.......... ..........
.......... ..........
.......... ..........
.......... ..........
.......... ..........
.......... # »»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»» # ..........
^......... / THE WOLF POOL EXISTS / .........^
»^........ / IN A STALE TIMELINE, / ........^»
/»^....... / BRANCHED WAY BACK / .......^»/
†/»^...... / WHEN KIRUGU VARGIR / ......^»/†
%†/»^..... / WAS ALMOST BARREN, / .....^»/†%
#%†/»^.... COMPRISED MOSTLY OF ROCK AND ARID SOIL, ....^»/†%#
##%†/»^... AND PLANTS WERE ONLY STARTING TO GROW, ...^»/†%##
###%†/»^.. / AT ALL... / ..^»/†%###
####%†/»^. # »»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»» # .^»/†%####
##@¤*†~,.¨ ¨.,~†*¤@##
#£§$/~~¨,. MISPLACED EXPLORERS TRAVERSE THE .,¨~~/$§£#
@*==-:,,¨. LANDSCAPE, SEARCHING FOR A WAY BACK, .¨,,:-==*@
£%==-,.¨¨. FINDING INSTEAD ONLY STONE AND DIRT AND .¨¨.,-==%£
=*»^¨.¨,,¨ ROOTS THAT ARE AS HARD AS THE GROUND. ¨,,¨.¨^»*=
\~.,,¨¨,.¨ IT'S GETTING DARK, THEY ARE THIRSTY, ¨.,¨¨,,.~\
-~¨,¨...¨. AND ABOUT TO FIND THE WOLF POOL. .¨...¨,¨~-
:.¨¨,¨.... ....¨,¨¨.:
.,¨¨¨,,¨,. .#. .,¨,,¨¨¨,.
...,¨,,¨,¨ ¨,¨,,¨,...
¨¨,¨¨¨,¨,¨ THE POOL LIES IN A SMALL METEORITE ¨,¨,¨¨¨,¨¨
,...,,,¨¨. IMPACT CRATER, SIXTY METERS ACROSS. .¨¨,,,...,
.¨,¨,.,,¨¨ IT'S SURFACE IS PITCH BLACK AND EVEN ¨¨,,.,¨,¨.
,,,.,,¨.., THOUGH IT'S NOT WELL PROTECTED, IT IS ,..¨,,.,,,
,....,..,¨ UNDISTURBED BY WIND. ¨,..,....,
^..,¨¨.,.. ..,.¨¨,..^
«.¨¨.¨,.., ¨#, ,..,¨.¨¨.«
\~~,.¨.,,¨ ¨,,.¨.,~~\
%=~.¨,..¨. AS THEY STUMBLE ON THE POOL, THE .¨..,¨.~=%
@%/=-.,.,. EXPLORERS FIRST BELIEVE IT TO BE WATER, .,.,.-=/%@
#£==»,¨.¨, WHICH IS SOMETHING THEY ALL DESIRE ,¨.¨,»==£#
@@%*=».¨., GREATLY AT THIS POINT. THEY FAIL TO ,.¨.»=*%@@
###%=:~-¨, NOTICE THAT THE STARS DO NOT REFLECT ON ,¨-~:=%###
###¶$%=~,, ITS SURFACE. ONE OF THEM CROUCHES TO ,,~=%$¶###
###§^=~,.. DRINK, FORMS A CUP WITH HIS HANDS, ..,~=^§###
##@%:«-¨.. LOWERS THE CUP INTO THE POOL. ..¨-«:%@##
£$†=~,.,,¨ ¨,,.,~=†$£
§*†-~¨¨¨¨¨ HE TRIES TO RESIST AT FIRST, BUT IS TOO ¨¨¨¨¨~-†*§
$†«^,...¨, CLOSE, AND HE QUICKLY GIVES UP AS THE ,¨...,^«†$
\-:.¨,¨¨.. LIQUID FLOWS INTO HIS MIND. THE OTHERS, ..¨¨,¨.:-\
=^.¨.,...¨ « NOT UNDERSTANDING THE»DANGER, MOVE ¨...,.¨.^=
.¨.,.¨,,., CLOSER TO HELP THEIR.FRIEND. ,.,,¨.,.¨.
¨,,.,.,,.. . « « ~ . ..,,.,.,,¨
,¨.,¨,¨.¨¨ AND,THEN¨THE,POOL,ANNOUNCES,ITSELF ¨¨.¨,¨,.¨,
......¨.,. TO.THEM¨-¨SUDDEN,:,THOUGHTS,OF¨ .,.¨......
.¨¨¨,...¨, .:«DARK»WOLVES-.CLIMBING.OUT-OF..,= ,¨...,¨¨¨.
,,,¨¨¨¨.,, «~«THE«POOL,»SURROUNDING=THEM\-;;/ ,,.¨¨¨¨,,,
¨.¨,...¨.¨ =SUDDEN*THOUGHTS*OF~=/CLIMBING:%§ ¨.¨...,¨.¨
,¨,,¨.¨,., INTO=THE=POOL,†THEIR*THIRST§FLARING† ,.,¨.¨,,¨,
..,,¨.¨,,¨ *=^BRIGHT*-%$A£SUDDEN%%AWARENESS# ¨,,¨.¨,,..
~...¨.,¨., #@OF&@EXACTLY££HOW¤THEY¤HAD@TRAVELED,&# ,.¨,.¨...~
^~~.¨,..., #¤OF¤THE£WAY@HOME##TO¶THE#TIME¶FROM¶# ,...,¨.~~^
%:«,¨¨¨,,, ##WHERE#THEY@CAME,##@#@@#AND#THEN#### ,,,¨¨¨,«:%
**=-,.¨,,, #####THE#FEELING#OF#THIS%KNOWLEDGE=~ ,,,¨.,-=**
£&=†«-¨.., «~BEING ~ STOLEN ~~ FROM ~~~ THEM. ¨ ,..¨-«†=&£
#@$%:~..¨. -~ , «~= . «. ^~ - .¨..~:%$@#
##¶%%:=,.. , ^. ~ ¨ ..,=:%%¶##
###¶@%/».. , ¨ , % ..»/%@¶###
#@@%^†-:,¨ ¨,:-†^%@@#
@¶@=:~~.¨¨ ,#, ¨¨.~~:=@¶@
¶£=\~..,¨. .¨,..~\=£¶
£^†~~..,,¨ AND, ¨,,..~~†^£
=†=-,,¨,.. ..,¨,,-=†=
†~,¨¨¨¨,¨¨ NOW THE REACH OF THE POOL HAS WIDENED. ¨¨,¨¨¨¨,~†
»-.,¨.¨¨¨. NOW ITS WOLVES SEE FURTHER. .¨¨¨.¨,.-»
~¨.,¨,..¨. .¨..,¨,.¨~
.¨¨¨¨,,,,. .,,,,¨¨¨¨.
¨,,,¨¨,¨,. .,¨,¨¨,,,¨
,,,..,.,,. .,,.,..,,,
,¨,.¨¨.,¨. .¨,.¨¨.,¨,