(Pack)

Before the Shaa there was nothing. They were the first. They came together when a charismatic, young soul began to spread word of her goddess, Shaala. Sapphira had a honeyed voice - a way to make the easily susceptible, primordial tokotas to bend to her. She created a moderately sized pack with her tactics, continuing to speak with her goddess and solidifying the foundation for the Shaa's religion while ruling as their Queen. The pack grew to a tremendous size, leading first Queen to begin instructing her citizens to build temples to worship their goddess. They began excellent craftsmen, creating marble towers, statues, and buildings. They melted down metals and planted botanical gardens to have a sustainable food source within their city walls.    Eventually needing more space, the Queen rallied her citizens together, insisting that their goddess wanted them to go to war with surrounding tribes and take over their land. They were inferior creatures whose resources could be used by the enlightened Shaa pack to further their righteous cause. Foraging armor and weapons, the Queen led her citizens into war, slaughtering their neighbours and taking their land for their own. Prisoners were taken, however, they gave the rest of their life to Shaala and the Shaa, becoming workers and built their temples and palaces without being seen as an equal. The prisoners were not only workers, they were slaves. Given bare necessities, but always inferior. They were not out allowed during the time of Shaala as they were not worthy to be touched by the grace of the sun. Instead, they were cast to the shadows, forced to remain and work in darkness under the light of the moon.    Sapphira inevitably began to grow frail and requested to be sacrificed to the goddess once Shaala showed her to another daughter of the sun. They built the Temple of Palio - tribute to the minor goddesses Seral, goddess of the sky, and Creo, goddess of the clouds - with a large slab of marble raised on great pillars. The temple was open, the wind allowed to flow through and the sunlight able to shine on the crystal infused water surrounding the white table. Here is where she named her successor, a young female, Artima, and upon ascending the stairs and lying her golden body upon the white table, she allowed Artima to release her soul to her goddess.    The records say that the blood from Sapphira ran for five sunrises, staining the temple, but leaving the water clean and clear. When the blood stopped flowing, Artima began to forage a crown to symbolize her and her divine right to rule. The crown would get embroidered into their tapestries and flags, carved into their armor and passed onto other successors. Under Artima, the kingdom became to grow even stronger. She began to train up every citizen, militarizing the pack in the event they ever needed to go to war again. She began to preach about the importance of knowledge, beginning to have some pack members record their history, write down their laws, and the words of their gods. The idea of enlightenment began to spring up, young males and females beginning to head out on their own journey to seek their patron gods who would help them determine what their careers would be and their status and rank in their pack. During this time, sacrifices of enlightened generals and leaders were common in order to keep their resources readily flowing and their pack strong. After a long line of queens, eventually the sacrifices began to slow to a halt, slavery was abolished, although discrimination against darker coated members was still very common and popular. The Shaa Pack experienced a major downfall when the Noic revolted, killing their queen and healer. Their temple to Shaala was destroyed and much of their pack members were killed off or forced into hiding. Once the Noic retreated to nearby mountains, the Shaa regrouped and became stronger and tighter than ever. Regaining their population and strength, they patiently awaited their chance for revenge. A new queen was chosen in the Temple of Palio and she began production of great machines that were capable of running off steam, using water and the heat from Shaala to power them. When the Great Tribal War broke out, the turned these machines onto the Illuth Pack, a newer pack that the Shaa was uncomfortable with due to their lack of religion and clear hierarchy. They welcomed the chance to wipe the pack out.   During the War, there were large amounts of casualties on both sides, with no end in sight until a Noic member was caught by General Zaiiden, confessing that the Noic was to blame for the war. While she was promised her life, instead she was decapitated - her head carried by the General as the military strength of the Shaa and Illuth joined to create the Ishalua. Her head was there when they led an assault on the Noic and when they surrendered. Her skull is still displayed at the entrance of the main city - a

Timeline