A N oy

and could withstand wind and water. We told them to do what they wished to those in their territory, and leave our peoples alone. We told them to hunt the monsters as our Mother wished us to do, and not waste time killing humans. For that would put fear into the hearts of the humans, rather than teaching them love for the Mother. But the strangers would not listen. They said they would return and make sure we did as they demanded. “We would not do as the strangers said. And so we prepared to defend our territory. Yet the Great Mother sent Older Brother a dream of a vast island where game was plentiful. No other Wolf-people lived there, but there were many monsters that needed to be destroyed. ‘HOW will we get to this island?’ Older Brother asked in the dream. ‘We have no boats!’ And Great Mother told him that for the brave the sea was made dry, but soon the sea would swallow the land again so that no one could reach the island. “Older Brother did not want to risk his siblings, for though the dream seemed to come from the Mother, evil spirits may sometimes send pretty visions. So he traveled many moons, running along the edge of the ice wall until he came to the place between the ice and the sea. Crossing over he scented game, open plains and deep forest. Older Brother returned and told the others of this place. Younger Brother wanted to stay and fight, while Middle Brother couldn’t decide. Finally Older Brother convinced him it was the Mother’s will, and Younger Brother didn’t want to be left behind. So they left their old hunting grounds, taking their favored wolves and human Kin, and they crossed the land between the ice and the sea. And after the last of the tribe crossed, the sea covered up the land bridge so that no one could follow them into their new homeland.” CAM@+&M&M f l ! P M “The brothers continued their journey, beyond the snow, through great forests. They walked across Turtle Island from the shifting ice to the steaming jungles, from cliffs to long beaches. Younger Brother did not go far before he grew angry at the sun for standing too close. To him the howl of the hungry wind was music, a call to join the dance of death once more. So he left his siblings and returned to the snow. Middle Brother was fond of green growing things, and chose to make his home in the fertile valleys and forests of the East. Older Brother chose the desert, the clean dryness where the shadows stand out sharply in the white burning sun, where the game requires more searching than the plains that groaned under the hooves of the buffalo. He traveled the secret passes of the great mountains, and spoke with the eagles and the cougars. He walked among the wooden giants, silent as the morning sea mist. He plumbed the depths of lakes far below the surface of the earth. ‘Though the Brothers occasionally met, they always returned to the land they loved best. But in their wanderings they found many evil spirits. Together and alone, they fought many battles, some with spirits you may yet face, young one; others with monsters not faced since before the A N o*y Lib Land-Rises-Up whispers: Many of my brothers have bought into the Wyrmbringer’s lie, that our people crossed a land bridge from their lands to these. We didn’t cross no bridge. The Wolf-people of the Turtle Island didn’t come from somewhere else. We’ve always been here. I will tell you the story that my Grandfather told me. In the ancient days, people lived on this land. But the Wyrm was there too, and it moved across land and sea and corrupted everything it touched. The Great Mother knew She needed warriors strong enough to fight the monsters before they covered up the world. So She sang a song of beauty and all the winds carried the song in all directions. And from the deserts and the forests and the plains and the swamps, seven wolves answered Her song and came to Her, and seven humans heard the song and followed it also. They all followed Her into a cave deep inside the sacred mountain at the center of the world. And in the light of the sacred fire the people and the wolves danced to the rhythm of the sacred song. They joined together and their spirits mixed. Now Great Mother wished Her new wolf-people to go out into the world. But they did not wish to go, for the sacred fire was bright and the song was beautiful. So Great Mother asked Her sister to call to them. She did, and the wolfpeople saw her silver light shining down into the cave, which drew them out into the world. But they were happy, because each one carried the song and the fire within them so they would never lose them. And they set out to fight the monsters as they were made to do, and Great Mother was pleased. That is my story. days of our grandfathers. There was the great Bane, whom we call Ash-Breath; he could suck all the water-” “That,” interjected Tide-Borne, “is not a good story for today.” After a moment getting his derailed story back on track, Cows-the-Gator continued. “But the servants of the Wyrm are many and strong. To die fighting the Wyrm is what we do for the Mother, what we have always done. Yet such sacrifices weaken the tribe. When several packs must die to bring down some Wyrm-spirit, the next spirit will face fewer defenders. Younger Brother accepted this, for he trusts only the way he knows - tear into a foe until it dies. But Older and Middle Brothers knew there had to be a better way. If humans attack a bear, many will fall to the animal’s claws. But if the bear is trapped in a pit, it can hurt no one. And so it was that we set out to learn the secrets of trapping Banes. “Uktena and Croatan searched for many turns of the seasons, asking questions of spirits, sometimes hiding in the tainted dens of Banes themselves to watch them. We continue to search, to this day. The Uktena brought back many P