Profile of Isabeau: Quick Facts
Played By: Is
Basic Info
Full Name: Isabeau Bleue
Subspecies: Northwestern Wolf
Sex: Female
Age: 1 year, 8 months (April 2nd, 2014)
Birthplace: Unimak Island of the Aleutians, Alaska
Subspecies: Northwestern Wolf
Sex: Female
Age: 1 year, 8 months (April 2nd, 2014)
Birthplace: Unimak Island of the Aleutians, Alaska
At a Glance
Isabeau always has something stuck in her fur, be it dirt or leaves or bits of bark. She still has that puppy look to her where she hasn't grown into her legs or paws. Other than her interesting pelt, she's utterly unremarkable. Her pelt may be interesting to some used to more defined colors and patterns.
Profile of Isabeau: Details
Appearance
Isabeau exhibits a mottled calico pelt of diffused silver chalice and onyx black. Unlike many of her species, her fur does not have defined regions of color. Her ears are onyx rimmed with the backs slowly dissipating back to silver. The top of her muzzle and front of her lips are also splotched with the darker color, giving her the appearance of having nosed around in black soil. She lacks eye spots over her bay eyes.
She is a smaller wolf at barely 102 pounds. She is of average height and length, though it is very apparent that she is small framed for her species. She is in no way malnourished or sickly looking. If anything, she still has the slight feel of gangly pup who hasn't quite grown all the way into her paws. In the summer when her coat isn't as thick, a thin jagged scar can be seen on her front right leg, going from the outside of her paw up towards her elbow. It's fairly unremarkable and most likely the result of clumsy play as a puppy. During the colder months, her longer fur hides it.
Her teeth and nails are in good condition, however she often times has some sort of debris in her fur. She does not give off a very stately appearance most of the time.
She is a smaller wolf at barely 102 pounds. She is of average height and length, though it is very apparent that she is small framed for her species. She is in no way malnourished or sickly looking. If anything, she still has the slight feel of gangly pup who hasn't quite grown all the way into her paws. In the summer when her coat isn't as thick, a thin jagged scar can be seen on her front right leg, going from the outside of her paw up towards her elbow. It's fairly unremarkable and most likely the result of clumsy play as a puppy. During the colder months, her longer fur hides it.
Her teeth and nails are in good condition, however she often times has some sort of debris in her fur. She does not give off a very stately appearance most of the time.
Personality
Isabeau is probably more of a lower middle level wolf than anything else. She doesn't have an alpha bone in her body and yet she's not completely useless. She doesn't have any special traits other than being clumsy. She aspires to be a hunter but seems to find herself constantly wondering how to work her paws correctly. This leads to even the smallest prey having ample opportunity to escape. Is isn't a dumb wolf, though she isn't a mastermind either. She just seems to have trouble getting her body to do what her mind wants. She often wonders if gracefulness and skill will come with age.
One thing that can be said for Is, is that she's determined. She's very much aware of her inability to hunt successfully but continues to hope that one day she will be a skilled hunter. She hasn't acknowledged failure as an option and sees it as only a matter of time before she improves. It hasn't occurred to her to try other avenues of contribution within a pack. She also hasn't considered that she may be better suited for another trade.
She has her ups and downs. She isn't unstable but can be a bit pushy when it comes to improving her hunting skills. It may border on outright annoying to some, though she doesn't mean it that way. She is determined to a fault. Is has some growing up yet to do and may still seem puppy-ish in her hopes.
One thing that can be said for Is, is that she's determined. She's very much aware of her inability to hunt successfully but continues to hope that one day she will be a skilled hunter. She hasn't acknowledged failure as an option and sees it as only a matter of time before she improves. It hasn't occurred to her to try other avenues of contribution within a pack. She also hasn't considered that she may be better suited for another trade.
She has her ups and downs. She isn't unstable but can be a bit pushy when it comes to improving her hunting skills. It may border on outright annoying to some, though she doesn't mean it that way. She is determined to a fault. Is has some growing up yet to do and may still seem puppy-ish in her hopes.
Biography
Isabeau was born in the middle of the night on April 2nd, 2014. It was a balmy 37 degrees F when she was born. It had just passed 11pm and the slight wind could be heard outside, though not by her tiny closed ears. It was overcast on that chilly night. No light shone into the den. The entrance was faced in such a way that the weak light kept most of the ice at bay but the wind very rarely entered.
Isabeau was born right in the middle of a five pup litter. She came easily, though she can almost remember the terrible confusion of being warm and then suddenly squeezed and falling. The cold air made her cry out in protest. She could just remember the feeling of warmth as her mother's drying tongue slide over her wet fur. It was her first good memory, despite the trauma involved. Her next memory was the discovery of warm, rich, nourishing liquid found just by following the pull of her body towards her mother's. For those weeks, Isabeau lived for that rich liquid. Nothing at all matter otherwise.
When her eyes opened, the brightness hurt her eyes and everything was fuzzy. Soon, however, her tiny eyes began to develop and she grew to know the innards of her little world. Once her other senses were also in proper working order, she didn't need the light to find her siblings or mother. Her world expanded. She discovered that her world didn't taste too good. It was made of a strange, soft substance that smelled interesting but was, overall, bitter. There were several bits of long objects that didn't smell nearly as interesting but were terribly fun to chew on and destroy. She would eventually learn that they were called stick or wood or tree.
It was during this time after discovering the wonders that are sticks that another delight entered Isabeau's life. Strange creatures brought fascinating objects to her mother. In the brief seconds before they had disappeared into her mother's mouth, Isabeau caught whiffs of internalizing temptations. When her mother spewed forth some of the partially digested morsels, Isabeau found a new thing to live for - the hot, moist semi-solid nourishment that competed with her desire to fill her belly with the rich milk her mother provided.
Soon, the milk was long forgotten as Isabeau cut her teeth on the regurgitated meats provided by the mysterious strangers that sometimes appeared near the edge of her world. These strangers provided the meat for both mother and pups. Isabeau found that sometimes she could get one of these strangers to gift her with pre-eaten meat instead of having to wait for her mother.
Isabeau's young life changed so frequently. Just days after learning of wondrous sticks and meat, she was pushed out into a greater world. The dark, cramped den was abandoned and Isabeau met the rest of her family. Her physical world became too great to think about and her nose never stopped twitching. Not long after moving into this bigger world, a sad day came. Somehow a brother and litter mate was lost, taken from them by a strange flying creature with great sharp talons. Isabeau feared for herself for a while, but soon the brother and frightening creature were distant memories in a life filled with new smells.
Isabeau grew. Her grizzled grey coat lightened into the mottled silvery grey of her adult pelt. Its texture became courser and more repellent. Her legs became longer and paws bigger. She found it still difficult to keep from tumbling over. She seemed more useless than her litter mates when she began to hunt. Her attempts were appalling. She was unable to catch her first prey until well after her brothers and sister had moved on to larger meals. She frequently upended and pretzeled when frantically attempting to catch the broken voles brought to her for practice.
She was often scolded for coming home with twigs, dirt, leaves and burrs in her fur. Grooming never seemed as important to her as learning to hunt. By a year old, she still hadn't caught her own meal and was left to supervise other things when the pack took off to hunt larger game. It so frustrated Isabeau that she couldn't make her paws and legs work gracefully. Hunting consumed her every thought. She spent more time sneaking off trying to successfully kill voles in the shrubs of her territory than doing what she was told to do. Often, she was nipped for her lack of responsibility. If only she could explain to her pack! She couldn't, however. She wasn't a pup any longer and her elders were becoming less tolerant of her inability to succeed. They no longer answered her endless questions about techniques and methods. Isabeau felt her time was running out on becoming one of the hunters. Her dream of being a top hunter was slipping from her.
It took many weeks for Isabeau to gather the courage to leave her pack. Though she was low on the totem pole, she loved her family very much. She knew no other than. The rare meetings with other packs didn't lend to familiarity. She was often stuck in the back where it was safest, not that she wanted to fight. It didn't really hold her interest.
As her second birthday was approaching, she gathered the mental strength to approach her pack with her desires. She asked permission to leave and seek a mate. In a pack meeting, all stood quiet as she calmly stated her intentions to leave. Though none spoke, the atmosphere was dense with approval and unhidden excitement. An elder of the pack spoke to her after a long silence. He told her to journey away from the lagoon they called home. He said to find the human encampment on the coast where strange moving mountains called ships and ferries passed. She would have to cross a wide river called the Isanotski Strait by the humans. It would be a swim farther than she'd ever gone before, but not so far as to be difficult. The pack ran distances many many many times greater than what she would swim. The elder told her that the other side of this river would be her destiny. There, she would find her place.
With these wise words, Isabeau turn from her family. She would miss them but her path was on the mainland, across from her foggy scrub brush island. And thus, she put one gangly leg in front of the other and walked into the dense fog.
Isabeau was born right in the middle of a five pup litter. She came easily, though she can almost remember the terrible confusion of being warm and then suddenly squeezed and falling. The cold air made her cry out in protest. She could just remember the feeling of warmth as her mother's drying tongue slide over her wet fur. It was her first good memory, despite the trauma involved. Her next memory was the discovery of warm, rich, nourishing liquid found just by following the pull of her body towards her mother's. For those weeks, Isabeau lived for that rich liquid. Nothing at all matter otherwise.
When her eyes opened, the brightness hurt her eyes and everything was fuzzy. Soon, however, her tiny eyes began to develop and she grew to know the innards of her little world. Once her other senses were also in proper working order, she didn't need the light to find her siblings or mother. Her world expanded. She discovered that her world didn't taste too good. It was made of a strange, soft substance that smelled interesting but was, overall, bitter. There were several bits of long objects that didn't smell nearly as interesting but were terribly fun to chew on and destroy. She would eventually learn that they were called stick or wood or tree.
It was during this time after discovering the wonders that are sticks that another delight entered Isabeau's life. Strange creatures brought fascinating objects to her mother. In the brief seconds before they had disappeared into her mother's mouth, Isabeau caught whiffs of internalizing temptations. When her mother spewed forth some of the partially digested morsels, Isabeau found a new thing to live for - the hot, moist semi-solid nourishment that competed with her desire to fill her belly with the rich milk her mother provided.
Soon, the milk was long forgotten as Isabeau cut her teeth on the regurgitated meats provided by the mysterious strangers that sometimes appeared near the edge of her world. These strangers provided the meat for both mother and pups. Isabeau found that sometimes she could get one of these strangers to gift her with pre-eaten meat instead of having to wait for her mother.
Isabeau's young life changed so frequently. Just days after learning of wondrous sticks and meat, she was pushed out into a greater world. The dark, cramped den was abandoned and Isabeau met the rest of her family. Her physical world became too great to think about and her nose never stopped twitching. Not long after moving into this bigger world, a sad day came. Somehow a brother and litter mate was lost, taken from them by a strange flying creature with great sharp talons. Isabeau feared for herself for a while, but soon the brother and frightening creature were distant memories in a life filled with new smells.
Isabeau grew. Her grizzled grey coat lightened into the mottled silvery grey of her adult pelt. Its texture became courser and more repellent. Her legs became longer and paws bigger. She found it still difficult to keep from tumbling over. She seemed more useless than her litter mates when she began to hunt. Her attempts were appalling. She was unable to catch her first prey until well after her brothers and sister had moved on to larger meals. She frequently upended and pretzeled when frantically attempting to catch the broken voles brought to her for practice.
She was often scolded for coming home with twigs, dirt, leaves and burrs in her fur. Grooming never seemed as important to her as learning to hunt. By a year old, she still hadn't caught her own meal and was left to supervise other things when the pack took off to hunt larger game. It so frustrated Isabeau that she couldn't make her paws and legs work gracefully. Hunting consumed her every thought. She spent more time sneaking off trying to successfully kill voles in the shrubs of her territory than doing what she was told to do. Often, she was nipped for her lack of responsibility. If only she could explain to her pack! She couldn't, however. She wasn't a pup any longer and her elders were becoming less tolerant of her inability to succeed. They no longer answered her endless questions about techniques and methods. Isabeau felt her time was running out on becoming one of the hunters. Her dream of being a top hunter was slipping from her.
It took many weeks for Isabeau to gather the courage to leave her pack. Though she was low on the totem pole, she loved her family very much. She knew no other than. The rare meetings with other packs didn't lend to familiarity. She was often stuck in the back where it was safest, not that she wanted to fight. It didn't really hold her interest.
As her second birthday was approaching, she gathered the mental strength to approach her pack with her desires. She asked permission to leave and seek a mate. In a pack meeting, all stood quiet as she calmly stated her intentions to leave. Though none spoke, the atmosphere was dense with approval and unhidden excitement. An elder of the pack spoke to her after a long silence. He told her to journey away from the lagoon they called home. He said to find the human encampment on the coast where strange moving mountains called ships and ferries passed. She would have to cross a wide river called the Isanotski Strait by the humans. It would be a swim farther than she'd ever gone before, but not so far as to be difficult. The pack ran distances many many many times greater than what she would swim. The elder told her that the other side of this river would be her destiny. There, she would find her place.
With these wise words, Isabeau turn from her family. She would miss them but her path was on the mainland, across from her foggy scrub brush island. And thus, she put one gangly leg in front of the other and walked into the dense fog.
Relations
None thus far
Pack History
Loner as of Christmas 2015
Profile of Isabeau: Additional Information
Registered on December 21, 2015, last visited January 22, 2016, 10:12 PM
Unimak Island information.
Is comes from the Unimak Island of the Aleutians, a large island of Alaska. It is roughly in the middle of southern arm of the state. She lived within the shadow of one of the many volcanoes found on the large island.
Seismic activity
Moderate fairly uniform temperatures
heavy rainfall - 80 inches annually 250 days a year
fog almost constant
cool summers
Mean temperature of 38F
30 in Jan, 52 in Aug
growing season 135 days a year from early May to late September
dense growth of herbage and shrubs, flowering plants, few trees due to wind
peat bog near coasts
home to Alaskan brown bears and caribou, red fox, Sitka black-tailed deer, mountain goat, beaver, voles, salmon, lemmings, ground squirrels
Izembek National Wildlife Refuge is the smallest ( 315,000 acres) and one of the most ecologically unique of Alaska's refuges
coastal ecosystem
150-square mile Izembek Lagoon - shallow, brackish water covers one of the world's largest beds of eelgrass, creating a rich feeding and resting area for hundreds of thousands of waterfowl. Virtually the entire population of Pacific black brant (150,000 birds on average), Taverner's Canada goose (55,000), and emperor goose (6,000) inhabit the lagoon each fall. Approximately 23,000 threatened Steller's eiders also molt, rest, and feed at Izembek each autumn.
frequent strong winds, shallow acidic soils, and short growing season. Pacific coastal plants predominate, although arctic species are also common. Freshwater lakes and ponds punctuate the low tundra, while glaciers, snowfields, and active volcanos present a dramatic backdrop. The most prominent landforms in the Refuge include Izembek Lagoon, Pavlof Volcano (Pavlof Unit), the heavily-glaciated Shishaldin Volcano (Unimak Island), Frosty Peak and the jagged spires of the Aghileen Pinnacles. Topography varies from sea level to rugged volcanic peaks exceeding 9,000 feet. Habitat in the Refuge consists of berry-producing, low-growing bush tundra interspersed with numerous lakes, ponds and streams; thickets of alder brush in discrete zones and in riparian areas; coastal marshes; and barren glacier-topped mountains. Dominant plants include crowberry, grass, sedge, cottongrass, moss, alder, and willow. Eelgrass dominates lagoon habitats and is critical to staging waterfowl, especially the eelgrass-dependent Pacific black brant.
http://www.fws.gov/refuge/Izembek/wildli...ement.html
http://unimak.us/plants.shtml
Must have crossed the Isanotski Strait near False Pass to get to mainland Alaska. It is easily crossed? 2-3 miles across
It can travel more than 72 km (43 mi)/day, run at 56-64 km (34-38 mi)/hr, and swim as far as 13 km (8 mi) (P. C. Paquet, personal communication), no doubt aided by the webs between its toes. (http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/516962.html)
http://unimak.us/isanotski_strait.shtml
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isanotski_Strait
http://home.gci.net/~cityoffalsepass/landscape.htm
http://home.gci.net/~cityoffalsepass/environment.htm
Is comes from the Unimak Island of the Aleutians, a large island of Alaska. It is roughly in the middle of southern arm of the state. She lived within the shadow of one of the many volcanoes found on the large island.
Seismic activity
Moderate fairly uniform temperatures
heavy rainfall - 80 inches annually 250 days a year
fog almost constant
cool summers
Mean temperature of 38F
30 in Jan, 52 in Aug
growing season 135 days a year from early May to late September
dense growth of herbage and shrubs, flowering plants, few trees due to wind
peat bog near coasts
home to Alaskan brown bears and caribou, red fox, Sitka black-tailed deer, mountain goat, beaver, voles, salmon, lemmings, ground squirrels
Izembek National Wildlife Refuge is the smallest ( 315,000 acres) and one of the most ecologically unique of Alaska's refuges
coastal ecosystem
150-square mile Izembek Lagoon - shallow, brackish water covers one of the world's largest beds of eelgrass, creating a rich feeding and resting area for hundreds of thousands of waterfowl. Virtually the entire population of Pacific black brant (150,000 birds on average), Taverner's Canada goose (55,000), and emperor goose (6,000) inhabit the lagoon each fall. Approximately 23,000 threatened Steller's eiders also molt, rest, and feed at Izembek each autumn.
frequent strong winds, shallow acidic soils, and short growing season. Pacific coastal plants predominate, although arctic species are also common. Freshwater lakes and ponds punctuate the low tundra, while glaciers, snowfields, and active volcanos present a dramatic backdrop. The most prominent landforms in the Refuge include Izembek Lagoon, Pavlof Volcano (Pavlof Unit), the heavily-glaciated Shishaldin Volcano (Unimak Island), Frosty Peak and the jagged spires of the Aghileen Pinnacles. Topography varies from sea level to rugged volcanic peaks exceeding 9,000 feet. Habitat in the Refuge consists of berry-producing, low-growing bush tundra interspersed with numerous lakes, ponds and streams; thickets of alder brush in discrete zones and in riparian areas; coastal marshes; and barren glacier-topped mountains. Dominant plants include crowberry, grass, sedge, cottongrass, moss, alder, and willow. Eelgrass dominates lagoon habitats and is critical to staging waterfowl, especially the eelgrass-dependent Pacific black brant.
http://www.fws.gov/refuge/Izembek/wildli...ement.html
http://unimak.us/plants.shtml
Must have crossed the Isanotski Strait near False Pass to get to mainland Alaska. It is easily crossed? 2-3 miles across
It can travel more than 72 km (43 mi)/day, run at 56-64 km (34-38 mi)/hr, and swim as far as 13 km (8 mi) (P. C. Paquet, personal communication), no doubt aided by the webs between its toes. (http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/516962.html)
http://unimak.us/isanotski_strait.shtml
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isanotski_Strait
http://home.gci.net/~cityoffalsepass/landscape.htm
http://home.gci.net/~cityoffalsepass/environment.htm
Art Credits
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Player Notes
I'm a van dwelling 26 year old female. I have three dogs. I live in the Rocky Mountain region.
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