Grimwell Caverns; CV02

• Also occupied by Dorado Whiplash and the groups’ lesser companions, Kore and Ashkii. Eidolon may sometimes be found here or in the outer lying areas.
  A medium-sized cave that has direct access to the outside world. It is dry and spacious, with a raised flat area for sleeping. A small alcove in the rear area provides for an excellent storage space. There is a pile of wood stacked and routinely rotated in the middle of the cave to provide the warmth and light of a fire. The cave itself is rather bare. A few deer hides and a small stock of leather work are stored in the alcove in the back from a previous owner. As well, a bear pelt is currently laid down on the raised flat area for bedding.

Skills & Abilities

• Bred by Shikoba’s horse-savvy relatives, Wind is rider-trained and is quite capable as a war horse, as she is not easily spooked by the various sounds and fast actions required by fighting
• She is well-known for her unrivaled fast speed, excellent endurance, and for being agile and sure-footed
• She is quite loyal to Shikoba and will attack a perceived threat and will not let another ride her unless given the okay by him
• Wind can understand basic commands (i.e. stay, no, stop, etc.)
• She has been used as a stock horse
• Because Shikoba was a Sky Scout, Wind was taught how to mimic another horse’s footsteps as a way to maintain stealth on patrols and sorties

In-Depth Description:

Wind is a buckskin skewbald mustang born and breed by the Sun Dust tribe in Nizhoni. She is equally off-white as she is tawny brown; however, there are breaks in these dominant colors, seen lining the tips of her ears in black, as well as on her left back leg as a black stocking. Her mane has three distinct sections of color, alternating between black and off-white. Her tail is a solid black. Her nose is a fleshy pink and black combination, and her eyes are a dark chocolate brown. She has multiple scars on her due to her aggressive personality.

Overall, she’s of average height for her breed, and sports a muscular, lean build showing off an ability to be used for a multitude of purposes. She’s famous for being very fast (like a wind on the prairie) and having great endurance.

She is equipped with a western-style saddle and typically has a beautifully woven, multi-colored blanket thrown across her back. It was a gift given to Shikoba by an elder of the tribe who foretold of his leaving. The blanket was meant to wish him prosperity and luck for his journeys beyond Nizhoni.

Personality:

She is a stubborn, mean, and aggressive girl. Ever since losing her twin sister when she was relatively young, Wind has grown to be very problematic when meeting new horses or Luperci. The horse will bite and buck unknown individuals, and has even gone after a cougar with the intent to kill. She’s slow to trust and needs to be gradually introduced to other horses before being allowed to freely interact with them. However, around the young and smaller, non-threatening creatures, Wind is surprisingly sweet and calm. She can be very protective.

She is playful to those that are familiar with her, and is intelligent and quite the problem-solver. Wind works well with Shikoba and his companions, and is friendly to Dorado Whiplash and his mount. She knows a few commands, and has been known to be able to find Shikoba on her own if the two are separated. She is a very talented and useful steed for someone using her as a scouting companion. The mare is very aware of her steps, and can even alter her step to match another horse’s in instances of misdirection or stealth.

History:

Wind’s full name is Wind on the Prairie, given because of how fast and difficult she was to herd and handle as a filly. She had a twin sister, Spring Lily (“Lily”; named for the lily-like marking on her rump), but the sibling was killed by a rabid loner. Heartborken, Wind grew to distance herself from most of the other horses, and her fear of other Luperci outside those she saw day-in and day-out morphed into aggression spurned from the memory of her sister’s death.

Reaching maturity and the proper age of being ridden, Wind was gifted to Shikoba when the hybrid came of shifting age. With the help of his mother, he was able to gain Wind’s trust, and eventually trained her to be the skilled mount that she is.

Skills & Abilities

• She is capable of broken High-Speech
• Her work with Shikoba has made her excellent for scouting, tracking, and hunting alongside Luperci
• Eidolon has been used to spy on others

In-Depth Description:

Eidolon is a Red-Tailed Hawk with a rare leucistic coloration. She is mostly a beautiful rosy-white with patches of strawberry-blonde feathers along the back of her head and neck and sprinkled throughout the feathers on her wings and tail. Her eyes are a breath-taking white-gold. Because of her lighter coloration, she easily stands out from a regular hawk, and her uniqueness makes it hard for her to be used for following individuals unnoticed.

She is capable of broken High-Speech.

Personality:

The hawk is very affectionate, and is not one to turn down a good scratch. She likes to shower Shikoba with gifts of either shiny trinkets or dead prey she’s caught. She’s very motherly, and Shikoba often jokes of her being a hen in her past life. Eidolon is very perceptive and attentive to the world around her, as well, she’s very curious. She strives to please and is known for her ability to be reliable and hardworking.

She is not fond of Kore due to the vixen having tried to eat her when they were both younger. However, the hawk will still work with the fox if asked to or if the situation calls for their cooperation.

History:

She was born to one of Shikoba’s father’s birds in Nizhoni, and was given to Shikoba as a coming of age gift when he learned to shift. At the time of her hatching, it was not known that she had a unique color pattern. When her feathers came in white instead of the warm, woodland browns, she was declared a sacred gift from the gods and was almost taken from Shikoba to be partnered with a more religious and spiritual Nakai clansman. The Whiplash clan fought against this though, stating that the boy had raised the chick since her hatching, and that she had imprinted on him. Separating the two would was akin to separating a mother from her pup and being forced to watch them grow from afar. The dispute was settled when another shaman from the Nakai clan voiced that the white hawk was closely tied to Shikoba in more ways than just a sky-scout’s companion. As the child who survived the great eagle’s talons, it was no wonder the gods had given him a ghostly bird.

During one of Shikoba’s patrols during her early days of training, Eidolon was almost eaten by a young, starving fox named Kore. Shikoba saved her before she could become the kit’s meal, and, much to the bird’s dislike, he brought the canine home with him. Eidolon has always held the event against Kore and is the stem of her dislike for the fox.

Because of her coloring, individuals outside of the tribe often regarded her as an omen, sometimes bad, sometimes good, when they spotted her patrolling the desert skies. Within the tribe, Eidolon was regarded as a spirit to the more religious and often times as Shikoba’s second eyes and ears. Any that called him an enemy did well to stay away from her. Her molted feathers were often used for ceremonies or special gifts or events.

Skills & Abilities

• She is capable of fluent High-Speech and Low-Speech
• Excellent at stealth and good for scouting and reconnaissance work
• Very capable hunter and thief

In-Depth Description:

Kore is a lovely specimen of a female Red Fox, a far cry from the flea-bitten kit Shikoba had found abandoned in the scrubland. The vixen is primarily a lustrous autumn-orange with an ivory underbelly starting from her muzzle and working its way down her cheeks, throat, chest, the inside of her forelimbs, over her belly, and on the tip of her tail and inside of her ears. Charcoal is rubbed along the tips of her ears, on her forepaws and on the front edge of her back paws. It is also seen in her tail in an agouti-like pattern and on either side of her snout in the traditional Red Fox “triangles.” Her eyes are a sharp amber hue.

In the colder months, she has a beautiful, plush coat to keep her well protected from the harsh winter storms. In the warmer ones, she sheds the thicker coat and has a more diluted coloring to her, but, is no less pretty than she was.

Fleet-footed and taught alongside Shikoba to master the movement of her body down to the smallest muscle twitch, Kore is excellent for scouting and reconnaissance work. She is confident in her abilities, and can often escape a would-be pursuer through cat-like twists and turns through the underbrush.

Personality:

The vixen is a clever girl and has enough spunk in her to put Shikoba on his toes. Her personality is her own, and has had no outside influences from the Sun Dust tribe. She is often regarded as being far too intelligent and crafty for her own good, and joked to be a hell-borne child of a feline and a canine because of her dual quirks and personality traits. She has a sharp tongue and is often condescending of others she deems beneath her or those she respects.

She is highly curious of the world around her and finds great amusement in someone else’s suffering (to a point). Kore likes challenges and puzzles, and is known for her trickery and good eye for something valuable or useful to the group. Praising her will get you everywhere with her, but, Kore is sly enough to not let her deeds go without payment. She is a conniving woman and will purposely use another’s words or actions against them, and is not afraid to lie if it means getting what she wants.

Kore is loyal though, but, this invitation is only extended to a small few. She is trustworthy and reliable to get the job done, but, the fox likes to make sure her position is not expendable. She greatly fears abandonment and though she may pretend to be too arrogant or self-centered to care, Kore would rather die than lose Shikoba and his companionship.

History:

Born in the northeastern United States, Kore found herself in the arid deserts of Colorado when her previous master and companion suddenly abandoned her without an explanation or warning. Still a relatively young fox and not used to the different terrain, Kore nearly died from starvation. She was severely dehydrated and her pelt was in a sorry state from the mites that fed upon it. She was determined to survive though, and when she found a fledgling hawk, Kore gave it her all for the chance for a meal.

The hawk put up a good fight against the weak kit though, and was ultimately saved from her stubborn attempts to subdue it by a Luperci named Shikoba Whiplash. Originally, Shikoba meant to kill Kore for attacking his precious, feathered companion, but upon seeing how young she was and the state of her health, he had a change of heart. The hybrid took Kore back to the tribe with the promise of food, water, and a safe place to rest her head at night. Not wanting to die alone out in a foreign land, young Kore agreed to his hospitality.

With the help of the coyote tribe’s healers, Kore was cleansed of her skin condition, and her fur grew back brighter and softer than ever. Grateful to Shikoba and having found quiet companionship with him, Kore agreed to stay within the tribe and work alongside Shikoba.

Shikoba was born into the Sun Dust tribe located in Nizhoni (Mesa Verde National Park), Colorado, USA. The tribe consisted mostly of coyote or coyote-dominant hybrids living in a primitively human-like lifestyle influenced by Native American beliefs in the American Southwest. Within the protection of the park and mesa lived three ruling clans; the small and religious Nakai, the domestic and horse-riding Calidio, and the large and warrior-like Whiplash. Shikoba’s mother, Zitkala, was a high-content coywolf of the Calidio clan, his father, Nanuq, a relatively new-blood to the tribe as a Whiplash. The two family figureheads had agreed on their union, believing there to be good blood between the joining of a horse-rider and a sky-scout.

The couple bore their first son, Wasabe, who showed great promise as a herdsman and had great skill in horsemanship. The boy took the Calidio family name. Shikoba was born a year later, and given the Whiplash name for his tendency to wander and fight, a hint that he might grow to be a great warrior or scout in his maturity. From birth, Shikoba was a scrappy thing, a complete opposite of his poised and disciplined older brother. This personality trait is what caused the pup to nearly get eaten by a feral eagle, and his near-death experience was what became a lesson for generations to come within the tribe.

The family did their best to curve the pup’s bold and confident ways, but his tenacity and stubbornness often won out. He was disciplined, but there was a rebellious streak that constantly lurked beneath the surface. It wasn’t that Shikoba lived off chaos however. Rather, the boy merely saw flaws and discrepancies in how things were traditionally done, as well, he always questioned why things were done the way they were. He thrived on logic and lived off of freedom, and this often either won him praises or caused him to be under great scrutiny from the elders.

As a coming of age gifts, he was given a horse of his own from his mother’s clan, and, from his father’s, the boy received a rare gift from one of his father’s hawks, a leucistic chick to raise as an extension of his own eyes, ears, and reconnaissance range. He greatly cherished both and earned their trust completely through long hard hours of day-to-day exposure and handling. His group of companion animals expanded when Shikoba took in a fox kit he’d found on the far reaches of the territory.

Despite his caustic tendencies with regular tradition, his parents were right in naming Shikoba a Whiplash. He grew up to be strong, courageous, and skilled in scouting. He would serve the tribe well when the day came to welcome him into adulthood. Shikoba would never be able to go through such a prestigious ceremony though.

In his youth, Shikoba befriended an unwanted, high-born bastard of Nakai-Whiplash blood named Dorado Whiplash. They became fast friends even with regular bouts of fighting and competitions to one-up the other. When news came that Dorado’s high-born father was forcing him out of the clan, Shikoba was forced to make a personal decision. A Journey was something a tribesman was normally allowed to take willingly. Dorado was not being given the choice on whether he wanted it or not.

Deciding to support his childhood friend—and to stick it to the traditionalist and religious elders that had forced Dorado’s father’s hand—Shikoba left on his Journey as well. His decision was cause for argument with his family, but, they eventually relented when they realized Shikoba’s loyalty to his friend. The pair set off, initially just wandering from place to place before they caught wind of a prosperous land in the northeast, Nova Scotia. Curious and with nothing to lose, the two made a new course.

2016
TBA

• MONTH: TBA