
HOW MAN AND DOG CAME TOGETHER
A Barbarian Legend

  In the early days after the gods brought man into the world, the gods to watch over the earth and all its bounty tasked him.  Thus did man work with nature and care for the land.  But all was not well for man, for though gifted with awareness and wisdom, he lacked many skills and the ability to defend himself.  So man did beseech the creators for gifts that would allow him to better fulfill his purpose.  T'la, touched by man's plight, granted unto women the knowledge to keep the home well and to prepare food and make clothing.  T'or and B'tal, also aware of man's pleas, granted unto the men, courage and the knowledge to make weapons that were better than teeth and claws to defend themselves from the attacks of hostile animals and invaders.
  For a time, man was content.  The women prepared the food that the men gathered, and made clothing that protected them from the skins of the animals that they hunted.  M'ake also granted man with the skill to fashion new things, often with the aid of M'uze, who inspired new ways of thinking in man and women.  In time, man domesticated many animals and planted many crops.  Man learned of the bow and arrow, the spear and club, and how to make traps for those beasts too great to face alone.  Man made huts that kept him dry, and built fires to keep him warm.  Meanwhile, the beasts of the fields and forests watched mans accomplishments with awe.
  Some beasts grew jealous of man and decided to steal from him.  The fox and the bear, the wolf and the eagle, would sneak into man's domain and take away chickens and geese, young calves and sheep.  Man began to fear that the gifts of the gods would not be enough to save the farms he had built.
  One day, while searching for some game, a young man named D'ohgg came upon a wounded wolf laying on a trail.  From the deep scratches in the wolf's fur, D'ohgg could see that a bear had attacked the wolf.  Since men did not eat the flesh of wolves, D'ohgg was prepared to leave him to die on the trail.  But before D'ohgg could leave, the wolf opened its eyes and spoke to D'ohgg in the language of men.
  "Help me and you shall be repaid many times over." said the wolf.
  "You are a wolf," said D'ohgg. "You would eat my flocks if I helped you to survive."
  "Help me and I will protect your flocks from others of my kind, as will my offspring after me," said the wolf.
  Now D'ohgg knew very little about wolves, but he had never heard of one that spoke, and certainly not one that told falsehoods.  "Very well, wolf.  I shall take you to my home and care for you." D'ohgg lifted the great beast onto his shoulders and carried him all the way home.
  D'ohgg, though a simple farmer and hunter who lived alone, did all that he could to nurse the wolf back to health.  Over the next days, D'ohgg cleaned the wolfs wounds and fed him from the small game he hunted, as well as shared the meat from his flock of sheep when he butchered one.  D'ohgg's friends and neighbors thought him a fool for aiding the wolf.  "He will eat you when his strength returns." they warned him.  But D'ohgg tended and protected the wolf.  Wolf found that he liked cooked meat as well as raw, and enjoyed the warmth of the fire when the nights were cold.
  When his wounds had healed and he was strong again, he accompanied D'ohgg on his hunts as well as helped him in the fields.  Wolf was quick and clever, finding prey that D'ohgg could not, and flush them out.  In the field, wolf was able to outrun even the fastest of rams and keep the flock together.  True to his word, when other wolves came to prey on the sheep, wolf worked with D'ohgg to drive them away.  With the wolf's help, D'ohgg became prosperous, as he suffered fewer losses of his flocks, and was a more successful hunter.
  Finally, D'ohgg turned to wolf and said, "Your debt to me is well and truly paid, wolf, and you are free to leave or stay as you wish.  Know that you and your mate will always be welcome in my home."
  The wolf, pleased that his debt was paid thanked D'ohgg and ran back to the forest.  But when he found his pack, wolf learned he was no longer welcome among the other wolves, for he had aided man against them.  "Go away, man-friend, or we will slay you ourselves," they howled.
  Saddened at the loss of his pack, wolf turned to go back to the home of D'ohgg, where he knew he was welcome.  But before he went, his mate joined him to share in his exile, for as all men and beasts know, wolves mate for life.
  When the wolf and his mate arrived at D'ohgg's home, D'ohgg was first pleased, then afraid, for the other wolf was strange to him.  Wolf explained that this was his mate and she would not do him harm.  D'ohgg was greatly pleased to have both wolves, for he had not yet taken a wife and was lonely.  From that day on, D'ohgg was never alone, and wolf was always at his side.
  Over time, the two wolves changed, as did their offspring, becoming something new.  Perhaps it was a gift from the god of change, Morph.  In time, the wolves did not look like wolves at all.  When people saw the transformed wolves, some would say, "What are they?" to which other people who knew such things would say, "They are D'ohgg's."
  And so, to this day, the descendants of the wolf that was taken in by D'ohgg are called 'dogs', and no beast was ever as loyal or faithful or as good a friend to man.

