Vundarkin Society
The Vundarkin Packhunters are a diverse and varied people. Each group of them have their own traditions and rites -- below is a general overview of their societies but one can expect deviations or even subversions of these guidelines when dealing with any particular Vundarkin Pack.
The Pack
Second only to the nuclear family, the Pack is the prime social structure of the Vundarkin. These are usually but not always based on familial relations. Packs are small or medium sized groups, numbering approximately 10-100 people in size and persisting beyond one generation.
Packs are often formed when bigger Packs split or when a group decides to leave another Pack. Some are formed by a vision from the Speaker-to-Whispers, calling them to do so or a Speaker who wants to lead their own Pack.
Social Strata
The Pack Elder leads their people, designating its roster and how resources are managed. Bigger Packs may have Guides: skilled, senior individuals that advise the Elder and enforce their edicts. The influence of a Guide is dependent on each Pack. Some groups are practically ruled by the Guides themselves while in others, the Elder’s rule is absolute until the Pack dissolves or mutinies beneath them.
Otherwise, there is little in the way of hierarchy within the Pack -- it is largely egalitarian. Elders and Guides are chosen by the adult members of the Pack and they retain these offices only by the implicit approval of their peers. Furthermore, they do not get more resources than the other members of the Pack. There is momentum to these positions, it takes an overwhelming amount of disapproval to remove someone from them.
Elder: The leader of the Pack, making decisions for the group as the whole.
Guide: Advisory body to the Elder and assists in their rulings, approximately 1 Guide per 10 Packmates.
Packmates: The main body of the Pack.
Cub: The children of the Pack before they become adults.
Outsider: These are non Pack-Hunters, treated warily and occasionally with hostility.
Examples of Guides:
Speaker-to-Whispers: These are shamans and witch-doctors -- some have skills in herbalism while others read the stars. They are conduits between the Pack and the unknown, including the Whisper that they revere.
Stitcher-of-Skins: These are makers of clothing and tents, as well as weaponers and other craftsmanships.
Tender-to-Souls: These are menders of bodies and of souls. They are also keepers of lores and stories passed down to the new generations and created by the old.
Tracker-of-Flesh: These are no mere trackers but those specialized in knowledge of beasts and capable of leading hunts.
Keeper-of-Dens: When the Pack is threatened by beast, human, or horror, its keepers arise to its defense. These individuals are protectors, watching for danger and wielding defensive weaponry.
Upbringing
Colloquially called “Cubs”, the children of the Pack are raised both by their families and communally. Because most parental figures are busy hunting, gathering, crafting, or doing similar tasks, childcare is handled by specialized Packmates during the day. At night, cubs stay with their parents in large familial tents or similar family sized living spaces. Childcare also includes small menial chores as well as simple education from the Pack’s Speaker-to-Whispers and/or their Tender-to-Souls. These tasks and lessons are structured as play during the Cub’s early years. Because of necessary dealings with outsiders, most Cubs are also taught literacy to ensure that they are not bereft in that regard.
The life of the Pack is a hard one, though it is one that they feel is the right path. That said, wounds are a common occurrence and death is often known at an early age. Those Cubs who survive these trials grow to become a true member of the Pack.
Stigmata among the Packhunters
The Packhunters feature an overwhelming amount of Chimeric and Seraphic Stigmata, though the numbers of those without any Stigmata is also sizable.
Regarding Grafted Stigmata, almost no Metabionics or Eidolons are among the Packs. Those with Grafts are often Necrotic, rising up from proximity to a Deathstone or similar energies. Still, the Packs do feature a few Grafted individuals -- these are usually recent converts or Grafted by outsiders.
Laws and Punishments
The laws of the Packhunters are few but usually cover the critical areas -- they are rarely codified beyond the basics. They do not allow Packmates to murder or assault each other (assault being defined as grievious injury). Besides necessary supplies, property is not especially important to the Vundarkin as long as it remains with the Pack. That said, many individuals find it best to learn the laws of the places they visit lest they run afoul of it. Thus, most Pack-Hunters stay in the fringes of the settlements they visit rather than enter it fully - to them, the depths of a town can be as hazardous as the wilds.
Law Enforcement: The entire Pack is expected to assist with the enforcement of laws and the capture of lawbreakers. The Elder is given full authority to judge the innocence or guilt of a lawbreaker, though Packmates are allowed to speak in the accused’s defense.
Punishments and Sanctions: Those found guilty of breaking the law may find themselves facing the sanctions below.
Toil: The upkeep of a Pack requires tasks across the spectrum of tolerable and brutal. Examples of the latter include latrine work and dung collection.An Elder can sentence the criminal to a week, a month or even a year of Toil.
Exile: The lawbreaker is ejected from the Pack and is never allowed in their midst. They are4 usually given a week’s worth of supplies but this may be eschewed during leaner times.
Execution: An extreme and rare measure is the Execution -- these individuals have become too dangerous to Pack or have committed an egregious offense to the Whispers. The methods of execution vary, from being buried to the neck and fed to animals or being drowned in mud. These are dependent on a Pack’s beliefs and traditions.
Territory
The Packhunters have no territories to speak of, roaming across the vast swaths of wildernesses and following herds of prey. Packhunters trek all across the east coast, from New England all the way to Tidewater. On occasion, they will lair within the ruins of a town or within some shallow caves to rest -- sometimes they may do this for weeks at a time to wait out blizzards, Magnetic Mana Storms, or similarly terrible weather.
Despite sometimes being viewed as savages, these Packs must tread the balance between wilderness and humanity. Far too many are the dangers that await them in dark forests, the depths of caves, and even the open skies. Trading supplies and news with other Packs or even other societies is necessary for any Pack’s existence, if only once every few months.