Biology

Fully grown males average seven-foot-six-inches tall while fully grown females average seven feet tall. They have multiple growth spurts during their childhood and teenage years. The one in their teens usually push them above the six-foot mark. The final one, which usually occurs in their twenties, sends them to their final height. Elite wolves are usually shorter than average due to a very slow growth process.

Culture

The Wolves are today's arguably most powerful race on Cyantzium. Through trade and knowledge exchange, they gathered the most technological expertises. Their social structure and their dayliving seem to be almost utopical. But they also have (should have...?) some dark spots on their brilliant clean slate...

Young wolves were historically punished in part by having a their hair cut, as long hair has always been a mark of pride. the amount that was cut varied from a part of a single lock for minor offenses, to an inch all over for moderate offenses , to a complete shaving of all fur to a length equal to their fur, for truly extreme offenses. All but the last of these has gone out of style, and there is no longer as much pressure to keep ones hair as long as possible. (It is still considered humiliating to have a buzz cut.) Hair cutting now days only takes place in the 'teen' years, when it's the most punishing - in the past it was a constant. Now, long hair can be an annoyance to a male, but some still follow the tradition.

Resolution Day is a Wolf holiday. It occurs once a month at the end of the month (every month due to a little war between Wolf citystates )and is usually marked by giving of small gifts and making sure that all of your loose ends are tied, disputes and problems resolved with one another. Once a year, the last month of the year on the last day, is the big one. Parties, etc *so yah, you'll get to see a lot of characters in fancy celebratory outfits.*

The point of Resolution Day is that you don't know who's giving what. (That and forgiving those that may have angered you or done you wrong.) Nobody knows who's given them this or that little trinket or toy, most of the time, and it makes both the giver and getter happy. Gifts that are given are not signed, so there is usually no way to tell who gave it to you. It also doesn't exactly enforce the lovely little greed factor that giving Christmas gifts does. You don't know. You can't ask for anything. It's just a little gift given on the last day of the month.

It's usually done in secret, usually amusements or things the giftee needs - practical jokes and gag gifts are very common. You can only put your name on ONE gift, as custom dictates. This is usually a special gift FOR someone special. Jules and Marcus are going to love it. The richer ones are very HEAVILY encouraged to give gifts to those who are less fortunate, however the rich/popular kids would still get buried in them. Everyone would end up with something though. Even the schools will hand out gifts and you're CERTAIN to always get something from parents.

One special gift given is a Zimre stone (a rare sparkling golden stone). It is about the same as an engagement ring, but slightly different. There are actually additional phases between engagement and marriage. There's also a ceremony, as mentioned in Danie. The first phase is very much like the usual engagement except that you don't begin planning a wedding or anything like that. It usually lasts about six months and it's in that time you decide if you WANT to marry or not. It's kind of like an ultimatum period. Do it or not, don't stretch it out unless there are outstanding circumstances. The second is more like an actual engagement where you are going to get married and set everything in order, usually lasting six months to a year, THEN you get married. Breaking an engagement in the second phase is considered extremely taboo, almost equivalent to a first divorce. It shows that the one breaking it off was not committed. *You'll note there is a reason that Wolf Cyantians are generally older and not as inclined to doing things that would confuse their emotions.* This is primarily a Wolf custom. There are variations, all involving Zimre.

When it comes to adoptions into a Wolf family it's the eldest member of the family who decides who can and can't be in the family. Once someone has been accepted in, they can NEVER be disowned.

It is socially acceptable to beat up someone if they're bugging you, at least until they run away, although it usually doesn't get to the point of serious injury.

The female wolves have a rule among themselves that any wolf old enough to father cubs is old enough to take responsibility for them, and will usually reject males who have children by other mates. [1] The worst social taboo in Wolf society is cheating on your mate, punishable by death, usually at the hands of the mate.

All Wolven Cyantians in the Wolf cities go to a general school from 4 to 13. (Often, the first five years is done in the homes of their parents. They will rotate to a different home several times a week for televised classes. One mother or father will watch five or six cubs of the same age like this. Concentration is on reading, mathematics, writing, art and history.) At ages 14-15, depending on their scoring, they advance into the transitional schools, which prepare them for their careers and help them find them. When they're ready *Normally a year* they go on to the Academy on Avistary or Mars. Younger students DO possibly end up in the Academies if they're very bright and promising, like Kibi, but most will start at the age of 16. Therefore, the youngest Academy members would be around 16, but not always.

There is a mandatory serving period of one year for enlistment in the Wolf military.

The phrase "Tying the knot" has sexual overtones and is very vulgar amongst Wolves.

Drugs were not a big problem in most of Centralis, but in the lower districts it ran rampant. Redeye was a term for those who used the drugs and dealt them. The reason was that most of the drugs had the side affect of turning the user's eyes reddish or yellow. It was also the term for insane wolves. [2]

For Akaelaes, money is not something they tend to worry about, considering they're equivalent to millionaires, although, Wolf society also doesn't put the same value/obsession on money as other societies. It's just how they are. Because the two most basic needs are covered by the society, food and shelter, so that everyone has a place to live and food to eat, it's not as pressing of a matter to obtain money, although you ARE expected to work for it. *Yes, very socialist in thought although not. Personal property is VERY important. Basically, while you can have your basic needs met, you can't OWN anything unless you actually go out and work for it. They're much better at providing work/education than most societies and it IS something that is funded by the successfull as part of their duty. They've worked hard, they must return a bit of their success.

Mature wolves are EXTREMELY and sometimes ANNOYINGLY helpful to those less fortunate than themselves, especially if they're young. They don't really have a big problem with vagrants because help is available to anyone to get training or a job... even though they may not like it. On the other end of the scale though, there are also a lot of selfish wolves who only extend that kind of behavior to family and friends and young cubs.

Politics

The Centralis Government is basically set up with two parts, the Commercial and the military, which is not called military, but Exploration/Defense (The Fox are by far the more militaristic sect - they do things a lot like what would be perceived as normal on earth). They actually get along quite well, because they work hand in hand. Taxes that pay for the government are taken off of things bought only. Keeps their people happy that they make enough to live on and have choices in what they pay to the government. The security in the city is good and mostly non-corrupt due to the nature of Wolves. They do their thing, respect others and expect others to respect them and their things. This wouldn't work on Earth, but it works for them, because they have an entirely different culture and way of doing things that works for them. Of course, that still doesn't mean that ALL of them are exactly the same way, just that most of them follow the same guidelines for right and wrong.

The Council consists of 9 members, Four from the Commercial sect, four from the Defense, and one who acts as a tie breaker/final decision maker. Currently, it's the old Alpha Akaelae (pronounced ah-KAY-lay). That may sound biased, but he chews out the defense side quite soundly at times and has his own opinions. Being much older gives him a good look at all things (and he admires Darius).

• Alpha: As in an alpha of a pack is the leader. It is a title equivalent to president, but he's not really the 'leader'. At one time they did that, now they have a council with the Alpha being the head of that ruling council. Alpha is also a name and a title that will be used for the head of a wolf household in a teasing manner. Originally, it was a name, but the old Alpha Akaelae died. There is a new Alpha male,... Kela Akaelae.

Defense members are not elected, but are very aware of their public support and what the public can do to them in terms of their support. As lot of the money to run defense comes from anonymous donations, there're most widely no special interests, so they have to keep their approval high if they want to keep their jobs. They're selected by their abilities and experience.

It's hard to promote those who start at the top, but let's just say saving your homeland counts very highly in your favor. Alpha, Sheana, Celina and Darius are on the Defense council and they balance each other very well. Before them, the Defense Council depended mainly on the instructors at The Academy on Avistary where they trained mainly those to protect the planet in case of planetary attack and to explore.

As long as they continue working FOR the people, they remain on the council, but the Four Commercial members can vote out a Defense member if they all want him/her off, of course, at the cost of their own support if the people happen to like him/her. Same goes for the Defense. They can vote off one of the Commercial members if they want to or think he/she's doing something they should be. ((They have to prove it as well.. guess it'd be something like an impeachment.))

Commercial members are elected by the people every six years and also by anonymous donations. ((How are they selected? Maybe by, say, rank-weighted elections/promotions from within only the defense community as opposed to the franchise at large?))

Darius, as the head of Mars Academy, reports to the Council on Cyantia, the Wolf Council of which they are actually part of. He doesn't have to really 'answer' to anyone for his actions unless he does something completely out of bounds, which only treason falls into that category. He still can get chewed out for doing something stupid and you'll see him do a lot dumber things than going to Earth. Not everyone runs things the same way as Earth, and their way works.

Technology

Wolves are the most highly advanced of the Immigrant Cyantians, mainly due to the fact that they engage in the most technological trade and research with other more advanced creatures. Most of their technology is oriented around making their lives better and defense. Their cities are powered by Fission/Fusion energy. Each home/facility is outfitted with a fully functional matter conversion reactor, capable of performing fusion/fission on common household waste. (Editor note, assigning this system is fully efficient and shielded, the output of these generators would typically be pure lead. Fission is exothermic for all elements above lead on the charts, and fusion is exothermic for all elements below it.) Just toss in the daily trash and you have enough power to do whatever you need to in the home. Very clean and efficient, plus prevents citywide blackouts when each home is set up in this way.

Technologically, Wolves are far more advanced than humans in terms of medicine, and medical technology, though they lag behind the Fox in terms of genetic experimentation, mainly because Wolf medical ethics and legal codes forbid the sort of experimentation that goes on in Fox medical labs. One area in which they remain on a level with humans is in regards to dealing with Viral infections.

On a less serious front, they also like to use water slides for recreation., as demonstrated by Cilke. [3] Cilke's sliding on her tail, since it's a bit less awkward, with her back arced a bit and butt up higher, and the tail curved a little to the side. It's awkward because those things are made for wolves. Wolves have smaller tails than Skunks. (It's also not as much fun to slide when ones tail is that big.) They tend to ride with the tail behind their back rather held between the legs... the main problem being with the tail held forward is that they slide against the lay of the fur that way, held back so the movement goes with the lay of the hair, they slide faster. It's not uncomfortable for Cyantians to bend their tails when they have control of it and it's not bent back 90 degrees like it may look, there's a bend in the tail itself. The slide she rides is not a fast one, and you'll notice the water is kinda deep under her. It has a lot of little dips to slow it down.