World of Wolves - Rogues

~ The Folk ~

The Folk is the name of a fanatic, dangerous group of rogues, more akin to a cult than a pack. Their numbers are large, far larger than most of the packs within the United States. However, though many in numbers, they are spread out across the entire nation. Some camps, as they are often called, have a hundred or so people, others have roughly ten or fifteen. These establishments - some legal homeless shelters in the eyes of the government - allow the network of The Folk to spread so far.

Though numbers for The Folk are technically in the thousands, only a few hundred or so truly need to be worried about. These few hundred are called Maenads, in honor of the group of violent, terrible, glorifying worshippers of the Greek god Dionysus whom they have been continually compared to. These few hundred are more likely to stick together, yet still are spread out across the nation.
The two largest Maenad settlements are in California - on the cusp of the Redwood Territory and Sam Francisco - and Florida - located in the Florida Keys. However, other large Maenad settlements can be found in Pennsylvania, Washington, and Texas. There are about 500-600 Maenad wolves overall, but numbers slowly grow.

The Maenad group are the genuinely fanatical, violent subset of The Folk who gave the overall group their reputation. Many of The Folk are just people. People looking for shelter and food and clothes and a place to wash-up. The leader and founder of The Folk, Harmony Faith Carmah, doesn't require utter and total devotion to fighting. Her goal - and therefore the ultimate goal of The Folk - is peace and harmony and unity between all. The Folk are made up of humans, werewolves, vampires, werebears, and hybrids - whoever needs a place of safety and protection and is willing to help out and carry their weight are able to stay. Many of them devote themselves to Harmony and the Maenads, over time.

The Folk really are a cult, there's no way around it, even if Harmony manages to convince outsiders otherwise, both with her demeanor and her words. Named for the Fae, faeries, and Folk of Air - beings of Celtic folklore and myth - the group is just as genuinely helpful as it is violent and manipulative. It all depends on who you meet from the group, really.

A group of roughly 15 of the Folk are permanent nomads, and that group transcends even above Maenads, sometimes called the Pantheon, sometimes called the Court, and is the most trusted of The Folk, headed by Harmony.

Members of the Court, in ranking order:

1. Harmony Faith Carmah
2. Donovan Finch

All Maenads have a tattoo, below. All Court members have an 'X' tattoo behind their right ears.