World of Wolves - Part Four

🕯 The Occult 🕯

A pack, though non-traditionally, they were authorized a long time ago by RaunVolk, in the year 1856. Founded in an auspicious year, as deemed by one of the founders Xiao Li for it was the Year of the Dragon, the numbers 1, 5, 6, 8, 18, and 56 are considered numbers of luck - auspicious numbers. Many members of the pack have these numbers carved into their jewelry or their art or their houses, or have the numbers in their license plates or phone numbers, among other things. These numbers and their importance come off as superstitious to outsiders, but they seem genuinely bring luck and protection to members of this pack.

Though technically a legal, authorized pack, they have never operated in such a manner - though they lied when they got the pack legalized. A safe haven for the supernatural, a mix between a pack, coven, clan, or any other supernatural grouping, to be a member of The Occult is to be open-minded. A firm believer in the equality of all species - werecreatures, vampires, humans, etc. - and the sharing of knowledge, those in The Occult have a very strong sense of community. However, they are wary of outsiders and very protective and secretive over their knowledge and trade secrets. In order to be a full member of The Occult and become an Occultist, one must go through various - highly secret - trials; trials that can never be spoken of or shared with anyone else. Then, members get branded. Though a seemingly archaic practice, the number 1856 is tattooed into the body with the material that is most toxic to the one being tattooed - iron for vampires, silver for werewolves, gold for werecats, copper for werebears, and regular ink for humans - though the material is diluted enough as to not cause death. It's a way for the tattoo to remain a permanent fixture on the body of those that typically heal quick, keeping the ink visible in the skin. Though members can choose where the tattoo goes, most choose the inner wrist or back of their neck, more based in tradition than anything else at this point. Only officially registered pack members - so those 18 years or older - are branded.

Located in New Orleans - as they have been since their inception - they sprawl throughout the whole city, the most are typically found in the French Quarter and tourist spots, especially the werewolves and humans of the pack. Though the species of the pack aren't segregated, members of the same species typically live closer together, as it was easier to congregate back when each species held their own meetings within the pack - those segregated meetings were abolished in 1913, though, as a push to further unify the pack during a rough period in their history.

The pack is run by The Council, where each species holds two representatives. One of those representatives is the Leader, while the other is the Advisor. Only the Leader holds a counting vote. While most members of the pack are self-governed - either by their faction leader or by following the few, overarching rules of the pack - some issues get taken to The Council to be handled and discussed. Humans, Werewolves, Werecats, Werebears, and Vampires are each represented on The Council.

As a further breakdown of the population, the numbers are largest with the Werwolf population, then going down gradually from Human, to Vampire, to Werecat, to Werebear, with the werebears having the smallest population at only 15 members, split between three families. However, Hybrids actually have the highest number, and the most recent debate has been whether Hybrids deserve their own representation on The Council. As of now, hybrids have to register on their 18th birthday as a hybrid with an affiliation to one of their species. So, for example, a werewolf-vampire hybrid who aligns more with their vampire side would register as a Hybrid with an Affiliation to the Vampires, meaning their council representative is the Vampire Leader. The same case with an alignment more with Werewolves would be a Hybrid with an Affiliation for Werewolves, with their representative being the Werewolf Leader. This is how it works for all hybrids, though the biggest champion for the Hybrid Council Representation is a hybrid named Gully Pierce, a human-werebear hybrid who believes no hybrid should be forced to choose a side, but should rather be allowed to embrace both sides of themselves without having to deny any part of themselves. A bit of a radical in his methods, he has garnered a lot of support.