Fresh Awakenings

There have always been battles between the corrupt and the defenders. The Lord of Plagues is ever our greatest enemy. One dark night he manifested in part onto Norrath. A minor avatar of his own flesh pressed itself through the prisons of power that have so long kept the gods from us. This avatar took no form, but spread itself out among the animals and people of Norrath. Many, blessed as life is by Tunare, resisted the corruption and were merely sick or died. A few, however, were transformed in spirit. They became corrupted souls and their only desire was to bring chaos and decay to those around them.

Many were easily found and destroyed, but some were clever as well as corrupt. Owls, weasels and wolves were the most common of these. Their existence was proven by the hunters but they could not be discovered.

A council formed. Members of the hunters were equally matched by those of the teachers. Their debate was long and arduous. They argued ideas and strategies all night long. The leader of the hunters was a great bear, the mightiest creature in the lands. He insisted that if the individual corruption in the owls, weasels and wolves could not be discovered, the entire species should be destroyed. The teachers, lead by an aged snake, were arguing that none of them should be harmed, that should any be discovered they should be captured and treated well until they could be cured.

As the evening progressed the only voices that could be heard over the crowd of bickering and sometimes brawling elders was the ground-shaking voice of the great bear, the persistent, slithering teacher's voice of the snake, and the high-pitched voice of a young fox. This fox went from group to group attempting to clarify the opinions of each person. He asked them specific questions to better understand their ideas.

As dawn approached five of the council were dead. Ten had stormed off in anger. There were only eight left in the glade. As the sun rose the snake and the bear continued to argue, neither willing to agree with the other. The fox continued to ask for clarification about issues, insisting that the bear explain how best to destroy the owls, as they might be hard to catch and asking the snake how he would keep a weasel imprisoned.

It was then that an old wolf entered the clearing. None of the wolves had been invited to the council because all of them were under suspicion. Many wolves were hunters, many too were teachers, but the silvered wolf that entered the glade was unknown to any of those that remained present.