The War on Wolves

[Gnorf]

So I started this story on steam, but figured this is a more appropriate place to continue. The story begins with a wolf attacking my reindeer on a mountain top while I was sleeping. I never really cared for that reindeer. I mean I only got it to carry my stuff. I had named it Last Resort, you know, just in case the meat it carried became more valuable than having a beast of burden.

That night, when I woke to Last Resort being savaged, I was mostly just pissed that the "big wolf" had the balls to try this. After missing an easy javelin throw, I chased it off and returned even more angry, cursing the damned wolf and my own javelin throwing ineptitude. To my surprise, the reindeer wasn't dead.

I thought, "Ok, great, at least I still have the deer, I'll just let him heal up."

When I decided to return home, I realized that Last Resort was crippled and couldn't walk. I'd move a few tiles and he just stayed in place, even though he was on a leash. I started waiting, hoping he'd regain some strength and get the heck up, but no luck. I kept seeing this brazen wolf appear at the edge of the screen, and would chase him off, throwing javelins ineffectively. I just couldn't get close enough. I stayed by the deer for about a day and a half, chasing off the wolf, and was starting to come dangerously close to dying from dehydration. There was no water close by and I couldn't wander away. So, Last Resort, the poor savaged reindeer lived up to his name. No point in leaving him for the wolf, I told him I was sorry before bashing his skull until unconscious, then driving the point of my spear into his neck. Blood gushed. A few minutes later all that remained were bones on the ground and meat in my pack.

I swore revenge as I trudged home.

I got my two dogs and headed back the next day. I used some of the meat to set some deadfall traps, even though my trapping skill was horrible. But in my experience just getting the animal's attention is the important part, even if it turns it's nose up at the trap, my dogs and I can do the rest. That night, sure enough, the apparent lone wolf showed up. As I expected, it wasn't dumb enough to climb in the trap for me. Oh well, I unleash the hounds and issue the attack command.

When I finally caught up one of my dogs was on the wolf, the other no where in sight. My dog was hurt, bad, but still fighting. I rushed to get in javelin range but before I could my dog was down, its neck was torn and there was blood everywhere. I could feel the rage pumping in my ears. The wolf ran. Unfortunately for the wolf, it had to climb a cliff wall, which gave me time to get in range. The javelin struck home in the wolf's abdomen. It fell unconscious, and I finished it off with my spear as my other useless dog showed up in time to bark at it.

Disgusted, I collected it's pelt but left the meat to rot. I burned my dogs body and left.

Once home, I realized that killing the wolf wasn't enough. Rage still burned, and I decided I needed to kill the rest of them. Every.. Last.. One.

Realizing that my skill with a spear alone wasn't enough to catch the slippery bastards, I began to train my trapping skill. I found some mild success, trapping a couple here and there, but it didn't quench my thirst for revenge. I began wandering around at night, looking for them. I knew it was a suicide mission but I didn't care. I knew I should get more dogs but decided they didn't deserve to die with me. I stopped leashing my remaining dog and giving him attack commands, giving him the option to flee but shame from the last encounter, I think, kept him close. Or maybe it was just the food.

One night I found what I was looking for. A pack of them scouring the pine mire near my home, probably checking to see if I had any more reindeer to eat. I didn't. I chased after them, and they ran at first. Right up until I wounded one of them with a long, lucky javelin throw. It turned to attack. My next throw missed, and I heard my dog yelping somewhere behind me. I got out my spear, ready for a fight to the death. I dodged it's attack, and struck. The wolf went down, but so did I. At least one of them must've gotten in behind me, probably after killing the dog.

The last thing I felt as the world faded to blackness were my bones crunching and my stomach being ripped open as the wolves gathered around what would soon be my corpse...

[Gnorf]

An Owl Tribe boy is born. Born with a natural hatred of wolves and a recurring nightmare of being eaten alive by them. Determined to never let that happen, he trains obsessively with bow, arrow and knife. By the time of his 16th birthday he's a prodigious hunter, and a man. Determined to prove his skills, he sets off on a solo hunt that should make him a legend among the Owl Tribe villages.

I catch up with the large bear in the middle of a pine mire. The bear had been running, being only interested in easy prey or scavenging another's kill, but that changed as soon as he was shot in the arse with my first arrow. He turns and charges. I knock my second arrow, fire, and miss with my juniper bow. Probably shouldn't have aimed for the head. With no time for another shot, I pull out the hunting knife, my bow useless in my other hand and prepare to pay for my mistake. The bear attacks and I dodge. I strike with my knife but score only a glancing blow to it's arm. The fighting goes on for some time, with me dodging the bear with every attack, and my attacks being almost as ineffective, only scoring a couple minor wounds which the bear ignores.

As panic starts to creep in the back of my mind, I become desperate and lash out at the bear's head with my knife. The point of the blade connects solidly with it's skull. The bear loses the will to fight and starts running again. With no time to be relieved, I lose 3 more arrows as it retreats. All 3 connect, and one of them buries itself deep in the bear's abdomen and it falls unconscious. I rush to close the distance and shoot it once more in the skull with the aim to keep it pacified. I stab it once in the neck and wait for it to die as it gushes blood.

Victorious and without taking a single wound, I return to my camp close to my home village. I take care of the pelt, and begin drying most of the meat. I'll need everything I can get for what comes next, but I still roast some of the meat and return to my village to boast, share and hang the skull of the bear in the pine mire outside the village, on the largest pine tree I can find.

Feeling invincible, I spend the next couple weeks collecting pelts and drying the meat of elk and reindeer. I traded for a northern and broad knife from people I met, as well as a longbow and some superior broadhead arrows from a foreign trader. I took the time to craft some of my own fine arrows for good measure, using the regular ones for target practice until they broke.

I was ready. I traded for a big reindeer stag, named him Wolf Bait, and went out hunting. It took a while but eventually, after exploring most of the Owl Tribe territory, I saw a wolf and a herd of reindeer in the distance from a mountain. By the time I got into that corner of the pine mire, all I saw were reindeer, no wolves. At least I know they're around I thought. I began to set up camp. I finished my shelter and got the tanning station ready. I slept during the day and worked at night, knowing I needed to stay alert while wolves hunted at night.

The second night there my preparation was done, and as if on cue I heard wolves howling in the distance. I tied my reindeer, aptly named "Wolf Bait" to a tree, and hid behind another close by. Soon I saw the first wolf. As it approached the reindeer I shot. It went down and got back up, but it was bleeding. The next arrow hit, and it went to sleep. Two more wolves came out. I shot at one but missed. It charged while the other fled, and my next arrow struck home in it's skull. The fleeing wolf hesitated long enough for me to get a clear shot, and I didn't miss.

I spent the rest of the night waiting near Wolf Bait while wolves came out of the woods to attack. It's all a blur now, but the entire night was spent shooting at wolves, and sometimes fighting them directly in melee with my northern knife until they fled, at which point I'd instantly knock another arrow for shooting. Whenever I got the chance, I'd finish off any of the wounded, unconscious wolves and collect my arrows from them. A few times I returned from chasing down and finishing a half dead wolf and thought Wolf Bait was dead, but he was just sleeping.

By the time the sun rose, to my surprise, I had collected 4 decent pelts, and only 2 harsh pelts. Six pelts in all, and I know at least two more were severely wounded. While cleaning the pelts, one of the wounded ones came back, but quickly retreated. I was exhausted, close to dropping, so I didn't bother chasing. A couple minutes later a reindeer herd walked right by me ignoring both me and the corpses littering the area, and I'd like to think they were thankful. That night the forest was frightening and I'm pretty sure the spirits were unhappy with me, but I'll make some sacrifices and they'll get over it eventually. Or they won't and I'll just keep killing more wolves, at least until the nightmares go away..

[Gnorf]

Hmm tried to post a couple pictures to go with the story, but so far not going so well.

Finally, got it.