Once upon a time...

...a wolf died.

Not an extraordinary feat, of course. Wolves die all the time. Every day. Hell, half of them are extinct or endangered. And they've all flown off to little doggy heaven, or were reincarnated, or simply blipped out of existence. Whatever suits your fancy. That's the way it happens. That's the way it's always happened. That's the way it should continue for millions of years henceforth.

But it doesn't. Something changes. The wolves don't know why.

Once upon a time, a wolf dies, and he does not go to heaven, or hell, or become a reincarnate. Nor does he blip out of existence.

He's sent here. To Venial. An afterlife for the new wolves. An afterlife that has not always been there. An artificial heaven and hell.

When a wolf enters Venial something is decided. Sinners become Sins, the Virtuous become Virtues, and they all gain a single power mirroring their actions during their previous life. There are of course the neutral wolves as well, those who have neither been sinful nor sinless, who are granted no power but the joy of continuing in another life...or the displeasure.

...happily ever after

Say good-bye to it.

The Lord of the Land lives here in Venial, a mysterious figure with many rumors shrouding him. The creator? The first wolf to ever enter Venial? A god? A devil? Whatever he is, he is The Lord, and his word is not only Law, but Life. He is to Be Obeyed. And he punishes those who do not listen.

The Lord has separated the sinners and the saints to two realms; The Ivory Land and the Onyx Land. He watches them from his own paradise, sending minions to torture and destroy as he sees fit. The Lord does nothing but turn the reborn wolves into his puppets for his very own personal theater.

Eden one moment, brimstone the next.

He's turned the afterlife into a hell.

Each wolf in Venial has a 'power' of sorts. This power comes from a sin or virtue, which also gives the wolf an 'alignment'. There are neutral wolves as well, who do not sport any power or alignment, but we will not be discussing them here. Wolves also recieve the ability to shapeshift between their wolf form, to a werewolf like hybrid, to that of a humanoid.

Pride - Shapeshifters. Prides can take on the form of one other animal, usually a beautiful one; IE. Tiger, Swan, Horse.

Envy - Illusionists. Envies can transform objects into alluring or frightening things for short periods of time.

Gluttony - Size-changers. Capable of growing up to ten times their normal size.

Lust - Dream walkers. Lusts can see into one's dreams, desires, and darkest secrets. They cannot read minds.

Malice - Pain. Malice have the ability to set nerves aflame at a single stroke on their claws. One touch can cause immeasurable pain. They have control over this power, and can tone it down or turn it of when desired.

Greed - King Midas' touch. Greeds can transform objects and living creatures into gold. The effects are not permanent, and the greed has control over what he turns.

Sloth - Time stoppers. Although they cannot travel through time, they have the ability to speed it up or slow it down as desired.

Faith - Telepaths. They can communicate through the mind, but cannot read thoughts not offered to them.

Hope - Healers. Able to close wounds and banish diseases.

Charity - Life-Givers. Charities have the ability to resurrect a single dead soul, in exchange for giving their own. A powerful ability, but not one often used.

Fortitude - Resistance. Fortitudes can resist any magical (sin/virtue) attack done upon them, and have an incredible tolerance for pain.

Justice - Lycanthropes. At will, Justices can morph into a werewolf-like form, larger, bipedal, and much more dangerous than the average wolf. This transformation can only occur during the night.

Temperance - Empaths. Can hear and sooth emotions, as well as erase unwanted memories.

Prudence - Mind-readers. Prudences can extract information from any mind they come in contact with; this does not include thoughts, merely knowledge stored in the mind.

Before Venial was truly opened to the souls of dead wolves, it was tested. Seven wolves were taken from their lives and sent here, stripped of their names and identities and given new ones. These are the test subjects.

Each test subject holds the power of one sin and one virtue, and therefore have no true alignment, and nor can they be considered neutral. They are test subjects. Experiments. Nothing more, nothing less.

The test subjects have been roaming Venial for five years, before the afterlife was open to new souls, and have lived these five years in relative solitude. They have not started packs, taken mates, or given birth. But they know...

Know the lands by heart, as they've traveled to every corner of Venial.

Know the dangers of The Lord.

Know there are secrets here, that should not be discovered.

They know as much as can be known.

The wolves do not hold any alliance with one another. They do not know of each other's existence. They believe they were the only wolf living in Venial until the New Wolves came.

But these wolves have not been living empty lives.

ONE believes this to be a test not to be failed. Heaven or Hell will be decided by their actions.

TWO thinks this a purgatory, and wants to go back.

THREE believes this is their land, given to them by The Lord to protect and cherish like a parent to its child.

FOUR thinks this is a prison, to conquer and change.

FIVE has found the Lord, and thinks him the God who'll grant heaven or hell at fealty and worship.

SIX believes this is a heaven of their very own, and wants it for themself.

SEVEN thinks this a punishment for past sins, to be endured