This area will list the beliefs, ways and laws of the pack set down by the Briak family line. Use the menu below to navigate through this page more easily as it has a wealth of important information.

Note: Rituals, Religion and Festivals are not allowed to be played within Yellowstone. No references to them may be made while role playing in the dream. These things shall be played out on the boards instead. Thank you.

-Basic Info- -Other Customs- -Setuku Religion- -Festivals and Celebrations- -Pack Laws-

Basic Information
The Blacksun Pack is here for survival. They have no other plans but to survive and thrive. As a whole the pack is not cruel or unjust or in any way menacing unless provoked, though some of its members are of the unruly type. The important thing to the pack is that generations live on to carry on their namesake. Pack is family, is a often heard saying within the pack, and it means just that, the pack looks after one another just as they would blood relatives and because of this, their bond is great with one another.

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Other Customs
The pack allows mating of all couples, except for pledges and omegas. Pledges are not allowed to mate with any pack member until the pack has accepted them into their ranks and has given them a title. Omegas aren't allowed to mate at all. It is a fear that their weaker personalities may be hereditary, even though alphas have been known to occasionally have offspring that turn out to be omegas as they grow into adulthood.
Females are seen as equal with males, and are valued for their ability to bring life into the world from their own being.
During the winter, when estrus strikes females, the pack usually spreads out into smaller groups around the lands. These groups include unmated females who wish to stay away from males who might be intoxicated by their scent, unmated males who are left behind by these females (in these groups there are always a few females who actually pick through the males for their mate). Couples usually take leave as well as aggression between males is common during this season due to a fear of having their mate taken from them, also known as jealousy. The alphas are the only ones go to all these groups. If the alpha is a female, she is guarded by two other unmated females for her own protection.

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Setuku Religion
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Festivals & Celebrations
Aibesh- The festival of summer lasts three days in total. It is a time of feasting and storytelling while the pack relaxes in the shade of pines and firs. It is known as the time of rest and particularly a time for immediate families to spend time with one another. The shaman begins the festival on the first morning when the sun rises over the trees with a long howl. The pack feeds on kills saved for the feast days before.
Caresh- the festival of spring only lasts the first day of spring, a day when the winter world is entirely gone. It is decided by the shamans what day it is held on, and while the pack knows what time of year the festival is usually held on, they do not know the exact day and only know when the shamans begin the festival with the hunting and killing of a rabbit which they present to the first mother of the year (if none have given birth it is almost always merely given to a female who was recently a mother or to the alpha female.) The spring festival represents youth and new life, it is a day spent playing and telling stories usually centering around Sekair, the youthful one.
Fairnah Bai- the festival of autumn is a more adult themed manner. New couples will officially begin to court, letting others know that come the female's heat they will be true mates. It is usually not an event that is held together by the pack, but really more a form of a wolf's valentines day. Gifts of prey and other creative things are usually exchanged. The shamans have no part in this.
Kulmarong-the festival of winter is held on the night when the moon has left the sky in the first month with snow. It is a grave holiday, spent mourning over the loss of loved ones over the years and one reflecting upon ancestors. It lasts the moonless night and the following morning. It is ended when the shamans gather and recite a prayer for a merciful winter and a prospering year to come.  
Sangkulma- When a pack member has passed the pack will gather around the body with an appointed shaman to recite the prayers to guide the member's soul to a new life. The pack will then each speak on the deceased's behalf, speaking on old memories and generally describing what kind of strength and values the wolf had. The pack will then participate in a mourning song which involves many long howls. They will then bid farewell, leaving behind the empty body to be recycled by the scavengers.
Sangcare- The birth of new cubs brings a great celebration to the pack. While the mother is going through labor the pack will gather, lead by her mate in a hunt to bring food to the new mother. When the pack returns, her mate will wait outside the den with her dinner at hand. When the female is ready for visitors she will alert the pack. Only the mate will be allowed in at first, to greet his offspring, than the alpha, shamans and caretakers will go in second and after this, the rest of the pack. All affairs concerning the cubs' wellbeing, teachings and what not will be decided here and the parents shall chose names. It is a sacred time and often a Shaman shall tell the creation story for it is to be the first tale that the new cubs shall ever hear. Any stillborn cubs shall be taken from the den by a shaman and buried, no one is permitted to see this act but the shaman performing it.
Amkafair- New couples may be seen throughout the year but Amkafair celebrations are only seen in the late fall and winter months. The word Amkafair means Spirit Knot. It is the collection of events that pass before two wolves can be considered mates. First the female must go in estrus and if she is courted to a male, the two will spend many days without leaving one another's side. The actual act of mating will than occur and for many days after they will still stay together. The pack will watch much of this and after the female has left estrus the two will notify the alpha and shamans that they have mated and they will perform a wedding-like ceremony to the two wolves where they are sent blessings of fertility, love and wisdom by the pack's members.
Sumkano- A young wolf becoming in adult is only accepted after they make the first killing bite in a hunt. They must be the one to actually end the life of the prey that the pack is hunting before they are seen as adults. After this kill, they are given the rare privilege of taking the first meat, even before the alpha as the pack howls in salute to the new adult in their ranks.
Hunting- The Blacksun wolves respect their prey. This is shown to the quick deaths and ceremonies that bring about and follow a hunt. Before the pack decides to hunt they will gather and the shamans shall prey for success, looking to the goddess Karsail of hunting for aid in their hunt. Then the hunt begins, whether it lasts for days or hours. If the pack successfully finds their kill, they will gather around it as the shaman thanks Karsail and the beast for laying down its life to feed the pack. The alpha will take first meat off the kill unless it is a Sumkano ceremony. After the pack has fed the shaman will recite an old poem that tells of scavengers and the rebirth of life.

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Pack Laws
I. Leaders must be good, fair and honorable. This law is created for the mistakes of the past, thus if the pack sees the leader as unfit, they may say so and overpower him or her, bidding a member of their choice to take his or her place. The overthrown leader must then take leave of the pack.
II. Betrayal is not acceptable. Nothing is done in secrecy. Treason is punishable by death.
III. Challenging the leaders. If a member alone wishes to take the leaders place, they must announce it to the pack. The leader has no say whether they must fight their challenger, the pack votes on whether or not the challenger would be a good leader, if the challenger passes this test either the current leader can step down or fight. Leaders who lose their position in this way either leave or find a lower ranking within the pack. Never should the loser be contemptuous of the winner, things like this must be accepted, if the loser cannot cope with this, it is wisest they leave. After losing the fight for dominance it cannot be made again by the same opponent.
IV. The good of the pack comes first. The pack comes before anything else, there is no room for selfishness. Thoughts of how actions could affect the pack as a whole should always enter a member's head before taking said action. We are a family, thus the love of all of us should always come to mind.
V. Keep the pack safe. Openly approaching a Blacksun member without a show of submission and of demeanor showing they are not harmful, is not only disrespectful but a matter of pack security. Any stranger should be considered a possible danger to the pack because lies and deceit are everywhere in the world and there are those with black hearts that wish nothing more than to have power over others, and often, they abuse this power. Those who approach should be interrogated fiercely, and chased off if a member's instincts tell them they are up to no good. The only reason a trespasser should be allowed safe passage as long as they seem to be in good heart and mind, is if they wish to join or are passing. They are not allowed to hunt beside us and feast on our bounty, thievery or the breaking of this law will result in violence.
VI. Good leaders deserve respect. Honor the wishes and orders of the pack's leaders, their commands are usually for the good of the pack, disobeying a leader without good reason will result in the offending member's trial where the pack decides the punishment or if it is a small manner of disrespect the leader can then exact punishment in a humiliation with dominance.
VII. The Young are our future, the elders our past. Every age group deserves a different type of respect. The young deserve to learn by our legends and tales along with discipline and a show of love. The old deserve an open ear and heart, for they have seen far more than is imaginable and their wisdom is a precious ally. Respect them, by giving the physically weaker aid with claw and tooth should it be needed, they are our some of our most important members.
VIII. The effort to bond with your pack-mates is well received.

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