Wolves and wolflike creatures fill Darkmoon Vale and its surroundings. While most lupine creatures in the vale are normal wolves, plenty of wolflike creatures possessing malevolent intelligence terrorize the region. Despite the understandable bias against wolves in the area, dream wolves nonetheless continue to live in the foothills north of the vale, working thanklessly to stem the tide of evil pouring out of the Five Kings Mountains.
Dire Wolves: While these large cousins of normal wolves look frightful and menacing to humans (mostly thanks to their increased size), they actually pose as little danger to humans as normal wolves. Like their smaller cousins, though, dire wolves are easily controlled by werewolves, so interactions with humans almost always result in violence.
Dream Wolves: Physically identical to normal wolves, dream wolves nonetheless always carry some kind of marker that indicate the difference (such as a patch of fur with a particular shape or strangely colored eyes). Beyond their physical similarities, dream wolves also tend to behave—on the macro level—as do normal wolves. Their resemblance to their lesser brethren ends there, though, as dream wolves are also highly intelligent (sometimes as intelligent as powerful wizards) and can communicate with humans through dreams and visions.
Compassionate and protective, dream wolves struggle against the prejudices and old hatreds of the area’s human population. Whenever they can, dream wolves hunt out and kill winter wolves and worgs. For their parts, winter wolves and worgs more than happily return the favor.
Winter Wolves: Although not a large percentage of the lupine population in and around Darkmoon Vale, the area’s winter wolves more than make up for their scant numbers with determined malevolence. Many of the wolf stories passed down from nervous parent to frightened child feature large white wolves possessing human-like intelligence. Because of these stories, winter wolves do what they can to disguise their white fur, from rolling in mud and dust to simply staying hidden until ready to strike. A winter wolf rarely stays passive for long, and one almost always has some kind of devious plot or strategy in progress.
Wolves: The human of the region always assume the worst of Darkmoon Vale’s wolves. In truth, when left alone, the wolves act as they do anywhere else—they avoid humans, hunt prey animals their size or smaller, and live in sociable family units. Not themselves evil, the normal wolves of the area nonetheless frequently commit acts humans consider evil. These raids, assaults, and killings come only when wicked werewolves control the packs, sending normally skittish wolves on murderous sprees of carnage.
Many of the few good druids in the area struggle with the perceptions and prejudices of their fellow humans on behalf of the region’s wolf populations. Members of the Greenfire Circle, for example, work hard to educate locals on how wolves normally act, so the area’s residents can discern whether a wolf is being compelled or is otherwise acting strangely.
Because of the many scary stories told to children that involve winter wolves, white-furred wolves rarely survive for long when found. As a result, most of the wolves in the area possess gray, brown, or black fur, ironically allowing them to hide more easily in the region. Among other reasons, this leads to the constant presence of wolves, despite repeated efforts to drive them to extinction.
Worgs: Connected as they are to goblinoids, the worg population in Darkmoon Vale and the areas north of it exploded during the Goblinblood Wars a decade ago. Since that time, attrition, hunting, and natural migration has seen a precipitous drop in the number of nearby worgs. Indeed, so few exist now within the dell or hills surrounding it that most people no longer consider them a menace. Those worgs who do still live in Darkmoon Vale have thus gained a bit of notoriety for their resilience. The most famous worgs currently living the vale are Graypelt, dwelling in Droskar’s Crucible; Lostfang, residing at the feet of the Aspodell Mountains; and Shadoweye, last seen prowling around Gold Ridge on Droskar’s Crag.