Trades are optional badges of specialization (IC and OOC) and are awarded by PMs to characters who have worked to develop their skills throughout threads. They are awarded in the following stages:

• General Trade: 5 threads in which the character clearly learns about/practices their chosen trade.
• Specialty: 10 additional threads in which the character grows in a specialized area of a given trade.
• Mastery: 20 additional threads in which a character furthers their grasp of a given specialty.

Characters may have a maximum of two trades with three specialties or masteries split between them. For example: a character with the Hunter and Mercenary trades can earn three Hunter masteries, two Hunter masteries and one Mercenary master, one Hunter mastery and two Mercenary masteries, or three Mercenary masteries.

While it is mostly up to your pack's PM whether or not a thread applies to a given trade, there is one universal standard we enforce: A thread may only be used in a single request — the same thread cannot be used for two trades, nor for a trade and that trade’s specialty or mastery.

Trade requests should be submitted to your pack's PM for approval. Lone wolves and PM characters may gain approval from any other PM on the site. The approving PM should post a request in Maintenance to apply the trade.

Wolves who possess a great deal of empathy, a drive to help others and an affinity for nurturing tend to make excellent Caregivers. Caregivers are wolves who, in one way or another, take care of their pack mates. Whether it be by tending wounds and aiding the ill, looking after the pack's youngest and oldest members, lending a shoulder for a wounded companion to lean on or aiding pregnant females in the pack, Caregivers are the heart of the pack.

• Medic: Major focus is on healing wounds and aiding the ill using various natural methods.
• Midwife: Major focus is on fertility, tending to pregnant mothers and providing neonatal care.
• Sitter: Major focus is on taking care of and teaching puppies and looking after the elderly.

 

Those wolves possessed of healthy curiosity and a reliable memory often choose to take up the proverbial pen and play the part of Chronicler. Chroniclers maintain the history of a pack, weave tales for entertainment and education alike, and occasionally sing and dance to tell the stories of yore. They are most responsible for passing on the traditions of a pack to its newest members and ensuring nothing is forgotten. Chroniclers are the brains of the pack.

• Bard: Major focus is on using poetry, song and other artistry to pass on stories, particularly as they pertain to pack traditions.
• Historian:[ Major focus is on keeping a record of a pack's history, and verbally passing that history on to newcomers.
• Storyteller: Major focus is on weaving tales with morals for fun or for education.

The wise, learned and empathetic among wolves are apt Counselors. It is very typical for Counselors to be older wolves who have collected a measure of worldly experience. Dealing with matters of heart, mind and soul, Counselors serve as mediators of conflict, confidantes for secrets, and advisors to the pack's leadership. Whether standing alongside their leaders to help them make the best decisions or aiding the troubled thoughts of their comrades, Counselors are the pack's soul.

• Advisor: Major focus is assisting the leadership with diplomacy and decision-making.
• Mediator: Major focus is on assisting with resolving interpersonal issues between individuals.
• Coach: Major focus is guiding the young and/or inexperienced and maintaining pack morale via games and entertainment.
• Therapist: Major focus is providing mental and emotional support and advice.

 

They say all wolves can hunt, but only the keenest of sight and keenest of smell can call themselves experts. These wolves have a quick mind and quicker reflexes and are capable of tracking and hunting a wide variety of prey, from tiny voles to towering moose. Hunters can sense even the tiniest of movements and it's said that their focus in unbreakable. By padding the pack's caches and feeding its members, Hunters are the pack's jaws and lifeblood.

• Birdcatcher: Major focus is on wild fowl, such as pheasants, turkeys, ducks, etc.
• Deerstalker: Major focus is on large ungulates, team coordination and scavenging.
• Fisher: Major focus is on aquatic game, large and small, and health of the waterways.
• Tracker: Major focus is on following herd patterns and movements; monitoring birth and death rates; observing general animal behavior and life cycles; as well as keeping track of caches and their contents.
• Trapper: Major focus is on small game, like rabbits, squirrels and other rodents.

 

Those wolves who possess unparalleled control over their bodies and a critical eye for the weakness in others go on to become unmatched Mercenaries. They have unsurpassed discipline and the quick reflexes and sharp movements to manipulate weaknesses. Mercenaries tend to be more wild than their non-Mercenary counterparts, and often solve problems with action rather than words. With their brawn and affinity for strategizing, Mercenaries are the pack's muscle.

• Guardian: Major focus is on defensive fighting and controlling and refreshing the borders.
• Tactician: Major focus is on strategy in large conflict scenarios.
• Warrior: Major focus is on offensive fighting and training, and escorting important pack members outside the pack territory on official business.

Naturalists are so in tune with the natural world that at times, the plants, stones and weather are more interesting to them than other wolves. Rumours abound that these wolves can hear rocks, speak with rivers, conjure spirits and read the skies like body language. While these rumours are exaggeration, every Naturalist has unparalleled knowledge of the natural world, knowledge that at times verges on the supernatural, and are perpetually curious about natural phenomena. Naturalists are the minds of the pack.

• Astronomer: Major focus is on the stars, the moon and the constellations.
• Botanist: Major focus is on plant care and plant identification.
• Ecologist: Major focus is on ecosystems and the organisms within them.
• Meteorologist: Major focus is on the weather and predicting adverse events.
• Toxicologist: Major focus is on poisonous substances and how to protect oneself against them or use them against others.

Wolves travel all their lives. Some enjoy it, some hate it, and some live and breathe for it. Wolves who best suit the Scout designation have an insatiable desire to see the world and are not content to remain in one place for long. They are excellent long-distance travelers and are able to remember small details readily, making them excellent messengers. With their skill for ranging far and wide and never getting lost or growing tired, Scouts are the pack's feet, eyes and ears.

• Ambassador: Major focus is on carrying messages to other wolves, recruiting wolves and representing their pack.
• Ranger: Major focus is on ranging far and wide, exploring and mentally mapping the landscape.
• Rogue: Major focus is on infiltrating other packs, manipulating other wolves to gain information, and other con artistry.

The wolves that believe in the great beyond in the world; that there are all-creators, gods, and higher entities that shape this earth. These wolves believe or practice their own religions, and are often the thread that unites spiritual communities. They serve as religious counsel to their faithful, and often are seen spreading their doctrine among the wilds.

• Chaplain: Major focus is on creating, developing and organizing religious beliefs.
• Missionary: Major focus is on spreading religious beliefs and practices through deeds and words.
• Seer: Major focus is on divination and interpreting signs from deities and other numen.