Wolfrider
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In the comic book Elfquest, created by Wendy and Richard Pini, the Wolfriders are a fictional tribe of elves on the World of Two Moons.
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Characteristics
The Wolfriders, as the name suggests, are allied with wolves, which they ride while hunting, but the alliance goes deeper than mere social bonding. The Wolfriders originated when Timmain of the High Ones shapeshifted into a female wolf and mated with the alpha wolf of a wild pack.
The resulting offspring, Timmorn Yellow-eyes, was a hybrid of elf and wolf, and became the first Wolfrider chief. Over the centuries Timmorn's blood has become diluted, but gives all Wolfriders characteristics unique to their tribe. In particular, they have generally greater physical strength and endurance and have much sharper senses of smell and hearing than most elves. The presence of wolf blood also gives them facial hair, and has important consequences in terms of their longevity.
History
For several millennia the Wolfriders lived in a forest known as the Holt, hunting and gathering and living in balance with nature, until a conflict with humans resulted in the forest's destruction. Led by their eleventh chief, Cutter, the Wolfriders sought refuge with King Greymung's trolls in their underground caverns, but Greymung distrusted the elves and tricked them into a tunnel leading to a harsh desert.
After several days journeying through the desert the Wolfriders discovered the oasis village of Sorrow's End, populated by a hitherto unknown elf tribe called the Sun Folk. After an initial skirmish, caused partly by Cutter's paranoia at the trolls' betrayal and partly by his Recognition - and abduction - of the village healer Leetah, the Wolfriders and Sun Folk became friends and allies, learning new skills from each other.
Their use of magic before the destruction of the Holt was limited to utilitarian powers directly related to forested wilderness survival, such as telepathy, healing, plant manipulation, etc. However, upon arrival at Sorrow's End, the Wolfriders eventually learned various other powers from the community's elders.
Most of the Wolfriders subsequently left Sorrow's End in order to find an unknown evil force that had caused the spirit of the Sun Folk's leader Savah to be trapped outside her body. This turned out to be an elf, Winnowill of the Gliders, a decadent and stagnating tribe cloistered within Blue Mountain. After a bitter struggle the Wolfriders temporarily defeated Winnowill, and the Gliders' leader Lord Voll, no longer in thrall to her, promised to take the Wolfriders to the lost Palace of the High Ones, where they would learn once and for all the secret of their origins.
But the Palace was jealously guarded by a warlike tribe of trolls under King Guttlekraw. Lord Voll was killed, Cutter was grievously wounded, and only the intervention of another elf tribe, the Go-backs, saved the Wolfriders from being wiped out. Joining forces with the Go-backs, the Wolfriders defeated Guttlekraw's trolls and returned to the Palace, where they did indeed learn the truth of their origins. But the Palace was not a home, and so the Wolfriders established a new holt within the woods near Blue Mountain.
This covers the events in the original Elfquest series, 1978 - 1984.
Wolfrider characters
All wolfriders are mortal unless otherwise noted, because of their diluted blood (with wolves). That still means they can live millennia, though.
Current Wolfriders
Current Wolfriders are all Wolfriders who were alive and present in the story during and after the original Elfquest series, 1978 - 1984.
Cutter: male, alive. He is the main hero of Elfquest and eleventh chief of the Wolfriders. His name is derived partly from his skill with a sword, but also from his desire to cut through lies and deception and uncover the truth. Son of Bearclaw and Joyleaf, he lost both his parents at the hand of Madcoil, but avenged them by killing the monster and leading the sixteen survivors to a time of quiet. At least until humans burnt the forest where Wolfriders lived; alongside his fellow soulbrother, Skywise, Cutter had to led the Wolfriders away, and so he did. They were tricked into the Burning Waste desert by the trolls, but after a gruelling journey discovered another village of dark skinned elves where Cutter found his lifemate, the beautiful healer Leetah, as well as a lifelong enemy - Leetah's suitor Rayek. Later he moved on, with a burning desire to find other sundered elf kin and gather them all together, which he actually did by finding out the existence of the Gliders of Blue Mountain and the warlike snow elves known as Go-Backs. Reasonable and kind, Cutter is now leading his tribe back at their native Father Tree Holt after a particularly bloody war with human landlord Grohmul Djun. He and Leetah fathered the only other known pair of twins besides Brill and Krill - mystic Suntop/Sunstream and his wolf-blooded sister Ember, who now leads a branch of her own tribe. Cutter has long ash-blond hair, deep blue eyes and well developed facefur in the form of sidelocks. It is rumored that Cutter will undergo some kind of psychic trauma in a later story, which will cause him to lose his mind and memory. His soul name is TAM.
Sunstream: male, alive. He was formerly known as Suntop, the male child of Cutter and Leetah. While they were still in Leetah's womb, Ember called wolf blood to her, while Sunstream called for "something else". He's an immortal with incredible magic powers such as astral projection and magic feeling, which makes him aware whenever something or someone around him has been modified by elfin magic. He lately helped his parents to restore the Father Tree Holt by purging a pool of bad magic left by Madcoil, and had his named changed to Sunstream to commemorate it. There are rumors that he will Recognize a Wavedancer girl, Brill, in the future. Sunstream is also destined to become the new Master of the Palace of the High Ones, task he's practicing with High One Timmain and stargazer Skywise. He has a twin sister called Ember and they have always been very close - despite the obvious differences between them. Sunstream has long butter yellow hair, blue eyes and dark skin. He is an immortal, for his lack of wolf blood.
Ember: female, alive. She's the daughter of Cutter and Leetah, and Sunstream's twin sister, thought as different from him as day from night. When the twins were still in Leetah's womb, Ember called wolf-blood (and its subsequient mortality) to her, while her brother called for some unknown magic of the High Ones time. As a result of that, the Wolfriders all saw in Ember their next chieftess, and knew someday she'd have earned the chief lock from her father, Cutter. However, in her early years, this young tomboy was often jealous of how everybody's attentions seemed focussed entirely on her brother; she thought he and Leetah could step on the stage whenever a magic user was needed, while she, Ember, had to stay back and wait till her own adulthood would have come - which wasn't definitely something at her taste. Redlance's supportive aid, alongside Ember's very self-confident and outgoing nature, somewhat eased things a bit; yet, by the time of her teen age, the young daughter of Cutter was almost constantly at odds with her chieftain father (in a drama echoed, many years before, by Kahvi - and lately even Snakeskin). When Rayek tried to answer the plea for help echoing straight from the time of the High One's crash on the World of Two Moons, Cutter sternly forbade Ember to follow her mother, Suntop, Skywise, Ekuar and Trinket in the Palace; believing he had no trust in her, Ember went anyway - and as a result of that she was stolen, with the rest of her family, when Rayek drove the Palace faraway in the future. Here Ember lived what to her seemed but a night; however, when they came back to the Now, she learnt over 1000 years had passed for her father, and finally understood that Cutter's harshness was not to be seen as lack of faith. At this time she also came along her very first lovemate, Mender the healer, and they shared a somehow idillyac time together - often agreeing on what was important, and what wasn't. Ember, however, felt Mender was way too much like her, and when her father chose to split the tribe in half to face the Shards War, she chose her mother Leetah to take care of the health of her branch of WolfRiders, while Mender would have gone fighting alongside Cutter and his warriors. They settled on a new holt to preserve the Way of the WolfRiders and hunt down the monsters left behind by Winnowill. It was there Ember met Teir, a mysterious plainsdwelling elf who enchanted her more than she'd have ever thought possible. After a somehow stormy relationship worsened by Mender's jealously and Ember's sometimes not that smart choices as a chieftess, the two are now close to the point of being lifemates and while she's probably given him her soulname, Ember still doesn't want to force Recognition, but patiently wait until the High Ones will give her and Teir a baby of their own. Much matured since her infancy, Ember has flame red wavy hair long below her waist, bluegreen eyes (thought often depicted to be either blue or green) and a slightly tan complexion, paler than her mother's and darker than her brother's. Her soulname is unknown.
Skywise: male, alive. The tribe's stargazer never knew his parents, Shale and Eyes High, and the few memories he has of his mother are increased by the tales of the tribe's elders about their tragic deaths. This led to a general mistrust of humans which accompanied Skywise through all his life. Cutter's best friend and "brother in all but blood", Skywise is his soulbrother as well as closest confidant, second chief and at times even furmate. Their relationship lasts since both elves were cubs and Cutter's friendship surely helped filling the void left in Skywise's life by the early loss of his parents. This elf is definitely not a depressive kind of guy however, and thought after the death of his first lovemate Foxfur at the hand of Madcoil he tried not to tie himself too much to a single elf (besides Cutter, of course), his adventures as a flirt and lady's man are way more numerous than any WolfRider's. He's been seen sharing his furs with Maleen, Ruffel and Vurdah when he was at the Sun Village; then he found a somewhat longer terms lovemate in the sad-eyed glider scout, Aroree, and then again he and Newstar shared some time together after the whole Blue Mountain affair. Yet Skywise's greatest love is to the stars, whose secrets he yearns to know. This and his silver colored hair is what links him to the High One astronomer, Sefra, who's probably Skywise's many-times ancestor. It has also been hinted he will find out what Recognition truly is with Timmain, the only resident High One who's woven an unusually deep bond with the sweet hearted stargazer of the WolfRiders since Skywise's wolf-friend, Starjumper, was killed by Dodia's jack-wolf, Skimsand. Rumors the child of this Recognition will be Jink, a flirtatious elfess of future times. After the whole accident with the Palace of the High Ones, when they found themselves stolen faraway in the future of Abode, Skywise begged Leetah to take his wolf-blood away, for he wanted to live till he'd have seen Cutter again. Thus he is now immortal. However this choice has caused him some troubles and tantrums over the years, and he's just managed to come to terms to who he is and where he's going, reluctantly accepting to someday see his soulbrother die but also knowing their spirits won't be apart, even then. Skywise has shoulder-length poofy silver hair and silverly blue hair. His soul name is FAHR.
Strongbow: male, alive. Son of Trueflight and an unknown WolfRider male, he inherited his mother's skills and is the Wolfriders' current and best archer. Now a respected elder in his tribe, this silent elf used to be somewhat jealous of Cutter in the past, especially for the unusually deep bond that tied Strongbow to Cutter's father Bearclaw - his soul brother. Strongbow doesn't say much, thought he'll stubbornly fight for his beliefs and what he thinks it's better doing. Lifemated to the tribe's tanner Moonshade, their relationship started way back, under Bearclaw's leadership, with the birth of a female daughter named Crescent. The girl had apparently inherited all of her father's aim and skills, and she might have been a great archer too hadn't humans killed her early in her teens. Strongbow and Moonshade somewhat managed to overcome the sorrow over her loss, but it took both a great amount of grief and a second Recognition - resulting, this time, with the birth of a male cub, named Dart. Their family had just rebuilt when humans burnt the Wolfrider's holt, forcing Cutter's tribe to flee into the desert. While the three of them apparently adapted quite well to the peaceful life of Sorrow's End, Strongbow hadn't apparently forgot the causes that forced his tribe to a massive flight, and when humans bumped in the Sun Village, he was pretty much against leaving them live to tell the others of their kind about that. Later on he was caught and tortured by the Glider's Lord Winnowill until Moonshade and the rest of the tribe came to help; he recovered from the mental wounds inflicted by the Black Snake, but ever since he's been even more cautious about not speaking a single word - preferring, instead, to telephatically send. He was reunited with his son, who chose to stay at Sorrow's End as their new hunter, right after Blue Mountain collapsed. Later on he and Moonshade split again by the time of the Shards War, with Strongbow following Cutter and his warriors to fight the evil Djun and Moonshade offering her council and (at time) disagreements to the Wolfriders new leader, Ember. Reunited again at Goodtree's Rest, Strongbow and Moonshade play a significant (though not central) role in the 2004 graphic novel, The Searcher and the Sword, in which the receive a message from the spirit of their deceased daughter Crescent, foretelling "joy above and danger below". Strongbow has long burned reddish-brown hair, dark eyes and a short beard. His soul name is WYL.
Moonshade: female, alive. Lifemate to Strongbow and the tribe's tanner and tailor. Mother to Dart and grandmother to Bowki. Equally conservative in her attitudes, she is completely devoted to Strogbow and defends him and follows him, even if she believes him wrong, as seen when they leave the Blue Mountain, thus separating themselves from the rest of the tribe. They parted again, when Moonshade were chosen to follow Ember and Strongbow Cutter. She had a hard time, missing Strongbow and the fear of never seeing him again, coupled with Ember, whom she saw as nothing more than a half-grown cub. Disagreement soon broke out between Moonshade and the young chieftess. It took a false vision of her long death daugther Crescent to build a bridge between the advisor and her new chief. After the Shards War she reunited with Strongbow, and in the 2004 graphic novel, The Searcher and the Sword they are together again. Here they receive a true vision of Crescent ('sending' from the Palace). They recognize each other again, and she bears life to a daughter, whose name we do not know yet. Her soulname is Eyrn.
Dart: Male, alive, Son of Strongbow and Moonshade. When the Wolfriders and Leetah left Sorrow's End to find Cutter and Skywise, he volunteered to stay behind to teach the Sun Folk how to hunt and defend themselves. He was successful enough to create a fighting force of wolfriding warriors even without them having Wolfrider blood.
Nightfall: (Soul Name:Twen) - Female, alive. A close friend of Cutter and mate to Redlance.
Redlance: (Soul Name: Ulm) Male, alive. Best tracker of the Wolfriders and a treeshaper. Originally named Redmark until he saved Bearclaw from a big cat by way of his favourite move with a spear, planting it in front of a charging opponent so that the enemy would impale himself his/her own momentum. Nightfall and Redlance are not recognized, but following the traumatic events of the Wolfriders' battle of the trolls, Nightfall brought Redlance out of a catatonic state by joining her soul to his, so that not even death could divide them. They then persuaded Leetah to induce Recognition so that they could have a child.
Tyleet: female, alive. Daughter of Nightfall and Redlance and the product of a induced Recognition. Has a particular talent for interacting with humans, and even went so far as to adopt an abandoned human "cub", with bittersweet consequences. She recognized Scouter, a development that his Lifemate, Dewshine, approved of. Her relationship with Nightfall illustrates the effect of elfin longevity, since after several centuries the age difference between them was no longer significant and they behaved more like sisters than mother and daughter.
Pike: male, alive. The product of a healer- intervened conception and named for his weapon preference for spears.
Rainsong: female, deceased. Daughter of Rain, half-sister of Pike, mother of Wing and Newstar. Was known for being highly prolific as far as elves go.
Woodlock: male, deceased. Devoted father and mate to Rainsong. Usually gentle and placid, he became almost frighteningly enraged when he believed humans might pose a threat to his children.
Newstar
Wing
Clearbrook
One-Eye: male, deceased. A Wolfrider so named because he had one of his eyes gouged out so completely that Rain could not save it and had to settle for sealing the eye socket. He fell in battle against Guttlekraw's trolls, but before his body completely expired, Petalwing concooned it. When his body was discovered in Two-Edge's vault, Leetah attempted to heal it, but instead left it in an effectively brain dead state that Clearbrook eventually decided to euthanize.
Treestump: male, alive. The oldest of the Wolfriders and an elder who serves as an advisor to Cutter and is usually considered Second in Command of the tribe, though leadership is not his preferred role.
Dewshine: (Soul Name: Lree) female, alive. Daughter of Rillfisher and Treestump, she resembles her deceased mother, which serves as a poignant reminder to her father. Despite her frail appearance she is one of the most daring and adventurous of the Wolfriders, which has gotten her into trouble on several occasions. In Blue Mountain she Recognized Tyldak, as a result of which Winnowill learned her soul name and used it against her. Much later, when Tyleet Recognized Scouter Dewshine was not in the least jealous but was glad that Scouter now understood Recognition.
Scouter: male, alive. He possesses telescopic vision. Lifemate to Dewshine and a close friend of Skywise because he could assist with Skywise's stargazing. After Dewshine Recognized Tyldak he helped her to raise their son Windkin as a Wolfrider. Many years later he Recognized Tyleet, and Dewshine welcomed her into the relationship.
Historical Wolfriders
Historical Wolfriders are all Wolfriders who have died or otherwise left the storyline prior to the original Elfquest series, 1978 - 1984. Many were featured in the Blood of Ten Chiefs series or in flashbacks.
Timmorn Yellow-Eyes: first chieftain, very wolf-like in appearance, son of Timmain
Rahnee the She-Wolf: second chieftain, daughter of Timmorn
Prey-Pacer: second chieftain, son of Rahnee, formerly called Prunepit
Two-Spear: third chieftain, son of Prey-Pacer, formerly called Swift-Spear
Huntress Skyfire: fourth chieftain; half-sister of Two-Spear; attained chieftaincy after a tribal schism during Two-Spear's chieftaincy
Freefoot: fifth chieftain, son of Skyfire
Tanner: sixth chieftain, son of Freefoot
Goodtree: seventh chieftain, daughter of Tanner; a powerful treeshaper who created the Father Tree in which the tribe lived until its destruction during Cutter's chieftaincy
Mantricker: ninth chieftain, known for his tricks, although he eventually cooperated with the human known as Demon-Tricker to keep the elves and humans from each others' throats; short-lived; father of Bearclaw
Bearclaw: male, deceased. He was Cutter's father by Joyleaf, and the son of Mantricker and Thornflower. The tenth chief of the Wolfriders, Bearclaw was known for having quite a temper, and led his tribe of forest dwelling elves in a time when indigenous humans started trusting and respecting less and less the "point-eared" demons. Bearclaw followed his ancestor Two-Spear's path to war, which eventually led to the death of many fellows wolfriders such as Shale, Eyes High and Crescent. Years later, his own lifemate Joyleaf was killed - with half the tribe - by Madcoil, an half-longtooth half-snake monster born from a pool of bad magic. Devastated by grief, Bearclaw faced Madcoil himself, and was subsequiently killed, but not before he could pass the chieftainship over to his son, Cutter. Bearclaw had long rust coloured hair, dark eyes and face fur in the form of a short beard and moustaches. His soul name was GRENN.
Joyleaf: female, deceased. She was Cutter's mother by Bearclaw, as well as Treestump's sister and Dewshine's aunt. Every bit sweet and loving as her lifemate Bearclaw was rogue and savage, she was often the calm to balance his most fiery side and the voice of reason into the tribe. Her relationship with Bearclaw started as a stormy one but once their son was born she slowly started melting him into a better chief than he'd ever been. She was killed years later by the monster Madcoil, while she was with a scouting group to find out the source of the bad magic pool; her death eventually led Bearclaw insane and brought him sacrifing himself for the sake of the tribe, but it was only their son Cutter who finally succeeded in killing Madcoil and avenging both parent's deaths. Joyleaf had long blond hair woven with leaves and deep blue eyes. Her soulname was DEHL.
Rain: male, deceased. He was the healer of the Wolfriders during Bearclaw's time, and thought quite powerful, he was not as strong as Leetah. With his magic he helped One-Eye easing the pain of his lost eye but couldn't restore what humans took. At the same way, he saved Cutter from sure death and did his best to guarantee new life to the tribe - eventually trying to force Recognition upon himself. Rain fathered at least two known children, Pike and Rainsong, thought the mother/s? name is unknown. Rumors he was also Shale's father come from his despair over Shale's death. He was killed by MadCoil - alongside Joyleaf and some others - while he was on a rescue party to find out where the pool of bad magic came from. Rain had short orange colored hair, dark eyes and face fur in the form of sidelocks.