Sun Mote Copse Starwaves

Assumed some things without mentioning anyone specifically to get to the point quicker. Voluntary pack activity, but I would love if all of you joined and told your favourite story. Either that of, what your toon has experienced in/out of the game, or a folktale you particularly like in real life or you come up with something totally original.

One round - I will write a conclusion on 26th January. 

Tagging: @Finley , @Elwood , @Towhee , @Phox , @Maia , @Pippin , @Sundance , @Chanel , @Weejay , @Clover , @Niamh , @Nellie , @Eljay .

It had been one of the few winter days, when the sky had been cloudless and bright blue, the sunlight had graced the land all day and on the evening the sky was coloured in myriads of reds, violet, oranges and yellows as it slowly set behind the horizon. Opposite to it a pale moon had risen. A perfect evening for story-telling.

Wraen had another reason for being in a good mood. She had found a beaver's dam with fresh tracks of more than one animal around for her pack to explore tomorrow. Incidentally she part of her group already gathered in a clearing between the trees. It was a patch of meadow with soft moss beds on either side - comfy for all ages and stages of joint exhaustion. 

"We have a beaver home to raid tomorrow," she told them, as she sat down herself. After asking around, how everyone had been doing during the day and chatting for a while, she offered something. "As your tyrannous leader I suggest a little fun this evening. I am an avid story collector and teller myself and I know that some of you," a pointed look in the direction of you-know-whos, "have led very adventurous lives and some others are good at coming up with stories within a blink of an eye.

And some are enigmas to me, who I would like to know better. So - impress me with stories - does not matter - real or fictional. Whoever does it best, will have the first pick of the beaver we take down."

Raiding a beaver's den was not something Weejay was familiar with. She looked to the adults around her as Wraen spoke of their ambition, attempting to read from their faces their impression[s] of such a prospect. She was nervous - and wondered if, this might be an expedition she was tasked to go along with.

There were other things to task themselves with tonight. Weejay's ears strained as Wraen spoke of story-time, and as she looked around at the faces (some she knew quite well, some not at all) she felt a little thrum in her heart. She knew if she was to speak, she better do it now -- before she lost her will entirely.

Sheepishly, she cleared her throat -- and nearly died as all eyes turned upon her (oh god why did I do that?!).

Her heart pounded in her head as she tried to collect her wits, looking away from all of them and focusing chiefly on Wraen. "I know a story." Her voice was quiet, timid even -- but over time the timbre would change as she delved deeper into the lore she had once been told by Deku, a kind soul (and friend) she had once met in the woods and missed terribly.

"There once was this wolf who walked the earth on tall, lean legs. A cloudstrider and earthwalker, his name was Mino." A glance around and Weejay saw there was no shortage of eyes upon her - her heart went arump-arump-arump, spiking, as she focused back on Wraen. "Mino had a sister named Ori. Ori was strong and terrible - she would fight those in the cosmos who tried to hurt the earth-wolves, and would protect all.. While Ori would walk the world below, and learn all he could. He could remember every last detail about everything he had ever discovered: from the way a rock glittered in the sun, to the noise a droning beetle would make as it landed upon a leaf." Here Weejay lost her train of thought for a moment, struggling to remember what Deku had said.

"One day, disaster struck and Ori could not stop it. The earth was very hurt, with some regions completely destroyed. Many wolves were killed by this cosmic event, and those that survived were without a home.

Mino, who had discovered everything he could about the earth, became a beacon of light for the lost and hopeless. He became the guiding star, and would help whoever he could cross the earth in safety. He was the leader and the guide for lost and lone wolves, and all would come to him for help.

When Mino died, his spirit was lifted to the stars. He's right there --" Weejay pointed up, just as a cloud parted -- revealing a silvery and twinkling star that winked at all below cheerily. "If you are ever in the dark, or lost, you can look up and see Mino is there for you, shining down for you to follow."

She fell silent abruptly, curling her tail nervously around her hips. She hoped they would like it - she had loved that story when Deku told it to her, and hoped wherever he was, that Mino was shining down favorably upon him.

original story told by deku

Story based on my favourite childhood story "The little match girl", but I grew up with the Dutch version. This is roughly a translation of the story they tell at the efteling, a theme park based on famous fairy tales. The video can be found here. Of course I wolf-ified the story :p.

Nellie already knew she would love to raid a beaver den, despite never having done so before. The fiery girl, even as a child, would do anything when there was a prize attached. Somehow she wasn't the first to speak up, but she listened contently to Weejay. In her head, she crafted a sad story with a bitter-sweet ending, completing it by the time Weejay was finished telling hers. Politely, she waited if anyone really liked to share their story first, but when no one spoke up she decided it was her turn.

I have one too. She said, her voice breaking the silence. She felt her heart bounce around in her chest, jumping up to block her throat. She swallowed softly and then began her tale. 'Twas the coldest day of winter, the very last one of the year. 'Twas starting to get dark and the clouds had left a blanket of snow upon the world. She told, her voice dark as she tried to set the mood. And in this cold, dark world sat a little girl. She'd gotten terribly lost and was now perched against a tree. Her lil' paws were too cold and tired to go on, even though she heard other wolves singing in the distance. She paused, letting the desperate situation of this little girl sink in with the audience she'd gathered.

Chilled to the very bone, she could only sit and watch the stars up above. She'd been lost all day, sent out to collect winter berries that were now scattered around her tiny frame. Snowflakes tangled into the fur that curled so sweetly around her face. Her stomach growled - she was so hungry too. Nellie told, her eyes now focused somewhere in the distance as she tried to picture it all herself.

She had just enough energy to lap up a berry - the taste was sour, the temperature icy cold. She took a deep breath - Nellie mimicked taking a deep breath. - and when she breathed out again, she could swear she saw a shape in the mist. It was the shape of the den she'd grown up in, warm and cozy with her siblings. A shiverin' paw reached out, tried to go inside, but the mist was blown away and she was back against the tree again. Nellie had also reached out her paw, the way the girl in her story would've done. She was really getting into it now.

Down went another sour berry, and the mist returned again. This time it was in the shape of a juicy moose - her family was sitting around it, inviting her to come eat with them, loving smiles upon their faces. She stumbled her way towards them, but tumbled and landed on her back. The sparkles in their eyes were stars now, high above her. Nellie gestured to the sky up above.

One of those stars fell, the trail it left behind lasting only a moment. "Now, someone will die." said the little girl in the snow, 'cause her grandmother had told her that when a star fell, a soul was taken up to the sky to become a little star. She used a different voice than her own for the little girl in her story, making her sound young and innocent. Another sour berry was eaten, and there stood her grandmother. "Grandmother!" The little girl shouted weakly. She knew her grandmother would disappear as soon as she couldn't taste the berry anymore, so she took all of the berries, one by one. "Oh grandmother! I know you'll be gone when the berries are, but please take me with you."

Her grandmother smiled at her and nudged her side. The little girl felt like she was floating when she got up - 'Twas so cold, even time froze. They stepped upon the snowflakes together and climbed all the way up to the sky. She paused again, her eyes scanning the sky. The following morning, her little body was found. The deep purple of the berries stained the snow, but there was a warm smile 'pon the little girl's face. "Poor thing, she must've frozen to death with nothin' but berries to eat." the others said, but no one knew of all the wonderful things she had seen, and that she was now able to step into a new year with her grandmother. She went silent, looking around the circle to see if anyone was as touched by her story as she'd been. She didn't think she would enjoy sharing her stories with others, but it made her feel kinda fulfilled.

He arrived with @Weejay and settled to listen to what Wraen had to say. A beaver hunt..? Eljay didn't have a whole bunch of experience with beavers, but he was eager enough to try it. Food was a nice prospect, even though he still felt a little weak as it were. There wasn't enough food and Eljay knew that Weejay needed it a lot more. The worries over Elfie that had consumed him recently didn't help him put on weight any, either. Eljay looked rather thin still, even though at least some food had returned -- and so he was doing better than a few months back, even despite the cold.

As Wraen mentioned herself as 'tyrannous leader', Eljay looked at Weejay and grinned, then looked back at Wraen. Weejay was first to speak up after Wraen had asked for stories; a surprise to Eljay, but not an unpleasant one. He smiled proudly at his daughter and watched as she started to tell the story. He gingerly nosed her shoulder when she looked around after starting her story. A silent show of support, and a silent show of pride that his little girl was doing this thing that he imagined must be scary in some way.

As the story unfolded Eljay could not help but think of the way parts of their own homes were destroyed - of how Elfie got lost, of how food disappeared. Weejay continued her story and then finished it. Eljay smiled at Weejay and quietly said to her, That was a great story, sweetie. There was a proud smile on his face that showed his feelings strongly, as it always did, and he nosed her cheek gingerly as a sign of this pride and the love he felt for her. If only her mother and brother could've been here to see this new milestone in her life.

Nellie was next to tell a story. Eljay was admittedly a little distracted by fawning over Weejay through the first bits of the story, but he listened and nodded through the rest of it. When it finished, Eljay smiled at Nellie in silent affirmation that it was a good story, too, though he stayed seated beside Weejay. He himself didn't tell a story; it had never been his forte to remember and tell stories, or to say things in a compelling way at all, so he felt that he was better off giving others the spotlight.

Maia was thrilled to be at an event and thrived with the challenge of the story round table.  She gave her big sister a wink when she acknowledge that some were accustomed to telling tales, and immediately her mind began to turn, drafting the tale that she'd share.

While that happened, she listened raptly to the younger members who chose to kick the session off.  Wow, those stories were good, but both kinda downers weren't they?  She wasn't much for sad stories except in specific circumstances and decided her own would be a triumphant tale to spin the mood back up.  

As Nellie finished, Maia grinned, then stepped forward herself.  Mine is a story of winter too... the tale of Amina  Ice-eyes, the terror of the north!  Maia gave a little growl to the name and a dramatic flourish.  She had never heard this tale nor told this story, but as she created the character, the details fell into place.

She didn't start with that title.  Amina lived way up north, where the ground and air freezes so cold that you can catch your breath with your paws.  Up there, all of the creatures who hunt work together because the cold is a big enough enemy to share.  Her best friend was a bear, a big white one named Weyo.

One afternoon she and Weyo were out tracking seals when they heard the wolves of Amina's pack calling for help.  He told her to run ahead, but even running faster than she'd ever run before, she was too late. Where her pack once lived she found only a gigantic wall of ice, seven times larger than her friend, even when he stood tall.

Maia paused her for dramatic effect, coming up with the cause as she did so.  At this point, the story was improv, but she (like her writer) would need to bring it to a resolution.

Amina knew this was the work of the winter king and his evil minions of ice and snow.  She was so sad that she began to cry, and she was still crying when Weyo finally caught up.  He took one look and grew angry, and he immediately knew what they needed to do.  'Bayo will help', he growled fiercely.  The king of the northern bears was a ferocious warrior and a sworn enemy of the winter king.  The wolves of the north did not have a king, as each pack had their own leaders.  The bears were different, and the legend was that Bayo was the strongest king ever seen.  So strong that he could even... like... make magic.  Oh yeah magic was totally cool, and if he was the strongest bear ever then it totally made sense.

Weyo led the way, and together they braved the journey even further north. By the time they arrived they were exhausted, but when Amina delivered her story, Beyo did not seem interested.  If she wanted his help, she'd have to prove herself by fighting him.  She had no choice.

Amina was no match for the terrible power of the king.  He threw her down again, and again, and again!! But each time she got up.... got up.... and got up.  By the end she barely could.  Beyo seemed amused, and was going to send her home, but something stopped him.  Her eyes.... they were lit as if from within.  It was almost like the ice itself was staring back at him, resolved.  That was pretty good.

'Ice-Eyes,' Beyo rumbled, his voice booming like an avalanche.  'You have proven yourself to carry a bear's spirit.  Now I will lend you my strength.  You will be my general, and gather my followers with your call.  Together we will destroy my old enemy.'  Maia mocked the bear's voice best she could, then paused again, before drawing the story to a close.

Amina's coat grew shaggy and her frame grew large, bigger than any wolf ever known.  Her teeth and claws grew sharp and strong, and together with the bears she summoned, she destroyed the winter king's forces.  When she stood before him, he was taken by fear.  He released her packmates and fled the north for good.  She grinned.  After that, her enemies knew her by her new title, 'Terror of the North'.  Her friends, though, called her 'Amina Ice-Eyes, Bear Spirit.'  Her family can still be found, wandering the north.  Big, strong wolves with eyes like ice and fur thick as a bear.

She finished, then stepped back, sitting down in the circle where she'd left from.  This was a good character!! She'd have to keep it in reserves... she liked to revisit them later.

Fig was not a storyteller. This was something he knew, even though he had never actually tried to be one before. He was not very creative. His imagination was a bit limited when it came to invention, but it worked well enough that he was able to picture the scenes as the others told their stories. Bears and wolves and gods and death. He followed them all eagerly. But when a silence came around that he could have filled, he kept quiet--content to listen and let someone else claim the next day's prize.

Stories really weren't Finley's forte either. She had come up with plenty in a pinch (though were lies told to get out of trouble really count as stories?), but none really came to her at first as the game began. She considered her repertoire in the back of her mind as she listened to the first volunteers. There was the story about shooting stars, the one about Rodney the Bear, and of course the one about the bat cave. That one was actually inspired by a true story--and it was that thought along with the well-timed nudge from Penn at her side that made her realize. She didn't need to make up a story. She'd lived about thirty billion of them.

"So, y'all might think that we have a big family here with all these Blackthorns and all these Redhawks running around," she began, "But when I was a kid, I had about as many siblings as there are of us here, with aunts and uncles and a whole mess of other Blackthorns on top. Now, this may come as a bit of a shock, but back then, I wasn't really a huge fan of sharing the spotlight with so many other brothers and sisters. I was obsessed with being the center of attention and I must say, I was pretty creative when it came to figuring out just how to get that attention from everyone."

Fin paused to let people laugh (because of course they would, she's hilarious). Then she smiled and continued. "So one day, I got this brilliant idea in my head that if I broke my leg, then everyone would have to pay attention to me. I was probably like... five months old at that point? Maybe? Well, in any event, I was young enough to not realize that breaking my leg would be crazy painful and I should probably not do that. Mostly, I just knew that every time I did something, Ma Blackthorn was always yelling at me not to break my leg, so I figure, yeah, that's totally what I need to do."

"Problem was, I wasn't sure how to break my leg. I thought maybe I could break it by biting it real hard, but my siblings and I were always biting on each other and nothing ever broke. Then I thought maybe I could jump off of something and try to land on it weird, which I tried a few times, but it didn't really do much. Finally, I had to shelf my pride and ask for help. And this, of course," Fin glanced at Nellie (and Bronce and Niamh if they're here), her smile softening as her eyes glinted, "Is where my dear brother, Colt, came in."

"So Colt has this brilliant idea that I'm not the one that needs to jump off of something--He can jump off of something and land on my leg. All I'd have to do was stand beneath this tall rock and just stick my leg out for him and he'd leap off of rock and land on my leg. Genius, right?" She shuffled a bit to get more comfortable before continuing.

"So we head out to find just the right rock, which wasn't too hard. The Blackthorn clan claimed this big ass valley in the middle of a long mountain range. We called it the Vale. But anyway, there were cliffs and rocks and everything else far as the eye could see. So we get to one and the drop is pry about as tall as that tree right there," she gestured with her nose at a tree that was a good 12 feet tall, "Colt climbs up and I get into position at the base of the rock. He asks me if I'm ready and I've never not been ready so I tell him to get on with it. He decides to count down and make things all dramatic, and then he jumps."

"Now, somewhere in between where he said one and then jumped, my instincts must've kicked in because suddenly, I'm in a blind panic. It all comes rushing back to me that y'know, when I tried to break my leg by jumping off things, that did kinda hurt. Maybe this is gonna hurt. Maybe this is a terrible, terrible idea, and I need to bail. So, I tried to bail. Only Colt apparently had that same thought in his head that maybe this was a mistake and he needs to abort before we kill ourselves, only it didn't occur to him until he was right about to jump. So in his brilliant head, he decides to just jump further forward and try to land in this bush that was right nearby us. And me in my brilliant head, tried to make a run for it.

"Lo and behold, I managed to put myself right where Colt managed to land. The bastard smashes right into me--completely missing the bush, I might add--and we both go crashing down. Turns out it was just as terrible an idea as we both realized way too late that it was gonna be." Fin paused once more before wrapping up her story with a neat little bow. "So! That is how I broke my leg," one more pause for good measure, then, "...And how Colt broke his leg also."

Elwood had experienced much in his life, and could probably spin a tale or two if asked to do so. But narration had never been his strength, and he suspected that many of his stories would pale in comparison to others’ (especially his wife’s).

Still, he was eager to hear each yarn shared by his packmates, as was Avery, who was settled between her parents. She had told him a few of the stories that Wraen had described to her, but was feeling too timid and self-conscious about her stutter to be a participant of the spoken word.

So father and daughter listened, their gazes shifting to every wolf that took a turn.

Fennec might have told a story at any other time.  She enjoyed scaring wolves and coming up with new, fantastic, creepy monsters for the shadow landscape she traversed.  But knowing her brother was there, and still feeling badly over the wedge she'd shoved between them, she kept her mouth shut.

She listened intently to the other stories, though.  Her favorite was the one about the girl in the snow.  It was dark... and it struck a chord with her.  She imagined that maybe she was blind, like Fenn was, and that's why she couldn't find her way home.

Wraen could not have chosen a better assemblage of people to learn new stories from. She knew it the moment Weejay volunteered to be the first and in order to ease the slight nervousness she felt about performing before a group of people, the Sovereign smiled at her encouragingly and listened carefully to the tale about the earth-walker Mino and the sky-wolf Ori. There were so many things she would have loved to ask: Who had been the hostile beings that Ori had fought against? What had been the disaster that had struck the Earth and why had powerful Ori been helpless to prevent it? She followed the girl's gaze up to the Sirius or the North Star, the brightest one in the nightsky and was glad to give it another name. No less beautiful and meaningful. "Thank you, Weejay. It was lovely," she praised the girl kindly.

Nellie was the next to spin a yarn and Wraen was positively surprised by, what she heard. She had not expected that straightforward and realistic Niamh's daughter to be a gifted story-teller. Meebee's take on "The little match girl" was absolutely beautiful. It warmed the heart of Wraen's narrator and made tears well up in the Sovereign's eyes. This moment of stark emotion she hid by pretending to rub her muzzle with her paws and shook her head a little. And yet the story had hit her straight in the heart and moved her like no other had. Later on she would find Nellie and ask, who had told her this and/or did she have more such in her stock for her to hear and collect. "Beautiful, Nellie," she told her with a sincere smile.

Though Eljay had received one very stressful lesson at story-telling, he did not share any of his own. Yet Wraen was glad to see him genuinely happy and proud for once and she appreciated him being the best audience for those, who had come here and were telling stories to the others. The good quality about him was that the Blackthorn man did not pretend that he was interested or praised out of politeness. He was attentive and truly listened. 

Maia added some spice to the bittersweet potion that was brewing on the fire with a tale that seemed to bring together Game of Thrones, Phillip Pullman's "His Dark Materials", Avatar: The Last Airbender and probably some other influences from popular literature and series that Wraen's narrator does not know about. Wraen was not aware of the fantasy genre of human world, but she did sense that Maia's story was a colourful and lively patchwork of many tales she had heard throughout her life. That was, how all story-tellers began, and, while there was a lot of room from improvement, Wraen loved the action, enjoyed seeing her sister live through every moment of the tale and bring it to a grand close. It had everything in it to make a wonderful action-filled game for children. "Thanks, Maia," she told her sister and gave her a proud smile and a sly wink.

Phox's son preferred to listen just the same way as Eljay, Elwood, Penn and Fennec, and Wraen realized that with so many story-tellers already around the table, you needed just as many members of the audience. She would have wished to hear more of Fennec's ghost and monster stories, but she did not seem to be in the mood to do so. Story-telling required good mood, inspiration and the right vibe. But another person stepped in. Finley. Wraen laughed at the right moments and listened to her adventures intently. "That's quite a tale," Wraen remarked. "Compared to yours, mine childhood has been boring and uneventful." She looked around and before telling her own story, decided to ask: "Does anyone else want to share their adventures - real or imagined?"

Phox was still a bit on edge since Nellie's return, unsure of what Niamh's reaction would be (although he expected it wouldn't be a good one). He was pretty distracted throughout the whole process of others telling their stories, though Phox did at least try to pay attention to each one. He did like that Weejay told a story about the stars, if only because he could add that one to his list of ever-growing astronomy stories. Nellie was up next, who also contributed a story that involved stars. Maybe that was just a common theme in stories around here.

Maia's story was about bears and magic and ice, which Phox enjoyed well enough. At least the parts he could pay attention to. Something about focusing on one thing for this long had become difficult after the landslide accident. Finley's story was next, a true tale about her and Colt, which only further frazzled Phox's emotions. He gulped, doing his best not to look around for Niamh. It felt like doing that would do the opposite of calming him down, and it might make him look needy, too.

When Wraen asked if anybody else had a story to tell, Phox cleared his throat. It was his favorite, and he had always thought of Towhee when he recalled it, so it seemed appropriate. Speaking and signing, considering the audience, seemed like the best bet, so he stuck with that.

-Once upon a time, there were twin brothers. They had the same mother, but their fathers were different wolves. One was Pollux, who could not die, because his father was a god. The other was Castor, who was mortal like you and me. They were very close all throughout their lives. When Castor started to get very old and come to the end of his life, Pollux was terrified of living until the end of time without him.

So he went to his father—the one who was a god—and asked if they could be put in the sky. His father agreed, and now the both of them live up in the sky as the constellation Gemini.-

Phox's story was a bit shorter than the others, but he figured that wouldn't matter, so long as the others enjoyed it.

Phox stood up and told a story, which featured familiar names to Wraen. Except - she did not recall this particular tale, but thought of another, longer one, where the two brothers had been part of Jason's team and had travelled the world together. Details, however, had escaped her memory, but later in the evening, when on her own, Wraen would think about the two characters and try to remember the whole story. 

Since no one else volunteered, Wraen thought that it was a good time to finish the evening with a story of her own. Keeping in mind that her audience would be tired after hearing so many wonderful tales, she promissed herself to keep it short and to the point. "To those, who are unfamiliar with selkies - they belong to shapeshifters. They live as seals in the seas, but now and then they come ashore, shed they skin and spend time on Earth as well.

Once upon a time on the very shores we have here lived a man. He spent his days scavenging and fishing and nights sleeping alone in his den. No other soul lived nearby and though he was very self-sufficient, now and then he got lonely - like we all do. One day he had wandered further than his usual hunting grounds and found a secret grotto among the clifs. And there he witnessed the most unusual sight: many seals had swam ashore, they shed they skins and frolicked, played and sang in the sands. 

One particularly beautiful maiden caught his eye and he was overcome by desire to have her stay. Therefore he stole closer and closer, found her seal-skin and stole it, while no one was watching. When the day came to a close, the other selkies picked their skins and disappeared in the sea, but the girl was left, looking for her lost skin, crying miserably and looking longingly over to the sea, where her brothers and sisters waited for her to join them.

The man came from his hiding place, introduced himself and after much persuasion though a little reluctantly the girl agreed to become his wife and live with him. They had many children together and they were relatively happy, but selkie's eyes were always turned to the sea and every year on that day, when the selkies came ashore to frolick and play, she sang mournfully. 

One day, while her husband was away with the eldest children and she was left to tend for the youngest, one of the girls dug up a secret den and pulled out a beautiful and soft seal-skin out of it. Years had done no damage to it. And, when the girl showed her finding to her mother, her eyes lit up in joy. She bid her child good-bye, went down to the shores, slipped in her skin, turned to a seal and joined her selkie family.

And later that day father found his daughter still looking out to the sea, where her mother had disappeared. They never saw her again, though now and then seals would still come to visit the shores and one in particular would observe the lands searchingly," Wraen finished the folk-tale and got to her feet to stretch. "I think it is a good time now to go for bed. Each of you told a wonderful tale and you deserve a whole beaver to yourselves. Have a good night's sleep now and see you in the morning. We have a big day ahead!" she told them. Saw them leave and then went to have a nap of her own. 

Selkies and the story come from Scottish/Celtic mythology, however, the motif of this kind of shapeshifter can be found in many folk-tales accross Europe.

Thank you all for joining! You are truly amazing! :)