Riftwind Wolf

Biodata

Appearance

• Sharp claws: A pursuing wolf reaches for Ma Liu’s neck, while the Wolf King’s claws threaten to crush the caravan leader’s head 5.
• Wolf King: Twice the size of an ordinary Riftwind Wolf, with blue-gray fur and dark green eyes 5.

Behavior

Riftwind Wolves hunt in packs and hold grudges. Once they mark prey, they ordinarily pursue it until either the hunter or the prey dies. However, the Blackstone Ridge pack abandons its attack immediately after its leader is killed 5.

Abilities & Skills

Speed and Ambush

• Wolves burst from the woods and attack the caravan from both sides of the road 5.
• The Wolf King moves as a blur, targeting the Soul Elder from the side while he is occupied with two other wolves 5.

Claw Attacks

• A hundred-year wolf closes in on the fleeing Ma Liu and nearly strikes the back of his neck 5.
• Tang Hao judges that the Wolf King’s attack would crush half the Soul Elder’s head if it landed 5.

Pack Hunting

• The encountered pack numbers roughly a dozen wolves, using probing attacks before one breaks through the guards’ defensive line 5.
• Tang Hao estimates that the caravan could resist them, but would lose about half its people without his intervention 5.
• Their retreat after the Wolf King’s death ends the battle; the guards do not pursue them 5.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Blackstone Ridge Caravan Attack

While traveling with the Golden Feather Trading Company’s caravan, Tang Hao discovers roughly a dozen Riftwind Wolves near Blackstone Ridge. Nearby bandits lie dead, some with half their bodies missing, and broad claw marks scar the ground; Tang Hao and Ma Liu infer that Soul Beasts killed them 5.

The wolves attack the wagons, forcing the Soul Elder, two Soul Grandmasters, and ordinary guards to defend the travelers. Ma Liu strikes a wagon with a wooden pole to draw a wolf away from his goods, only to become its target. Tang Hao secretly saves him by flicking a soybean-sized pebble through the wolf’s skull 5.

When the Wolf King lunges at the Soul Elder, Tang Hao launches a fist-sized roadside stone into its belly. The impact throws it through two small trees and kills it. The remaining wolves flee, leaving the caravan with three injured people and no deaths 5.

Trivia

• Tang Hao conceals his intervention by first claiming that Ma Liu’s attacker “hit a rock,” then telling the suspicious merchant that the pack suffered “heaven’s wrath” 5.