Do you laugh when you see dire wolves? Do you think they are big, dumb cousins of normal wolves? Then you are stupid. Dire wolves are cunning and deadly. To them, your laughter says, "I am the next thing to fill your belly." Shelga laughed at dire wolves once. Now Shelga has one ear. Shelga is no longer stupid. Now Shelga is beastmaster of Kvatch, the city with the dire wolf banner. This is why Shelga spends much time taming dire wolves. — First thing. A dire wolf looks like a wolf. It moves like a wolf. It smells like a wolf. But it is not. It is a dire wolf. Sounds easy, but easy to forget. — — —