Wolves of Fortune

Wolves of Fortune: Reign of the Black Diamonds is an original series of short stories of 7 - 12 pages each in length by Grifter Timber Wolf, containing fifteen short stories written between the years 2004 and 2006 in which three friends use the power of nature and their own beliefs as furries to transform and use the powers of the elements to defeat evil.

Synopsis
Four warriors rise to their legacy as they claim the powers of the elements in order to defeat the reign of the Black Diamonds. The Black Diamonds are used to summon monsters deep within the hearts of ordinary people, the purer the heart the more powerful the enemy. Three guardians begin the story and gain a dragon as an ally from a former enemy. They learn of six elemental guardians, their ancestors that give them their power. The elements are Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Light and Shadow.

Traveling to Egypt, Painless uncovered the plot of five different people to use the diamonds to summon forth their master Shroud from the darkness, inadvertently he awakens to the witness of Painless, who is staked up as a sacrifice to the dark lord. Painless breaks free and escapes only to come across a green sceptre buried in the sand and with it two others, one red and the other blue. He receives a message from his ancestor, delivered as an illusion through his mind and gains the ability to transform into a black wolf with the powers over the element of Earth. He barely manages to escape the construction of an enormous dark temple in the middle of the desert. After he escapes back to the United States, his mate Grifter senses something happened and in his distraction their jeep is thrown over by a woman who was turned into a giant monster by one of the Black Diamonds. Painless attacks, but finds his powers are useless against her, Grifter finds the blue scepter and it responds to him, allowing him to transform into a gray timber wolf, the Guardian of Water teams up with his mate to destroy the diamond and return the woman to normal. The third Guardian, Taiho is uncovered when he is attacked by his mate who was possessed by a black diamond in a ploy to lure the two others out into the open. Instead, when the red scepter reacts, Taiho transforms into the red wolf and Guardian of Fire.

The trio decide to leave their home in Colorado and travel to the home of Grifter's grandmother in Smithon, Illinois, along the way they have more encounters with their enemies and after they get there, Grifter learns his grandmother knows more about their situation than she had ever let on before. She gives Grifter a talisman called the Book of Tides that furthers their power when they are able to summon weapons from their own talismans, uncovered throughout their adventure. In a plot to turn Grifter against his friends, and take revenge on a fallen General, Mever, the remaining of the Glass Twin Sisters uses the power of darkness to turn Grifter evil. Witnessing this, and seeing the torment suffered by his father, Shroud at the hands of the main antagonist Abysno, the dragon defects to the side of the Guardians and awakens as the Guardian of Air and Light, taking his place as rightful leader of the wolves. Eventually the three of them turn Grifter back to the right side and they destroy another of the Generals. A powerful spell sends the Guardians to four different points of time and space in the set of four stories called "The Road Divided." Shard gains a love interest in medieval England in a woman named Emily, though she is not mentioned in the rest of the stories. Taiho stops a band of outlaws in the Old West who were responsible for the deaths of an Indian tribe. Painless finds his way through a dark maze of booby traps and deadly encounters in a mid-1980s cavern, and Grifter looses his memory then regains it in time to stop the villain Toxic, leaving him trapped in a human body and asylum when they encounter each other in some distant future.

Upon returning to the present, the Guardians find that Shroud had taken over the entire planet during their absence, and inevitably destroy the house that had been given to Grifter by his grandmother before she died. They launch a strike against them, and Shard encounters his weapon; the Lance of Zeus and uses it to fight and defeat his father, trapping Abysno in a crystal hopefully for all time. Due to the massive destruction of the world, the Guardians use their elemental powers to turn back time, reverting everything to a point before the diamonds were discovered. With Abysno, the source of the diamonds trapped, the diamonds were never encountered and an alternate history is produced instantaneously. To avert a paradox, the Guardians witness as alternate versions of themselves continue their normal lives, and they themselves are transported to another dimension in which they can live in an elemental paradise for all time.

Fan art/fan fiction
At this time there have been no fan art or writing contributions to this series as it is not well known. Currently the series resides on Grifter Timber Wolf page's at Fur Affinity. Any responses would be welcome regarding the series and any corrections to this page you feel need to be added, please contact Grifter via email or via instant messaging, also located at Grifter's Fur Affinity page.

Publishing
Publishing of "Wolves of Fortune" is currently in production starting in 2007 by FurPlanet.

The book can currently be published online at: http://furplanet.com/shop/item.asp?itemid=179

The cover price is $9.95 plus shipping from FurPlanet.com

Spinoff series synopsis
The series Roads of Fortune is the second series in the trilogy Full Title: "Roads of Fortune: Quest for the Zodiac Crystals"

After defeating Shroud and Abysno and being transported to a paradise world where they could live out their lives peacefully, the Guardians are abrupted again from their peace as Abysno rises again from the darkness. Abysno seemingly destroys Taiho and Shard, who give Painless and Grifter time to escape. They too become separated and Grifter finds himself on a world named Limbros, which is a dimension between the Earth and the Stars. He learns that in order to banish Abysno's evil from the world, he must find and collect all 12 Zodiac Crystals as well as find Painless and the two new Guardians.

Roads of Fortune (Reboot) Full Title: "Roads of Fortune" Writing: Grifter Timber Wolf Artwork: Jaden Heartdancer

A comic project is in the works that will fashion as a full series reboot in which Grifter Wolf, Painless Wolf, Jaden Heartdancer as fictionalized versions of themselves with the powers of Water, Earth and Fire, and must save the world from Abysno and his minions who seek to make him coporeal by stealing the souls of humans. A fourth warrior named Shard (an original character) will join the battle as the Lightning Warrior.

Tentatively, the series will be told in three arcs, spanning events reflected in Wolves of Fortune and Roads of Fortune: Quest for the Zodiac Crystals A Kickstarter will be available in order to fund the project, as well as a Patreon site for digital versions of the comic and behind-the-scenes extras.