#garou things

There are two types of Changing Breeds aka shapeshifters; one is refered to as True Breeds or those who have not experienced an extinction-type event only to be "created" again by scientific means (most often Pentex's doing, but outside forces occasionally do so, as well) albeit some are currently believed to be endangered due to the events of various historical Wars, and Mockery Breeds or those breeds that were believed to be resurrected through modern science or some unknown cause of similar nature.

The True Breeds are as follows;

~The Canines~

Garou are werewolves.

Kitsune are werefoxes.

Nuwisha are werecanines such as singing dogs, jackals, maned wolves, and dingos.

~The Hooved~

Apis are werebeasts such as bison, cattle, and wildebeasts.

Grondr are wereboars.

~The Cold-Blooded~

Mokolé are werereptiles such as lizards, alligators and crocodiles, and, more rarely, dinosaurs and dragons.

Ao are werebeasts such as turtles and tortoises.

Nagah are weresnakes.

Rokea are weresharks.

~The Winged~

Camaztoz are werebats.

Corax are werebirds such as corvids, hawks, songbirds, and even flightless or aquatic ones.

~The Insects~

The Ananasi are werespiders.

~The Domestics~

Bastet are werecats.

Ratkin are werebeasts such as rats and mice.

~The Wilds~

Ajaba are werehyenas.

Gurahl are werebears.

The Mockery Breeds are as follows;

~The Aquatic~

Anurana are Were-amphibians, such as toads and frogs.

Cepha are Were-cephalopods such as squids and octopi.

Costra are Were-crustaceans such as crabs and shrimp.

Cetcea are Were-cetceans such as whales and dolphins.

~The Giants~

The Land Titans are were-creatures of large sizes such as hippos, giraffes; and elephants.

Yeren are were-primates such as lemurs, apes, and monkeys.

~The Hooved~

Kerasi are were-rhinos.

Wind-Runners are other hooved werebeasts such as horses, deer, and goats.

~The Pawed~

Laughing Strangers are various werebeasts such as marsupials, otters and beavers, rodents, badgers, and rabbits

War Wolves are artificially created Garou and often have some kind of issue.

~The Insects~

Samsa are wereroaches.

Vespa are werewasps.

UPDATE; The usage of this word has since been replaced by the term Merus

While also the name of a goddess in Greek myth, the history behind the origins of the word Metis in our world are rather unpleasant especially in Native Communities, but it was a name given to the deformed creatures born of two of the same Changing Breeds for perhaps that very reason by white male traditionalists in Gaian society (and possibly the hopefully-unintentional racism of the game developers at White Wolf Publishing House). That said, there are attempts to reclaim the word among its disenfranchised peoples both in our world and the World of Midnight. In addition, like most discriminated subgroups and while they have not gained as much traction due to a general lack of agreement amongst the various Changing Breeds at large and the subgroup of people themselves more specifically, there have also been attempts to find another word to use instead of Metis to describe the child of two of the same kind of Changing Breed.

All that said, for purposes of clarity, I will use the term as the books and games do-to describe the child of two shapeshifters-but felt the need to acknowledge the fact that this word has been used to harm Native peoples.

Werewolves (like all Changing Breeds) are born through a mixture of genes and spiritual strength. If there is simply the required genes present, it will result in a Kinfolk. If there is solely the required spiritual strength, you will end up with a Medium. As both are required, it can be difficult at times to have Garou numbers increase.

To that end, the odds of having a Garou child vary. While a Garou and a human have a 1 in 100 chance of having a Garou child, the odds increase to 1 in 10 with a Kinfolk partner. A child between two Kinfolk varies depending on the strength of one's bloodline (aka the Pure Breed stat) which is defined as how often the family line has produced Garou relatives, but it is in general slightly better odds than between a Garou and human but less than a Garou and Kinfolk. A Garou-Garou relationship will always produce a Garou child known as a Merus, should it ever produce a child at all.

So, in our world, the moon takes an average of 28-30 days to reach its fullness and then another 28-30 days to do so again.

Now, in the base game of World of Darkness, they keep this facet and so the small nightly boost that the each Auspices get to their rage only lasts a few days (every Auspice gets an increase to their rage generation when they are first exposed to the moonlight during the time the moon matches their Auspice). There are waning and waxing variants of the Theurge and Galliard that are said to affect one's personality. The Storyteller must often keep track of the moon phase over the game for this reason, in case it's relevant. This includes rare celestial events such as Blue/Red/Blood Moons and Eclipses.

For my games, I've simplified this system thusly; There are five Auspices and roughly 30 days in a month often relates to the the cycle of each full moon, so each Auspice lasts an average of 6-7 days, with the months with 31 days gaining an extra day for the Ahrouns' Full Moon and the 28 days of February being shortened accordingly. So basically, each Auspice lasts about a week where the Garou of that Auspice become more temperamental and emotional (and volatile) due to the increased Rage within their systems during that time (each night of their matching auspice, they gain 5 points of rage). Accordingly, they often become lax, depressed, and cool-headed during the Auspice most opposed to their own and only gain a single point of rage that night (Ragabash's New Moon vs Ahroun's Full Moon, Theurge's Crescent vs Galliard's Gibbous, Philoodox's Half Moon picking one end of the Cycle or even alternating between Ragabash and Ahroun depending on player choices). There are no waxing and waning variants, though the terms still exist within the world and the Moon still cycles as it does in our world but the spiritual gains and rates have simply changed (5 points nightly for matching auspice, 3 points for the auspices in-between one's matching and opposed auspices, and 1 point for opposed auspice). The rare Blue Moon of a month (aka the second full Moon), Red/Blood Moons (A special type of New Moon), and the Solar and Lunar Eclipses will often be plot devices with significant relevance to certain Auspices (Mokolé and Corax's Crowned and Soaring Auspices, for example). For some Changing Breeds' Auspices, it will empower them greatly during this time (Corax) while hindering others (Mokolé) due to the events' inherent rarity.

These two pools of energy are used to power the more supernatural effects that allow the Changing Breeds their unique abilities, namely Shifting and Gifts

They are counterpoints to each other; Rage is fueled and gained by intense emotions while Gnosis is earned from meditative calm and spiritual enlightenment. They cannot be used in the same turn for this reason.

Rage is used to shift from one form to the other (and a few practiced individuals have been able to shift only certain parts of themselves with great control), to heal wounds and even blood loss caused by non-Gilded weapons by supplementing and boosting one's innate regeneration, boost one's physical capabilities, and so on. It can even be given away through those connected to then by spiritual bonds given by a shared Totem such a Pack, Shiver, Colony, etc. at a rate of one per turn.

Gnosis is used to fuel Gifts, heal injuries caused by Gilded weapons, to summon and aid spirits in resisting corrupting influences in the physical and spiritual worlds, used to help De-Tox those who cannot do so themselves, and so on. It may also be given away like its counterpart at the same rate.

While the general pools for most shapeshifters cannot exceed a pool of ten, certain Ranked Individuals may.

The List below is not all inclusive but provides some examples;

Sept and Caern Alphas among the Garou by an amount of 5 points each.

Tribal Alphas by an amount of ten points.

Certain bloodlines known for their extreme ties to beings of Rage or Spiritual Powers (Tribal or Breed Totems, Incarnae, etc.) by an unknown amount (determined between the Player and the Storyteller, though this will often come at some cost and added pressures of responsibilities)

Ajaba Queens by an amount of 15-20.

Bastet Chiefs, Chieftans, and Chieftesses and their Circle of Nine by an amount of 5-10 each.

The First Change is the first transformation a shapeshifter undergoes. It determines what type of shifter the shapechanger breed is as well as their Auspice (and in some cases, like Bastet, their Tribe). They will have access to all the forms available for their species.

It is most often a process of long bodily preparation and finally triggered by anything but most often intense emotions. The process involves years of steadily building aggression, appetite, emotional volatility, increase in muscle and bone densities and structures, and dramatic hormonal changes. Naturally, this can-and often does-coincidence with puberty in all those with the shapechanger gene. When they have developed sufficient spiritual strength-a process that most often grows within them naturally but fastest within areas of high spiritual energy concentrations like Nodes and Caerns-the Change will be triggered. If the spiritual strength does not grow to sufficent amounts, the result will be a Kinfolk. If there is no gene present, but the spiritual strength is, then the result will be a Medium.

The trigger for this final Change can be anything, but is often some emotionally intense event, often but not always caused by fear, anger, excitement, or joy-but never sadness. It is most common for fear or anger to be the event, an understanding that does not surprise most Garou due their role as Gaia's warriors. It is also believed among the Garou Nation that any Garou whose First Change is triggered by joy and feelings of the excitement of freedom will be naturally gifted.

The final part of the First Change is determined by the prospective shapechanger's own strength of will. The process of Changing is extremely painful as bone snaps and moves, muscles twist and restructure, skin tears and heals over, and the very physical body of a werecreature attempts to attune itself to a different form (what form varies but it is often the one most opposite of one's Innate Breed).

If the member of the Changing Breed cannot accept the pain and its changes, can't breathe through it, and thus resists and fights the Change, their body will continue to tear itself apart. The result of this is most often death. Sadly, among the Garou Nation, this often results in a stigma against the Kin parent's family while in truth, it could be the effect of any number of factors both genetic, spiritual, or individual not to mention the variables of context and circumstance.

The Lizard Kings (A war fought between ancient dragons and dinosaurs against magic-wielding lizardmen known by some as Ophidian Overlords or, to the Mokolé's memory, the Third Race)

The Insect Wars (another ancient war fought between the Ananasi against the various other Insecta, Vespa, and Samsa races)

The Impergium (a time where werecreatures turned against and culled ancient humans, Believed to result in the Incarna-near god-like powerful and ancient spirits such as Gaia, Helios, and Luna-bestowing humans with the Veil's effects as well as various other punishments and restrictions of the Changing Breeds)

The Blood Tides (Yet another ancient war were the various aquatic werecreatures allied with the merfolk of Atlantis against a great threat called The Leviathans, most notably ended with what is believed to be Atlantis' sinking alongside the scattering of the merfolk, the Leviathans vanishing into the depths, and the extreme reduction in non-Rokea numbers)

The Ivory Wars (An old war where the various African-centered Changing Breeds fought against each other, most notably ended with the supposed extinction of the Kerasi and Land Titans)

The Grand Travesty (another old war between the Laughing Strangers, Wind-Runners, and non-frog and toad Anurana against the Yeren and their human allies that led to the near-extinction of these Changing Breeds and they are only now beginning to recover in modern times)

Spirits are personifications of concepts and traits, emotions, animals, natural aspects and features, Celestial bodies, and other such things. Generally speaking, the older the spirit and the more experiences it's encountered, the stronger it is. Spirits capable and willing to act as a mystically-bound patron/symbol/ally (called a Totem) can grant Boons to the packs and groups so long as they fulfill their end of the bargain (which is often decided upon summoning and choosing the Totem prior to the formation of the group).

A few spirits that exist are beyond human comprehension. These are simply referred to as Primordials.

The Strongest of the Spirits are refered to as Incarna. These include; Gaia The Earth Mother, Mother Ocean, Father Sky, Brother Magma (an ages-old embodiment of fire), and Luna and Helios (the moon and sun) and the other celestial planets.

Beneath the Incarna are the Triat; The Wyld (the force of creation and chaos), The Weaver (the force of purpose and stability-and later stagnation), The Wyrm (the force of death and decay-and later corruption).

After that, there is no true hierarchy. Although that being said, there are a number of powerful spirits that exceed normal conventions. They are often Tribal Totems or, more rarely, Pack Totems. A few have even gone so far to claim certain certain bloodlines and families or even simply individuals. This can also in some cases extend to the land surrounding said people.