£@¤§*-^... ...^-*§¤@£
@¤§*-^.... ....^-*§¤@
¤§*-^..... .....^-*§¤
§*-^...... ......^-*§
*-^....... .......^-*
-^........ # -------------------- # ........^-
^......... * 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$KNOWLEDGE\« ,,¨,,,...,
.,,¨,,,,,. »~BEING » STOLEN «« FROM «~« THEM. . .,,,,,¨,,.
,¨¨¨¨,¨.¨. == . ~=» . -¨ ,~ ~ .¨.¨,¨¨¨¨,
¨¨¨.¨,..¨, ^ ,, , . ,¨..,¨.¨¨¨
,...¨.,¨,¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ % ¨,¨,.¨...,
,..,,,.¨., ,.¨.,,,..,
.,¨,¨,,.¨. ¨#. .¨.,,¨,¨,.
,,¨¨,,.,¨. .¨,.,,¨¨,,
,¨,,,,¨¨¨. AND, .¨¨¨,,,,¨,
...¨¨.,¨.¨ ¨.¨,.¨¨...
:.,.¨..¨,¨ NOW THE REACH OF THE POOL HAS WIDENED. ¨,¨..¨.,.:
»,,.¨¨.,¨, NOW ITS WOLVES SEE FURTHER. ,¨,.¨¨.,,»
^«~,,¨.¨.. ..¨.¨,,~«^
%†~,¨..¨.. ..¨..¨,~†%
%*=~~,,.,. .,.,,~~=*%
§£$:-,.¨¨¨ ¨¨¨.,-:$£§
@£%§/~^.,¨ ¨,.^~/§%£@