{The rune wolf is named as such, less so due to genealogical similarities to the common wolf but more due to it's familiar loping gait and pack tactics. Some believe that this beast was once an ordinary hound but it wandered too closely to a god shrine and became corrupted by its influence. The story fits with their tendency to roam around ruins and shrines as if they've been indoctrinated into servitude to the gods who inhabit these locations. The rune on the head of the rune wolf reflects the region in which you can find this wolf roaming. Each pack shares the same territory and markings and have been known to be extremely hostile to intruders and rival packs whose territory overlaps the territory claimed by another pack. Lacking eyes, the rune wolf relies on its excellent hearing to locate distant prey and uses the reticulation pits along íts snout for the terminal stage of the hunt. The armor plates and spikes found on rune wolves are not carapace or bone as first though but are in fact made of stone. The plates are also seamlessly bound to the underlying flesh suggesting that they are grown and not grafted. Without fur, rune wolves regulate their body temperature by means of biological furnace. Given their ability to see heat and the numerous "outlets" along their head, neck and chest it is thought that venting heat in different patterns and frequencies may be a means of silent communication amongst pack members. but there is a little bit of Fine fur covering their paws.}