Jasper Falls

Law and Order

Packs

I'm going to use a bad example here but it's the only thing I can think of that comes close. Okay, so think of Jasper Falls like turf shared between five mafia gangs, namely; Marcana, Crescent Hill, Lativa, Black Rock Canyon, and Blackwater.

Marcana holds precedence over the town since they are the largest pack, the first in town, and the pack to begin the town's development. When Crescent Hill moved in, they split the turf. By the time Lativa moved in, there was an already growing human population, hence leading the two packs to segregate the town into three, making room for the humans.

Then, Black Rock Canyon came to Jasper Falls. And then Blackwater, leading to a similar split in territory except, humans were safe from relocating.

Where the pack resides in each territory is different from where they conduct business. Let me further explain this. Think of Jasper Falls like a dog park. All the doggies come to play and make friends. And since they're really wolves, they pee on a certain space marking the territory as theirs (not literally; it's an analogy). In the same way, each pack's residential area is specific to the respective pack and other wolves- pack or rogue- are not allowed in. The segregation I'm talking about applies only to residence. Since it is a town, with businesses and public services, yes, they're all over the place.

You're probably thinking, 'Okay, so what if Lativa opened up and is running a business on property (land) that is within Marcana's ownership?' That's just it! They are and will only be allowed once they have received permission from the 'residing mafia' better known as the pack and it's alpha. Once they gain permission, it will be passed to the Council to approve rental of the space, construction and procession of business. And yeah, I said 'rent' so that in a case whereby some means, an issue arises that displeases the residing pack, they can easily have the business shut down and take back their property.

The same rules apply to humans deciding to conduct business on property owned by a pack. Of course, they don't disclose the whole 'werewolf' thing.

Since the town is pretty interdependent, the packs maintain treaties and peace to avoid conflict that will gamble with a pack's residence, business, or any one wolf's bread and butter.

Slums and Rogues

The slums of Jasper Falls is situated at the dead centre of the town. How fitting right? The slums in the middle of a thriving mini metropolis? It was a joint decision.

The packs came together with the Council and decided, 'Let's put them where we can keep an eye on them so if anyone steps out of line, they can't get away when they're surrounded by a bunch of packs'. Despite rogues not being criminals in particular, because they oppose the 'oppression' of pack life, they wander on their own. Hence, opposing pack life is usually frowned upon making rogues look like criminals. The influx of rogues gather in the slums and their methods for gaining income may be somewhat questionable since leaving the pack may discredit them. Their chosen lifestyle frowned upon, some packs may not be keen on the idea of giving employment to a wolf with a 'rogue status' thus, discredited rogues may turn to a life of crime to make ends meet.

However, some rogues may have more luck than others. They may not be discredited hence allowing them to either keep their job or find another with another pack's business, or even a human owned organization. And because of this string of luck, while they're not permitted into their birth pack or any other, they can live on property owned by their birth pack or another. Hence the reference to the 'squatter' term even if it is technically incorrect since they would be working, receiving an income and paying rent.

However, the slums aren't all bad news. Yes, it's filled to the brim and overflowing with questionable characters, but two things come out of the slums that are used by all packs, and even some humans.

The first, is ammunition, particularly guns and blades. Used by both humans and werewolves, it is first and foremost viewed as a method of defence. First line defence for humans, and second line defence for werewolves because they do possess fangs and claws and are naturally equipped predators. The second is Wolfsbane. Used by and distributed to packs, it's used in medicinal procedures. There are different types of Wolfsbane, and only those that are nonlethal are distributed to packs for use in surgical operations. And one other small defence method you'll learn about in Book 3.

In a way, the 'slums' is the Brick Mansions of Jasper Falls. If you haven't seen it, I suggest you watch it. It stars Paul Walker as a cop who's main aim is to serve justice by avenging his father's death. But seeking out the killer proves more complicated than he thought.

The Council

The governing body of the town comprising of a representative or two for each pack. Representatives are usually taken from the first five prominent families, but responsibilities of Council usually befall the beta, third-in-command, or fifth-in-command. There are also one or two humans on the Council who are there to ensure that the decisions made do not exclude and would not negatively impact the human population. These humans are usually high ranked members of the justice system and know of the existence of werewolves, hence keeping the secrecy.

Like with humans who nominate and elect two humans to the Council, packs do the same. With one representative standing as the main rep, and the other steps in as a substitute in times where the main rep in unavailable.