LunarTotems/Wolf
Introduction
ONCE upon a time there lived in a certain village a little country girl, the prettiest creature who was ever seen. Her mother was excessively fond of her; and her grandmother doted on her still more. This good woman had a little red riding hood made for her. It suited the girl so extremely well that everybody called her Little Red Riding Hood.
One day her mother, having made some cakes, said to her, "Go, my dear, and see how your grandmother is doing, for I hear she has been very ill. Take her a cake, and this little pot of butter."
Little Red Riding Hood set out immediately to go to her grandmother, who lived in another village.
As she was going through the wood, she met with a wolf, who had a very great mind to eat her up, but he dared not, because of some woodcutters working nearby in the forest. He asked her where she was going. The poor child, who did not know that it was dangerous to stay and talk to a wolf, said to him, "I am going to see my grandmother and carry her a cake and a little pot of butter from my mother."
"Does she live far off?" said the wolf
"Oh I say," answered Little Red Riding Hood; "it is beyond that mill you see there, at the first house in the village."
"Well," said the wolf, "and I'll go and see her too. I'll go this way and go you that, and we shall see who will be there first."
The wolf ran as fast as he could, taking the shortest path, and the little girl took a roundabout way, entertaining herself by gathering nuts, running after butterflies, and gathering bouquets of little flowers. It was not long before the wolf arrived at the old woman's house. He knocked at the door: tap, tap.
"Who's there?"
"Your grandchild, Little Red Riding Hood," replied the wolf, counterfeiting her voice; "who has brought you a cake and a little pot of butter sent you by mother."
The good grandmother, who was in bed, because she was somewhat ill, cried out, "Pull the bobbin, and the latch will go up."
The wolf pulled the bobbin, and the door opened, and then he immediately fell upon the good woman and ate her up in a moment, for it been more than three days since he had eaten. He then shut the door and got into the grandmother's bed, expecting Little Red Riding Hood, who came some time afterwards and knocked at the door: tap, tap.
"Who's there?"
Little Red Riding Hood, hearing the big voice of the wolf, was at first afraid; but believing her grandmother had a cold and was hoarse, answered, "It is your grandchild Little Red Riding Hood, who has brought you a cake and a little pot of butter mother sends you."
The wolf cried out to her, softening his voice as much as he could, "Pull the bobbin, and the latch will go up."
Little Red Riding Hood pulled the bobbin, and the door opened.
The wolf, seeing her come in, said to her, hiding himself under the bedclothes, "Put the cake and the little pot of butter upon the stool, and come get into bed with me."
Little Red Riding Hood took off her clothes and got into bed. She was greatly amazed to see how her grandmother looked in her nightclothes, and said to her, "Grandmother, what big arms you have!"
"All the better to hug you with, my dear."
"Grandmother, what big legs you have!"
"All the better to run with, my child."
"Grandmother, what big ears you have!"
"All the better to hear with, my child."
"Grandmother, what big eyes you have!"
"All the better to see with, my child."
"Grandmother, what big teeth you have got!"
"All the better to eat you up with."
And, saying these words, this wicked wolf fell upon Little Red Riding Hood, and ate her all up.
The Big Bad Wolf
Symbology : Creation, healing, purifacation
Although Portrayed as a marauding villain in many European cultures, wolves are deities in Native American cosmologies and are a popular totem. Like the raven, which also appears in this painting, the wolf is a hero and a creator. In some legends she is the trickster sibling of the coyote. The Quileute and the Makah of the Pacific Northwest ascribe healing power to the wolf, and perform a wolf dance in the skin of the animal to cure the sick.
In the early Roman cult of Lupa or Feroia, the great she-wolf (also known as the Mother of Wolves) was the divine midwife and matriarch of the ancestral spirits. She was honored in an annual festival of the she-wolf and was invoked in purification rituals. In the Roman legend of Romulus and Remus, a wolf nurses the two heroes and restores their strength.
Charms :
Finding the Spirit's Shape: the Wolf
Humble Mouse Shape
Towering Beast Form
Shaping the Ideal Form
Many Faced Moon transformation
Prey's Skin Disguise
Hide of the Cunning Hunter
Deadly Beastman Transformation (1)
Calling Luna's Favor
Wolf Form : Strength 5, Stamina 4, run extremely long distances, excellent smell and hearing, good night vision. Lethal bite.
Beastman Form : Strength +2 Dex +1 Stamina +1, Terrible Beast Claws, Resilience of Nature.
Tell : Big eyes, ears, and teeth.
Woooh. I love that story. Hehe. Bet you never read THIS version. Ahem. Actually, I understand the older version of this tale is... inappropriate for children.
The moral of this story? Strange animals or people met in the wilds of Exalted are best treated warily. Pretty granny might be a wolf wearing her skin.
Obviously, I went with the "villainous european" perspective, but wolves are probably the most prominant animal in our literature. From the defiling presence of the european werewolf to the graceful divinity of the Native-american wolf god, anything is possible. Wolves represent motherliness, gentleness and healing, packs and community, ferocity and tenacity, cunning and trickiness. They are that which we fear in the night, and that which we admire from a distance. They were the first animal we domesticated.
Nearly anything is possible with the wolf totem. Simply because it is a common totem for players to take shouldn't make you hesitate to take it on. There is a wealth of ideas here to play with.
