Wolf of the Maelstrom
Wolves of the Maelstrom are an element of some Apocalypse World settings / games, depending on which character types are chosen by the players. Their function, appearance and details are dictated by the relevant player and gamemaster when they are included in a game.
The Wolves of the Maelstrom in The Overgrown Wilds
(The player of Astiniltlish "Pell" Pelligri made some choices about the Wolves in The Overgrown Wilds, due to stipulations on their character sheet.) Expressionless people who seem to come and go impossibly - the wolves are less a coherent group and more a label that Pell’s adventuring buddies gave to those individuals who mastered an ability to manipulate The World's Psychic Maelstrom to an inhumane extent. They have a mythical status, as they have not been seen in The Overgrown Wilds in many years (if at all) and so many do not believe they exist; that they’re merely a tale to scare children. Pell however, knows the Wolves are real. Many years ago, he witnessed one conjure an apparition to their aide and, as their moniker would suggest, how their eyes glowed with the yellow of the wolf as they did so. They are known to spirit away the lost and vulnerable. Although they’re not an institution, Pell believes that wolves ‘know’ of each other. The nature of their abilities seems to allow them to sense each others’ presence and they communicate with each other through the maelstrom. This means there are loose affiliations among them, and those he’s encountered seem to travel alone or with a partner they seem to mentor. Such groups also coordinate in tracking their victims, though his adventuring buddies told of friction between them that they once exploited to escape. Whilst bunkering down with the evacuees from The Cut, Pell mused about the nature of the Wolves. He conjectured that their origin is likely to be a branch of humanity that diverged away from their own. Pell isn’t a scientist, and doesn’t understand genetics, but is rational and observant---he’d know about inherited traits. Some people have an affinity with the maelstrom, to lesser and greater degrees, but the Wolves master abilities that go far beyond mere affinity. They seem unnaturally able to subjugate the maelstrom, weaving it into threads and textures which they can use to conjure illusions, control nature forces, or worse. They also seem to impossibly appear and disappear, leaving nothing but faint delicate weave at the end of their tracks. This is beyond Pell’s ability to comprehend, but he’s heard distant tales of the psychic maelstrom being used this way. Though Wolf packs are usually small in number, sometimes just two or three, they are almost always intergenerational and there is typically one that exhibits the presence of a mentor. Though this isn’t necessarily a familial connection, it does suggest they are training their young --- their gifts, at least, are identified early. It strikes Pell, however, that they are not entirely human. They lack natural expressions. Though they try, they find it difficult to maintain facades when they fake them. He recalls that his adventuring buddies would question whether this was the cost of their abilities. That they paid for their abilities with their humanity. This makes them extremely dangerous and unpredictable. In laying out a plan to defend the building the Cut evacuees sought shelter in, Pell explained that Wolves operate in packs. They communicate with and loosely coordinate their actions with other nearby packs. However, they weren’t an army. Packs act independently of each other and usually do not get close to each other, rarely assembling. So, a coordinated siege and/or grand strategy was unlikely. Furthermore, though they do use stealth and guile as it befits them in achieving their objectives, he has never seen a pack use infiltration tactics. It is therefore unlikely that they would launch a surprise attack from the North unless there was an overt vulnerability for them to exploit. It is more likely that packs would approach from the South, pushing the already closeby packs into a pincer movement or encirclement. Anyone not perceived as being in a position of strength would be targeted---patrols would certainly be picked off and defences would be tested by hit and run skirmishes. It would therefore be important to convey strength and vigilance; lines of defense which had appropriate heft and overlapping redundancies. They’ll systematically probe for and exploit weaknesses. However, given their unprecedented numbers, should the line be broken, they could disregard their usual reticence and assault the building. The strategies Pell had used in the past were, firstly, to evade them, secondly, to force their caution, and thirdly, to overwhelm them. They are difficult to overcome in a fight, so it would be wiser to flee. Pell suggested getting away from The Buried City at first dawn, and to travel North as swiftly as possible. While resting after having been carried to House Gardenia during The Night, Pell overhears Matthew Lutey mention that the Wolves feed on the mystical energy that some people possess. He wanders through his memories to see if he can recall such a tale from his journeys and recalls the identity of a scholar he once befriended who he might be able to shed some light on the recent behaviour of the Wolves, his mate “Dr Heigeia”, if only he had access to a psychic antenna to make contact… Pell’s history with the Wolves has been difficult. Having encountered them during his travels, he is of course fearful of their talents. However, he isn’t acting out of fear. They represent a considerable threat to the people of the Overgrown Wilds. He has seen them in combat and they are formidable foes---ones who are deserving of the utmost caution. Decisive action is requisite for survival. However, they also represent something more personal---something from his past he wouldn’t like to admit could cloud his vision or influence his judgement. His friends from his younger years adventuring fared poorly in their encounters, regrettably with some meeting their fates. On one occasion, a pack hunted them as they travelled through coastal forests. An ambush gravely injured one of his companions whilst another was abducted. Ultimately, he lost both. The rest of the party were continually hounded for days until they secured refuge in the settlement they fled to. Memories of this makes him extremely anxious of their presence. When Pell was strangling one of the Wolves, his first thought was that channelling the maelstrom would distract them. He was to be a beacon that would attract their attention. However, on opening his brain whilst physically connected to one of them, he gleaned some insight into their motivation. He was surprised. They are determined to protect the two young girls…? What is their connection to the Wolves? Are the young girls to be abducted to be turned into Wolves? Was the psychic attack at Harbortown their doing? Did he aid the mother of the Wolves? She didn’t smell like a Wolf...was she not their biological mother? They don’t smell like Wolves either. Pell has much confusion to work through, and he is still pretty shaken by the two recent close encounters. Pell gleaned much insight into the Wolves as they overwhelmed House Gardenia. Their ability to teleport confirms the stories Pell had heard of them disappearing without trace. Yet, this wasn’t the most perturbed discovery. Their father is the maelstrom itself! Furthermore, their “father” ordered the Wolves to protect the two young girls, Prune and Petunia, at Sequoia’s bequest. In a moment of clarity following the revelation at this motivation, Pell stopped the fighting by assuming guardianship of the girls. It was a miracle that the Wolves agreed to such terms. However, more were coming and it dawned on Pell that the different packs might not follow the same will, but the three packs encountered here all seemed to behave similarly, if odd compared to those Wolves he had encountered in the past. Clearly, they were outmatched, but they hadn’t been attacked directly. During the psychic accident at Matthew Lutey's Vault, instigated by the window that bled instability across the vault, Pell discovered more of the nature of the wolves and their compulsion to spirit people away---a compulsion which evidently can only otherwise be sated by the directives of the maelstrom. . Pell’s first thought was his companions were murdered. However, what he discovered was far more horrifying. They turn their victims into Wolves, moulding them into their own inhuman form bereft of emotion and moral grievance. Wolves seem to exist in both the maelstrom and the physical plain in a more “consistent” manner, travelling in packs to more easily breach the veil between them. Though the packs don’t often congregate in numbers, certain psychic phenomena allow them to pour through in greater numbers and when this occurs they can fulfill their orders/compulsions together.Basic Information
Anatomy
They look like humans.
Genetics and Reproduction
They seem not to reproduce. Instead, they abduct humans "with potential", who later return as Wolves of the Maelstrom.
Additional Information
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
They have human senses, as well as keen psychic senses.
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