Dire Wolf Clan

The Dire Wolf Clan is a barbarian clan residing in North-Eastern Barbarus, near the borders of Subteraltus.

The Dire Wolf Clan is made up of one large village in the middle of The Forest of Farsight, although they do not call it by that name. The Dire Wolf Clan is very focused on teamwork. Each member of the clan has a defined role and is expected to do it. Despite this, the Dire Wolf Clan can be quite harsh on people who don't do their job or work hard.

The fight against Decay
The Dire wolf clan originally lived in a village near the northeastern coast of barbarus, near the edge of the forest of farsight. However they were forced to reteat after the land around them started to decay, turning the northern half of the forest into a stinking marsh. The Dire wolf warriors later found a group of mages travelling through the forest to the swamp. They identified themselves as the White Phoenix clan, and revealed that the marsh had been created by a Despile called Decay. The Dire wolf warriors marched into the swamp, now called Subteraltus, to defeat Decay, but were attacked by vicious creatures and forced to retreat. While retreating, they encountered a Lynx clan warrior, Mutar Cordis, and a Dire Wolf scout called Digo Feth who was travelling with him. After a battle between the two warriors and the White phoenixes, the Dire wolf warriors hatched a plan to enter Subteraltus and kill Decay. They did this by sending Mutar and Digo on a mission to recruit a nearby shaman to their cause, which they did. They then captured one of the creatures in Subteraltus, and used the shaman's power to transfer its essence into one of their warriors, Seruc Fowl. The Clan then entered Subteraltus, and fought Decay in the dead city of Ostiax, where they managed to imprison him in a Synistra crystal within Mutar's body. The White Phoenixes and Mutar left shortly after, leaving the Dire Wolf clan to establish a new settlement south of Subteraltus.

Society and Culture
Dire Wolf children are raised up until the age of ten by surrogate mothers. At their tenth birthday they are cast out of the tribe and sent on a journey of self discovery to determine their place in the pack. When they have discovered their place they may return to the pack and take their place among the clan. When a clan member returns from this journey there is a great week long celebration to mark their passing of manhood. They are then taught to follow the path they have chosen.

Dire Wolf warriors do not love and do not get married. Instead, a male and a female make a mutually beneficial agreement to spend a certain number of years together. They do this for a number of reasons e.g. to form a better hunting party. Likewise, members of the clan will come together and have a child for a practical reason; two strong clan members will have a child that will inherit the strength of his parents.

Economy
The Dire wolf clan are a relatively isolated clan, keeping mainly to themselves. They do not trade often, doing so only with the Dark owl clan occasionally and previously with the Lynx clan, before their destruction. Their diet consists mainly of meat, which they obtain from hunting wild animals in the Forest of Farsight. They supplement their diet with mushrooms and herbs found in the forest. This means the Dire Wolf clan have no farms or livestock. Their water is collected the same way, from rivers and springs found throughout the forest, as opposed to a single source They have no currency or form of bartering. Instead, each clan member is given certain amounts of food and water, and a home, although sometimes multiple clan members must share a house.

Politics
The clan is ruled by three council members, each one in command of a warband. For anything to happen in the clan, at least two out of the three council members must approve it. When a council member is close to death, he or she will pick a successor. If a council member dies without naming a successor, there will be a vote on the new council member. If a clan member breaks a rule, the punishments normally involve being sent into other areas to redeem yourself, normally through fighting for a certain period of time or death. The ultimate punishment is exile into Subteraltus, a punishment few survive. Those that do become legends to the tribe.

Military
The Dire Wolf Clan respect Men and Woman equally. In combat each warrior has a role and they work together to bring down large numbers of enemies. In hunting they do the same, working together to take down large animals. Each council member is in charge of a warband. A warband is split into 10 packs. A pack will normally contain about 5-6 Dire Wolf warriors. Each pack is led by a Alpha and each warband is led by an Council member. They occasionally skirmish with the Dark Owl Clan and are at war with the Wolverine clan.

Notable members

 * Arbus
 * Lufus Dile
 * Diomis