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The Wolves of Zamorak

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Dantalian

Dantalian

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AUTHOR'S NOTE

Whether the contents of the following manuscript are true or not, I cannot say. What I can say, is that I transcribed it faithfully as one of the citizens of Canifis dictated it to me. I have no reason to doubt the speaker's honesty, as the things contained here-in would be considered treason should they they be heard by the Vyrelords, and the penalty for treason in Morytania makes the blackest torture the human kingdoms have devised look gentle by comparison.

The speaker himself approached me during one of my expeditions to the dark lands, surmizing correctly that I was a literate man and noting that I had showed myself not to fear his race, nor the vampyres. It was his request that I take the transcription to a place where it could be held safely until his people are free from Drakan's yoke.

While nothing was said either way on sharing this text west of the Salve, I have decided to make it public for the purpose of increasing our knowledge of a race who are often feared and reviled by the human kingdoms.

I must note that my speaker is not free from biases. The werewolves are almost unanimously Zamorakian, and thus have a low opinion of Zaros, and open hatred for Saradomin (no doubt compounded by the invasion of their land led by Saradomin's priests and the "blessing" on the Salve which burns them at the touch.) I also note, for the sake of clarity, that "the masters" refers to the vampyre nobility of Morytania.

With all that said, I present to you the following, which I have named, "The Wolves of Zamorak" "He appears in the Form of a Man with many Countenances; and he hath a Book in his right hand. His Office is to teach all Arts and Sciences unto any; and to declare the Secret Counsel of any one."

05-Jul-2015 02:31:38

Dantalian

Dantalian

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THE WOLVES OF ZAMORAK

When I was just a pup, I considered my grandmother the wisest person in the world. She knew what plants, animals, and fungi were safe to eat, which were poisonous, and which could be turned into potions. She knew the names of the human kingdoms, the names of the elven clans, and which master controled each portion of the land. She also knew how to hide one's thoughts from the masters; a useful skill for one who lives under their shadow, and one of the first skills she taught to me.

Either becaue of what she knew, or because of her old age, she lived away from the village, in a small hut which looked like no more than a clump of swamp plants from the outside. Many times I would slip off to her little hut, on the pretense of practicing to hunt, and listen as she told me stories of old; of the god wars, of the fallen empire, of the time before the evil god of light cursed the river and made it burn.

Shortly before I was to be blooded, I visited to her. Ah, forgive me, it occurs that you may not know... all of my kind, once we are judged ready to become adults, are blooded. We slay an innocent human, making their blood an offering to Zamorak and swearing an oath to serve him. This rite of passage is a highlight of our otherwise dull and often painful lives, and thus every pup looks forward to it. Obviously, when I was named as one of the pups to receive my blooding, I was ecstatic, and almost immediately ran off to tell my grandmother the news.

You can imagine my surprise when, rather than share my joy, she snorted derisively and huffed "Oh, you'll soon be doing that sorry excuse of a blooding ?"

I was crestfallen, here was something I had been looking forward to since my first change, and my grandmother, who I admired most of my people, had dismissed it out of hand. "He appears in the Form of a Man with many Countenances; and he hath a Book in his right hand. His Office is to teach all Arts and Sciences unto any; and to declare the Secret Counsel of any one."

05-Jul-2015 02:31:49

Dantalian

Dantalian

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She seemed to note my disappointment, and clucked her tongue disapprovingly, "Pup," she told me, "If the masters think you are ready for a blooding, you must be nearly an adult... I think it is time I told you a story. The most important story I know."

Still sorrowful, my ears pricked up and I turned to my grandmother in curiousity.

"I am old," she said, "So old the masters might have me killed if they knew I still lived. All these years, I have held the truth close to my heart, so that it may not die out, no matter how the masters wish it... but some day, before long, I will perish, and my soul will fly to hunt with Lord Zamorak. So, I will entrust the truth to you, carry it with you, and pass it on to a pup when you are old, of thin fur and creaking bones. See to it that it is carried until our true lord returns, so that when he does, we may howl in pride and run to his side, ready to serve again."

A mix of fear and deep curiosity came over me: A truth the masters wanted to die? What dark secrets could my grandmother have known? With bated breath, I urged her on.

She sat down, her ancient bones creaking as she did so, and asked, "Pup, do you know how our race came to be?"

An easy question, the answer to which had been pounded into my head since the day I could speak. "Lord Zamorak made us to serve as the masters' faithful servants" I said solemnly.

"Wrong!" she nearly shouted, something that none of my race dare do lest one of the masters pass nearby and take our shout as a reason for offense.

Seeing my puzzled face, she continued, "We were not made to serve the masters, nor anyone else..."

My eyes must'** been the size of saucers. Those words were treason; if a master heard them, then my grandmother would be tortured for countless days and nights, then flayed alive in the village square as a warning to all.

Ignoring my shock, she continued, "You recall what I told you of Viggora and the lord of empty promises?" "He appears in the Form of a Man with many Countenances; and he hath a Book in his right hand. His Office is to teach all Arts and Sciences unto any; and to declare the Secret Counsel of any one."

05-Jul-2015 02:31:56

Dantalian

Dantalian

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I nodded, recalling the human chief who built the fortress we could see even from Canifis on nights where the fog was thin. How the lord of empty promises had promised to make his people great and lied, and how Viggora had turned to Lord Zamorak who truly saw their potential.

"And you recall the story of how the god wars began?"

I snarled, but nodded again. All of us knew how the evil god, Saradomin had betrayed Lord Zamorak after they had worked together to defeat the Lord of Empty Promises.

"Well," my grandmother said, "The god wars is where our race truly began. Viggora had perished, and command of his tribe had split in two. The larger portion went to a man named Varius, a capable and wise statesman, but of no concern to us. The smaller, and more dangerous part of the tribe went to the control of a mated pair; Liviu and Iolanda.

"Liviu was a fierce and powerful warrior, Iolanda was a deadly and cunning assassin. Under the two of them, their tribe caused no end of problems for the wicked Saradomin. If Zamorak wanted someone dead, their tribe would pursue them to the ends of Gielinor and make sure they met their end. Before long, their reputation had grown so fierce that our enemies took to calling them "the Wolves of Zamorak." The tribe, of course, took this name with pride, and soon adopted the wolf as their emblem. "He appears in the Form of a Man with many Countenances; and he hath a Book in his right hand. His Office is to teach all Arts and Sciences unto any; and to declare the Secret Counsel of any one."

05-Jul-2015 02:32:04

Dantalian

Dantalian

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"They continued their exploits and found favor with our lord, who soon called them to an audience with himself. There, the Lord of Power made them an offer: If the tribe chose, Lord Zamorak would give them the power and cunning of the wolves they had chosen as their symbol. They would gain strength, speed, and the benefits of instinct. Of course, there was some risk, our lord warned the tribe. The last time he had granted new powers it had been in the creation of the chaos dwarves, they had received their power, but lost their minds in the process. Our lord believed he had solved the problems that had led to that, but he admitted, he could not guarantee it would not happen again.

"Despite the risks, every member of the tribe, man, woman, and child asked that they be granted the power Lord Zamorak offered, and he granted it. There was pain, I am told, as their bodies rearranged and morphed, but in the end, every one of them still stood, and now possessed excellent hearing, sense of smell, strength, sight, and the ability to transform. As you might have guessed, pup, these were the first werewolves, the ancestors of our race. And oh, how they made our enemies tremble!

"Saradomin's knights were no match for us. We could run faster than their horses, and tear out their throats without slowing. Our howls and scents would send terror to animal and soldier alike in our enemies' camps. And soon, nearly all of Zamorak's generals were calling for werewolf troops. Lord Zamorak was very pleased, and in recognition of our contribution, gave us the fertile land that had once held one of the Lord of Empty Promises' fortresses. The fortress was razed, but the surrounding woods were full of fat game. We quickly took a liking to it, and built ourself a village there, the village that is now called Canifis. "He appears in the Form of a Man with many Countenances; and he hath a Book in his right hand. His Office is to teach all Arts and Sciences unto any; and to declare the Secret Counsel of any one."

05-Jul-2015 02:32:13

Dantalian

Dantalian

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"Our young, our weak, our pregnant females and their mates all remained in the village, while our warriors split into packs and went to aid the various generals calling for our help. It was during this time the blooding ritual was created."

My ears pricked up as my grandmother took a break to slake her thirst. Knowing her, this would likely explain why she was so dismissive of my upcoming blooding.

"Nowadays," she snorted, "The blooding is all about killing some weak, defenseless human." She spat at this. "In the old days, the blooding was much different; it was, as it is today, a coming of age ritual, but the goal was not to off some weak defenseless child or maiden, it was to take down the strongest enemy one could, to prove you were worthy to be an adult.

"The knights of Saradomin were considered the standard fare; killing one of them and bringing their meat and armor home proved you weren't a pup anymore. But some were more ambitious, they would slip into Saradomin's towns and fortresses and aim for a centaur or Icyene. Many a foolish pup lost his life that way, but those who succeeded, they were instantly given high ranks in their packs and often became pack leader when a knew pack was formed, or the leader of a pack died or retired.

"There were some, I admit, who killed defenseless civilians, but doing so was seen as an admission of weakness and cowardice. The pups who did that were only grudingly accepted as adults, and were generally banned from the packs. They remained in canifis, hunting or watching over the younger pups. Few of those found mates, since almost none of our kind wanted to mate with a cowardly weakling.

I stared at my grandmother, slack-jawed, as she sighed. "He appears in the Form of a Man with many Countenances; and he hath a Book in his right hand. His Office is to teach all Arts and Sciences unto any; and to declare the Secret Counsel of any one."

05-Jul-2015 02:32:22

Dantalian

Dantalian

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"Most of the village has forgotten about this, not me though. The masters remember it too, and if they knew I knew, they would want my head," she chuckled at the thought before continuing, "Pup, the vampyres make us do this mockery of a blooding because they remember, and want us weak, pliable, whipped dogs.

"They fear, that if we were to remember ourselves as we once were, we would find a way to kill them, and rise up with all of Lord Zamorak's fury. They are afraid that they might not win if we did so, and know that they would suffer many losses.

"And that, is why I am not excited about your so-called blooding. You will be expected to show you are nothing more than a sniveling dog, to taste the blood of the pathetic, and offer it as an unworthy sacrifice to our lord, affirming your status as one of the master's whipped hounds. How could I ever be happy about that?"

With this last statement, my grandmother grew silent, which I understood to mean that the conversation had ended. I silently left her hut and headed back to the village, my mind racing over what I had learned. It didn't take long before I made my decision. "He appears in the Form of a Man with many Countenances; and he hath a Book in his right hand. His Office is to teach all Arts and Sciences unto any; and to declare the Secret Counsel of any one."

05-Jul-2015 02:32:30

Dantalian

Dantalian

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In a week's time, Lord Malak would come to our village, bearing humans from Meiyerditch. That left me with six days to carry out my plan. Without so much as a word to the others, I rushed into the swamps, and hid in the undergrowth near the Cursed River, and crept near the unholy temple devoted to the evil god. The first two days, I saw nothing, but I remained disciplined, ignoring the horrible stench of the swamp and my growling stomach. On the third day, Zamorak rewarded my persistence. A human warrior, clad in shining armor, walked out from the temple and headed into the swamp, near me. He never knew what hit him. Having noted the weak spots in his armor, I leapt from my hiding place and buried my fangs in his neck, which had been left exposed by a gap between his cuirass and helm. Sweet blood poured over my muzzle, dying in crimson. The warrior gasped in a futile attempt to scream, shuddered, and went still.

I held on for a minute or two, just to make sure he was dead, then released my jaws, letting his still warm corpse fall to the ground. Though hungry, as my kind almost always are thanks to the masters, I held off on eating, dipping my claws in the corpse's blood and tracing the symbol of Zamorak over my fur again and again as I whispered prayers of worship, and vowing my eternal devotion to the Lord of Power. The feeling was like none other; I felt a sense of power mingled with pride and pleasure race through me like a wildfire, and I knew, that even though my lord was no longer with us, I had found favor with him by proving I was no whipped mutt, but truly one of his warrior wolves. Overcome by joy, I fell to my knees and let out a howl of absolute bliss, which echoed far off to the west, no doubt scaring a few of the evil god's slaves. "He appears in the Form of a Man with many Countenances; and he hath a Book in his right hand. His Office is to teach all Arts and Sciences unto any; and to declare the Secret Counsel of any one."

05-Jul-2015 02:32:38

Dantalian

Dantalian

Posts: 3,434 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Only after I had recovered did I eat, filling my belly for the first time in my life. Then, reluctantly, I shoved what I could not consume into the cursed river. I desired to bring back my spoils, but that would raise questions and could gain the unwanted attention of Lord Malak.

There is not much to tell after that. I washed off the blood in stagnant water and returned home. A few days later Malak brought us emaciated humans that were no longer capable of producing enough blood to satisfy the masters' thirst. I killed mine, as did my kin, but while I put on a show of being joyful, I saw this false blooding for what it was; an insult to our race.

Just as my grandmother did before me, I hold the secret truth of our race in my heart. But, I have hope. I have heard that Lord Zamorak has returned, and whispers of Ranis Drakan's death. I feel in my bones that a storm is brewing in Morytania, and that soon my people will be free from the masters' tyranny and welcomed back to our true lord's side.

Even if I die before this can come to past, I will be happy knowing that my people are free and that you have hidden the truth away to reveal to them once they are no longer whipped mutts, but stand again as proud wolves. "He appears in the Form of a Man with many Countenances; and he hath a Book in his right hand. His Office is to teach all Arts and Sciences unto any; and to declare the Secret Counsel of any one."

05-Jul-2015 02:32:46

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