The War of the Stray Dog

One of the wars started by canines was the War of the Stray Dog in 1925 between Greece and Bulgaria. It is little known outside of Greece and Bulgaria, probably not even known anymore in those two countries. It is also well known amongst weres.

The common explanation for the war is that a young Greek troop ran out into the no-mans-land between the two lines and Bulgarian sentries shot him. One version also claims that a Greek captain was shot. Greece sent troops just over the border, into Bulgaria, and demanded compensation, 6 million drachmas, an official apology and punishment of the soldiers who shot the Greeks.

The real reason was a lovers' spat. The young Greek soldier who was shot was a weredog, as was the so-called stray dog. They had been defying weredog law by staying together, alternating and offsetting their human and dog phases, for quite a long time. No one is sure how long.

The troop, the male, was killed, but the dog, the female, was not. And she disappeared. No one knows where she went or what happened to her. Some weres say she died of a broken heart. But she didn't. I know now because I met her this weekend. She is Oliva and she is still not fond of Bulgarians.

The Benandanti and Malendanti

Fighting broke out in our pack AO for which we have to broker a cease fire. It is between old foes.

The benandanti were a secret society of common folk magicians who lived in Italy, the northeast area called Friuli. They did mainly good magic to help in harvests, heal the locals, lift curses, etc.

The malendanti were the other side of the coin, evil sorcerers with whom the benandanti regularly fought, especially at harvest times.

Both groups were said to be able to assume animal forms. You guessed it, they were weres, dogs and wolves.

Benandanti means “good walkers” and were of course a clan of weredogs. Malendanti means “evil walkers” and of course were a clan of werewolves.

These 2 clans had been at each others throats, in this same area, since the ancient war between weredogs and werewolves. Now they are here, in Missouri, and causing problems for our mill surveillance teams.

We met with the elders of the Benandanti pack. Wolves of our pack met with the Malendanti pack. I can't say things went well. But we did get an opening.

I met a female of that Ben pack while there. Her name is Oliva and is the first weredog or person who I have met who has started a war.

Search and Rescue

One of these dogs is a very old friend of mine.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/08/14/magazine/14Mag-rescue-dogs.html?emc=eta1#1

Bobby the Dog

My old friend, Bobby, sent me this painting recently, a link to it, actually.

Bobby was one of the few survivors of the Battle of Maiwand, 2nd Afghan War, 27 July, 1880

Bobby was owned at the time by Sgt Kelly of the 66th Foot, who perished as 1 of the 11 who held out to cover the retreat of the survivors of that disaster. All of those galliant 11 were killed. Bobby survived with the small force of survivors. That survival haunts him to this day, that he did not go off somewhere, shift, and return to the fight as man or were. It wouldn't have mattered in the end as he would have died with the rest.

Bobby returned to England, spent some time recovering, as dog and man, but eventually found himself back in war, this time in France, at the carnage of the Somme, Loos and Passchendaele. After that war he fled to Canada, found a remote cabin and has been there ever since, living a quite and shifting life ever since. I visited him on my recent travels, to get some critical information that only he possesses.

Bobby is like no other weredog I have ever known. Sometimes he seems more like a wise werewolf, sometimes a mangled man, sometimes a damaged weredog, and sometimes he is something entirely differently, for which I cannot find words.

Note: The above painting is by an artist named Rod McIver who paints and writes, and who has helped Bobby very much in overcoming and dealing with his demons. Rod's web site is here: http://www.herondance.org.

Talking Dog

This is not quite how it works with weres, but still it is funny.

A weredog would just sit there and act dumb, then get into the fridge that night, and blame it on the cat, or maybe one of the kids, if need be.

Need a Global Catastrophe

Went to a packing meeting last night. New meeting place. Not sure I like it. Too much exposure, but lots of meat. I went with Caitlyn, who has become very well known in the pack, despite her youth and size. She, I and Warin are going east this weekend to meet with surveillance teams on Missouri who are watching puppy mills.

There was some growling at the meeting last night, disagreements over how certain things should be handled, such as the mills, JSOWTs and regular patrol teams, and overall views on the world and on humans.

Some weredogs think that what mankind needs is a global catastrophe that would shake humans out of their collective self-absorption and corruption, not to wipe out the species, but to get you all back on track. This attitude is based on the belief that things have gotten too easy for humans, who have become way too numerous.

I don't, myself, subscribe to this belief. but I know some weredogs, and a whole lot of werewolves, who do. It is a fantasy that goes way back for werewolves, that an asteroid or geological event would slam the legs out from under mankind, forcing them to reexamine their priorities and pack perceptions. And you have to admit, humans seems to harbor this same fantasy. Look at all the books and movies about the demise of man, zombies and asteroids and aliens and viruses that wipe out the human race or come close to it. Waterworld is one of Jack's favorite movies. When he and the boys watch it I can always tells they think it would be a glamorous adventure, staying alive in a Waterworld future. Yeah. Right.

It has happened before.

Another big change is that the pack now includes werewolves. This is a result of the new and recent era or collaboration and alliance between weres in the interest of fighting the neos. Even though I am in love with a were, I still get edgy around them, strange werewolves, and tend not to trust them.

Joppa Road

I have a respectable portfolio which is the result of two and a half centuries of living and learning and investing. My portfolio is divided amongst numerous accounts and aliases. They are held in various investment companies and financial institutions. But they are all plugged into the weredog network.

The weredog network is global and provides for the support and cohesion of al packs and dogs, which both contribute funds and time and passion. If something were to happen to me my funds would not languish and be eaten up by a gluttonous brokerage house. They would be accessed by the weredog network and transfered into the network. And if a dog finds him or herself in a bad situation and without funds, anywhere in the world, that dog is a call or a howl away form support. I had reason to tap into this support several times on my recent travels.

Weredog financial networks are based on very old models which derive from before man, when managing resources for large packs, such as food, also from Ancient Greece, a time greatly loved by werelore, and from the Crusades.

Joppa Road was the 40 mile stretch between the port city of Joppa and Jerusalem. During the Crusades it was considered the most dangerous 40 miles of road in the known world, known to Europeans, of course. Most Christian pilgrims landed at Joppa and traveled those 40 miles to Jerusalem. And many of them perished on that road.

The Templar Knights first formed to provide protection to pilgrims along Joppa Road. They were just 10 in the beginning, 10 men wanting to make a difference (and maybe a little bored). There were always at least 3 of them on that road, running security patrols.

5 of those 10 original knights were weredogs.

The ranks grew, then swelled. Crusaders joined the Templars, and the Hopitalers and Teutonic orders also, by the thousands. Weredogs were part of that throng.

Many weredogs started cycling through their dog-man phases without ever leaving the Templars. They fought on as man, then dog, then man, etc, without leaving the order. The Templars and Teutonic Knights have a very strong tradition and legacy within werelore. It is said that there were even a number of werewolves who joined clandestinely.

When the Crusades ended the Templars and the other orders returned to Europe to find new religious wars. The Templars were spread out all over Europe. The Templar financial system covered Europe and was the first international banking system. Templars were advisers and financiers to the kings and queens of Europe.

When Philip IV of France conducted his Templar pogrom in 1307, and seized all Templar assets in France, most of the Templar system survived, as other kings gave sanctuary to their Templars. Templar weredogs took note of that experience, of Philip's treachery and of how Templar assets, even some within France, survived.

We still run our network on that basic model, and it works well. I have not had to call on that support very often in my life, but I did, 5 times, over the past year, in my travels, and I can tell you the network extends everywhere, not just in Europe, but also in the Middle East and Asia.

Some people would say this sounds like socialism. But we weredogs are just following the laws of the pack, our survival instincts and the modern logics for networking and support. It is the same in all armies or any tightly-knit group that has a mission.