HIERARCHY

Those under the title "Dominant" share a great deal of their influence with the Council and the Legates. Both of these ranks help forumlate strategies, plans, and orders which the Dominant is counted on to finalize, basically serving as the head diplomat. They are typically those who have planned on themselves to initially gather the people, those who were given the title by lineage, or those who have been chosen by the people (all of which relies on the story at this point). They have the ability to promote and demote, to welcome and exile, and have absolute word over the other units. That is, so long as the people don't rebel!

The Council acts as the right hand to the Dominants, and are usually addresses with equal reverence. If a Dominant is unable to be present, they are the first to stand in for them, as they know the group's ethics and morals by heart. A councilor's responsibilities can be relatively versatile, serving as ambassadors, advisors, and may even assign tasks to others if necessary. They provide supplementary and additional advice and support to the Dominants, ensure safety and well-being of the pack, and are counted on to give out orders when their higher-ups aren't able to.

Legate are, more or less, the left paw of the Dominants. However, they have a much more limited range of authority than both Dominant and Council. They are chosen from the most excelling among the three units: Healers, Pursuants, and Guardians, and are required to carry out orders given by the Dominants and the Councils. They are also responsible for the Initiates and how they are trained; whether they are taught in bulk, assigned to mentors, or both. The Legate are named after what they do. They ground, inform, represent; familiarize their higher-ups the needs and concerns of their units. Usually, Legate can be seen as representatives for the units that they govern, especially in important discussions. Just as importantly, their responsibility is to provide both higher-ups and units with knowledge, and therefore protection from the outside forces, and do so as well as they can muster

The Healers of the pack are menders of all sorts, possessing a very unique talent to fix almost all who may ail. They apply medical knowledge and skills to the diagnosis, prevention, and management of injuries. They have many ways of actually healing their fellow pack-mates from their wounds, mostly through herbs, berries, mixtures, and poultices. Some Healers are able to share with others on how to deal with mentally or emotional troubles, create a sense of balance for others, and generally provide guidance and direction for those in need. Skilled at mending wounds physical, within, and sometimes even both, Healers provide guidance to not just the members of the pack, but their regal persons as well.

The Pursuants are the lithe, quick canines of the pack who can jump high to navigate through steep forests, who are fast enough to snatch a rabbit, who are strong enough to take down a wild boar, or are clever and observant enough to track them both down. The canines with this title are required to do one thing: use their tracking skills to find their prey, and use their brute force to take it down. Some Pursuants are assigned to different tasks according to their individual abilities, mostly taking roles of tracking, gathering, or fishing, or sometimes all three if they're a certain jack of all trades. They may also be equipped with a variety of skills such as stealth, strategy, as well as camouflage in order to get food. It is another responsibility of theirs to feed, for the nursing parents, the young, and the old, and everyone else in between. Normally Pursuants travel in teams when taking down larger prey, and during these parties a Guardian or two often accompanies in case trouble arises.

Guardians are usually the thick, strong, and lean canines that guard the territory and protect those within it. They patrol the territory's borders with simply one mission in mind: protect and secure the territory. Guardians may bring along a few skilled Pursuants with them, especially when embarking on long expeditions. Skilled navigators may be found in both the Pursuant and Guardian ranks; the difference is the type of combat they are trained for. Guardians are the main fighting force of the pack, and have plentiful knowledge in heavy combat. Their unusually slippery wit and clever antics are more useful than not and are certainly noticed, for anything and everything they uncover on their rounds are reported to their Legate, and on to the Dominants themselves. Guardians are usually chosen as Initiates; however, some have managed to prove themselves other ways. They, the Pursuants, and the Itinerants are all equal in their job to maintain the pack.

The Itinerants take up the excess tasks of the pack, and although they may not be in any specialized, formal rank, their presence is most certainly beneficial when it comes to the menial tasks that the other units may be to busy to take care of. They are the errand-runners, the side-kicks, and the assistants, for extra help can always be needed. These canines are fundamentally ordinary individuals who aren't really members of any specific unit, and are also commonly found with the nursing canines, keeping the youth out of trouble, and running errands for the Healers.

Initiates are in no way unworthy, but are either too young to take on the duties of a higher ranking position, or are simply too inexperienced for much else and are working to change that. They are to be trained by the Legate, Councils, and the mentors of the unit they are training until they have reached adult age or can show experience necessary for a higher rank. While their agenda would usually say "train" in a continuous, unchanging list, the duties of these canines also may include helping those in the unit they're preparing to join or partaking assessments.

Until a canine has been accepted into the pack, they roam the lands a loner. They have little to no formal privileges and are owed absolutely little to no authority until their acceptance is deemed worthy by the Legates, Councilors, Dominants, and sometimes even the rest of the population. If hunting or trespassing on marked territory, they might want to be a bit wary, as the Pursuants and Guardians are highly trained in what they do.