Once, there were two wolven gods; one of the Light, and one of the Dark. Both kept equal balance between the wolves they reigned over, dictating right and wrong as they saw fit.

These lesser deities came to being when the world was yet young; Felnova had only existed for a few thousand years, and the Five above grew troubled at the antics of a violent and dangerous pack that acted more like Death's eucyons more than the created wolves. This pack, known as the Tri'iv, had spread destruction all across Vystriana, killing and maiming anything they could overpower. Clever enough to avoid being caught by the Vystrian dragons, and dangerous even to those of elven blood, fear grew rapidly to cover the entire continent. They hunted everything, and fed their young with the bones of children and those incapable of fighting back. Those that did were torn to pieces by fang and claw...

Fearing for his subjects' safety, Time sought members of rival packs, packs who avoided the Tri'iv's violence, in an attempt to combat the wolves' menace. But these wolves had little courage or strength; upon sighting a Tri'iv, they would run, and the few that stayed were killed on sight.

Time learned quickly that he needed to halt this in whatever way he could. Thus, he called a council of the gods and explained his concerns to them; Balion, Scylla and Leartes supported him in full, though Zacyn was strangely silent. They agreed to Ascend a wolven god, one that would rule over these savage beasts and bring order back over the land.

Watching the Tri'iv closely, he chose a newborn pup pure of heart and soul; on that would have been culled by the Tri'iv alpha, were he to grow beyond his first year. Weaving a spell of light around the little pup, little did the god know that this wolf - named Cirrus, for the clouds he would walk upon - had a twin who's heart was as dark as his brother's was light. As Cirrus grew rapidly, enveloped in Time's light, R'rkain, his brother, grew in the pack and soon dominated them all.

When it was time, the Five gathered around the now-grown Cirrus and granted him the abilities he would need to lead these wolves; power unmatched by many, power from each of the gods. But as his light grew, darkness flared in the world below - R'rkain, connected to his brother through the bond of twins, was Ascending as well. Quickly, Time flew to halt the twin's Ascension; but by the time he arrived, it had already drawn to completion.

Instead of one god, there were now two; two as different in looks now as in thought, for their inner beings shaped who they were and who they would become. Cirrus and R'rkain agreed to lead together, as the brothers they had been born as; and Time reluctantly agreed, despite his well-placed fear.

Together, they captured the minds and hearts of all wolves, guiding them from their senseless violence, and the Tri'iv split apart; the terror of the wolves was at its end. They began to craft a place in the Soulplane for wolves to dwell after death, and granted their living charges familiars to guide them both in life and after death.

R'rkain, however, was jealous of his brother's actions; groomed by Time to be the leader of the wolves, Cirrus took initiative and left his twin in the dust. Angry and bitter, the dark god chose former Tri'iv members and gave them strength and cunning, larger frames, some the ability to fly. These new wolves he called the dire, and in secret bred them until he had a force great enough to challenge the Vystrian wolves for their dominance - to challenge Cirrus' reign itself.

The two gods had unique animal companions, considered the first created of all familiars; R'rkain a great vulture with black feathers and golden eyes - Cirrus with a beautiful swan, opalescent in the light. When the direwolves rose from their lairs and attacked the Vystrians, the familiars of the skies confronted one another while Cirrus and R'rkain fought on the ground far below.

The birds' shrieks carried far and wide, and feathers rained down upon the land. Each of these was gifted with a magical presence; one of darkness from the vulture, and those of light from the swan. A new pack, called the Myr, had an idea; their Vhela, or leader, sent her wolves to gather the vulture feathers and hide them away. Seeing their magical potential, she sent their drienar to gather the feathers of the swan and bring them to her. Then, she hid her pack away from te dires - away from their prying eyes and vicious teeth.

It was then that Cirrus and R'rkain met on the field of battle; they attacked one another, and their snarls were so loud that they attracted the attention of the Five once more, who watched with worried gazes. Cirrus, god of light, was slowly being driven backwards by the god of darkness. R'rkain was simply more powerful - raised within the Tri'iv, he had learned ignoble and violent ways of war, where Cirrus had been raised amid honor and nobility. Finally, he threw his twin brother down and stood grinning over him, darkness licking at his long-clawed paws.

"I have won, brother!" he crowed, eyes glowing with malevolence and anticipation for the kill. "I have won, you will forsake me no longer! Feel death's cold grip, my twin; feel its embrace!"

But no sooner had the words left his lips that a net was thrown upon him. Surprised, the dark god writhed and thrashed, howling in rage as Cirrus escaped, wounded, back into the stars. Who had caught him so easily, and why could he not break free? The Vhela of the Myrs revealed herself at last, pelt a glowing gold, eyes a victorious green. She had used the swan's magic to dispel and combat his own, weaken him by turning his own shadows into a weakness. The threads burning, he pleaded with her to set him free, howling for his brother's forgiveness, but could only watch helplessly as the Myr leader completed her spell.

The net melded with his flesh, destroying his seductive power. It bound him to this form and shattered his godly abilities. Cast down, he was thrown back to the earth and sealed into his mortal flesh, laughed at by those he created; the dires, seeing weakness, left him to his fate. Even his many consorts turned their noses up at his pleas.

So he slunk away and hid himself, always struggling to regain the power he once possessed. The direwolves, no few of them resenting what their creator had done, lived alongside the Vystrian wolves in harmony, beneath Cirrus' watchful gaze.

Since that great war, avian familiars have been considered divine to all types of wolves; they say that after the battle was done, the remaining feathers of both the swan and the vulture were whisked away, flying on the breeze until they settled between the shoulders of a young wolf yet to be granted his spirit companion. From these feathers, their familiar manifested into a bird, granted by the gods.

The packs live on; winged or unwinged, it matters not. R'rkain should never be forgotten, and Cirrus nigh as well. Both linger on, forevermore; for though one is mortal, his life will never end.