Acuerdo

In pre-Inustani civilization, inujin formed tightly-knit hunting packs called acuerdos (literally meaning 'pact' or 'contract'). Inujin traveled across their territories swiftly on powerful legs, bursting up to 35 miles per hour on an approach of their prey. The tails were used to communicate messages silently among the acuerdo, and their forward-facing ears and sensitive olfactory functions made for efficient hunting. Unfortunately, this has left most inujin with fairly bad eyesight when compared to humans.

Towards the beginning of their civilizations, the inujin would collect teeth or small bones of their kills as proof of valor. The teeth would be distributed among the members of the acuerdo, or, if there were only one 'trophy,' it would be given to the leader, known as the lupus--a term which has endured within the Inustani to this day.

Within the acuerdo, loyalty was the order of things. The lupus did what was best for the acuerdo and the rest of the acuerdo acted on behalf of the lupus, trusting his judgment. On very rare occasions, if the lupus's judgment would fall into question, the acuerdo might call a new lupus into power, believing the newer to have better judgment with regard to the acuerdo's welfare. In these cases, the lupus would generally serve the will of the acuerdo and step down peacefully. On even rarer occasions, the questioned lupus would believe his methods to be superior regardless of the opinions of his acuerdo. In these cases--which are rarely spoken, of, out of shame--the lupus was removed by merciless lethal force, and left to rot in the wilds, without even a Death Ceremony, or 'Usanza de Muerte.'

Females and males had fairly distinct roles in the acuerdo. The males would do the scouting for the prey in harder times, and indicate, usually by tail motion, the location of the prey. The females would then move to surround the prey, and bring it down. Females were elected as lupus as often as males, given a reprieve in times of pregnancy, called 'the birth period,' or 'hora de nacimiento.' In these cases, the pregnant female, though expected to keep up with the pack, was allowed to simply partake of the bounty of hunts, not necessarily needing to be part of the hunt itself (though, especially early in the pregnancy, the female would still contribute). Young were treated similarly--though expected to keep up fairly well, the acuerdo would usually slow a bit to compensate; the young usually simply watched the hunt and ate of it, not participating until their second or third year.

As the years passed, most of these ideals remained and were adapted to advancing civilization. Small, seven-to-ten-member acuerdos banded together to form clans (today's major clans, today's minor clans), presiding over larger territories called marks. The lupi of the acuerdos chose a lupus for the clan, though the acuerdo-lupi were still allowed some influence over the proceedings of the clan. A great many clans were formed over the territory later to be called Inustan this way, and ruled for many years.