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Madcoil

Madcoil

Madcoil was the hideous result of the Humans and Elves' continued animosity. It was the twisted fusion of a giant snake and wildcat who devoured each other where the Wolfriders abandoned all hope of a human-friendship.

This morbid creature is said to be part cat and part snake, with an enormous tail, two ferocious claws, and a head greater than a grizzly bear's. It was a hideous being of hatred and hunger, continually at war with itself between the combined natures of the magically fused animals that made up its creation.

Beyond all of its physical ferocity, the most horrific element of Madcoil is that it was rumoured to be able to Send, and thus a hunter who was confronted with Madcoil must see into its nature before defeating the beast.

Shortly before Madcoil's creation, Cutter had defied his sire Bearclaw's orders and approached the human camp alone. With tensions between the two tribes at an all time high and Bearclaw having drunk himself into a stupor among his friends the Trolls, the young chief-to-be took it upon himself to try a different path and defuse their conflict once and for all.

Having learned some of the human tongue from Bearclaw and the tribe's scouts, Cutter tried to reason with the human's Shaman chief. But the old human was blinded by his hatred and the tribe attacked on his orders, severely beating Cutter to the point of death. Fortunately a party of Wolfriders had followed the brash youngster on his doomed path and saved him, taking him back to Rain the healer. Though Joyleaf continually sent for Bearclaw, he remained blacked out for several days.

Upon his return, Bearclaw keenly felt his failure of both his tribe and his son. Though Cutter would live, Bearclaw hadn't been present when he was most needed. With the weight of shame on him, he returned to the human camp to try to finish what Cutter had started. But, in the end, both Bearclaw and the Shaman were too set in their hatred and the negotiation failed.

Unnoticed by either, during their personal fight an ancient pool of corrupted Elven magic was nearby and was stimulated by the mutual hate. A stray bold of magical energy forced the two to separate but, in their place, a snake and wildcat entered the clearing. Ancient animosity between the two creatures, fed by the pool's foul magic caused the two to engage each other in a deadly battle. And then, in a moment the magic fused the two creatures and Macoil was born.

It existed in the depths of the forest for four years, continually growing in size, strength and hunger, slaughtering everything that it could. The forest became infested with Madcoil's presence, as all living creatures who wandered into his territory mysteriously vanished. Eventually it became large enough to kill both Humans and Elves with impunity. When the Shaman's tribe lost a hunting party to Madcoil, and one member survived long enough to describe the unnatural creature that had attacked them, the Shaman took it as a final sign of the corrupting influence of the "demon's" magic and the tribe declared war on the Elves.

Less reckless and more thoughtful after the near loss of his son, Bearclaw decided to relocate the tribe from Father Tree Holt after learning that the Humans had been more aggressively searching the forest for them, unaware of the reason. He led a scouting parting to search for a new Holt but it ended disastrously when Macoil attacked. It's terrifying sending and fearsome attack sent the warriors scrambling but not all survived. Among the victims was Joyleaf.

The death of his beloved lifemate drove Bearclaw into a suicidal fury. Forbidding the tribe from coming with him, Bearclaw intended to face it alone. Cutter was the only one who dared defy his order and Bearclaw eventually accepted. The pair found Madcoil's den but with no sign of the beast, except for the remains of its victims. During their long wait for it to return, Cutter fell asleep.

The moment he did, Bearclaw sensed Madcoil sending to him and the insane hatred directed at him alone. Bearclaw, accepting that he wouldn't survive, faced the beast alone and, through its sendings, learned of its history and his own part in its creation. Madcoil intended for this to overwhelm its enemy but it had the opposite effect, making Bearclaw fight even more fiercely, bringing all of his 1200 years of experience and cunning to bare.

Though he was killed, Bearclaw dealt the creature a severe injury that festered, greatly weakening it.

After the death of his parents, Cutter found Bearclaw's body and claimed his sword New Moon. Cutter became chief, his chief's lock solemnly tied by Treestump. He resolved to finally finish Madcoil but, learning from his father's apparent mistake, didn't do it alone, enlisting the tribe's help. The Wolfriders ensnared Madcoil with a net, then he jumped upon the beast from above, with New Moon in hand, using it to deliver the death-blow against Madcoil, straight through its saurian eye.

After it's destruction, Cutter's Wolfriders brought Madcoil's body out to the human tribe, intending it as a peace offering but, again, the gesture was misunderstood.

Madcoil's known victims[]

Yokut

Rain

Longbranch

Brownberry

Foxfur

Joyleaf

Bearclaw

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