Mer Bleue Bog
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Mer Bleue Bog |
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Demographics |
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Summary
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Mer Bleue Bog was a conservation area in the time of humans, and served as one for wild canines untouched by the Luperci virus until recent years. Still, it remains a haven for traditionally-minded canines who still live as their ancestors once did. Canines in Mer Bleue often live traditional, feral, non-shifting lifestyles. Most are wolves in small family packs with a fluctuating population of dispersal yearlings as well as coyote loners who sometimes form bands to raise children. Canines who use their Luperci forms are sometimes driven out. Historically, several characters who used to be non-Luperci originated from this area, including feral members of the Moineau family -- perhaps most famously, Vesper. |
Credit: Nancy Girard Bégin
1. Essentials
1.1 Geography & Climate |
The main feature of the conservation area is a sphagnum bog, which lies in an old channel of the Ottawa River. It boasts a boreal ecosystem that is typically found farther north, which unique species that have adapted to the acidic waters. It is largely a mixture of black spruce forest and open heath. Little to no human influence remains in the land. The famous boardwalk that once allowed visitors to explore the bog has completely deteriorated. Old hiking trails have become overgrown natural pathways through the wood. Farm and visitor buildings on the southern ridge of the bog have been reclaimed by nature, too, with little more than foundations and a few crumbled half-walls that provide shelter from the wind. |
Reference & Inspiration Images |
1.2 Fauna & Flora |
2. Culture
The overall culture of Mer Bleue is feral and traditional; the canines here act as canines did before the Luperci virus spread, relying on instinct and rejecting human concepts. Isolated by chance from the original spread of the Luperci virus, Mer Blue historically had a population of almost exclusively non-Luperci canines, with xenophobia maintaining this as lone Luperci were driven out by the packs. However, due to the natural spread of the Luperci gene through bloodlines, the population of non-Luperci began to dwindle. In some cases, the transition was met with neutrality, as individual families adjusted to their children being born with the ability to shift. Some gladly adopted the new ways and incorporated their Luperci forms into daily life. Others clung to the "purity" of their blood, isolating their packs from ones with Luperci members or even attempting to drive Luperci neighbors out -- often with poor results. These days, conflict and controversy arise not from a canine's ability to shift, but their choice to shift. |
Species |
The two predominant species are the Eastern Timber Wolf and the Northeastern Coyote, which are the most common subspecies found in the eastern portion of North America. Click for more...Most individuals in Mer Bleue are either wolf or coyote, as traditional-minded canines still regard one another with wary ambivalence. However, coywolf hybrids are not uncommon, often born of loner pairs. It's theorized that the two species are already hybridized anyway, resulting in the large, social, wolf-like Northeastern Coyote and the slender, coyote-like Eastern Timber Wolf. There is little outside influence of other species, though other North American subspecies of wolf and coyote sometimes travel through the area, and through liasons have contributed their genes -- including the ability to shift -- to the families in the area. Dog heritage is uncommon; ancient bloodlines of domesticated dogs were either erased through early post-apocalypse competition or diluted into the breeding stock of wolf and coyote. Individuals of starkly doggish appearance find a hard time fitting in among the wild canines. Meanwhile, jackals are completely unheard of, due to most subspecies being unable to adapt to the region while living as wildlings. |
3. History
Mer Bleue was isolated from the spread of the Luperci virus. No one could really say why, though it might have been a result of the area existing in Ottawa's greenbelt and a dash of pure chance. For years, it remained this way -- a safe haven for non-Luperci. Slowly, however, outside individuals made contact with the packs of the conservation area. Xenophobia meant that their stays were short-lived, and conflict sometimes arose between Luperci bands attempting to muscle into the territory and the native packs, which sometimes banded together despite their borders to drive them out. However, the seeds were planted that would introduce the ability to shift into the gene-pool of Mer Bleue's canines. This often led to further conflict; in 2012, a group of Luperci Verto rejected from their birth packs formed a coalition that attacked non-Luperci for the sake of revenge. While this group was quick to move on, fear and hatred toward shifters lingered. The isolated nature of Mer Bleue and the small size of its constantly shifting packs meant that -- even as individuals' lives moved on, alliances formed and broke apart, harsh winters brought famine and gentle springs brought peace -- nothing much changed for a long time, and what change existed crept in quietly. |