Hintegrund der Welt - Breeds, Stämme usw.
Verfasst: 24 Dez 2014 11:11
Hope…is a funny thing. 20 years ago I would have told you that the Apocalypse is coming, that we are losing the war. But now? We are getting even with our enemies. It’s still not IT, but hey we have people like you to carry the torch when we are gone. And so we have hope that we won't be the last. – Jeremiah Moonkill, Philodox Elder of the Crying Waters sept
Ok! Listen up pups! This is important, take notice and try not to forget it, or you’ll run errands for old Paws-of-Iron ‘till you drop dead. As you may have noticed or not, you are the youngest members of this here sept. What’s a sept? Well it’s every ‘wolf that lives in a caern, and don’t tell me that you don’t know what a caern is.
WE are Garou, skinchangers, werewolves. But we aren’t all the same, mind you. Let’s start from the very top. We are members of the Garou Nation, it’s not a nation with borders but more like an extended tribe, like the Navaho for example. Almost every Garou is a member. Who isn’t? Well small groups here and there like the Hakken in Japan or the Kucha Ekundu in Africa. So as you can see it’s the distance. The Garou Nation consists of 14 Tribes, I will speak about them later. The tribes are of regional origin, for example the Fianna are of Celtic heritage and the Get are of Germanic, not German, heritage. There are two exemptions from this rule, the Furies and the Talons, the former is an all girls club and the latter a tribe of wolves. The Tribes themselves are divided into groups, some official some not. Here’s where our own divisions end, the rest was made by Luna and we can’t change it, not that we want to.
Every Tribe is divided into two Breeds, Homid and Lupus. The third? What Third? This third. There is a third Breed, the Metis, and it’s completely new to us. Metis are born out of a union of two werewolves, something that was impossible earlier. We don’t know what they can do but their blessings seem to be different from those of other breeds. The Homids come from human stock and have been raised in the human culture, the Lupus come from wolves. Every tribe has Homid and Lupus members save for the Talons, they are all Lupus, besides them the Walkers seem to have less and less Lupus among them.
Every single one of us belongs to a lunar auspice, it’s 50% a job and 50% our natural calling. There are five of them all tied to Luna and her phases.
The first one is Ragabash, I’m one of them, we serve the Nation as spies, tricksters, scouts and make sure the rest does not take itself too seriously. Every Ragabash was born under the no moon, those born under the waning moon are known for their grim paws-on approach and those born under the waxing moon are quite easy going with their duties.
The second is Theurge, the mystics and ghost-talkers, they are responsible for the rites and our spiritual side. We may be Luna’s warriors but we need to pay our respects to the spirits and the theurges make sure of that. All theurges are born under the sickle moon, those born under the waning moon force the spirits into submission and those born under the waxing moon are great diplomats among the spirits.
The third and sometimes most important is the Philodox, the peace-keeper and judge. Philodox make sure our rage does not get the better of us and that we follow the rules. It’s harder than you think it is. Philodox are born under the half moon, waning moon Philodox are perfectionists trying to get everything right while waxing moon Philodox are aloof and detached, trying to be always objective.
The fourth is the Galliard, the storyteller and record keeper. Besides making sure we don’t forget what we are, they give us the edge by reminding us of ancient times and by using parables help to clear away planning obstacles in our way. They’ll also chew your ear off with legends and other not really interesting stuff. Try not to look bored when they speak, they hit almost as hard as the Ahroun. Waning moons are all doom and gloom, warfare and bloodshed. Waxing moons are happy hippies singing about sunny things and better days.
Last and never the least are the mighty Ahroun, our warriors and bullet stoppers. In a race of warriors they are at the top, when it comes to glory and short life-spans. I have frightened you, didn’t I? Don’t be, every single Ahroun is a defiant finger shown to the Wyrm, he’s the guy who comes to deal with the ‘yard bully. Without them we would not exist. Waning moon Ahroun are dominant and often become leaders, waxing moon Ahroun are cauldrons brimming with rage wishing to constantly prove themselves in a fight.
We have dealt with the breeds and the auspices, so now it's time to deal with the tribes. There are 14 tribes in the Garou nation, we lost two, and there are offshoots of some of the 14 elsewhere in the world. The lost tribes are the Bunyip and the White Howlers. Due to the machinations of the wyrm we murdered the Bunyip, we failed to see them as who they were, Gaia's servants in a land so foreign to us that we have seen their adaptation as a corruption. What was it? They bred with thylacines, marsupial wolves. Since they died we started to avoid the umbra in Australia, the spirits there hate us for it. The White Howlers never truly died, they serve the Wyrm now as the Dancers of the Black Spiral. They thought they could defeat him and went to fight him in his realm, he corrupted them on their way and when they finally arrived they pledged themselves to him.
The proud fourteen are:
Black Furies, fighting amazons of Gaia. They first appeared when Man decided to subdue Woman and take away her rights. The Furies come from all over now starting with India and ending in South America. They have no male members, no exceptions.
Bone Gnawers, the underdogs of the nation, literally. They live mostly in the cities and keep an eye on those humans who are poor and downtrodden. They know their back yard well, so never try to outrun them on their home turf.
Children of Gaia are our pacifistic flower sniffing brothers and sisters. They want to love and tolerate the living hell out of the Wyrm, until it collapses and becomes normal again. They are also some the best people to go to when you need healing or want to organize a movement, for they are legendary for both.
Ahh, the Fianna, a bunch of drunk-warrior poets looking for glory and fun. They originally hailed from the British Isles, France and Spain, but now you can find them anywhere, so long as there is alcohol on the table and potential mates around. They do know how to fight, so don't think about any stupid challenges.
The Get of Fenris are the surly Germanic brothers to the Fianna, both tribes have a happy history filled with inter tribal conflict and bloodshed. They like to party less and fight more, in fact they often combine those two. They hailed from Scandinavia and Germany at first, but through tribal migrations they also established themselves in England and Northern America.
Glass Walkers are the other tribe living in the city, but contrary to the Gnawers the Glass Walkers live comfortably and in style. They have a great and eerie understanding of technology and are in cahoots with many spirits which defected from the Weaver. Where they started, nobody knows, not even them.
The Red Talons are the only tribe that has only Lupus inside, recently they gained a few Metis due to unforeseen “events”, guess how that happened? They are a very small tribe, but are never outgunned when it comes to fighting the Wyrm. You can find them in the most remote places, if you are willing to die for poking your nose where it doesn't belong.
Shadow Lords try to be two things at once, the sneakiest bastards and the most cunning leaders, sometimes they succeed and sometimes they fail. But what they always do is to be a thorn in the Silver Fang backside, reminding them that top dogs have to have more than just a pedigree. They like to breed with dominant people, so they established themselves in eastern Europe, the Balkans and the Iberian peninsula, where dominance just hangs in the air.
Silent Striders were our Egyptian cousins, they have lost their homeland to the vampires, and during their wanderings they mixed with similar nomadic groups like the Berbers, the Turks and the Mongols. They serve as a messenger tribe, which brings sensitive news from caern to caern, in exchange we support them in any way we can, mostly by throwing whatever they need at them.
Silver Fangs are our leaders, they are the kings and queens of a warrior people. Their name comes from the fact that their coats are silver. They act all like nobles and our betters, though many Tribes have bloodlines of kings in them, most notably the Fianna and the Shadow Lords. They first hailed from Europe, but have spread to America and the Middle East.
Stargazers are the eleventh tribe, they hail from Asia and originated in India and Nepal, many now come from such exotic places like San Francisco or Seattle. From all the tribes they are the ones that tend to be deeply spiritual and often meditate before taking actions, they also are contemptuous of possessions and money, so good luck finding them having jobs. They also split their membership between the nation and the Hengeyokai Courts in Asia.
The last three tribes are brothers, they all hail from northern America and all hate the rest of us for wrecking their paradise, or at least that's what their most radical members say.
The first native tribe, also called Older Brother, are the Uktena. They made themselves at home in the south-west and mixed with tribes like the Navaho and Apache. They are masters of magic and secrets, it is said they once captured all Wyrm spirits in America into a net and still keep a few captured.
The second and most respected are the Croatan, or Middle Brother. Once they were mixed with tribes of the East like the Algonquin and Powhatan, but after their people died out or mixed with others, they choose the most honorable of the colonists as their mates, now many of them wear the simple garb of the Amish or speak with a Virginian accent. They are some of the greatest judges the Garou Nation has and are known for fair judgments.
The third tribe and Youngest Brother are the Wendigo of the north. Where the Croatan keep to honorable action and the Uktena nurture the wisdom of secrets, the Wendigo revel in the glory of battle. Their hearts are cold and unmoving and only bloodshed in the name of Gaia can move their rage. They are also to only tribe in the whole nation that keeps it's blood untainted by foreigners, no Wendigo has been ever born to a non-native it is said.
So, this have been the Garou. But we are not alone in this world, there are things that are both more and less than us. We all serve Gaia, she is the all-mother, she is life. She has created us to fight for her, we are her warriors, and it's our duty to protect our mother. Under her is the Triat, three mighty beings that are like living ideas that can influence the world.
The Wyld was until recently the only member of the Triat that was still serving Gaia, but no more, it has been driven into a mindless rage, pushed by the other members of the Triat into near extinction. Now the very force of creation spawns forth earthquakes and whirlwinds, plagues of resistant illnesses, all in order to survive and put some sort of “balance” back into the Triat. The problem lies in the fact that like other members of the Triat the Wyld isn't really thinking. It just creates in reaction to its current situation. And so, many innocents die because tsunami waves don't really recognize what's good and what's bad and tornadoes don't avoid hospitals and orphanages. When it turned from Gaia we were given a new prophecy, the tale of the metis, Garou born to two Garou, their birth announced through the Umbra that the Garou would not fall.
The second part of the Triat, the Weaver, has driven itself mad due to her own limited ability to perceive the world. She is order, the desire to have everything in shape and form. She wants to make the whole world ordered, even the other members of the Triat, but how can you make chaos into order without changing reality? She has bound the Wyrm into her webs and almost killed the Wyld through humans, yes, them. They are her greatest servants, their cities are the will of the Weaver made flesh. The humans don't know that though. Through her desire to control and bring order, she got poisoned by the Wyrm, so don't fool yourself by thinking she's not our enemy. At least some of her servants can be reasoned with.
The Wyrm is the last member of the Triat. He is entropy, the balancer of scales. He ends order through destruction so that chaos can create something new. At least he should do that, now he is just a power of corruption and destruction. He is trying to destroy the Weaver's webs that bind him, so that he can become himself again. But how can you return to what you were, after an eternity in a prison of your own rage? He kills the Wyld with every oil spill, he hurts the Weaver through making humans miserable through the soulless corporations he corrupted. But it's not enough, so he rages some more and we face his minions trying to stop the tide of destruction that threatens to kill us all and destroy Gaia itself. Among all three he is our greatest opponent. And our greatest hope, for if he frees himself we may be able to balance the scales.
Ok! Listen up pups! This is important, take notice and try not to forget it, or you’ll run errands for old Paws-of-Iron ‘till you drop dead. As you may have noticed or not, you are the youngest members of this here sept. What’s a sept? Well it’s every ‘wolf that lives in a caern, and don’t tell me that you don’t know what a caern is.
WE are Garou, skinchangers, werewolves. But we aren’t all the same, mind you. Let’s start from the very top. We are members of the Garou Nation, it’s not a nation with borders but more like an extended tribe, like the Navaho for example. Almost every Garou is a member. Who isn’t? Well small groups here and there like the Hakken in Japan or the Kucha Ekundu in Africa. So as you can see it’s the distance. The Garou Nation consists of 14 Tribes, I will speak about them later. The tribes are of regional origin, for example the Fianna are of Celtic heritage and the Get are of Germanic, not German, heritage. There are two exemptions from this rule, the Furies and the Talons, the former is an all girls club and the latter a tribe of wolves. The Tribes themselves are divided into groups, some official some not. Here’s where our own divisions end, the rest was made by Luna and we can’t change it, not that we want to.
Every Tribe is divided into two Breeds, Homid and Lupus. The third? What Third? This third. There is a third Breed, the Metis, and it’s completely new to us. Metis are born out of a union of two werewolves, something that was impossible earlier. We don’t know what they can do but their blessings seem to be different from those of other breeds. The Homids come from human stock and have been raised in the human culture, the Lupus come from wolves. Every tribe has Homid and Lupus members save for the Talons, they are all Lupus, besides them the Walkers seem to have less and less Lupus among them.
Every single one of us belongs to a lunar auspice, it’s 50% a job and 50% our natural calling. There are five of them all tied to Luna and her phases.
The first one is Ragabash, I’m one of them, we serve the Nation as spies, tricksters, scouts and make sure the rest does not take itself too seriously. Every Ragabash was born under the no moon, those born under the waning moon are known for their grim paws-on approach and those born under the waxing moon are quite easy going with their duties.
The second is Theurge, the mystics and ghost-talkers, they are responsible for the rites and our spiritual side. We may be Luna’s warriors but we need to pay our respects to the spirits and the theurges make sure of that. All theurges are born under the sickle moon, those born under the waning moon force the spirits into submission and those born under the waxing moon are great diplomats among the spirits.
The third and sometimes most important is the Philodox, the peace-keeper and judge. Philodox make sure our rage does not get the better of us and that we follow the rules. It’s harder than you think it is. Philodox are born under the half moon, waning moon Philodox are perfectionists trying to get everything right while waxing moon Philodox are aloof and detached, trying to be always objective.
The fourth is the Galliard, the storyteller and record keeper. Besides making sure we don’t forget what we are, they give us the edge by reminding us of ancient times and by using parables help to clear away planning obstacles in our way. They’ll also chew your ear off with legends and other not really interesting stuff. Try not to look bored when they speak, they hit almost as hard as the Ahroun. Waning moons are all doom and gloom, warfare and bloodshed. Waxing moons are happy hippies singing about sunny things and better days.
Last and never the least are the mighty Ahroun, our warriors and bullet stoppers. In a race of warriors they are at the top, when it comes to glory and short life-spans. I have frightened you, didn’t I? Don’t be, every single Ahroun is a defiant finger shown to the Wyrm, he’s the guy who comes to deal with the ‘yard bully. Without them we would not exist. Waning moon Ahroun are dominant and often become leaders, waxing moon Ahroun are cauldrons brimming with rage wishing to constantly prove themselves in a fight.
We have dealt with the breeds and the auspices, so now it's time to deal with the tribes. There are 14 tribes in the Garou nation, we lost two, and there are offshoots of some of the 14 elsewhere in the world. The lost tribes are the Bunyip and the White Howlers. Due to the machinations of the wyrm we murdered the Bunyip, we failed to see them as who they were, Gaia's servants in a land so foreign to us that we have seen their adaptation as a corruption. What was it? They bred with thylacines, marsupial wolves. Since they died we started to avoid the umbra in Australia, the spirits there hate us for it. The White Howlers never truly died, they serve the Wyrm now as the Dancers of the Black Spiral. They thought they could defeat him and went to fight him in his realm, he corrupted them on their way and when they finally arrived they pledged themselves to him.
The proud fourteen are:
Black Furies, fighting amazons of Gaia. They first appeared when Man decided to subdue Woman and take away her rights. The Furies come from all over now starting with India and ending in South America. They have no male members, no exceptions.
Bone Gnawers, the underdogs of the nation, literally. They live mostly in the cities and keep an eye on those humans who are poor and downtrodden. They know their back yard well, so never try to outrun them on their home turf.
Children of Gaia are our pacifistic flower sniffing brothers and sisters. They want to love and tolerate the living hell out of the Wyrm, until it collapses and becomes normal again. They are also some the best people to go to when you need healing or want to organize a movement, for they are legendary for both.
Ahh, the Fianna, a bunch of drunk-warrior poets looking for glory and fun. They originally hailed from the British Isles, France and Spain, but now you can find them anywhere, so long as there is alcohol on the table and potential mates around. They do know how to fight, so don't think about any stupid challenges.
The Get of Fenris are the surly Germanic brothers to the Fianna, both tribes have a happy history filled with inter tribal conflict and bloodshed. They like to party less and fight more, in fact they often combine those two. They hailed from Scandinavia and Germany at first, but through tribal migrations they also established themselves in England and Northern America.
Glass Walkers are the other tribe living in the city, but contrary to the Gnawers the Glass Walkers live comfortably and in style. They have a great and eerie understanding of technology and are in cahoots with many spirits which defected from the Weaver. Where they started, nobody knows, not even them.
The Red Talons are the only tribe that has only Lupus inside, recently they gained a few Metis due to unforeseen “events”, guess how that happened? They are a very small tribe, but are never outgunned when it comes to fighting the Wyrm. You can find them in the most remote places, if you are willing to die for poking your nose where it doesn't belong.
Shadow Lords try to be two things at once, the sneakiest bastards and the most cunning leaders, sometimes they succeed and sometimes they fail. But what they always do is to be a thorn in the Silver Fang backside, reminding them that top dogs have to have more than just a pedigree. They like to breed with dominant people, so they established themselves in eastern Europe, the Balkans and the Iberian peninsula, where dominance just hangs in the air.
Silent Striders were our Egyptian cousins, they have lost their homeland to the vampires, and during their wanderings they mixed with similar nomadic groups like the Berbers, the Turks and the Mongols. They serve as a messenger tribe, which brings sensitive news from caern to caern, in exchange we support them in any way we can, mostly by throwing whatever they need at them.
Silver Fangs are our leaders, they are the kings and queens of a warrior people. Their name comes from the fact that their coats are silver. They act all like nobles and our betters, though many Tribes have bloodlines of kings in them, most notably the Fianna and the Shadow Lords. They first hailed from Europe, but have spread to America and the Middle East.
Stargazers are the eleventh tribe, they hail from Asia and originated in India and Nepal, many now come from such exotic places like San Francisco or Seattle. From all the tribes they are the ones that tend to be deeply spiritual and often meditate before taking actions, they also are contemptuous of possessions and money, so good luck finding them having jobs. They also split their membership between the nation and the Hengeyokai Courts in Asia.
The last three tribes are brothers, they all hail from northern America and all hate the rest of us for wrecking their paradise, or at least that's what their most radical members say.
The first native tribe, also called Older Brother, are the Uktena. They made themselves at home in the south-west and mixed with tribes like the Navaho and Apache. They are masters of magic and secrets, it is said they once captured all Wyrm spirits in America into a net and still keep a few captured.
The second and most respected are the Croatan, or Middle Brother. Once they were mixed with tribes of the East like the Algonquin and Powhatan, but after their people died out or mixed with others, they choose the most honorable of the colonists as their mates, now many of them wear the simple garb of the Amish or speak with a Virginian accent. They are some of the greatest judges the Garou Nation has and are known for fair judgments.
The third tribe and Youngest Brother are the Wendigo of the north. Where the Croatan keep to honorable action and the Uktena nurture the wisdom of secrets, the Wendigo revel in the glory of battle. Their hearts are cold and unmoving and only bloodshed in the name of Gaia can move their rage. They are also to only tribe in the whole nation that keeps it's blood untainted by foreigners, no Wendigo has been ever born to a non-native it is said.
So, this have been the Garou. But we are not alone in this world, there are things that are both more and less than us. We all serve Gaia, she is the all-mother, she is life. She has created us to fight for her, we are her warriors, and it's our duty to protect our mother. Under her is the Triat, three mighty beings that are like living ideas that can influence the world.
The Wyld was until recently the only member of the Triat that was still serving Gaia, but no more, it has been driven into a mindless rage, pushed by the other members of the Triat into near extinction. Now the very force of creation spawns forth earthquakes and whirlwinds, plagues of resistant illnesses, all in order to survive and put some sort of “balance” back into the Triat. The problem lies in the fact that like other members of the Triat the Wyld isn't really thinking. It just creates in reaction to its current situation. And so, many innocents die because tsunami waves don't really recognize what's good and what's bad and tornadoes don't avoid hospitals and orphanages. When it turned from Gaia we were given a new prophecy, the tale of the metis, Garou born to two Garou, their birth announced through the Umbra that the Garou would not fall.
The second part of the Triat, the Weaver, has driven itself mad due to her own limited ability to perceive the world. She is order, the desire to have everything in shape and form. She wants to make the whole world ordered, even the other members of the Triat, but how can you make chaos into order without changing reality? She has bound the Wyrm into her webs and almost killed the Wyld through humans, yes, them. They are her greatest servants, their cities are the will of the Weaver made flesh. The humans don't know that though. Through her desire to control and bring order, she got poisoned by the Wyrm, so don't fool yourself by thinking she's not our enemy. At least some of her servants can be reasoned with.
The Wyrm is the last member of the Triat. He is entropy, the balancer of scales. He ends order through destruction so that chaos can create something new. At least he should do that, now he is just a power of corruption and destruction. He is trying to destroy the Weaver's webs that bind him, so that he can become himself again. But how can you return to what you were, after an eternity in a prison of your own rage? He kills the Wyld with every oil spill, he hurts the Weaver through making humans miserable through the soulless corporations he corrupted. But it's not enough, so he rages some more and we face his minions trying to stop the tide of destruction that threatens to kill us all and destroy Gaia itself. Among all three he is our greatest opponent. And our greatest hope, for if he frees himself we may be able to balance the scales.