The Sanzin

The wolf that slew the Heir's children kept the Heir's promise. The Successor had been a close and trusted companion of the Heir and had been tasked by them to dispose of their children once they passed. The Heir had deemed none of their children as fit to rule and rather than let the pack rot under their rule, they chose someone they trusted to take over. Thus the Successor was tasked with the job. The Successor's reign was one of peace. The Sanzin mostly kept to themselves under their rule, but prospered none the less. It was possibly the last time the pack had any semblance of normalcy. The Successor was taken out by a wolf that would eventually be known as one of the Three Kings.

This set of rulers is referred to collectively as the Three Kings. They had no notable achievements in any of their reigns. The first reigned for 6 years. The second for 5 years and the third for 7 years. While the pack did not grow, it did not diminish either. It was simply stable. It was with the next reign, that of the Poisoner, that the pack started to become distorted.

The wolf that invented and made the most use of poison. They were somehow able to extract the poison from the venomous snakes in the region and used it regularly to dispose of unfavorable wolves. They began as a strong ruler, but as time went on, they became consumed by madness. They sentenced anyone to death for the smallests things. If a wolf seemed suspicious in anyway, they were removed. The end of the Poisoner's reign was filled with terror. There were rumors that they were actually a former Au'Dar pack member as a cobra was said to follow them around. The cobra was difficult to find and seemed more ghost than real most times. The rumor only ever remained a rumor. The Poisoner was found dead mysteriously one day. Their Aces were no where to be found. From all appearances, the Poisoner died alone without a struggle. The body was tossed aside but some say they saw a cobra coiled over the body as if in mourning that night. The cobra was gone the next day. With the Poisoner's death came the loss of the secret of poisons. The rulers since have developed a far cruder means of collecting poison but it came at the cost of a wolf's life. With the surplus of disposable pawns, such a flaw mattered little.

With the Poisoner's unexpected death with no one able to claim the kill, a power vacuum was created in the Sanzin. A vicious civil war broke out among the members as each vied to claim the coveted leader position. The one that emerged on top was a brunish-black brute of great stature with a hide marred with scars. Known as the Gladiator, he ran the pack like a Colosseum. Every wolf was expected to fight each other day in and day out. It was thanks to the Gladiator that the Chance Games were established, initially, as a means of entertainment. They later became the rank wars they are now. The ones that came out on top became the elite few. The pack was more cutthroat than ever with even one loss putting the wolf at the bottom of the ladder. The cruelty of the pack bred dissention among its members. The ones that failed to become the elite rallied around a wolf they called The Champion. With the Champion as their leader, they led a coup that brought down the Gladiator and his treasured elites. The Gladiator and his elites were powerful though and they heavily weakened. The most they managed to do was run him and his group out of the pack with heavy losses. The Gladiator swore to return one day and claim his rightful place.

The Champion now held leadership. It quickly became clear though that they cared for no one but themselves. They left the pack to starve and did nothing to prevent dissention. The pack became a lawless place as each wolf was out for themselves. As long as the Champion was fed, they cared nothing for the state of the pack. The Sanzin went under great decline with them as leader and their title went from the Champion to the Swindler. While they bathed in luxury, the rest of the pack was left to starve. In short time, the Avenger arrived.

It is said that the Avenger is the Gladiator's son. He certainly had his father's brunish-black coat and chilling eyes, but while the Gladiator was a fight-crazed brute, the Avenger was strong of both mind and body. In the following years, he would stabilize the pack. His cunning far outstripping anything else. In his final year, he began, perhaps the most devious plan of all, the mass pupnapping of the Vertok's pups. He planned to raise them with a heavy hatred of the Vertok. Once they were grown, he would send them as the frontline in a war against the Vertok. The kidnapped pups would of had no qualms about attacking the Vertok while the Vertok would hold back knowing it was their children they were fighting. The Sanzin stole into Vertok territory time after time snatching pups aged anywhere from just born to six months old. The pups were dunked into the river repeatedly to remove any of the Vertok's scent. For younger pups, they were placed with wolves that could feasibly be their parents. Older pups were hidden on the dangerous, rocky coastline where their cries could not be heard, drowned out by the crashing waves. They were often left for hours at a time as long Vertok wolves still prowled the area looking for their pups. Over the course of six months, over 60 pups were kidnapped. Of those numbers, over half died from the rough handling when they were kidnapped or due to the rocky coastline where they were hidden. The Vertok managed to reclaim a third of the pups while the remaining pups were left in the care of Sanzin with their parents unable to prove that the pup was theirs. The Avenger never saw his plan come to frutiation as the following winter, he stepped on a patch of thin ice on the river and fell in, ultimately drowning. The only witness was a lucky Joker who chose to let the Suit drown rather than save him. The Joker dragged the body from the water and claimed the kill as theirs, claiming the Suit position. The Avenger never shared with any wolf his plans thus the reason for the pupnappings has gone unknown since his death. Regardless, the Vertok still hold a deep hatred for the Sanzin for this event.

The Joker that became Suit was a fool and that became their title. The Fool ruled with pack with foolishness. Following after the Avenger, a wolf regarded as one of the Sanzin's best leaders, the pack soon grew tired of the Fool. In less than a year, the Fool was offed. Ironically, it was one of their Aces that did the killing tired of serving under an idiot.

The Ace was a strong ruler, at least initially. Soon enough, the Ace feel into the trappings of the rank of Suit. They grew fat and lazy on the luxuries afforded by the rank and lost the fierceness they once had. Fill with nothing but arrogance, they became the same as the Suit they had killed to take the rank. Caring nothing for the pack and everything for themselves, they became a shadow of what they began as. It was only to be expected that they would be removed before long.