SILVANUS
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FALL OF THE WOLF TRIBES
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The Foothold
Even before 984AB, which saw the beginning of the wars which brought down the Wolf Tribes, Dharen’Rhylo’s plot to take over the Tribelands stretched far and wide within their own borders. The term Savage was fundamental to the success of their campaign. The common individual within Dharen’Rhylo never ventured to the Tribelands, nor were there accurate descriptions of it readily available to the public. The entire campaign to conquer those lands was an ambition of the Three Wings, highest voices of the council.
For years Dharen’Rhylo had exported exotic goods of varied value to the Tribelands. But the whole effort was not to win peace, but bloodshed. The people of Dharen’Rhylo were not privy to that fact. They had been repeatedly informed by their church that Dharen’Rhylo was trying to provide the Savages with the gifts of civilization and the word of the one true god. They had used the term Savages repeatedly until most people within Dharen’Rhylo truly thought that those within the Tribelands were indeed savage and lost.
The power of Dharen’Rhylo’s rhetoric allowed them free reign to wreak havoc in a world entirely alien to them. Among those who ventured to the north truly thought they were going some sort of good. But they did not realize that the highest members of the council played even their own people for fools. The Archduke, High Archbishop, and War Sage were keenly aware of what they were doing. They aimed to bring down a culture that was different from their own. But they wanted to do so with little risk to themselves and Dharen’Rhylo. They felt they could bring about the Wolf Tribes’ own self-destruction — all they needed was the proper coaxing.
Missionaries were critical to the success of the campaign. But the Tribelands were dangerous and ill fit for the common Priest or Bishop. Those who were sent were personally handpicked by the Archbishop himself. To many, those chosen to venture north would have been considered radical and extreme. That was precisely what the Archbishop wanted — he wanted those who were truly so enamored with their faith that they might have been considered borderline insane. And to venture to the Tribelands with the express purpose to aggressively convert the unconvertible, one had to be.
The secret discovery of the Tribelands and its inhabitants were released to the public soon after the silk affair bore manageable fruit. The missionaries were sent in and started to teach certain individuals how to communicate with Dharen’Rhylo. All of this was merely the second stage of a long and drawn out plan that would spell the end of the Northern Wolf Tribes.
Throughout the Tribelands the missionaries tried to gain a foothold. Eventually they gave up and constructed a solitary fort from which they would conduct the affairs of trade and discourse between themselves and the few cooperating tribes. The Tribelands were lethal to those who hailed from Dharen’Rhylo; many of the tribes who dwelled there had very little interest in them and wouldn’t hesitate to kill on sight. This was why a fort was truly necessary. For without the high protective walls formed of sturdy trees, the missionaries of Dharen’Rhylo would have met a most gruesome demise.
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War of the Wolves
The people of Dharen’Rhylo were absolutely convinced that the church had good intentions in the Tribelands. They believed that the people of those regions were utterly devoid of structure, religion, culture, and language. The church painted the Wolf Tribes a primitive lot of people unfortunately lost to the wilderness. It was believed that Dharen’Rhylo would usher in their salvation by guiding them out of the darkness and into the light. Yet this was not Dharen’Rhylo’s goal — they desired nothing more than the Wolf Tribes’ complete irradiation.
The ignorance of the people was too easy to manipulate; constantly playing the song of sympathy. The people trusted their government to do what was right and did not care to aid a people they did not understand. This is important to note for it is the fuel of Silvanus’ rage. As he comes to grow within Dharen’Rhylo, he commonly encounters those who vastly underestimate him. They talk down to him and treat him like an ignorant and primitive creature. There were even those who were unfortunate enough to even talk slowly to him, questioning his intelligence and his ability to comprehend. The word Savage is his biggest pet peeve. Those who would call him that would quickly come to regret it. The rhetoric of Dharen’Rhylo became the fire that tempered the twisted soul of Silvanus.
For twenty three long and bloody years, the Tribelands were torn apart by war. This war was triggered by Dharen’Rhylo, but they took little part in it. It all began in the fort where trading commenced. In 984AB one of the many Wolf Tribes showed great favoritism to Dharen’Rhylo. They became deeply fascinated with the Crude Bolter. Throughout the years the missionaries had taken time to show them how they worked and how they could make hunting far easier.
All it took was one tribe to be the pebble that started the landslide. There was always some territorial friction between the Wolf Tribes. They all hailed to different Wolf Spirits; they all had favorite hunting grounds of their own; they kept distance from one another; and they never grew envious until Dharen’Rhylo appeared. Little by little the corruption seeped into the youth of the tribe. And it was those youths who took arms against their elders. It was those youths who were twisted and manipulated into drawing the blood of their brethren. The War of the Wolf Tribes began.
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There is little that remains of the history which accurately recounts the events of this war. Dharen’Rhylo kept their distance and purposely turned a blind eye. They became the providers of riches and arms. Those who favored the Crude Bolter could not use it without powder and ammunition. To acquire powder and ammunition they needed to provide evidence to Dharen’Rhylo that it was being put to good use. In short, those who were more successful at killing their own kind were given more means to continue killing. The fort became a resource to fuel the war.
The years came and went and the war grew bloodier and more intense. The most loyal of tribes became precious to Dharen’Rhylo. The tribe they favored the most honed the Crude Bolter with deadly efficiency. When the other tribes quickly descended upon them in hopes of wiping them out entirely, they fled to Dharen’Rhylo’s fort for refuge. At first the missionaries were against giving them asylum. But that changed when they realized that remaining tribes still loathed the missionaries and tried to take down the fort on more than one occasion. That tribe was their last line of defense. If they did not harbor them, the tribe would die out — and so too would the missionaries. Nothing would stop the remaining tribes from taking the fort.
The choice to save and provide protection to that one tribe forever changed the outcome of the war. The missionaries invited them in and gave them food, clothing, shelter, and ammunition. Using the fort as their new home, the tribe launched calculated offensives against those who would oppose them. One tribe at a time fell to their Crude Bolters.
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Blood and Rain
Eventually the Tribelands, once ripe with turmoil, grew deathly silent. The stench of blood permeated the forests. In 1007AB, the war came to a close as the rainy season started. But not even the rain could wash away decades of bloodshed. After years of fighting, the last remaining tribe in the north was nearly too few to count. Many tribes fled from the north to seek life anew elsewhere. But those left behind would suffer as Dharen’Rhylo laid claim to the lands they had loved.
Those remaining had hoarded great wealth and not even realized it. All of the gifts that had been delivered and provided as blood money throughout the decades had been collected. Now with no tribes to utilize them, all the spoils now fell into the hands of the last tribe. But their numbers were too few and they were not truly aware of the wealth they had acquired. Exotic fabrics, gold, jewels, and more were at their disposal. And it is no mystery that the missionaries of the fort long coveted those riches. Much of it was happily traded to the missionaries so that they, the last tribe, could live on.
In May of that year, as rain bore heavy upon the soils and saturated the gray earth with coppery pools of blood — Silvanus was born into the world. He was welcomed into existence in blankets made of silk and held within the hands of missionaries. His parents were the last leaders of their tribe. His father, known only as the Al’Mora, was the most blood thirsty killer ever to walk the Tribelands. But that was what allowed him to survive.
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Author's Note
As of July 21st 2016 the term Al’Mora is the embodiment of leadership within the Tribelands. Literally it means “Blood Lord” and is inspired by the name of the One Great Wolf, Omera. According to my research there is no such thing as an Alpha among wolves within the animal kingdom. The concept is a human misconception, or justification for the concept of the patriarch within human society. By suggesting it exists in the animal kingdom, further suggests that it is a natural concept.
But wolves have a shared leadership between the two eldest wolves who gave birth to the pack. Since humans age slower than wolves, this doesn’t easily translate. So the Al’Mora serves as the male leader of the tribe and earns this right through skill, loyalty, and physique. If he can fight to achieve the role and others support him in the process, then the idea is that he deserves the role.
He and his warriors killed all of those who opposed them. His mate, known only as the Me’Bora, was more loyal to him than his own weapon. The very moment she brought life into that bleak world, he suddenly realized the Tribelands was no place for his kin.
The term Me’Bora literally means “Lord Wife”. They share power within the tribe with their, the Al’Mora. While the Al’Mora has great responsibility to the tribe as a whole, it is primarily the Me’Bora who takes care of and helps to raise the young. Aside from this distinction, they hold equal respect and power within the tribe.
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The spirits of the forest were vengeful. Deep down the leader knew that the wolves would seek him out and see to his undoing. The Tribelands were no longer his domain to wander. For years he had fought to claim them for himself, but now all that remained were the silent spirits of the dead that may not wander to the world beyond until he has breathed his last. The silent wood did not welcome him and felt alien in its presence.
With a new child to worry for, he looked to the missionaries. At the price of his wealth, the missionaries of Dharen’Rhylo offered to provide him with safe passage to their country. There he could use what wealth he had remaining to live the rest of his days. For decades the missionaries had not steered him wrong.
And so he agreed to their conditions and sacrificed a great amount of his riches to them — but not all. The rest of his tribe was allowed to come as well. All in all there were only seven of them left, Silvanus included within that number.