FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter One: A Brief History of The Northern Roaropean Wolf

"The wolves of the world of Animalia come in all shapes and sizes. From the sizeable red wolf with its dusky auburn fur, to the arctic wolf with its thick and luxurious white pelt, to the more compact and sandy colored desert wolf. Wolves are as diverse a species as sheep, goats, or any other mammal on the planet. However, from a cultural standpoint the wolf usually falls under two types when it comes to mammalian history. The North Mammalia wolves who were native to the continent that would later become the home of Zootopia, and the Great Northern Wolves of Norwulff and Sibearia."

"To set a proper chain of events, we must start with the history of the wolf packs of Greater and Lesser Norwulff. The grand and feared nomadic warriors that were seen as the scourge of Roarupe, and more often than not the mammals of Scottram and Irelamb"

"Time is often a fuzzy thing when it comes to the advent of civilizations. It's hard to pinpoint exactly when any one species across Animalia became aware of the concept of time, and the necessity of keeping it. When we finally started to question why we are at all, instead of just continuing to survive. Historians ballpark the time when most mammals transitioned from simple savages to hunting and gathering to be about 35,000 years ago. But where each species made it's individual leap forward from small tribes and city states to full on societies and nations differs greatly within the two-thousand plus year span since the founding of the first recognized nation, 'The Pridelands'. This is common knowledge, it's why we use the B.P. and A.P. metrics when citing the year. The abbreviations standing for 'Before Pridelands' and 'After Pridelands' respectively. The invade and conquer mentality of the Pridelands in it's first thousand years is largely responsible for the adoption of this year system into modern society."

"But the Lions were not the only aggressively expansionist species around, and thus we come back to the Roaropean wolf packs. These largely nomadic packs could be found all over Northern Roarope and Sibearia, but came to concentrate in Northern Roarope around the 600's A.P. The Great North Wolves were very concerned with expanding their territory, and the males of each respective pack spent a great deal of time exploring and finding new resources. With every new town they discovered, they would simply take it over. If the residents resisted then the wolf pack would fight until either the villagers were beaten into submission or driven out. Those who were particularly defiant usually found their lands razed as penance for not swearing allegiance to the invading pack."

"By this point wolves already had their infamous recognition among caprids for quite some time, but with their full-time occupation so close to the sheep home-lands came a sharp increase of butting heads with the local caprids. Over the next three centuries, the rapid expansion of wolves drove most of the sheep and other mammals out of Northern Roarope. From there they continued to press hard against sheep occupied lands, with various packs intermittently attacking the Scottram shores ultimately leading to the birth of Scottram as a nation in 954 A.P. The need for a unified effort at keeping the wolves from taking over the caprid homeland ultimately becoming a catalyst to the Blackwool's rise power, which is something I will discuss in greater detail later."

"The nation, now unified and with a dedicated army was able to successfully drive individual packs out of Scottram. But it was still not an end to the wolves attempts at invasion. While they could no longer successfully take over a town in Scottram with the King's Army on guard, it didn't stop them from trying. Thus this bloody back and forth continued into the next millennia, until a startling change developed within the homeland of the Northern wolves."

"It is known that the North Wolves were very superstitious and spiritual, and the one thing they respected more than anything were the wolves the dubbed as 'seer's'. These wolves supposedly had been blessed with a direct line to the will of the gods, and thus their visions were taken with gravity and reverence. In 1210 A.P, Anja Düclaw, alpha female of the largest pack amongst the Great North Wolves had received one of these so called 'visions'. In it she described seeing a spectacular kingdom which all mammals lived under in harmony and unity. It was then the gods told her how displeased they were with the behavior of all the wolf packs. The constant war and bloodshed disgusted them, and they further warned that the wolves would be denied a place in the kingdom she had seen if they continued to behave as such. The time had come to break bread and mend old wounds with other species, starting with the sheep they continually warred with. They also wished to see the pack dynamic which bound the wolves by rank to be done away with, that in order to progress all wolves must stand on equal ground."

"Despite the severity of the call, it would still take almost another century to unite the wayward packs under the beliefs of the Düclaw clan, especially among the wolves in the southern province that would become Lesser Norwulff. While the northern province unified officially in 1295 A.P. under the banner of Greater Norwulff, the southern wolves refused to join them for another half decade. The southern wolves continued their attacks on Scottram, and thusly the sheep didn't want anything to do with the Great Norwulff nation's call for peace under the Düclaw family. By the time the Düclaw's were able to get the southern wolf packs to come to heel, formally becoming Lesser Norwulff in 1343, Scottram had become the aggressors. The Blackwools, more specifically the newly seated King Declan Blackwool was unwilling to hear the wolf nation out on their calls for making peace. This was despite the pleading of his wife, the much beloved Queen Moira Blackwool. To the King, the wolves were 'bloodthirsy savages' who had taken too many sheep lives to ignore, and thus he was set on a formal war with the relatively new nations."

"In 1345, Declan set off with all of Scottram's able bodied warriors on forty-five of his finest warships in order to launch a sneak attack the nation of Lesser Norwulff. However, not a single ship made it to their frozen shores. A sudden and great storm swallowed the ships, the King, and his men in one fell swoop. The wolves never even knew how close they were to war, and Scottram was not prepared to endure such a loss. Nearly all the families in Scottram had lost their fathers, husbands, brothers, and sons. The economy also suffered immediately with the loss of more than half of their tradesman, farmers, and so-forth. The now in-charge widow Queen Blackwool had to act quickly to stabilize the nation and save her people. So she began to formally pursue the truce with the wolves, stating to the mammals of Scottram that the ships lost on their fatal errand was a direct response from the gods. That it was truly time to end the bad blood between the two races and move forward. "

"Just a year later, the formal peace agreement was finally achieved. The leader of the Düclaw pack sent his son, Erik Düclaw as their official ambassador in order to negotiate the treaty. According to historical documents, Erik was not King Gier's first choice to send out to meet with Queen Moira. That honor was originally set to go to his eldest son Sigurd. However, the personal journals of Erik Düclaw reveal that he had dreamt of Queen Blackwool despite having never met her. In the dream she had told him to come to her, that if he didn't act as the ambassador then relations between the species would collapse. Erik then beseeched his father to allow him to be the ambassador. Despite King Gier's reluctance, he felt he couldn't argue with what was seen as a 'seer's vision' and sent Erik in Sigurd's stead."

"When the Queen and ambassador finally met, they were reportedly quite friendly with each from the start, as if they had long since known each-other. When it came to the negotiations, despite the plea of her bodyguards, the Queen insisted on being alone with the wolf. To her it was an effort to build confidence in her fellow Shcotts, to show them that wolves were no longer something to fear. No one knows exactly what went on during these private meetings, but the end result saw the official Norwulff-Scottram peace pact of 1346, as well as Erik's installation as a live-in ambassador and personal body guard to the Queen."

"Again, the Queen's official statement on all of this was that it was to build confidence among the sheep that wolves were truly peaceful. That they would help Scottram build itself back up, and the trade and immigration between countries would lead them all to a shining utopia. With a Düclaw being so close to her at all times, it actively reminded the populace how much wolves have changed. But some mammals today have different theories, the most popular being that of a secret tryst between the pair. The proof of such a thing is arguable of course, but their relationship was quite a curious one. The Queen, already having two sons by the former King was not in a position where she had to remarry, and strangely Erik never 'tithed' to another wolf either. There is more I will discuss later as we get into Norwulff culture that could be argued as evidence of this relationship, but I imagine any concrete information would be hidden away in the Queen's personal journals which the Scottram government refuses to release to this day."

"With the truce in place, brave caprids began to settle in the Norwulff provinces, and wolves began to settle in Scottram. But despite the Queen's best efforts the tension between species didn't dissolve as she had hoped. Wolves in Scottram were still seen as untrustworthy and hulk-ish brutes that would eat a lamb in the blink of an eye. When it came to employment wolves were limited to jobs in the royal army, or among the local peace keepers. In fact they were preferred thanks to their imposing look and natural strength as an easy way of keeping the mostly prey populace in line. Over time the local wolves became accustomed to being in enforcement roles, and despite such prejudices on wolf employment sort of fading away, wolves still more or less preferred those jobs. In time it became natural to pred and prey alike that a wolf was synonymous with a police officer, guard, or soldier. Even in modern society wolves still are largely drawn to positions of protection and defense."

"1614 saw Richard the Lionhearted take the throne of the struggling New Pridelands just south of Scottram. The young King was a visionary and an idealist. Using the rise and fall of the previous Prideland Empire as a catalyst for change, he argued that the future of civilization lied in working together with other nations rather than simply conquering them. He believed that unifying all mammals under the banner of co-operation, both predator and prey was the key to true utopia. The young lion had heard ancient tales that across the ocean lie a new and more prosperous land, and it was intended to be shared by all the mammals of the world. That this new world would become a beacon to all other mammals, a shining example of what we all should strive to be. Thusly, he began to mount an expedition to this 'new world', and beseeched the local nations to join his efforts. The Scottram royals were reluctant to join this search, many still certain the world was flat and any ships they sent would simply sail off the edge. The Düclaw pack however, saw this as a sign that Anja's prophecy was on the cusp of becoming true. Having sailed the Animalantic ocean many times in their history, they did not share the Shcotts belief of a flat Animalia."

"In 1630, twelve ships, one from each nation that had agreed to join King Richard's quest began their journey across the expansive AnimalanticOcean. the arduous voyage took three months, but eventually the ships made landfall on the perfect little peninsula that Richard would dub Zootopia. The climate of the region made it nearly ideal for most of the new settlers, and each nations migrants settled in the ecosystem that was most similar to their own. In the case of the Shcotts, that would be the region that would become "The Meadowlands", and as for the Norwulves they would settle largely in the region we know as "Alpine Glade". To the wolves, the discovery of Zootopia was fated, finally confirming Anja's prophecy and leaving them ecstatic."

"This new land was to be its own nation, not owned by any one country according to King Richard. And so after much discussion and debate it was decided that each of the twelve nations would chose one among them to represent the region of Zootopia where their people had settled. Later this council of mammals would the propose candidates to be in charge of the city as a whole, which the citizenry would vote for, and that mammal would become the mayor. But at this early a juncture it was simply this council of mammals that ran Zootopia."

" The first to be elected out of the Meadowlands was Archibald Bellwether, a descendant of the Blackwool royal class. While the first to be elected out of "Alpine Glade" was Leif Hunter, a descendant of the Düclaw's named after his ancestor who brought peace between sheep and wolves. Unfortunately for him, he would end up bringing the opposite relationship between the districts, mostly by fault of Archibald Bellwether."

"When Zootopia was settled, the natives who were already living there were mostly eager to be absorbed into the more advanced society that the migrants had brought with them. However a large pack of Native North Mammalian Wolves who were living in the North Meadowlands wanted no part in this new society. They rebuked the idea of sharing the land with the migrant sheep, and despite Bellwether and his flock doing everything they could to resolve the dispute peacefully, the native wolves began to actively war against them. The area quickly turned into a miniature replay of the ancient Norwulff proxy wars. With the native wolves and migrant sheep frequently swapping ownership of swaths of The Meadowlands for thirty years. No matter how many times they were driven out, the native wolves would always return and take over the North Meadowlands again and again."

"What made it worse than the old wars was the fact that these native wolves were more violent and aggressive, and they were more than fine with eating sheep unlike the Norwulves, who even in their pillaging days didn't eat the enemy. Archibald was incised by their actions, and it began to cause strain between the relations of The Meadowlands and Alpine Glade as they were of the same species as the natives. Sheep trust in wolves was quickly declining as the populace became reminded of the old wounds and old ways their species interacted and discussions between Bellwether and Hunter became more and more heated. None of the other delegates were willing to pledge standing citizen armies to help the Meadowlands oust the wolves permanently, and Hunter was dubious about attacking the other wolves because they always came back to retake the land anyway. Leif made a point that the only chance they had at beating them were to learn about them. Archibald raked him over the coals for that, labeling him as a sympathizer because they were the same species, and his rhetoric began to bleed outside of the closed doors of the Zootopian council. The Alpine Glade residents were being seen more and more as no more evolved than the native wolves that attacked them."

"What pushed Bellwether over the edge though, was when Hunter began to trade with the native wolves. The ram saw it as a betrayal, and said as much to his citizenry. It was proof that wolves were no good, and that they only cared about their own kind. In truth, Hunter had begun trading to learn more about the beliefs of the local tribe. In time he was able to meet with the leader of the pack that continually fought over the Meadowlands and it was during that meeting he discovered why they wouldn't cede the land despite being defeated so many times. The North Mammalian Wolves believed that all the world's land was owned by wolves under a divine right, and that they would only recognize land owned by other wolves as marked territory. As long as sheep were the ones fighting, the land would never truly belong to them."

"In 1666, Leif Hunter soldiered up every able bodied Norwulff immigrant and lead a surprise attack on the North Meadowland wolves, successfully driving them out for the last time and leaving the land un-contested. This also ended up creating an animosity between the native and non-native wolves that lasts to this day. The native leaders were disgusted with both Hunter's trickery, as well as allegiance to what they saw as lesser life forms."

"Additionally, finally gaining full control of the Meadowlands didn't seem to soften Bellwether's increasing animosity toward wolves. While Hunter had done a great service for them, Archibald would blame wolves violent brute-like nature for the whole affair coming about in the first place, as if Hunter's people were somehow responsible for the actions of the native wolves. Hunter, saddled with the guilt of the lives lost during the war, as well as feeling as though he contributed to the poor image of wolves stepped out of the political eye. He was the last Hunter on the council as Zootopia continued to grow, the family remaining out of politics all together. Meanwhile the Bellwether's continued to play a pivotal role in the cities evolution into what it is today. But the Bellwether's attitude toward wolves also persisted, soaking into the caprid community of the Meadowlands leading to a generally agreed upon silent mistrust of wolves all together."

"Even today, when you ask most sheep about wolves they will tell you how horrid they are. How they are massive, lumbering and violent beasts, hungry for sheep flesh. Fangs dripping with hot saliva, waiting to sink their teeth int-."

The ewe's train of thought crumbled as she felt a pair of claws gently tracing their way up the side of her leg.

"Vernon?" Dawn looked away from her laptop, attempting to spy the wolf cuddled up behind her.

"Hmm?" Came a throaty, tired reply.

"Are you awake?" Dawn asked.

"Nope, still sound asleep." The wolf said in an amused tone.

"Really?" Dawn chuckled. "Because I could swear I feel your paw creeping its way up my thigh." By now the wolf's fingers had slipped under her night gown, and his paw came to rest directly against the side of her hip.

"Must be sleepwalkin'." Vernon muttered, still clearly pleased with himself. "You know they say it's dangerous to wake 'em up."

Dawn felt his paw clutch her hip tightly, sending a shudder of pleasure through her. In turn she pulled herself away from the laptop and back into Vernon's embrace. She buried herself against him, letting out a contented sigh.

"Mhh...you and I both know sleepwalking doesn't work that way." The ewe chuckled.

"Sure it does." Vernon replied. Dawn could feel to wolf plant a few gentle kisses against her neck. "Can't stop me or it may throw me into a fit or somethin'."

"You're such a bad Puppy." Dawn chuckled, reaching a hoof up to the side of his muzzle and giving it a playful swat.

"Me bad?" Vernon chuckled. "You're supposed to be sleepin' Honey Lamb. You told me you wouldn't write tonight."

Dawn sighed, it was true she had sort of promised that. But with her mind actively ruminating on what was to come, she couldn't sleep. Writing was a distraction, something to keep her restless fears at bay.

"You're worried about tomorrow aren't you?" Vernon mumbled, his lips still pressed against her neck.

Dawn gave an uneasy grunt.

The wolf drew back, placing paw on Dawn's shoulder in an effort to comfort her. The ewe turned to face him, still somewhat balled into his chest. Vernon gave the lamb a dull look.

"Hon, you've got nothin' to worry about. The family reunion is gonna go fine. My parents will love you almost as much as I do. I know it." The wolf gave her a reassuring grin.

Dawn gave the wolf a nervous glance, fidgeting her hooves together idly.

"I-I know I know." The lamb shook her head. "B-but I can't help it..." The lamb buried her face into Vernon's chest.

Vernon gently placed a paw on Dawn's back and pat reassuringly.

"There's just so many things that can go wrong." Dawn muttered into the wolf's fur.

"Like...?" Vernon asked playfully. Dawn pulled back, wiping her glasses before giving the wolf a dull, half lidded stare.

"Y-you know..." She pouted.

"Enlighten me Lamb Fry." The wolf smirked.

Dawn gave Vernon a weak push, glaring at the wolf in disbelief. "I'm serious Vernon."

Dawn knew what the wolf was playing at, this wasn't the first time they discussed Dawn's apprehension at staying at the family ranch for the annual "Harvest Festival". For every reason the lamb could present to prove why this meeting was something to worry about Vernon simply waived it off. To Dawn it felt as though he wasn't taking her seriously, writing off her fears as insignificant.

"You're just going to ultimately ignore any reason I give you Puppy, I'm really scared! " Dawn huffed.

Vernon placed a paw on her shoulder, his face looking somewhat mournful.

"Dawn." The wolf paused. " It's not like my family is going to hurt you or anything. That's why I can't wrap my head around what's got your stomach all knotted up."

"We're different species!" Dawn replied.

"Five of my brothers are dating outside their species and my parents are okay with that." Vernon replied.

"B-But I'm a sheep and you're a wolf." Dawn frowned. "You're a predator and I'm-"

"Prey?" Vernon wrapped his paws around the lamb, pulling her back into his embrace.

"You know Wade is bringing his new mate too Darlin'. She's a Giraffe. Far as I'm concerned the spotlight's going to be more on them then on us. Her size alone-"

Dawn pushed away from Vernon weakly, levying a serious stare at the wolf.

"But I'm still 'Dawn Bellwether'." She pouted. "It kind of trumps one son bringing a giraffe home when the other brings an ex-con."

"You also saved the city from your own Father's attempt at destroying it." The wolf smirked. "I imagine that has to count for something."

"Oh Vernon!" The lamb buried herself into the wolf's chest again, weakly swatting at him as she sobbed. The wolf was somewhat startled, and began to gently pet the ewe's head.

"Hey, hey...easy Darlin'." The wolf cooed. "What's really eating at you?" Vernon eased the ewe out of his chest, and gently dabbed her eye as she tried to compose herself.

"I-I'm..." The ewe stuttered through weak sobs. "I'm just so scared I'm going to make a terrible impression." She choked.

"I know how much you care about your family, a-and I really want them to like me." Dawn's head dropped into a sulk. "I-I just want everything to go perfect and I know it's impossible."

The wolf slowly pulled the lamb back against his chest, gently rubbing her back as he did his best to calm her down.

"Well no mammal is perfect Dawn." The wolf chuckled weakly.

"I know..." Dawn mumbled.

Vernon let out a heavy sigh. "Do you remember the first time I met your Mother?"

Dawn quickly drew back from the wolf's grasp, eyeing him with confusion.

"I thought that went really well Puppy Love, besides you already met her at the hospital." Dawn said.

Vernon placed a paw on his scalp and leaned his head back letting out a groan. The wolf stared at the ceiling.

"Yeah, I know." He sighed. Dawn could see his ears droop. "But I mean that was the first time I got to...y'know, formally meet her."

"So that does-" Dawn stopped, a brief chuckle escaping as a smirk spread across her muzzle. "You can't possibly be talking abo-"

"She invited us in and what did I do?" The wolf tightened his paw into a fist, before bringing his arm against his head stiffly. He staggered his head back slightly, allowing his tongue to dangle out of his mouth as he pantomimed the regretful event.

"I hit my head against the door frame like some kind of simpleton." The wolf muttered dully.

Dawn stifled her laughter. "O-Oh Puppy!"

Reaching out, she pulled the wolf back down to her eye line, giving the big dog a kiss on the forehead.

"You can't still feel embarrassed over that!" Dawn tutted.

"For the rest of the night I had a big ol' welt right here." Frowning, the wolf pointed above his left eye. "Talk about a first impression."

Dawn placed her head against Vernon's and let out a sigh. " You weren't used to sheep sized townhouses, it wasn't your fault." Dawn said with a snicker.

"Still-"

Dawn leaned back, placing a single finger on the wolf's nose." Besides, as I said you already met my mother. And despite that welt you know she thinks the world of you."

"Yeah, I know. " Vernon muttered. " But my point still stands about fretting about being perfect makes it impossible to even get close to it. I was so nervous about really spending time with you and your mother I forgot to mind the door frame." Vernon chuckled.

"But that's not exactly the same." Dawn crossed her arms. "First off you only had to impress my mother, where-as I have to impress eight wolves, and at least five other mammals." The ewe shook her head. " And that's for a whole four day holiday, not an afternoon."

Vernon let out a terse sigh. "Alright, alright, so it's a tall order I'll admit."

Dawn nodded smugly as the wolf finally conceded to her point.

"But you know if anything goes wrong." The wolf frowned. "If they say anything out of turn, or you feel threatened you know I will be there to back you up."

Dawn smiled meekly. "I know."

"You come first Honey Lamb, you know that." Vernon smiled broadly.

Dawn leaned into to the large wolf hugging him tightly. Vernon in turn, grabbed the ewe and gently lay her down against the pillow with him. Keeping his paw wrapped around her, he laid his head on top of the large wooly poof atop her head.

"And if anything goes really wrong we can just leave." Vernon said, snuggling in close to Dawn. The ewe turned on her side, reaching her hoof out to close her laptop before turning back into Vernon's chest.

"I chose you Dawn, and I won't let anyone stand between us. Even them."

Dawn frowned slightly. She tried to stare into the wolf's eyes, but from her position all she could see was the bottom of his muzzle as he rested against her.

"Y-you'd give up your family for me?" Dawn's voice trembled uneasily as she spoke.

"Without hesitation." The wolf sighed.

Dawn turned back to face the wolf's chest, biting her hoof as she mulled over the weight of Vernon's words.

"Now get some sleep, we have to be at the platform by ten tomorrow."

Dawn sighed, doing her best to get comfortable against the wolf's normally inviting pelt. But tonight it felt scratchy and abrasive as Dawn continued to mull over all the terrible things that the next four days could bring. She swallowed hard as she added a new fear to the seemingly endless list, ruining Vernon's relationship with his family.

"Love you Honey Lamb." The wolf sighed contentedly.

"Love you too Puppy Love..." Dawn replied weakly. she stared blankly into the dark form of the wolf's chest as the doubt crept deeper into her mind. Clearly it was going to be a long night.