[LokRobster]

Had to share a favorite story on this... now they have STATS


The Wolf Problem
As told by Qballan, the Qreddn reciter:
from 'Nail Down the Stars' by John Morressey
“No one now remembers when the wolves first came down from the far mountains. In the beginning they came singly, is said, but soon they began to gather in packs that grew ever larger. By the time of our grandfathers, a single huge wolf pack numbering in the thousands ranged the countryside.
"The toll of sheep was fearsome. The great flocks owned by our people were decimated with each attack. Our sheep continued to breed at their prodigious rate, but even that was barely enough to keep pace with the ravages of the ever-growing wolf pack. When the attacks were at their worst, it was impossible to sleep for the piteous bleating of slaughtered animals. Our grandfathers were forced to plug their ears with wool in order to drown out the cries.
"Various measures were tried, without success. The wolves ignored the poisoned meat set out for them. They avoided the traps with unbelievable cunning and seemed immune to bullets.
"With great difficulty, and at great expense to the people, herds of deer were driven into the area to provide the wolves with a natural source of prey. The wolves fell upon them and devoured them all within a short time. When the last deer was gone, the wolves returned to the sheepfolds with keener appetites.
"Our people faced starvation. All defenses against the wolf pack had failed. Some spoke of migration as our last hope, but many believed that if we were to leave, the wolf pack would follow us to new lands and life would be the same. Apathy possessed our fathers. They lost all hope, and reconciled themselves to death.
"And then it was suggested that since their masters could not defend them, the sheep might be trained to defend themselves. In an earlier day this idea would have been greeted with derision, but our fathers had reached the point of desperation. They roused themselves for one final attempt at resistance.
“They began to breed sheep for size and strength. They took the biggest and strongest animals and fitted them with razor-sharp steel horns, steel spurs for their hoofs, and steel fangs. These sheep were then taught to reject their accustomed food and relish the taste of flesh. They were treated in ways calculated to arouse mistrust and ferocity. The sheep who could not change were left to the wolves.
"When they were fully transformed, the sheep were set loose upon the wolves. Within a brief period, the wolf pack was reduced to a handful of scarred and terrified fugitives, and soon after that no trace remained of the great pack that once roamed our land.
"But now the sheep refuse to give up their steel horns, and their spurs and fangs. They roam the countryside at will, and have taken to killing and eating our cattle. They ignore the poisoned meat set out for them. They avoid traps with almost human cunning, and seem immune to bullets. They breed at an incredible rate, and it has been reported that the young are now born with horns, spurs, and fangs."