.....^~/§£ £§/~^.....
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...^~/§£¤# / 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. .,,,¨,.,,¨
..¨...¨¨¨. .¨¨¨...¨..
¨,.,.,,,,. .,,,,.,.,¨
,.¨.¨,,.,, ,,.,,¨.¨.,
,..,¨.¨.¨¨ ¨¨.¨.¨,..,
,.,.,¨..,, ,,..¨,.,.,