf Pack joined in an attack on Harbone Citadel, but was finally annihilated by survivors of the attack rallied by the arriving Fowlers. From a soldier of Longtreader Command taken from the battle, the forces of the Cause learned of the approaching armies, including a force led by the legendary King Farlock. Farlock was also noted as having sent Redeye Garlackson's initial wolf forces to the aid of Morbin following the death of Garlacks.

Farlock's army was the first to arrive at First Warren, engaging the forces of the Royal Warrenguard who emerged from the city to meet them. Forced to save their artillery for the expected Preylord forces, the rabbits of the Cause fought as best they could in hand-to-hand combat and with arrows. However, Farlock's savagery and skill inspired his army to deadly effect, and Picket was forced to launch himself into the midst of battle to slay the terrible king. Fortunately, the Terralain army-now aligned with the Cause-charged into battle against Farlock's now leaderless horde, driving them back from the city.

Forces from Blackstone left the city to reinforce the Terralains, and together they held Farlock's army back for some time. Meanwhile, a second army arrived from the east of the city and were met by the Warrenguard reserves under Wilfred Longtreader. Despite brave fighting, however, the rabbits were forced to retreat before the two armies of wolves and were driven into the city center. The rabbits had anticipated such developments, however, and destroyed the dam holding back Lake Merle, sweeping both armies of wolves away in the ensuing flood.

The final force of wolves, having embarked from forts located in the Waste, arrived by ship alongside the final wave of Preylords under Morbin himself and the remaining rabbits of Longtreader Command. However, the attackers found themselves attacked as the ships of the Seventh District arrived just behind them, adding their considerable numbers and assets to those of the beleaguered First Warren defenders. Combining these developments with the prophesied breaking of the Stone Sword of Flint, the wolf species presumably met its end in this conflict.

## Physical characteristics

Wolves were large predators, much larger than the rabbits they so often menaced, and varied in size and coloration. They typically possessed mouthfuls of sharp teeth and similarly sharp claws on their paws, both of which they would use in battle along with whatever weapons they carried.

## Sociocultural characteristics

Savage, ruthless, and irrational creatures, wolves were among the enemies and predators of rabbits. They tend to travel in packs, the sizes of which may vary from a few wolves to hundreds, if not thousands. Although they are fierce fighters, wolves are also known to be rather stupid and disorderly, which often proves to be to their disadvantage. The few exceptions to this generality are usually given a higher status, an example of which is Redeye Garlackson. When such a leader has disciplined them, wolves are dangerous adversaries; however, a flaw in this is that packs often fall into disarray if their leader is killed.

Like rabbits, there are different modes of speech among wolves, though it is unknown what the causes of these might be. Where wolves like Redeye, Flox, and Blenk speak clearly and in similar fashion to most rabbits, other wolves, such as Bant, have rougher, more simplistic speech methods.

## Notable wolves

* Bant
* "Black Stripe"
* Blenk
* Farlock
* Flox
* Garlacks
* Redeye Garlackson

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