Excerpt

The clouds above him oozed and billowed across the awakening sun, casting the forest into a shadowy darkness. A jagged bolt of lightning ripped the sky in half and, pulling the hood of his cloak over his head, he ran, wincing as each icy raindrop pierced his skin. He ran not because of the weather. No, his quarry had been startled by the sudden bolt from the sky and he would lose it if he did not give chase.

The trees did not sway with the violent gusts, they creaked, bent, and moaned as their autumnal leaves became confetti in the wind. The cold nipped at his fingers; a playful reminder of the changing seasons. Thunder rolled across the sky, seeming to crack the world in half and reveal the fury of the gods. It reverberated around the emerald green landscape, eerily echoing as the hunter sought his prey. He found it, hidden and quivering under a long-fallen elder tree. He took aim, sending a silent apology to the creature, and loosed a single arrow. Meat for the stew pot.

With the changing seasons, it was either provide food for the town, or starve the entire winter. Fenris had given him a bountiful hunt, ensuring that his people would not starve this day.

The Fangs of Fenris

"Without respect, what is to separate us from the beasts?" -Confucius

The Fangs of Fenris is a dedicated community of players on the NA-E server. People from all backgrounds come together to perform the tasks expected of an FoF ranger, and to enjoy an already wonderful game that we believe Chronicles of Elyria will be. Skill is important to us, but it is not prime.

The Fangs are about enriching a wonderful, engaging community and ensuring they thrive in a harsh environment. In a game like Chronicles of Elyria where players must take up different roles to ensure each others' survival and success, the Fangs of Fenris are dedicating themselves to the service of resource gathering. That is, to provide merchants, crafters, and regular citizens with food and furs in order to ensure their survival and economic success while at the same time, ensuring their safety.

Hostilities against fellow Fangs is thoroughly frowned upon.

Can we count on you to have our backs?

What Are Rangers?

According to the wiki, Rangers are associated with the wisdom of nature. They themselves are wise, cunning, and exceptionally perceptive in addition to being talented woodsman. They spend a great deal of their time hunting, fishing, and camping in the wilderness. Their skills are most commonly those in stealth, wilderness survival, beast mastery, tracking, and archery. Their melee combat strength is naturally lesser than that of a warrior, their primary focus being on ranged attack, but their martial weapons of choice typically lean toward the practical. Such as daggers, short swords, and hand axes.

This is not to say that rangers or hunters within the FoF MUST meet this criteria, naturally.

Why the Name 'Fenris'?

The answer to this question can be a little complicated, but the short answer comes down to religion. In the Faedin religion, everything has a spirit, and more ancient spirits become gods or divine patrons that oversee the spirit world.

Fenris, patron god of hunters and guide to the dead, is also known as The Great Wolf, Roamer of Worlds, Guardian of Souls, or to a seldom few he is simply Lord of Wolves.

In the beginning there existed primal forces from which all life relies upon to survive. It was from one of these, hunger, that the spirit of the hunt sprang. This spirit dwelled in forests and plains, watching as all manner of fearsome hunter felled their quarry. And as it watched, it grew in strength, cunning, wisdom, and intelligence. In years uncounted, the spirit took a form of its own that would be both respected and feared by Mann and beast alike. It took the form of a great white direwolf with eyes a crystal blue. Bluer than a clear sky. And the spirit took the name Fenris. He chose carefully who to show himself to, and in time he became known as a patron spirit and guardian to hunters and the dead. The greatest of hunters will walk with Fenris into their next life. A blessing of sorts. The name of Fenris is not yet known to all who believe in the spirits of nature, yet you will still find those dedicated to the great white wolf, pledged to hunting in his name and bringing prosperity to the land as respected hunters and rangers. These are the Fangs of Fenris.

Of course, there are alternate stories telling of Fenris's birth.

For those who are Qindred, Luna is Angelica's shadow. It is believed by some that Luna represents not only shadows and darkness, but she is also a goddess of all things hidden, as many things tend to be in dark places. And in those dark places, those things must be sought and hunted for.

They believe that before Luna created Sanguinis with her power, she had grown lonely and created a great wolf from her own essence to be her constant companion. Her own shadow as she was to her sister. She named him Fenris.

Fenris loved Luna, and sought the things she had hidden in the world to please her. He had become good at finding what lurked in her shadows, becoming wise and cunning in the time he spent at her side.

But over time, Fenris's gaze turned to Mann. Mann struggled to find food in the world, and when they finally departed their mortal shells, many lost their way. Fenris took pity on them and taught them the ways of the hunt. He hunted them beyond the veil and guided them into the next life. Luna noticed Fenris's growing fondness for her other children, and smiled. She asked Fenris to guide Mann, and continue to bless them with his wisdom. And to many Qindred, though his role is minor in the faith, there are some who look upon him favorably. He came to represent the hunt, the hunter, and a guide for the dead to many who believed in him.

Regardless if a Fang is a Qindred, or believer in the Stormland religion, their common ground is the belief in Fenris. And that is what unites them under one banner.

How We Work

"Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work." -Tim Notke

The Fangs of Fenris are led officially by the The First Ranger who acts as leader to the Hunter's Council and the guild at large. Serving as spokesperson for the guild itself; and like a figurehead to the Council. When the First Ranger deems it appropriate, they can select a Second and Third Ranger from among any official members within the guild. The Second Ranger acts as a sort of confidant and protector to the First Ranger, makes the emergency decisions in the First Ranger's absence, and is ultimately the heir to the First Ranger position should anything happen to the First Ranger.
The Third Ranger acts as a buffer to the Second Ranger, helps the Second Ranger make the snap decisions that require their attention, and ultimately is there to serve as a replacement should anything happen to the Second Ranger or interfere with them becoming First Ranger. The Council themselves is made up of 9 other members of the Association. Each member is exemplary in their skills as Rangers. Be those skills tracking, stealth, survival skills, archery, or something else. These Council members both help ensure the Association runs smoothly under their authority and the authority of the First Ranger, as well as protect their First Ranger in times of great strife should any arise.

Just like the First Ranger, members of the Council can select their own replacements from members of the guild when their time of retirement draws near, those who have proven themselves as capable rangers and leaders, just like the Second and Third Ranger. But anyone in the guild can protest the choices made by the Council or First Ranger provided the reason behind the protest is valid. (IE. no "I wanted to be the Second Ranger") Beyond this, there are no other ranks. But anyone who exemplifies themselves has the opportunity of rising in the ranks. Remember, skill isn't the only thing that is important.

Recruits

The life of a recruit for the Fangs of Fenris is hard and demanding, and it will take time. But deservedly so. Your first weeks in the Fangs will be about learning how we benefit our community and how to properly care for the environment within which we hunt. When you join the Fangs, you will be in a minimum group of three. These other recruits will be your unit, and it will be up to the three of you to determine who leads. Your first responsibilities as recruits will be to document animal population and keep track of deforestation, planting new trees where necessary and ensuring those responsible for deforestation remember to plant new trees where they cut down old ones. Naturally, you won't be going into the wilderness alone. A member of our Fangs will shadow you to ensure you don't get into any trouble, and report anything if it does.

After a period of this training, your unit will be taken into the forests. At this stage, the mentor who shadowed you will have a more hands-on involvement in your training now that you yourselves have established your own dynamic. Your unit leader is still in charge, but your mentor is there to ensure you learn your lessons and to protect you from any danger. During this time, he or she will be teaching you archery, survival skills, and overall the ways of the FoF.

When you are deemed ready, each member of your unit is individually selected to go into the forests alone. No two recruits will ever be sent into the forests at the same time. You are to stay in that forest until the next morning, and you are given enough food to last just a short while during that time. Beyond that, you will need to rely on the skills you learned from your mentor to survive the night. To mark your success, you must return to the FoF with your prize: a piece of your very first successful hunt. (Fur, antlers, bone, etc)

When you are proven successful, you are welcomed back with open arms into our ranks. You swear the oath to Fenris, and become bonded to a Direwolf pup bred from our kennels whom you become responsible for.

From then, you will be a full fledged hunter. The last thing anticipated from you is learning the role of Protector. But how much you want to dedicate yourself to learning that role is entirely up to you. If you choose to join our border patrol, you will learn first hand from a patrol veteran who will teach you stealth and how to cooperate in our guerilla tactics should our territories need defending. Just remember, recruit... Learning to efficiently protect our territories can be the deciding factor in life or death. Both for us, and those who rely on us.

Code of Conduct

The guild has been built on the concepts of organization and respect in mind, and so we expect everyone who puts on the cloak to treat each other, themselves, and members of the community with respect. This extends to your personal conduct during hunts, watches, and other basic ranger activities.

This isn't to say we shun the thought of our members having fun during these activities, but it is expected that your conduct will be proper and reflective of the image we wish to give the rest of the CoE community.

Those who cannot abide by these expectations will receive disciplinary action. Minor offenses can be dealt with civilly and fairly. However, more severe offenses will require more dire consequences ranging from demotion to expulsion.

We the Fangs of Fenris make direwolves our hunting companions (should direwolves not be available, we will carefully breed regular wolves so they exhibit the qualities we require of hunting companions), and as a result we treat them as sacred as we would Fenris himself. It is forbidden for anyone to intentionally kill a direwolf. We understand accidents do happen, and during big hunts or even in combat a companion can be lost in the fray. These losses are mourned as if our companions were our own family. Because, essentially, they are. But should the death of a companion direwolf be found to have been intended, a worse fate than expulsion awaits. May the gods have mercy on their soul.

Who Are The Fangs of Fenris Looking For?

The Fangs of Fenris are a newly formed association of rangers for Vornair. Vornair a stable, supportive, and safe environment for people of all play styles. They will work hard to support us as much as we support them. If it was ever a worry on anyone's mind, this will not be a thankless job.

Whether you want to protect our lands from roving bandits, conserve tree and animal populations to ensure a healthy ecosystem, or provide meat and furs to our local populace, the Fangs of Fenris welcomes you with open arms.

If you're not interested in being a ranger, that's alright. The FoF could use talented blacksmiths and breeders among it's allies to provide arms, armor, and steeds. Naturally, the Fangs of Fenris would like some of those looking to join us to follow and provide us with arms and armor. Namely things that would require woodworking, fletchery, tailoring, and leatherworking though they may only loosely be affiliated with the Fangs.

We, as a group, want to be a welcoming home with a friendly environment to all those wishing to live the hunter or ranger lifestyle. If you seek to be apart of a fun, tightly-knit group willing and able to watch each other's backs in the wild while having a blast together doing it, consider joining us. Or, feel free to find us once the game launches at The Hall of Arrows. Regardless, someone is always welcome in our Discord if they are curious or interested.

Chronicles of Elyria will have a constantly evolving story, and each Kingdom could rise or fall as the story progresses. As rangers in the Kingdom of Vornair, we seek to prevent our Kingdom from falling by being an active foundation in it's economy and defense. We want those who seek to join to eventually share in our dream, and fight with us to see it realized.

Come be apart of our story.

How to Join

Joining the Fangs of Fenris at this early stage in development of CoE is relatively simple. Those seeking to merely join as blacksmiths or breeders only need to join the duchy's discord and state your intention to join. The process from there will be relatively simple.

Those seeking to join the Fangs of Fenris as a ranger or hunter may join the discord below and ask for MaverickMissy AKA Mavis.

We look forward to hunting with you!