Avali Pack

Currently unofficial lore, and in progress.

This page is WiP, you can contribute to its writing by discussion in its various threads on discord.

Avali Packs

Avali work within packs, and the main contribution to society and how others process them are done in a pack. What a pack is is defined differently depending on culture and region, but there are some universal ways in which packs are defined and operate.

Notably, packs are largely how avali function in a way productive to society. If a task is assigned, it is assigned to packs rather than individuals. It is extremely rare for an individual to make a solo, notable contribution to larger society - and the vast majority of credit and recognition is directed towards packs. Packs with few exceptions share resources, housing, and productivity direction.

Avali generally require packs to stay organized in thought and action, as well as propping up emotional well being and stability. An individual avali is still quite capable, but it is never considered appropriate to task a single avali to something outside of their pack.

Pack Bonding

Avali bond to their packs, forming an emotional connection and dependence on those in the pack. Avali tend to naturally start looking for pack members very young - as soon as they're able to communicate in any way. While bonding does happen naturally, in more organized society young avali grow up around each other in hatcheries where they are observed for natural bonding behavior, and then are given more time with the avali they seem to be bonding to.

Pack Loss

When an avali in a pack is cut off or lost from a pack, avali have an intense emotional reaction that - when gone untreated - can result in significant emotional and cognitive decay. This is called "pack loss" and it is something most avali go through at least once in their lives. An avali who is experiencing pack loss is extremely susceptible to outbursts of anger, sadness, or depression and are often treated very gently by those around them. They also tend to be susceptible to catastrophic or delusional negative thinking - and going after untreated for too long - can experience psychosis and complete loss of grasp on reality.

Treatment

While it is possible to get through pack loss without direct treatment, generally avali require outside help to get through pack loss. Treatment for pack loss varies culturally, but tends to include medication, finding a new pack, as well as therapeutic techniques. Modern techniques for pack loss treatment can result in a very swift recovery from the loss, and medication developed for pack loss has been developed and refined more than most other medications.

Pack loss is always difficult, and has not fully been "solved" by medication and treatment, however it is no longer considered to be an extremely disruptive thing - only tending to require recovery time measured in weeks instead of months or years.

Historical Treatment

While treatment for pack loss has been greatly streamlined by modern techniques, there do are situations where these resources aren't available or are refused. The general mentality when dealing with pack loss without modern treatment involves a mentality around comfort and celebration.

The afflicted avali will be kept with another or several other avali in a quiet space, with consistent physical comfort. In this space, the songs or words or creative works of the lost packmate are slowly introduced in a very soft and subtle manner, building up to asking the afflicted avali to participate in recreating them as best as they can - asking them to either hum them, write words, draw things out - whatever is the strongest association.

Once the avali is able to function again after a few days of this soft treatment, there is a very concentrated effort to celebrate the works and expression of the lost, to give their music or voice or works a way to continue forward and celebrate the space they took up. When the afflicted avali is able to start showing signs of joy in these expressions, there is work to bring their expressions of creativity and affection into permanent memory. Their creative works are then brought into the afflicted avali's creative works, combining and making them a part of their own expression - highlighting that the lost is still part of them and feeling their presence in a joyful way.

After the afflicted avali is in this state and is able to find joy in the memory of the lost's work, the actual loss is able to start being processed slowly - working through the avali's emotions about it. This work is only continued while there is a capacity for cheer, allowing them to process each part on their own basis.

Reintegration into productive cycles are largely determined by the avali experiencing loss, with only gentle pushes to open up more.

It is possible for an avali to go through these things themselves and largely guide their own recovery, however this is extremely rare and avali have always evolved to assist others when they experience this loss.

Pack Broken

An avali who is completely cut off from their pack and is without one is considered to be pack broken. Being pack broken is an extremely urgent state, and an avali who is pack broken needs consistent care and company to begin to recover. Treatment for a pack broken avali is very similar to an avali experiencing pack loss - but greater intention and care is given to how it is treated. Ideally, the pack broken avali would receive treatment from or in company with the pack that they would eventually join. The symptoms of being pack broken are similar to the symptoms of pack loss, but happen much more swiftly and can easily result in permanant disability if not treated swiftly and with intensive care.

While it is very uncommon for an avali in the modern era to experience fully being pack broken, in more intense areas where it is slightly more likely for it to happen it can result in swaths of avali who are pack broken and permanently effected. Going untreated, being pack broken for long peroids of time can result in delusional, violent, or otherwise extremely unstable avali.

Pack Resistence

Pack resistance is a rare condition where an individual avali is unable to bond with a pack, and can happen as a result of lack of treatment for intense pack loss or as a result of being pack broken for too long. This is considered a disability, and is fairly rare. An avali with pack resistance is often very aloof, difficult to speak to, and is prone to lying or otherwise engaging in antisocial behavior. Pack resistance is curable, however the techniques in curing it are not always effective.

Innate Pack Resistance

In extremely rare cases, an avali has pack resistance from birth and is unable to bond. Innate Pack Resistance (IPR) results in an avali who has a lot of issues integrating into larger society, and tends to result in an avali that can function but is often considered to contribute far less than they would in a pack. As this is extremely rare, avali with IPR tend to be extremely misunderstood.

Behaviorally, IPR tends to make an avali prone to desiring isolation or otherwise being antisocial - often developing fears of other avali. Symptoms of IPR tend to include paranoia, dellusional thinking, intrusive thoughts, and a phobia of vulnerability both from themselves and others. Avali with IPR tend to experience a lighter version of pack loss consistently, and while it is possible to live with an be happy with this disability, most with IPR tend to struggle immensely as society is not built with them in mind. It is possible for an avali with IPR to eventually be cured, but this only happens rarely. IPR tends to result in avali who leave society and dissapear in some manner - their internal fears and/or poor treatment from society driving them away.

Avali with IPR tend to be considered as a pack individually - though a largely dysfunctional and unproductive one.

Pack Organizations

Within avali society, there are many cultural ways to form and organize packs. Most packs tend to fall into one of two categories - though it should be understood that how a pack is organized is largely modified by the tribes that they are a part of, the individuals in the pack, and the culture that surrounds them.

Static Packs

Most avali in more developed society participate in a static pack - these are packs that, in general, do not shift members often and are generally either assigned very young, or formed in adolescence. These packs tend to specialize in one area of expertise to make their contributions, and tend to result in a group of extremely close avali who spend their lives together.

Static packs do bring in new members, especially in cases where an avali is pack broken and needs a new place to be. These types of new integrations can be difficult because an avali shifting between packs tends to need additional emotional support from new pack members. The requirement for emotional support does often help in pack bonding, and this process tends to be smooth in cases where an avali is able to find or is assigned to new pack swiftly. Avali from packs with similar specializations are generally assigned to packs with the same or a similar specialization so that integration can happen quickly.

Dynamic Packs

Packs shifting in form is less common, but some cultures form around this type of pack bonding. Dynamic packs are more fluid, and generally occur when the larger tribe is very emotionally close. As everyone bonds freely, avali can leave and join different packs within the tribe without much fanfare or issue. It is very rare that this structure includes avali outside of a tribe.

The dynamic pack paradigm tends to form in areas where pack loss is common, when shifts are inevitable and expected. Dynamic packs are much more resilient to changes caused by pack loss, and tend towards being able to integrate and bond with new pack members swiftly. These style of packs generally have a few individual relationships that form the core, and loss of one of those core members tends to be felt more harshly, more resembling a static pack in the loss - though what could be considered the core of the pack is not static and is also loosely defined.

Because a tribe where packs are dynamic necessarily encourage avali to generalize in skill, this can often stifle speed of innovation and productivity in exchange for its resiliency. This also results in a single pack being assigned many different kinds of tasks depending on its members. Tribes that are dynamic tend to be less organized in purpose, but have a lore more awareness of avali as individuals as every pack has to adjust to the strengths and weaknesses of who is in the pack at the moment.

Individual Avali Dynamics

Despite being dependent on packs for emotional stability, function, and organization- avali can have deep personal lives as well, with rich interpersonal relationships and projects of their own. While avali can struggle with feeling overwhelmed if individually tasked with too much, they often take a level of joy in finding some kind of specialty or craft to focus on as an individual.

Common among avali is the exploration of self - society is largely based in pack dynamics, and it is common to have a little time away from that for self exploration. Avali do not tend to police others in these explorations, as power and societal changes happen in groups. It does not shift power if an individual avali goes against convention, and there would be little incentive to try to bring arbitrary traits "in line" with the rest of society. It is widely accepted that it is okay not to understand the actions of an individual you know, and very common not to evaluate beyond that. Relationships between avali can be heavily varied and complex- beyond packs and tribes there are very few well defined paths to follow.

A single avali is likely to find some refreshment in getting lost in a personal project or having very rich relationships with those around them. Creative projects are the most common, and creative endeavors are generally accepted as something that most avali do. Performance can be common, but creation for creation's sake is the most common form. Avali often do not record or save personal creative works, and how an individual is processed by those around them is often informed by their consistent creative expression and how that has evolved over time.

It is not uncommon for individual avali to take interest in hobbies that are less traditionally creative. Many of the ideas individuals have and play around with - technologically or culturally - become pack projects to then be grown into a proper invention or use for society. Tinkering is very common as a personal hobby, and many packs utilize the scrappy hobby projects of their more technically inclined pack members.