Bearclaw
Tribe: Wolfriders
Age: About 1200 years
Gender: Male
Soul name: Grenn
Hair: Dark brown, fairly straight and hanging to halfway down his back. Part of his hair was tied up in the chief's lock. Being a male Wolfrider of more than 500 years old, he had face-fur that manifested itself in a pointed beard, extending upwards a bit around the mouth.
Eyes: Grey
Recognized lifemate: Joyleaf
Relatives: Mother: Thornflower, father: Mantricker, son: Cutter.
Wolf-friends: Crest, Snapper, Blackfell
Status: Mortal, deceased
Life history: Bearclaw was the tenth chief of the Wolfriders. He was stubborn, rough and hot-headed but also had a good sense of humour, and his more reckless side was often tempered by his lifemate Joyleaf. Bearclaw often stole human babies and left them hanging in a tree just for the fun of it, and his taste for dreamberries has surely only been equalled by Pike; Bearclaw once spent an entire moon waiting next to a dreamberry bush in order to find out who was stealing 'his' berries. It turned out to be the troll Old Maggoty and started the trade between the elves and trolls. His love for the berries and the wine that the trolls made out of it has also caused problems between him and his long-time lifemate Joyleaf. Only after Cutter was severely wounded by humans while Bearclaw was lying in the troll caves in a drunken stupor did he realise what it was doing to him and his tribe, and he promised to never fail his tribe and family again.
While the humans around the Wolfriders' Holt were by no means friendly, their hatred for the elves was often fuelled by Bearclaw's reckless deeds. This was made even worse by the fact that Bearclaw truly lived in the Now of Wolf Thought, and didn't remember or learn from his mistakes.
Bearclaw got himself killed in a one-to-one fight with Madcoil, the monster that had killed Joyleaf. With his dying breath he urged Cutter to kill the monster and passed on his sword New Moon to him, which he had once won from the trolls through gambling. Cutter swore he would avenge his parents. Bearclaw's body was carried off by Blackfell, his wolf. Bearclaw's spirit remained with his son for a long time, together with the spirit of Joyleaf.

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Last updated June 1st 2001 at 20:12
E-mail me: erica@ratauvan.co.uk
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