This page gives an overview of the elfin wolf pack and contains the most commonly sought information regarding the wolves as a group. Each wolf is listed by its name and includes its sex (M/male, F/female), age and any special characteristic concerning the animal in relation to its pack peers, plus its pack ranking. The wolf's elf bond is also listed for convenience in identifing which wolves belong to which elves. More detailed explanations on each item of information can be found below the table.
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Pack Management
The wolf pack is updated twice a year along with the player character biographies. During these updates, each wolf's age is increased by 2 years to show the aging process and the ranks are re-rolled to simulate wolves challenging for better positions within the pack community over time. Special characteristics may also be shifted at this time - see below for further details.
New wolves are born into the pack by the Alpha pair through an annual pup litter process, typically in May when game play is focused on spring time. A random dice roll determines the number of pups in the litter and further random rolls create the basis for the pups, including sex, colour and markings and three beginning personality traits. A secret 'challenge ability score' is also rolled for each pup and known only to the holt manager; this number is later used for pack challenges to determine the wolf's rank.
Elves who lose their bonds may obtain a new wolf-friend when a player deems it appropriate, provided there is at least one wolf in the pack free to bond. Two avenues to bonding are available:
Details of Rank
There are eight rank levels within the wolf pack as follows, highest to lowest: Alpha, Beta, High, High/Mid, Mid, Mid/Low, Low and Omega. Each rank determines a wolf's role and function in the pack and what level of authority and rights the wolf possesses. Obviously the higher the rank, the more authority and rights a wolf has while the lower the rank the less.
Alpha: There are two Alpha wolves in the pack - one male and one female. The most dominant Alpha is the pack leader and can be either male or female. The dominant Alpha is responsible for leading the pack on hunts, establishing pack territory and its safety, breeding, accepting strangers into the pack or driving errant wolves out of the pack. The Alpha couple is always the first to eat from a kill, gets the biggest portions and choicest cuts of food and receives the best sleeping areas. The Alpha pair are also the only wolves in the pack allowed to breed, unless the Alpha female specifically allows one or more of the lesser females to be bred by the Alpha male but these occurances are often few and far between and solely dependent on the Alpha female's year-to-year decision.
Death of the dominate Alpha results in a rank challenge among the highest ranking wolves, with the winner assuming the role of pack leader; the new leader then selects a mate for itself. Should the non-dominant Alpha die, the pack leader may choose a new mate from any of the opposite sexed wolves in the pack, thus creating a new Alpha pair.
Beta: The Beta is the highest ranking wolf in the pack just below the Alpha couple. The Beta wolf is essentially the second-in-command of the wolf pack and beyond this most significant point, the Beta is otherwise similar to wolves in the High rank.
High: High ranking wolves are only surpassed by the Alpha pair and the Beta. High ranked wolves are the primary hunters of the pack and therefore run at the forefront when hunting in large groups. They can partake in eating a kill once the Alpha pair have had their choice of cuts and share of the feed. High ranking wolves are in the best position to take the leadership of the pack if the dominant Alpha dies or they may force the issue with a leadership challenge. However, high ranking wolves who do challenge for the Alpha position risk being run out of the pack if they fail, should the Alpha leader feel threatened by repeat challenges.
High/Mid: High/mid ranking wolves are essentially similar to Mid wolves but can occasionally get away with bending the rules, stealing food and similar acts not normally tolerated by lower ranking wolves.
Mid: Mid ranking wolves often comprise the largest number of individuals in the pack. These wolves tend to be rather versitile, being allowed to hunt on occasion but also commonly defend pack territory from intruders. While they neither get in on the feeding quickly nor are allowed large portions or great selection, they don't often suffer starvation, either. Mid ranking wolves often have the best chances at being allowed to breed if the Alpha female allows it, as they are high enough up in the pack ranks to deem them having fair genetics yet low enough from the most desirable positions to disqualify them from being a threat in advancement.
Mid/Low: Mid/low ranking wolves are essentially similar to Mid wolves but often function as the pack's role enforcers, ensuring that the lower ranking wolves perform their duties to the pack and keep their place and peace.
Low: Low ranking wolves are practically on the bottom of the totem pole and surpass only the Omega pair. Low wolves don't often join the pack to hunt but remain at the dens as guards and protectors of the pack's sleeping areas and any pups birthed. They are among some of the last wolves to feed from a kill and typically do not eat much.
Omega: There are two Omega wolves in the pack - one male and one female, similar to the Alphas but at the opposite end of the pack ranking system. The Omega pair have no authority in the pack except over pups and virtually no rights. Omega wolves are do not partake in pack hunts, instead they remain at the dens and function as babysitters to the pack's pup litter, teaching these young wolves skills and providing food for them by regurgitating their own allotment of food. As the last allowed to feed from kills, these wolves get the leanest and worst portions of meat and typically risk starvation during poor hunting periods.
Special Characteristics
As noted in the rank table above, some wolves possess special characteristics that make them stand out from the rest of the pack. These characteristics may be physical attributes, such as biggest or keenest sense of smell, while others may be personality traits, such as laziness or noisiest, and a select few relate to wolf/elf interactions, such as the least ridden wolf in the pack.
A random dice roll for possession of a special ability determines which wolves are eligible for such demarkation at birth. Which characteristic the wolf receives is then dependent on the personality traits also randomly rolled for during the annual pup litter process and later based on the extent to which players encourage development of their wolves in biographies, artwork and fanfiction. It should be noted that not all special characteristics are permanent to every wolf and are in fact shifted among wolves periodically so as to account for the aging process, increase/decrease in rank and new wolves being born into the pack who may surpass their elders in abilities or traits.