.......,«^ ^«,.......
......,«^§ §^«,......
.....,«^§$ $§^«,.....
....,«^§$§ §$§^«,....
...,«^§$§@ @§$§^«,...
..,«^§$§@@ # «««««««««««««««««««« # @@§$§^«,..
.,«^§$§@@# ^ 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. . $\«,,.,¨¨.
¨¨,,.¨.^-/ «~ ¨ ~»- . «. ~- ~ /-^.¨.,,¨¨
¨¨...¨¨¨,= - ,~ , . =,¨¨¨...¨¨
.,¨¨,.¨¨¨^ . ¨ , * ^¨¨¨.,¨¨,.
.,,,,,.¨,¨ ¨,¨.,,,,,.
..,..,.¨¨, .#¨ ,¨¨.,..,..
¨¨,.¨¨¨.,, ,,.¨¨¨.,¨¨
.¨.,¨.¨¨¨¨ AND, ¨¨¨¨.¨,.¨.
¨,,¨,..¨., ,.¨..,¨,,¨
.,¨....¨.. NOW THE REACH OF THE POOL HAS WIDENED. ..¨....¨,.
¨,..¨,.,,. NOW ITS WOLVES SEE FURTHER. .,,.,¨..,¨
¨,¨,¨..¨.: :.¨..¨,¨,¨
¨.¨,,¨,¨-~ ~-¨,¨,,¨.¨
¨¨¨¨.¨¨,~* *~,¨¨.¨¨¨¨
¨,¨.,¨--*$ $*--¨,.¨,¨
,¨,.,:~;†% %†;~:,.,¨,