Ylva was carefully guided in an extremely narrow chasm split within the side of a mountain face as it was obviously only those that traveled through it were those whom even knew it existed. The Fjorn Forrest dwellers took twists and turns, often times throwing a special scent blocker to jar out anything that would identify a point of reference, as it seems they were walking through some crazy maze the way the directions kept changing.<br/><br/>This was probably confusing Ylva but nevertheless, after some time, she would then feel the string becoming loose from her mesh hood, carefully taken from her as Marrok turned towards her and presented their hideout with an extended arm.<br/><br/>“Welcome Ylva of the Evergreen Pack,” he said, “This is the Fjorn Forrest valley,”<br/><br/>What could be described as a hidden gem within their collective kingdoms, the Fjorn Valley was more or less a natural cavern carved within a mountain that had become a natural habitat of its own as the large amphitheater like ceiling opened up to the sky above that provided most of the light needed for the subterranean forest to grow with healthy thickets and large trees. It was a very different type of valley as these were extremely thick Life Conifers, able to support strong fortresses and buildings if one’s engineering prowess was crafty enough although it seemed within this thicket, built around strong draw bridges, a system of hanging ladders, climbing ropes, and ornately carved steps, that the Fjorn Pack had placed their various huts and living spaces throughout the confusing system of interlaced branches.<br/><br/>When looking at the bases of these trees, their intertwined spiraling stair cases weaved to the grassy floor at the bottom with various tents and other housing where more pack dwellers stayed. It would seem a small town was built at the base with their own meeting hall, a small market with shops, and various tradesman such as armorers, fletchers, blacksmiths, and even a stall for wandering traders that were given permission to sell exported items from afar. There seemed to have been a tree growing on the side that was extremely massive way at the other end of the cavern which its base grew around a large stone ruin with intricate patterns and runes etched into the thick frame of what looked like a sealed door of some kind. There was a shaman’s hut located there with a large totem pole made of wood with strange beings and signs of the stars carved with in it, surrounded by a scattering of wood dishes and bowls with varying offerings that included bones, flower petals, candles, and even fresh kills that were given up as a tithe.<br/><br/>The Life Trees spiraled all the way up to the mouth of the skyline where a large keep was built with lookout towers and a modest main hall where the main members of the pack lived. To the western tip of all of this was a fertile forest with its own water fall that washed into a large subterranean lake where a pack of cubs were seen playing in the water and tackling fish in wolf form while an older member was instructing them as to the art of the pounce and how to use their claws. There were members of the Pack practicing high stakes archery, advanced sword techniques, and others giving lessons in agility and combat. It would seem that Marrok had quite a collection of wolves from all over the kingdoms, ranging from the woodland elves, iron tested dwarf wolves in the north, ice wolves of the mysterious snowcapped wilds, to more local members that Ylva would probably already recognized to include some pack members she may have known who were banished for varying reasons both warranted and highly unwarranted.<br/><br/><br/>As the group of them made it into the tall grasses, the other wolves were already watching them approach, extremely curious as to whom he had found and brought into their inner sanctum this time. There were Tymber Wolves, Shadow Wolves, Mountain Wolves, Dessert Tiger wolves, and even the most rare of them, Lynx Wolves that were hybrids with traces of feline genetics within their lupine traits. These were the collected pack members of long dead regimes, abandoned cubs after terrible raids, or those that sought the Fjorn Pack for refuge from the bigger kingdom’s back and forth power struggles. There were small packs of cubs in wolf form that were leaping and playing tag in the brush and zipped along, howling and attempting to practice what they had learned from their many lessons , taking time to give homage to Marrok who skimmed his hand along their heads and gave them all a rough petting.<br/><br/>“Come now you all,” he said with a smile, “Make way for our guest --- this is adult clan business,”<br/><br/>“ I can’t wait to get into a nice hot bath myself,” Garmlin said.<br/><br/>“ I can’t wait to get entangled into someone after all of that combat,” grinned Miraland<br/><br/>“ Oh here she goes again…” Arenil replied<br/><br/>“ My young assassin friend,” Miraland scoffed as she tossed her red locks to the side, “ Whenever you stop sharpening blades and perfecting that very sexy knife technique, you may want to knock on my hovel --- but if you already hear noises I’m afraid you weren’t as silent and deadly as you thought” as she cackled wickedly before suddenly thrusting herself into the air, grabbing upon a branch and used her incredible acrobatics mightto easily swing up into the Life Trees to her own domain.<br/><br/><i>There was a collective laughter. </i><br/><br/>Sexuality within this clan was far looser than one might have expected due to the free and independent nature of how they lived. It wasn’t necessarily an organized hierarchy but a pirate band that stayed when they wished to stay and left whenever they felt they wanted to traverse the world on their own. In this case they all fell under Marrok's leadership because he had kept things as he had promised when he would first meet someone --- free to do what you want as long as your efforts are for the clan during the duration of your stay. There were some groups within the clan that did adhere to more tougher and pack-based standards of mating to the traditions of the strongest males having first picks to potential mates for stronger cubs while there were others whom frequently pranced around with multiple partners or temporary heated exchanges. This type of behavior was mostly due to their their transient life that sometimes was a short one --- raiding heavily armed merchant coaches, fighting off bands attempting to attack innocent travelers, or perform mercenary work usually involved the early death of a clan member. All in all it worked within its chaotic frame work and although some would label them heathens, Marrok called it his reality and his home.