TAEROHK

 

-Tae: The essence of darkness and evil- of war, and of death.  Tae-users are denoted by the title Tae in front of their names.
-tynua: The essence of wisdom and trickery, of craftiness and of shadows.  tynua-users are denoted by the title Rohk in front of their names.

 

LEGENDS AND LORE

Before time began, there were only the two forces- thai and roh.  Light and shadows.  Thai and roh were in balance- where thai could not reach, there was roh.  The thai, the light, banished the roh, the shadows, but could not reach everywhere.  And so the universe was in balance.

One day, called the Creating, called the Curse, thai and roh blended, creating beings of substance- of light, of shadow.  Few were both of light and shadow, but these few made peace between thai-creations and roh-creations. In creating these mortal beings, thai and roh gained power; and with power, gained choice and pride and all emotions of the mortals they had made.  The thai was not without emotions attributed to roh- some of the shadow tainted the light in the Creating, as some of the light tainted the shadows.  The shadows were less black than gray; the light was dimmer.

Thai became prideful, believing light could chase out any roh or roh-creation.  Thai wished the rule of the created world, with no roh- although thai casts roh.  The taint of roh in thai had caused the light to think and feel with less clarity than before.  Thai attacked roh and roh-creations, sending many roh-creations to the Place of Shadows, the rohokilp, the after-life.

The roh took the remaining roh-creations and fled beneath the earth, where the shadows remained for many years, bitter and vengeful.  But the thai would not let them out nor go to where shadows outnumbered the light.

Many roh-creatures starved and died or were killed by their own.  Some, though, learned to grasp energy from the shadows, from the roh.  They gained so much energy through the roh that some became roh themselves, half-beings - shades.  They were the purest form of malice and evil, the darkest roh, called among others Darkest Shadows, and they were not diminished by thai. The few remaining roh-creations were remade as wolves by the roh, who named them the Shadow Pack, Roh’kip.  They learned to harness the power of the roh, to use it as life-energy and to fight.  The few thai-creations that stumbled into the Shadow Lands, the Roh-Sydynil, left barely alive- if that- and with horrible tales of the "roh-beasts" that lived there... wolf-shadows, gray coated, with silver-swirled eyes- the mark of the tainted roh.  The Roh’kip.

In the Roh’Sydynil, two types of Roh’kip began to emerge. The death roh, those who used energy from the Darkest Shadows untainted by light, the warriors, the killers, thoroughly evil.  Pity was alien to them.  They knew only the love for the hunt, only joy in death and pain and war.  The leading roh, those with calm hearts and minds, tainted by the thai that made them acceptable leaders- even excellent ones.  They drew energy from the tainted roh, the light shadows, and battled with words and subtlety- poison and garroting shadow-cords.  Tainted-roh and Death-roh grew a rivalry between them, and rarely intermated. Thus the generations passed, until very few could use both Darkest Shadows and Tainted-roh.

The roh noticed this, and the rivalry of death-roh and tainted-roh.  The shadows did not know what to do, not until one of the rare who could use death-roh and taint-roh was born.  This she-wolf was named Thai’onibae Roh’kip - Lightbane of the Shadow Pack. Thai’onibae could use all elements, and was strong in both Darkest Shadows and Tainted Shadows.  Seeing Thai’onibae and her prowess with roh, as well as her leadership ability, the roh trained her itself in using shadows and the elements.  After many years, the death-roh test, and the taint-roh test, the shadows returned her to the Roh’kip, appointing her alpha over the entire Roh’kip.

Thai’onibae seperated the death-roh and the taint-roh, naming them in the roh's own tongue, Tae and Tynua.  The Death-roh became the Tae, the warriors of the Roh’kip.  The Taint-roh became the Tynua, although Tynua was shortened to merely Rohk, Lesser Roh, with the consent of most, and they are the leaders of the Roh’kip.  Together, the Tae and the Rohk are the Taerohk. The roh, seperated into Tae- Darkest Shadows- and tynua- Tainted Shadows- agreed with the changes Thai’onibae brought, and withdrew from the Roh’kip, allowing to be drawn from but no longer so drastically interfering with the
Taerohk and their battle against thai-kind.

Then did the Tae leave the Roh’Sydynil and venture forth into the thai-lands.  The creations of light had grown weak and complacent in absence of the roh, and were slain or driven into hiding in the Thai’Sydynil, lands of the light, in the desert.  The legends of the Ciolir, as those of the
thai became to be called, reveal that they had a similar experience in Thai’Sydynil as the Taerohk had in Roh’Sydynil. But the Taerohk did not grow complacent, instead multiplying, splitting into packs of Tae and packs of Roh and even mixed packs, all the while keeping skills sharp and honed.  When the Lightwolves returned- for thai had remade its surviving creations into wolves as well- and were strong, they could not vanquish those of roh.  And so thai and roh, light and shadow, Ciolir and
Taerohk, have battled since.

Many of both sides could leap dimensions, and Taerohk and Ciolir wandered through the worlds, but all eventually returned to the source of the true forces, thai and roh, and none forget the battles of before, of now, of what is yet to come.

 

TAE

Tae has two meanings, both connected.  The tae, always written with a lower-case "t" and always in italics, is the Darkest Shadows.  Darkest Shadows are wolves who took in too much roh, shadows, and faded away to black shadows, roh untainted and undiminished by light.  Fewer wolves Fade to tae now than did in the times of hiding, but enough do so that there is plenty of tae.

The second meaning is written Tae- capital T, never italicized.  This is the title of tae-users, the warriors of the Taerohk, the most evil.  Not even a Changer can convert a Tae to the Light- not unless the Tae consents, which happens once a century... if THAT often.

The Tae live in their own packs, seperate from the Rohk whom they hold disdain for, with their own alphas, betas, deltas, omegas, etc.  Pups are brought up harshly, trained from the moment their eyes open, sometimes earlier.  The only wolf Tae will obey besides higher-ranked Tae is the Ihpli, the leader of all the Taerohk. Tae can create anything using the power of the Tae and their element.  They are also trained in every other element, or nearly so, and taught to use various energy sources.  Before taking their Tae test, the Tae must go Wandering, learning various other magic types and gaining battle experience.
After their Tae test, many will go on a second Wandering to find an apprentice, though some will stay with their pack.

Tae do not use spells, but take the raw power of Tae and other elements to create the magical attack or obect to suit their needs.  They hold a high disdain for any creatures that needs words to use magic. Turning Light or thai-kind is the ultimate dishonor.  To Tae, thai-kind are not even sentient, not worth talking to or listening to.  Tae have no mercy at all.  They are not sadists- not all of them- but they want to kill lightwolves and enjoy doing so.  Some enjoy torturing lightwolves, but most don't care either way- they kill and interrogate like emotionless machines doing a necessary job.  A Tae warrior once said, "The only joys are battle and mating.  The only hate is for lightwolves.  Emotion is weak, and hate
without control is foolish."

Tae trust nobeast, only their shadow, their dahs.  Each Tae has a battle partner whom they trust with their lives.  A link created by Tae connects them, an invisible and unbreakable telepathic and empathic link.  They defend each other in battle against thai-kind and in battles of rank.  They share the same rank in the pack.  A Tae might find their dahs at puphood, during training, during First Wandering, during Second Wandering, or later. Occasionally, a dahs will not be Tae.  That's acceptable, as long as the dahs is a darkwolf.  Very rarely will an apprentice be their teacher's dahs, but it happens.

A dahs is NOT the same as a mate!  Dahs-pairs can be two males, two females, or a male and a female.  It's only in the last case that a dahs-pair will be anything like a mate-pair, but dahs-pairs don't usually mate, as it will usually break down the comradery between the dahs-pair.  The relationship is
like that between siblings (close siblings who don't fight- much) or comrades, only even closer- if one of the dahs dies, the lone Tae may go insane, suicide, or keep living as a vengeful machine- often the last.
In fact, if someone said they thought a dahs-pair was a mate-pair, the dahs-pair would most likely collapse in laughter.  The attitude of Tae towards mating is "mate when you feel like it, with whomever you want to, as long as it doesn't interfere with your fighting ability."  Higher-ranked Tae get first say, and can force a lower-ranked Tae to mate with them, though most don't- it's a good way to get killed by your own pack.  Most Tae will consent to a mating request if the requester is desirable enough. Tae will fight even if pregnant, though most Tae have pups only in a time of relative peace.  Even pups fight as soon as they're able, and the Ciolir usually don't kill pups- some do, but not many.  Litters range from one or two pups to seven or more.  Pups from a mating of two Tae can usually only use Tae, not tynua.  A pariin is a Tae in training.

 

ROHK AND TYNUA

The word tynua is always lower-case and italicized.  It means taint, or Tainted Shadows, the gray shadows tainted and lightened by the thai.  Users of tynua are not as thoroughly evil as Tae-users, but are not neutral nor thai.  There is enough thai in the tynua to give the tynua-users even
tempers and fair, good leadership abilities.

Rohk are the users of tynua, the original Roh’kip - Shadow Pack - the first creations of roh.  They hold pride in that fact- pride the thoroughly dark Tae scorn, for the Rohk were created tainted from the start, using tynua from the Creating.

Some Rohk are more thai-tainted than others, almost to the point of being Light themselves.  These are lowered in rank as it is discovered they are wavering between thai and roh.  Sometimes, depending on the alpha or the residential dahs-pair, they are killed.

Because of the great danger of the light-tainted Rohk turning thai, often a Tae dahs-pair (see TAE) will live on the fringes of the Rohk pack, and will deal harsh punishment- death or torture- to the thai-Rohk.  The dahs-pair also serve as guards for the weaker, more politically-centered Rohk packs. Rohk are leaders, due to the thai-taint within them that keeps them fair-minded and not murdering a subordinate for a slight mishap.  It also keeps them mindful of the cost of a battle. There is a Rohk in every pack, including Tae packs.  They are relatively democratic, but the alpha has the last say.

Like the Tae, the Rohk do not use word-spells, but take their magic directly from tynua.  They can make it into just about aything, but are trained mainly in tynua and their element.  Training in other magicks is rare, except if the Rohk is a historian- Rohk are politicians and intellictuals, not combatants.  The Rohk usually solve problems of leadership disputes and settle conflicts of vengeance.

Rohk are taught philosophy, telepathy, and empathy from puphood, with some magic having to deal with poison, healing, and espionage.  Rohk are best at spying and information gathering out of all the Taerohk.

Many Rohk are more thai than roh, and some turn light.  The problem is that other Rohk know the struggles between the thai and roh within a single wolf- that's part of the inner wisdom the older Rohk hold within.  Many Rohk are sympathetic to thai-Rohk, and sometimes let them go free- hence the dahs-pair of Tae with most Rohk packs.

The mating customs with the Rohk are far different than with the Tae.  Rather than the "mate whenever you want" attitude of the warrior Tae, the Rohk only mate for life- a lightwolf concept, the Tae scoff, but the Rohk don't believe that.  Pups are nurtured by the entire pack.  Mate-pairs have a link similar to that of dahs-pairs.

The Rohk are darkwolves, despite their taint.  They are completely untrustworthy.  They play the games of politics well, complete with assassinating and poisoning.  When need be, they use poison-magic in battle.  In attacking thai, they are without mercy and thorough, cunning and sly in their battle plans.  Only thai-Rohk would betray the Taerohk.  The Rohk know thai-emotions, such as what might be called love, but they don't know pity or sympathy or mercy (except in the case of thai-Rohk), not unless they are exceptionally tainted.  They are cold interrogaters, not loving torture like some Tae but not despising it.

 

IHPLI AND AWTROH

 

Awtroh are the rare few wolves that can use both Tae and tynua.  "Awtroh" means, literally, "two-shadow," in reference to the two types of roh.  These wolves are the most powerful of the Taerohk.  They are the elite warriors, the ideal rulers, and nearly emotionless, or at least as far as anywolf can tell.  They make up the original Taerohk pack, the Roh’kip, the Pack of Shadows.  The Awtroh only have dahs who are other Awtroh.  Of Rohk traits, they are just when need be - when they think that Rohk traits will affix their leadership.  They rule alternately with fear and by the loyalty and respect of the Taerohk.  Other than occasional justice, and constant political and battle craftiness of the Rohk, they are Tae in many respects.

The Ihpli is the leader of all the Taerohk.  He or she is always an Awtroh, the most powerful Awtroh in the Taerohk.  The Ihpli will Search magically for the next Ihpli every birthtime (spring), then once a month otherwise.  Once the next Ihpli, a pup, is found, the current Ihpli will train the pupling his/herself.

The Ihpli has final say in everything but usually listens to the alphas of the packs and to the Awtrohs, considering their opinions before deciding.

 

NAMING AND LANGUAGE

OOCly, the language of the Taerohk is a code of sorts.  One takes a word, reverses it, and changes the vowels as follows:
A -> I
E -> O
I -> U
O -> A
U -> E
(AND) C -> K

When a word is entirely unpronouncable, such as lands (sdnil), a "y" is placed between the difficult letters- sydynil.

ICly, the Taerohk language is a complete language.  English is not, by most opinion at least, the language wolves speak, and so the Taerohk language is perfectly plausible and certaintly simpler to write OOCly.  Taerohkan is as difficult to learn as English.

When a pup is born, it is not named until its element shows in magic or somesuch- it is called by a nickname referring to color or markings or actions until then.

Naming is done thus:
(1) The name of the element is put into Taerohkan.
(2) The last consonant is doubled.
(3) The suffix -ae is added to the end if the pup is female, and -on if male.
(4) The pack name is added as a last name.
(5) After training and the Tae or Rohk test, the title (Tae or Rohk) is placed in front of the first name.
I.E: TaeDakkuae Odulbakk of the Taerohk (bad example, since Dakkue would actually be IhpliDakkuae Odulbakk of the Taerohk, but oh well...)

 

MARKINGS

 

Whether a Taerohk is Tae or Rohk can be determined by their Markings.  Sometimes, such as on wolves not born Taerohk, the Markings can only be seen magically.  Otherwise, the Markings are there from birth.

-Tae: Red muzzle and paws, black fur, usually fairly large.  After the Tae test, their eyes are swirled with gold.
-Rohk: All gray fur.  The lighter the gray, the more the taint of thai within the Rohk.  Silver ruff of fur and a silver streak down the wolf's back.  After the Rohk test the eyes are swirled with silver.
-Awtroh: Dark gray or black fur, red muzzle and paws, silver ruff of fur and silver back-streak.  After the tests, their eyes are swirled with both silver and gold.