Name: Temka Nightfur
Species: Werewolf
Appearance: When in human form, Temka is tall and slim, with very short, thick black hair and large, tilted amber eyes. Her skin is honey-brown. She looks slightly... ...strange. Not quite human, but not obviously anything else.
She usually wears a plain white shift, which looks as if it was designed more for being exceptionally portable and very easy to take on or off than for beauty or style, and a rather unusual necklace. It's made of plaited cloth, and it has a tiny (copper) pendant hanging from it, with a small inscription on it. If you ever managed to read it, you would be surprised at the words:
"If you're reading this I'm probably injured. My name is Temka Nightfur and I live near Menian Town. KEEP ME AWAY FROM SILVER!".
Of course, where Temka lives, this is a simple precaution to make sure people can tell the wolves from the werewolves, and treat them accordingly. Not that the inhabitants of Linnis Province would ever mistreat a wolf.
In wolf form, Temka is a small, lightly built, pure black she-wolf. Her eyes and hair are still the same, and to wolves she presents the same unnerving strangeness. Not quite lupine, not obviously something else. She still has her necklace on, and usually a shift or two is folded up and tucked inside it.
Family: Temka fled from Miken Province, where werewolves were becoming increasingly unpopular, and lost both her mother and her father. One of her brothers survives, but he lives far away from Menian Town, in Sarin, and she doesn't often see him.
Age: Due to some bizarre conflict of lupine and human lifespans, Temka can expect to live to about 50 at the most. At 16, she's already as mature as a 20-year old human would be, or a 3-year old wolf. It's just another example of the werewolf life: you don't fit in with humans and you don't fit in with wolves.
About Linnis Province: Temka lives on the planet of Dojan, in Linnis Province near Menian Town. Dojan is... diverse, without being that tolerant. Most of the inhabitants are either human or vampire (due to years of living quite peacefully together, the humans and the vampires have developed precautions. The vampires drink animal blood and farm livestock for this purpose, the humans aren't religious and have systematically eradicated garlic and other plants from the land) and those who aren't are animal-related in some way, and very scarce. While there are a lot of mermaids around, and even a few selkies, werewolves interfere with the blood supply. They're not wanted. Gradually Temka's people were driven back until only the vampire-free Linnis Province would welcome them. There are only about a hundred werewolves in the whole of Dojan, and almost all of them live in Linnis. Menian Town is a market town, a place of trade and commerce. Temka barters occasional furs there for anything she needs apart from food, water and shelter, for example her clothes. "This means Temka sometimes feels a bit... ...alone.
Temka Nightfur's Story
The rabbit was just a brown blur at the edge of Temka's vision as she finally pounced on it. She'd been stalking it for about an hour: it was huge and totally alert, and it seemed to her that every time she breathed it took fright, and the satisfaction of finally killing and eating it was immense. Her thoughts were hardly describable in human terms: her mind almost purely lupine and focussed on devouring part of the rabbit and burying the rest. It was only when she was basking in the sun, licking the blood off her muzzle, that she started to think in human terms.
I'm full she thought good meal... She shook herself into coherency again I suppose I'd better change back now. Sometimes, I wish I didn't have to. Life's easier if you're a wolf. If I spent long enough like this I could join a pack, I'd smell right, I'd could hunt with the rest of them and bring down big animals, better meat, even find a mate... But no, I'm always flipping back and forth. If I were a wolf all the time, I'd lose the human part of me. I couldn't bear that. And I really couldn't be a human all the time either, I love being wolf, and if I lost that part of me, I wouldn't be... ...me.
She stretched, almost lazily, and her body relaxed... ..into a different shape. She got up rather awkwardly and stumbled back into the cave to put her shift on, trying to shake off the nagging feeling that she had lost two of her legs. By the time she came back, she was fine. She took a deep breath of the fresh air, withdrew a hunting knife from a small leather satchel, and skinned what was left of the rabbit. I can't believe I found that tasty a few minutes ago... she thought ..it's icky! At least it'll add to my score of furs, I really need some soap and a hairbrush She grinned ruefully and continued with her gory task, humming to herself, and decided to go down to Menian Town to see Miquia. The young woman was her only friend there, and she had to admit that it was more her fault then the fault of the people there. She wasn't incredibly sociable, and she was much happier communicating with the occasional stray wolf that wandered near her territory. But Miquia understood. She wasn't just kind and friendly, she was intelligent and she didn't mind Temka's almost total social inadequacy. It would be really great to see her.
A few hours later Temka was picking her way carefully down the winding track towards Menian Town. She had packed her leather bag full of deer, hare, mink and rabbit fur, and was not feeling at all guilty: she had killed the animals to eat, and she wasn't about to waste any part of them. She was looking forward to seeing her friend Miquia tremendously, and also to bartering over the furs and getting a few necessary luxuries. It was a lovely day, and flowers grew plentifully around the lower part of the mountain where she lived. Menian Town was only about ten miles away, and Temka liked walking. In about an hour she had reached it, and she could see that it was market day today. The place was thronged with people, and, as usual, she found this slightly alarming. However, it seemed that, the closer she got, the disturbance was of a different nature. A huge blue dragon had landed in the market square, and the rider was walking among the crowd with an unmistakable look in his eye. Search!
Nearby in the crowd she saw Miquia, who was practically humming with excitement. Temka loped over quickly to ask her what was going on.
"Temka! Look, I can't believe this, it's a rider from Ryslen, he's looking for Candidates, you've got to see!"
"For a Hatching? Seriously?"
"Yes!
"That's... ...interesting"
"Interesting? It's wonderful! We hardly ever get Searchriders here!"
"I suppose so. Have you been picked out?"
"No, worst luck. But I suppose I couldn't really leave Menian Town anyway..."
"Being a Candidate would be amazing... I mean Ryslen doesn't mind..."
"Temka! Come on! This could be the chance of a lifetime! Go up and see!"
"Miquia..."
"I think the dragon's looking at you!"
"Well...."
"Stop hesitating! I'll take the furs! You can come visit me when you're a queenrider!"
"That's ridiculous!"
"A girl can dream..."
"You mean a werewolf - wait, I think the rider's coming over!"
"Best of luck!"
