Table of Contents
The first wolves to settle in the lands that modern Claymerains call home did not call themselves by any name. They were a simple band of loners, keeping to themselves and supporting one another as they sought a place to call home.
Four of these wolves, mere mortals, would one day rise to godhood after their combined actions would save the land they would call home. One wolf, an old thing known to their fellows as simply ‘Old Grizzard’, was the first to speak of Lámfæt, regaling their fellow travelers with tales of a creature more powerful than any other. Some scoffed at the old wolf's ramblings, waving it off as nothing but senility, but a few would listen to their words.
Ule, a young she-wolf, took particular interest in it and soon would join Grizz in his worship of Lámfæt. Soon, they would be joined by Culfer, another aging wolf who had begun teaching the youths around him how to use herbs and other items to ease pains and heal wolves. With time, Nædre and Biren would also join them, and together, they are said to be the first true followers of Lámfæt.
As this progressed, this small pack of loners had chosen to settle in the foothills bordering a low mountain range, settled comfortably between the towering walls of stone and the lake at the bottom. At the time, they are being led by a brute of a wolf, a creature more brawn than brains but seemingly decent enough.
However, his true colors were shown when he began to show his blatant disinterest and detestment for Grizzard’s teachings. At first, it seemed he wouldn’t care much for it, and the old wolf was content to let it lay. They had no interest in forcing their teachings on those unwilling to hear them and were happy to remain committed to their small circle. But it became clearer and clearer that he was not pleased that they spoke of someone more powerful than himself, and soon, they began to realize that there was more to this brute than expected.
He began to push for wolves to praise him, to follow him. And those close to him pushed and pedaled stories of his feats, urging others to look to him as more than a wolf but as a divine protector.
When Grizzard, Ule, Biren, Culfer, and Nædre refused to do so, an example was made out of them. Old Grizzard was killed violently and brutally, and the other four were cast out as if to show mercy.
With nowhere to go, the four of them stick together, watching from afar as their old family begins to grow and change. But with time, wolves split away from the brute's leadership, their distaste made clear. Some are thrown out, scarred, and branded as ‘traitors’, while others sneak out in the dead of night.
Many of these wolves would find themselves taken in by the four exiles, and soon, what was once four, becomes six, eight, eleven, growing over months and months of time.
The Brute was not fond of this idea that another group of wolves might soon encroach on what he claimed as his holy land, and finally, the tensions between the two developing packs exploded in a battle that would leave the exiles beaten and battered within inches of their lives.
Culfer does his best to patch them up as he can, but it’s clear that their forces, even with Biren’s guiding paws, are no match for the Brute in a fair fight.
Nædre, however, believes he has just the solution. He’s always been the least trusted of their band for his slippery and sly tendencies, but with his advice and Biren’s tactical knowledge, the Exiles formulate a plan of attack. It’s dangerous, and it’s stupid, and it might not even work, but they have to try.
Together, the four of them would lead what was left of their exiles in one last effort to take back the land from the Brute. As spring rains soaked the earth under paw, they dug themselves into the bank of the mere, hiding amongst the clay and silt, letting it stain their fur as they waited, not so unlike snakes in the dark of the night, hunting a meal.
Just before the dawn, when the Brute’s forces came down in search of them, they ambushed, taking advantage of the confusion brought on by the downpour, using their stained pelts to blend into the earth, falling upon their enemies like Ghosts.
By the time the battle is ended, the only survivors are the exiles, only a few stragglers of The Brute’s forces now scattering to the wind and fleeing for their lives.
Only one survivor dies during the battle, old Culfer having been drowned by the Brute after he’d selflessly attacked him to save an injured packmate. With his grizzled fur still matted in clay and blood, Ule leads the exiles in prayer for his soul, and they watch as the river carries his body away into the unknown.
Soon after, Claymere was founded, and life would move on for the wolves of the Clay.
Time would pass, battles would be fought and won, territory lost and claimed.
Biren would lose her life in a horrible flooding incident, her drowned body washed up on the shores, fur slicked with clay and silt.
Nædre was killed in a mudslide shortly after, a near-direct result of the flooding. He would be dug out of the earth and laid to rest, coated in clay just like the others.
Standing alone, the last of the original exiles, Ule would find herself crafting the first altar, and she would seek Lámfæt for council. Who would lead Claymere on her passing? Who would guide the pack through the coming times?
Somehow, she remembers the list of herbs given to her by Grizzard, and with them, she sleeps and she dreams. She sees them, her old friends, not as they were but as they are now, gifted, lifted. They speak to her in tongues she should not understand but does, and she awakens with purpose.
She names her successor that coming morning, a she-wolf descendant of Grizzard, the blood of the first wolf to speak Lámfæt’s name with reverence and care. She names her and any future pups she bears to be the leading line of Claymere, the ones to carry on the honor of guarding these lands and honoring their gods.
Ule would spend her remaining days ensuring as much knowledge as possible would be passed to this new generation of Clay wolves, and when her end came, she slipped away peacefully, her cheek pressed into the cool clay of the Mere as age took her from the world in a gentle slumber.
Aethel (Aethel), would be the first true Alpha to Claymere, and she would be the one to build the altars for Culfer, Biren, Nædre, and Ule. With clay from the ground, and whatever pieces she could scrounge from the territory, she would select a small cave among the brackish marshes, and there she built an altar for each god, a place to commune, a place to leave offerings, a place of shelter.
A place to honor those Claymere held most dear.
For generations, under the stewardship of Aethel and her children, Claymere thrived, remaining in moderate seclusion as the pack worked on building themselves and their territory up. Outsiders joined on occasion, but for the most part, the pack grew on its own, spreading over the Valley and spreading the word of their gods as they went.
But as Claymere knows well, peace always breaks eventually.
Another pack begins to show their faces along the fringes of Claymere’s openly claimed lands, and they are far from friendly. They steal and they lie, and the tensions rise quickly when the current Viscount Warwick refuses to act as promptly as the pack demands.
The tensions boil over during a meeting of the packs that is supposed to be peaceful, and to this day no one knows who actually laid the first blow.
The fight was a brutal thing, the Claymerian’s far to trusting of their new enemy, were outnumbered and shredded, only a few surviving to return home and deliver the news of their deceased packmates.
Among the deceased was their very own Viscount.
Her son, Oakley, cried for blood and revenge, and with the wrathful cries of his packmates to rally him, they set up an attack that will not only grant them the revenge they seek, but also give them the chance to retrieve the bodies of their fallen so they may be given proper burials in the Mere.
Gone was the peaceful embodiment of Claymere, in its place was a terrifyingly efficient war machine, hellbent on wiping this new enemy off the face of their beautiful valley. The war is a bloody and very short thing, with the last battle taking place in the Blostma Fields.
It was said that the flower petals were as red as the river they bordered that day.
The enemy pack was slewn, and only a few stragglers managed to escape before they could be tracked down and put to death for their cruel crimes.
In the wake of this, something colder was born for Claymere, as this new Viscount Oakley refused to allow his pack to seem weak. Never again would he allow an enemy to strut into their Valley and take what they pleased, never again would he allow innocent blood to be spilled when he knew he could stop it.
But while his intentions were pure, his actions were not.
Claymere became too aggressive, and thus started a multigenerational trend of darker and darker Viscounts that would seemingly never end.
Viscount Oakley, an older and far more jaded wolf now, dies in battle, leaving his four children to fight for the throne. Farley, Landyn, Duarte, and Kelsey were all well-fitted to become Viscount, but before his passing, Oakley had never openly chosen one to inherit his title. So the four pleaded to their packmates, hoping they would pick one of them, but even they could not. Each was loved, and no agreement could be found.
What would they do, if they could not chose one of them?
So the siblings turned upon one another, Farley and Landyn siding with one another, with Landyn to take the seat of Viscount while Farley would be his second in command. Meanwhile, Duarte and Kelsey came to the same agreement, where Duarte would take command, and Kelsey would be his second.
And then they tore one another apart.
It was treated as a duel for leadership, a battle to the death but in pairs.
Duarte And Kelsey came out on top, bloodied and bearing wounds that would scar, permanent reminders of their fratricide. Yet it was not over, one last great act of cruelty among this family was needed to end this power struggle.
As Duarte gloated over his win, Kelsey took him from behind and slaughtered her own brother in cold blood. It had all been a ruse to gain his trust, promising him a power she ‘did not wish for’, only to take it by force the moment his back was exposed to her.
Unable to immediately denounce her, as she was their only hope of a Viscount, the pack whispered their chosen name for her amongst themselves, and when the time finally came, they decided that she would not be remembered.
Any wolf willing to turn against their own brothers in such a way, was not a wolf worth remembering, to them.
Despite this, Claymere’s pawsteps were still dogged in blood and cruelty, spreading the word of the gods by force, taking and taking an taking. This continued, until Viscount Radcliff would take power, inheriting it from his mother, Presley, in her old age. She had ceased the war mongering ways after her sons had been born, doing her best to ensure that her children would lead calm and happy lives.
It took time, to bring the pack back from its dark days, but somehow she succeeded, and with her boys at her side, she lead Claymere through many long, peaceful years.
She passed peacefully in her sleep, and her firstborn son, Radcliff, took her place with his brother, Kennard, becoming his Learned Seeker and second in command.
Together they sought to write a new path for Claymere, one that would see them as wolves that would fight only when provoked. They would not roll over and allow themselves to be carved open, but they would not attack undely either.
And for three generations, this persisted.
Until Algar was born.
Will be updated roughly every Season to Year
For the first time in several generations, Claymere’s newest Viscount comes into power by challenging his father for the role. It’s a bloody, brutal battle to the death, and Algar, the son who was never meant to lead, comes out the victor by quick wits and brute strength.
Everyone that knew Algar, knew he was a wolf prone to fights. He was a bully, crude, and had a habit of pushing too far. But he was also a Zealot of the Gods, and so it came as little surprise when he launched a campaign to push Claymere’s reach out further into the world. He colored it like he wished to spread their patrons will, that he wanted to help others, but quickly, his true, bloodthirsty colors began to show, and Claymere would suffer for it.
The war begins strong, Claymere conquering smaller family packs and either drawing them into the fold or wiping them off the map. Some joined via hesitant and begrudging diplomacy, but many were not given a choice, even if it was a fake one.
Two years in Claymere’s ‘Holy’ war, Algar meets a young she-wolf during a trip to offer ‘diplomacy’ to a pack not much smaller than their own. He’s quick to fall for her, coveting the time they spend together. In the end, he offers her father, the pack's alpha, a choice. He can marry his daughter to him, and in return, their pack will be allowed to remain somewhat independent, so long as they agree to follow Claymere’s patrons as well as their own and they fight beside Claymere when called upon.
With no other choice, both Edlyn and her father agree because while she detested his brutish and crude personality, they were both well aware that to turn Algar away would mean war against the larger pack that they simply could not afford.
Edlyn leaves her home and joins Claymere, promising to bear him heirs and heiresses, all the while secretly hoping that she can find some way to oppose her new husband, and break his chokehold on Claymere.
The first major loss for Claymere comes three years into their crusade in the form of a small internal rebellion that chooses to erupt in the midst of an ongoing conflict against a pack they had been trying to overtake. The battle takes place in the hills just North of the Eastern Lakes, and it is said that as the rain fell and diluted the spilled blood of both Claymerians and enemies, the churned-up soil was stained a sicking red before funneling into the lakes and clouding the surface nearest the shore.
It’s a brutal blow to Algar and his loyalists, and the rebellious ones flee to the pack they had assisted when the battle is over, and it proves that Claymere can be beaten if one tries hard enough.
Shortly after the battle of The Hills, Edlyn announces her pregnancy, and for one night, Claymere celebrates without bloodshed. Soon, she bears him two children, Arden and Oswin. Algar is not present for their birth and barely cares to see them when he returns from the battle that had called him away. He won’t care for his children until their old enough to train and to fight.
Edlyn takes advantage of her husband's distance, and the moment the pups are capable of understanding, she does her best to instill in them far more peaceful ideals. Despite everything, she ensured that her children grew up wanting for nothing, and she could only pray that one day one of them might be strong enough to challenge Algar and return Claymere to more peaceful days.
Three years pass, and Claymere continues its righteous path of bloodshed. Ground is gained, and ground is lost, but one thing has become apparent. Claymere has spread itself too thin, and Algar refuses to acknowledge it.
Oswin and Arden are trained by their father and thrown into battle early, told that if they could hold their own on the field, then they would be worthy of his attention. Both detest their father, but they both are afraid to turn against him. Algar is powerful and brutal, and they know he holds no remorse for them in his cold, ugly, dead heart. They know he’ll kill them for even so much as stepping out of line, and they know they have to become the best to challenge him.
They make a pact that they will one day challenge him and show their mother a far more peaceful life.
However, this does not come to pass.
Just as the pair turns four, Algar leads them into the worst battle Claymere has fought to date.
It’s an ambush, a rebellious Blade feeding the Viscount the wrong information and placing Claymere into the jaws of a trap they could never have hoped to escape. The battle is long, brutal, and bloody, and by the time it is over, Claymere’s forces are halved.
Forced to flee, they scatter, and in the chaos, an injured Arden is nearly killed when a vengeful enemy strikes for one of Claymere’s heirs, believing they will bring the same cruelty their father did. In a desperate bid to protect her child and one of Claymere’s only chances at peace, Edlyn takes the blow for her daughter. She distracts Arden’s attacker as she bleeds out, and the siblings are forced to abandon their mother to die slowly amongst the rest of the fallen that Claymere left behind.
Stumbling home bloodied and grief-stricken, Oswin rushes his sister to the nearest Light, and while it is close, they manage to stabilize her.
But the battle isn’t over yet.
Oswin stands guard at the entrance of the den as his sister is tended to, and as expected, their father is in a state of fury when he finds them. He’s always taken his rage out on those closest to them when Claymere loses, and tonight is no different. Typically, Oswin would take it, swallow down his vitriol and simply take it on the cheek like a good son should.
But tonight, Oswin has had enough.
He is done waiting, he is done cowering.
Their mother died, and his sister almost died, all because of Algar’s need to control everything.
So there, in front of their entire pack, Oswin challenges his father to a fight for the role of Viscount.
He knows what this entails, and he knows if he loses, Claymere will lose too. But he knows they have waited too long, and he has no other choice. They battle that night, both on equal footing in their exhaustion and state of injury. Oswin, unlike so many others, isn’t blinded by love for his father but instead fueled by his hatred for the wolf, and with a fire in his heart and a will to live and repair what Claymere has done over the years, he throws everything he has at the older wolf.
He nearly loses, Algar’s teeth missing his throat by a hair's width.
Had it not been for the blood slicking his fur, he doubted he would have managed to wriggle himself into position to sink his teeth into the other's neck, twisting and crushing all at once, until he heard the bones crack.
Algar fell lifeless at his feet, and Oswin stood over him, his expression hard and cold.
In the light of the full moon, he was anointed with his father's blood and Clay from The Mere and named Claymere’s next Viscount.
And Algar’s rule ended as bloody as it began.
After putting his father down, Oswin takes his place as Viscount of Claymere. Almost immediately, he instills a new law, allowing for married in family to have a right to the position of Viscount. It’s a law put in place, to honor his late mother, who would have fought Algar, had she the chance.
Unwilling to allow the remains of his father's blood empire, Oswin’s first decree is that for the next two years, Claymere will wash its paws of any conflict save what is brought directly to them. He absolves every conquered pack of their agreements and deals with Algar, and he allows any that wish to depart Claymere, to do so peacefully and without fight.
He closes Claymere’s borders, and for two long, uneventful years, he begins the painstaking process of putting his pack back together from the ground up.
His last act, before he follows Claymere into seclusion, is to denounce Algar’s name, labeling him among those who had disgraced Claymere’s name. He is buried outside of Claymere’s borders by Oswin and Arden themselves, and his name is forbidden to be spoken. He is known these days as simply the Greedy.
Two years later, Claymere finally exits its exclusionary period and begins to re-integrate with the small satellite packs around them.
Over time, they reforge a new name for themselves as peacekeepers and protectors, shielding younger and smaller packs or loners from those that wish to do them harm. They reopen their borders, offering shelter and care to those who cannot do so for themselves. Their only rule is that their costumes and traditions be respected during one's stay.
Slowly, Claymere grows again, and so too, does their reputation.
It’s during this time, that Oswin grew to love his childhood friend Athela, and while the pair consider themselves to be the closest of friends, Athela accepted Oswin’s invitation to join him as Viscount. They love one another in a way many cannot, and they bound themselves in marriage so that they could stand on equal footing once more.
A year later, Athela bears a litter of one, little Elswythe, the pride of Claymere. Oswin swears to his infant daughter and his aging mate that he will protect them and Claymere with his life, and he will push for a peaceful life for his daughter.
She will never know the horrors that he and Arden went through, and she will live a long and happy life.
Two years later, Oswin’s dream is threatened. Claymere’s Learned receives a message from the Gods, that The Brute will one day walk among them again. It has been years since anyone could recall his name, but his legacy lives on in the fairy tales, and bedtime stories told to pups.
There is no way to know if this will truly happen, but then again, the gods have spoken, and to disregard their words… It is a fool's thought.
Oswin attempts to silence all talk of the prophecy, praying that with that, they will be spared.
Elswythe, who had always been smitten with her childhood sweetheart, Holden, finally admits to her father that the pair have been seeing one another. Not too long after, they announce their intent to marry, and while Holden is not Oswin’s favorite, he and Athela give their blessing, and the celebration for their Daughter and Son-in-law begins.
A year after their union, Holden and Elswythe have their first litter, a pair of twins that they name Leofsige, and Cynesige. The celebrations are long and jovial, and Oswin is elated to see his dream come true. He’s nearly forgotten about the looming shadow of the prophecy, to content in his life and old age to care for it.
As far as he is concerned, it never happened, and Claymere will continue to prosper.
Peace treaties and trade agreements are forged, battles are fought and won, and wolves are saved. Claymere is looked to as a beacon of hope that one day Wolf-kind might finally find true peace with one another.
While still considered to be in it's Golden Years, eight long years later, things in Claymere have... Begun to destabilize.
In his growing age, Viscount Oswin's mental and psychical health have begun to fail, and it is clear in his actions that he is not well. Among this, there is a growing friction in the pack that may quickly begin to grow out of control between pack born and outsiders.
Summer of 2024
Summer's storm season was a rough one, taking many by surprise with its gales and vicious thunder storms. Ultimately, no one is injured from them.
Near the middle of Summer, a drought starts. While small ones are not so uncommon in this time of year, it persists into the late Summer season, and caused a late Salmon run come fall.
Fall of 2024
When the heat finally breaks, so to does the drought. Tropical storms slam back to back into the coast line, drenching Claymere in unholy amounts of water, pushing many to remain holed up just to they could be dry for a few moments.
When the storms finally let up, wolves begin to hunt for Salmon, but even with mid-fall growing dangerously close, the salmon have not begun to run yet.
The last month of fall hits, and finally the Salmon have begun to show. It eases the tension with the local bear population and allows Claymere at least a little time to get their paws under them for winter.
Friction has begun to mount between some born Claymerian's and non-blooded Claymerians. One of the most notable issues being a fight between Zavara and Demetrius, and an altercation between Féchín and Finnegan. Only time will tell if this will grow worse, or certain wolves will learn to accept others.
Winter of 2024-25
While Claymere has had some time to feast on the Salmon run, it wasn't enough. A lean winter is ahead of the pack, and only time will tell just how stressful and hard it will be. Claymere does however, make their return to their wintering densite on time and without a hitch.
Unbeknownst to the majority of the pack, Norman, father of Thaddeus, Juno, Sunder, and Féchín, returns to Claymere seeking his children. It does not go as he had hoped.
The secret is held for sometime before whispers begin to abound, and eventually, a body is found. Oswin calls for a trial, and the siblings are found guilty. The results of the trial leave many in the pack uneasy, and it's brought to the light by Féchín, that he and his siblings aren't the only wolves with secrets in this pack. Oswin is exposed for hiding the fact that a prophecy has been spoken by the Gods themselves, though he defends himself by admitting openly to his secrecy, claiming he'd done everything with the packs best interest at heart. Whether or not this is true, will remain to be seen.
Things grow quiet in the middle days of winter, the pack is stretched thin but no one is starving... yet.
In the last days of winter, a vicious blizzard strikes, taking Claymere by surprise. But that isn't all it takes.
In the wake of the storm, it is found that Cynesige has gone missing, as well as his mother, Elswyth. It is unknown yet if their disappearances are connected, but where Elswyth's mutilated corpse was found after hard searching, there has been no signs of her son yet.
The pack mourns, but where the others will recover, it does not seem as if Oswin will. Something in him has shifted in the wake of his daughters untimely death, and no one quite knows yet just what their Viscount will do in his remaining days.
Spring of 2025
Turning against his pack, Oswin declares that they will not return to the Cradle, forcing the pack to remain within the Maw for 'safety.'
Shortly after Magnus and Emery are implicated in working with the beast that killed Elswythe by an Oswin who has very clearly, begun to lose his mind. In truth, they only met it, and were subsequently brutalized by it, when trying to seek justice for the mother and fallen packmates.
Holden also suffers a run in with a cougar, that tells him to give Oswin their regards.
Snapping at pack mates, his grandson, and even his own mate and sister, its clear that Oswin's mind has begun to fail him, and its only growing worse and worse as time passes.
Summer of 2025
After witnessing the harsh deterioration of Oswin's mind and the cruelty in which he treats his pack with, Holden finds he has no choice but to step in. Catching Oswin attempting to storm into the den in which Magnus and Emery are being cared for after their run in with the bear, Holden challenges Oswin for Leadership of Claymere.
Holden tries to talk him down, but in the end, Oswin is unwilling to handle the mantle over peacefully, disillusioned and crazed, believeing that if he lets it go, Claymere will crumble.
With no choice to but to make good on his challenge, Holden and Oswin engage in battle. Due to his old age and frail body, Oswin is killed rather quickly, as Holden attempts to do little more than defend himself.
Viscount Oswin, Leader of Claymere for a staggering 9 years, dies from a broken neck.
Holden, winner of the challenge, inheirts his father in laws title as Viscount.
Taking the title of Viscount was never Holden's plan, at least, not like this. Yet now, here he stands. Will Claymere prosper under his leadership, or will it fail?
Summer of 2025
In the wake of Oswin's death, a misguided Zavara turns against Holden, calling him a murderer. A fight ensues between herself and Ulfric when she attempts to attack the new Viscount, and is broken up by Juno and Edvin. For her actions, she is banished from Claymere, and Juno leaves by choice with her.
Many of the pack find themselves conflicted, remembering a kinder Oswin, and wishing it could have ended differently.
By the end of summer, unable to remain in the place where her mate, best friend, and daughter all died, Elswyth choses to venture into the unknown. Unwilling to let her brothers mate go alone, Arden leaves with her. They do not go with anger, but only sadness. Claymere holds to many tainted memories now.
Traveling to the sanctum, hoping the Gods would soothe him, Holden receives a vision.
Fall of 2025
Returning to Claymere, he speaks of the Gods favor, and as if to show it, the Red River fills to the brim during the salom runs.
Winter of 2025-26
Holden receives another vision, seeing only favor and kindness from the Gods.
While on a routine patrol, Leofsige, Thaddeus, Emery, and Sylus stumble upon the bear that murdered several of their packmates.
Worried by the implications of what it said, Leofsige rushes the patrol home to tell his father.
Holden receives another vision, this one far harder to decode.
Choosing to side with caution, Holden sets up a guard rotation on the Sanctum to ensure no Ghast's or other ugly beasts attempt to break into the holy grounds.
Leofsige begins to investigate into the possible Ghast problem, becoming flighty and suspicious to many.
Returning to the dens, Holden calls the pack together and tells them of a new God that has settled among them. Hadran. He bans anyone that is not himself or Knight Alvena from entering the Sanctum, seeking to protect this young God as they nurture it into life. He also choses to throw a celebration, wishing to make it something the pack can enjoy. Gods Feast.
Unbeknownst to the pack, Leofsige and Holden's relationship has been deteriorating, and it finally comes to a head. Permanently scarred, Leofsige and Thistle are chased out of Claymere territory. Holden lies, telling the pack his son has begun to lose his mind in the same way that his Grandfather did, attacking him before fleeing into the forests beyond.
Spring of 2026
TBA
Summer of 2026
TBA