Direwolf

While wolves are generally afraid of humanoids and their settlements, their relatives, Direwolves, go out of their way to attack road-goers and maul livestock. They are not Omnia’s biggest blight, but they are certainly not a pest that can easily be squashed.

## Habitat

Direwolves inhabit every known continent, having split into three main distinctive subspecies. They prefer forested areas and will generally avoid places such as the Bogonian Wastes. Minaarian Direwolves will also avoid the Jinxian Wilds, due to the sheer amount of larger predators that lurk there, as well as Ald because of the lack of coverage aside from its infamously large mushrooms.

While they will not outright attack human settlements unless pushed to the brink of starvation, they are more than willing to lurk nearby and eat unfortunate campers or under-prepared hunters. The only subspecies known to actively attack settlements when not starving are the Heithan wolves. Direwolves are less abundant around larger walled cities and will instead choose to lurk about farmlands and homesteads, where easy prey awaits.

## Behavior

Even by the common folk, Direwolves are known to be particularly vicious and ravenous, and will eat anything they can take down together. While they mate for life, even Direwolf pups are described to be filled with a hellish fury. They roam in packs, with the eldest and usually most battle-hardened as the leaders. Most Direwolf packs have one sole leader, however Minaarian Direwolves have been observed and theorized to have up to four leaders. This occurrence is referred to as a Council.

Large swaths of land are considered a pack’s territory, and any human or other large threat considered too close to the heart of said territory is attacked on sight and hunted mercilessly. A pack makes its den at the center of the territory- this is where the wolves eat and sleep, as well as where they are born and where they bring their dead. Because of this, the skeletal remains of past pack members and leaders litter their homes’ edges to provide a semblance of protection even in death.

When a pack’s leader or leaders die off, the next oldest and most experienced wolves beneath the predecessor fight to the death until one is left. The bones of the losers are added to the new leader’s space of choice. Direwolves that lose but escape the den with their lives are alone until they die, considered exiled by their pack.

## Physiology

Direwolves are very easy to distinguish from regular wolves. At a passing glance, their most notable traits are their larger size, the spines and thick fur that covers their necks and backs, and their elongated canine teeth and claws.

Their spines are quite important to telling how old a Direwolf is- the tougher and longer the spine, the older the wolf. Direwolves have been recorded to live up to 25 years old at most, though one Verloren exception has been speculated to have died at 38. Many of them simply die from larger monsters, hunters, or other Direwolves.

Spine length also depends on the subspecies of Direwolf. Minaarian species, being the smallest, grow spines of up to 2 feet long. Verloren wolves, the median, have spines of up to 3 feet in length. Heithan Direwolves, however, due to their brutish size and unusual voracity even among their own kin, may grow spines of up to 7 to 8 feet long. When they get to this length, they drag behind the wolf and can barely be lifted. Because of this, many Direwolves prefer to scratch their spines on trees and rocks to shave those that are too long and help shed ones that are too old. Placement depends on the subspecies as well; Minaarian Direwolves bear spines along their necks, backs, and the underside of the tail. Heithan Direwolves’ spines are strictly along the ruff and top end of the tail. Verloren Direwolves have no spines along their long tails, and instead have a spiked collar and thorny crown upon their head. For this reason, the leaders of Verloren packs are dubbed “Kings” by hunters.

There is more distinction to the three subspecies than their spines, however. The environment influences their build, coloration, and their style of hunting. Minaarian wolves are the closest-proportioned to normal wolves, which compliments how populous they are as well as how similar in hunting tactics they are to their canine cousins. They have pelts similar in color and pattern to timber wolves. Verloren wolves are bigger, though not the biggest, and are more lithe, excelling in speed and hit-and-run tactics. Their fur has the same cream underbelly as the Minaarian, however they are more silvery in color otherwise and boast the darkest markings. The Heithan, as expected, are the bulkiest of the three, which only supplements their sheer aggression. Their lightly colored coats, however, also afford them a surprising stealth in the Mark’s snowy lands.

## Hroki the Ripper

In the freezing collection of ice that is the Heithmark, legendary monsters lurk both land and sea. One of the first to come to mind is Hroki the Ripper, an albino direwolf of legend. Making his home in a particularly frigid cavern to the northwest of the land’s castle ruins, Hroki runs with a large pack of other scarred and particularly bloodthirsty direwolves.

Hroki is larger than even the largest Heitha wolves; some of the Mark’s residents speculate that this comes from devouring his weakest pack members as well as intruders to his territory. All of this is unfounded, as this is a phenomenon unique to the Ripper. Not only is Hroki monstrous in size, he bears several scars as well as evidence of gruesome victories. Scars, arrows, and even the hilt of a great warrior’s sword all litter his body, though they barely hinder his overall lethality. His face and paws are permanently caked in blood, both new and old, and his teeth have grown to resemble tusks more than anything else.

While New Ivy Port’s hunting lodge does not take Hroki’s reputation of attacking settlements, refuting death, and eating babies to be anything more than superstition, he is pursued frequently. They are not the only hunters looking to bring the Ripper down, however, as some tribes in the Heithmark send their own after Hroki as a rite of passage.

The matter of how Hroki continues to live after several claims of killing him remains unsolved, as those who do survive encounters with the beast quickly leave the area, not wanting to find out or be devoured by what is left of his present pack for the crime of lingering about.