the plot

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i. welcome to polaris

The world is vibrant. It blossoms with life, in all kinds of shapes and shades and sizes. This isn't your everyday story about our heroes struggling with a parched land or a lack of prey.

For, here, in the world called Polaris, everything brims with a spark of something special. A special kind of life, life which can only be described as something magical.

Bland brown and grays are unheard of, for this world is nothing but a big artist's palette. It is fantastic. The deer are blue, the mice have horns. Here, the imagination is free, for Polaris is inhabited by all kind of creatures: those from truth, those from myth, and those from the realm in between.

But more than that, the creatures here harbor something special within themselves. They hold a special glow, a special sort of spirit, that manifests itself as something unique to its owner. The creatures of Polaris are known for having special abilities, abilities that come in all sorts of varieties, from the deadly fire-breathers to the thoughtful mind-readers to the clever shapeshifters to every single thing in between. Any sort of power you can think of, we have it.

There's no real way to explain why the inhabitants of Polaris have these strange mutations, the colors and the powers and everything else. Maybe it's because if they lived as they did in our world, they would be so bland compared to the rest of their world, for they are part of the land, part of Polaris, part of the unique, free, and fantastical.

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ii. the packs

In the great mesh of life in Polaris, we focus especially on four great wolf packs, divided by an acute difference in beliefs and ways of life. Some say that there was a time, back, back in our world's history when the packs were united as one, sharing central beliefs and generally getting along with one another. Yet it is these differences, which start out small and seemingly meaningless but grow into deep crevices, that separate us.

It is legend that there was once four wolves, good friends in fact, in this pack who held the names of the packs we have today. But not only were they friends, they were revolutionaries. They met in secret, away from their pack, and, together, they developed a dream, a dream to create their own pack, in which they would have equal reign. They developed a secret following, friends of theirs who would follow them into the new pack. And those friends told their friends, and soon, roughly half of the pack had agreed to divide. It was time for mutiny. There was a great battle, between the original pack and those looking for a new and better power. The Four and their followers emerged the winner. The pack was theirs.

But it was not that simple. The four friends, perhaps egged on by their new power, had differing opinions on how they wanted to run the pack. They argued and argued, and, eventually, they came to a decision. It was in the best interests of everybody that they split.

And so it was, the packs became four. Over the generations, they evolved. They developed their own belief systems, own ranking systems, own pack mentalities, leaving us with the calm and spiritual Cassiopeia, sly and swift Orion, proud and organized Andromeda, and strong and fiery Cepheus. The Four friends who had spawned it all went down in history, revered as Gods to those who still believe in them.

These differences, however, have caused a deep-rooted division in the packs, worse than the arguments that occurred in the time of the Four. Pack tensions have been growing over the years, only getting worse and worse. As if sorting out their individual troubles isn't enough, the packs have to live with bared teeth and snarling lips at their borders. Though it's true that some packs like trouble more than others, it seems that if just one wolf crosses the line, war is on the horizon for everyone.

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iii. the holy pilgrimage

There is an area of land that the packs have been built around that is said to be at the very center of Polaris. It is the epicenter of everything that is magical or mysterious in this world, a place that is intensely spiritual and, some say, can help you connect with whichever Higher Being you believe in. There isn't an inch of this place that lacks life, for here, the spirit and energy of life hums all around you. Every living thing here is brilliantly colored like a tropical bird, and everything, everything has a power. In fact, wolves say that when they come here, they can feel their own powers grow stronger and have appropriately named this place "the Holy Land."

For all their differences, the packs have one thing in common: every year, chosen wolves from each pack join together as one travelling group to visit the Holy Land. It was a tradition started long, long ago, perhaps back when the packs were supposedly united as one. Now, each pack carries its own belief about the Holy Land, respective to the individual religions that they have formed.

With these notable differences in beliefs and tensions high as they are now, it's a wonder that the whole thing always goes smoothly. But when the traditional Pilgrimage was established so long ago, it was also said that the Pilgrimage was for one's soul, not one's mind. It was for everything religious and spiritual in the wolf's world, not for the moral or immoral connections that tied the wolf down. And so, it is for the pack's individual beliefs, not for their relationships with one another. Furthermore, it is a very, very strong suggestion, mutual throughout the packs, that you should not attack another wolf during the course of the Pilgrimage, and it is an unwritten rule that killing another wolf during the Pilgrimage is extremely taboo. To this day, there has been no record of murder during a Pilgrimage, and pack leaders are wise to select wolves that can keep their heads down when they need to.

Still, not all packs attend the Pilgrimage solely for religious reasons. After all, it is the only time when the packs are together in one area and, therefore, gives one an excellent chance to spy on the matters of other packs.