Post by Misha on Jun 10, 2014 11:23:55 GMT -5
Name: Bone Gnawer
Plural: Bone Gnawers
Pronunciation: bown' naw'-uhrs
Totem:
Rat:Totem of War To many other tribes, Rats are small weak creatures. Cowardly and always hiding. After all wolves eat rats. But to the Bone Gnawers, rat is a cunning war totem, surviving in wait, striking when the time is right, and doing so even when cornered.
The Rat totem however has two aspects, those who turn to the war path often turn to Father Rat. He is the one that will bear his teeth, and claw at his enemies, spreading plague and sickness in infected wounds. But there is also a nurturing aspect of rat, Mother Rat. She is the one that helps her own, takes care of her babies, and helps all survive. As if to add to the confusion there is also The Rat God. A foaming, screaming beast that calls out to its children to tear down the walls and wage war on the enemies of the Mother.
Whichever the aspect of Rat that one follows, he grants his packs more willpower, for they will need it. Rat teaches his followers the best ways to bite, making it easier for them to inflict wounds when attacking this way. Rat's stealth isn't ignored, and packs under Rat seem to be as quiet as mice. And whiles Ratkin always hate Garou, they will be slightly more tolerant of those packs that do follow Rat.
Wither you are in a pack dedicated to Rat, or in Rat's tribe: Rat requires that you never, ever harm vermin. Particularly rats.
Tales of the Tribe
As hungry mutts, the Bone Gnawers have survived for centuries using their canny ability to sniff out food and sneak about unseen. It’s possible that they were originally of jackal stock, although their legends say that they were the "runt" of the litter back in the old days: young, tough, and stringy. Today, they are all too used to the role of convenient scapegoats. Few Bone Gnawers have gained enough Renown to play in the greater political field of the Septs and Grand Moots.
Throughout history, Bone Gnawers have followed the dispossessed and the homeless. They hate slavery and oppression in general, but they’re often too busy surviving to care about subtleties of Garou politics. They are allied with all the dogs in any given city through a complex system of communication called the "Barking Chain". They also know the dark places in the city that are ignored, reviled, or just too dangerous for the uninitiated of the street. Because of this, the Bone Gnawers are well informed about what goes on in the streets of any metropolitan area. This is as much a survival tactic as it is a strategic activity: they need to know when it’s time to flee a sinking ship once things go wrong.
There are some Bone Gnawers who feel that the ship is sinking, and not just Boston, but all of Gaia. These Seekers speak a tale of a newly reborn Gaia deep in the Umbra, far away from the rotting carcass that is this world. It is attitudes like this that encourage most tribes to look down upon the Bone Gnawers as dirty, hungry, and without dedication to the battle with the Wyrm. They would argue that they are simply very practical and thus tend to ignore the more high-minded tribes, even making fun of them from time to time. Ignoring old Garou traditions in favor of practicality often gets the Gnawers in trouble, such as their disregard for the ban on inter-Garou sexual relations. Indeed Metis are received better by the Bone Gnawers than by any other tribe save the Black Spiral Dancers, a comparison not lost on their critics.
While the Bone Gnawers are held as the lowest of the low of the Garou, they treat their own Kinfolk more as equals. This can be mystifying to some other tribes, for whom Kinfolk are lessers, usable primarily as breeding stock and for favors in the mortal world. Indeed the familial bonds between a Bone Gnawer and her extended family rival that of the intensely loyal Fianna.
Gnawers tend to collect things that they find of interest - trinkets and toys, places and people, and, more importantly, information. They are packrats every sense of the word, as all good followers of Rat should be. After all, information is an invaluable commodity; they are excellent survivors, and have learned to live in harmony with all the dwellers of the city, including the unexpected.
Appearance:
Bone Gnawers are mangy mutts; their coats usually exhibit the marks of their mixed background, showing two or three patterns and colors. They are often flea-bitten; small Bone Gnawers may try to pass themselves off as (big) stray dogs, but it is hard to conceal their lupine heritage.
Homelands:
The Bone Gnawers live in the poor parts of big cities; they see the occasional sacred place there and those innocents they find to be their charges. Their caerns can often be found in the least probable of settings: in the hearts of vast junkyards, condemned buildings, underground tunnels or the like. Bone Gnawers can be found patrolling the darkest streets of their home city; some have the defense of humans in mind while others aim to keep all humans away from their greatest prizes. While most werewolves think of the Gnawers as strictly urban, some of the tribe have more rural roots, living in the rural South and the Appalachians. Others speak of humble origins amid the poor of India and northern Africa or among migrant workers and dirt farmers. What the tribe truly shares is a connection with the downtrodden and disenfranchised who are found anywhere.
Tribal Advantage:
The Barking Chain Because Gnawers have such a strong connection with their kinfolk, they can pick up any information on the streets. Along with that they are able to send information in their networks of kinfolk. It is really hard to intercept a message that you can't translate. And a group of dogs barking is little more than a nuisance to most people.
Tribal Disadvantage:
The Bone Gnawers face considerable scorn from the rest of Garou society as they are on the bottom of the totem pole. They face a one-Trait penalty in all Social Challenges with other Garou.
Tribal Organization:
Bone Gnawer society is not particularly organized. Wise elders are referred to as “Mother,” “Father,” “Grandmother” or “Grandfather,” but there is no Rite or ceremony that accompanies such a title: It happens when it happens. One of the best ways to get status among the Bone Gnawers is to accumulate useful cast-off items, the sorts of things that others might think are junk but that have a great deal of utility left in them. There is no global hierarchy among the Bone Gnawers; each must make his own way.
Camps:
Deserters -- Gnawers who were sick of the physical world and and took to exploring the Umbra. However once they came back they found out a horrible truth. There is No Where to Run, No Where to Hide.
Frankweilers -- This eclectic, sometimes excentric group of Gnawers finds refuge in the museums and historical sites of the city. Preserving its history and keeping records.
Hillfolk -- The true "redneck" Bone Gnawer, this camp maintains traditional ways whiles keeping away from modern evils. However this only puts them into the perspective being ignorant hicks who are hiding in the woods.
Maneaters -- A camp that is only seen as an "Urban Legend" among the other tribes, only the Gnawers wish that it was really so.
Rat Fink -- Need information about the secrets of that Pentex subsidiary? What about those damn leeches living underground? Or corrupt political figures? Sure they'll give you information on them. For a Price.
Road Warders -- These wanderlust stuck Gnawers see themselves as the scouts for the Garou Nation. Searching the planet for the Wyrm's influence in places were it spawns and remains unchallenged. They aren't as quick as the Striders, but they are willing to take the long road to find what they might not.
The Hood -- Robin had it right. Steal from the rich, give to the poor. Do unto others as they would do unto you, and make sure you don't get taken advantage of.
The Swarm -- People think the Gnawers run, they think they hide. But not The Swarm. They are biding their time, stockpiling food, ammo, explosives and other things for the final days.
Initial Willpower: 4
Backgrounds:
May not buy Ancestors, Pure Breed or Resources.
Plural: Bone Gnawers
Pronunciation: bown' naw'-uhrs
Totem:
Rat:Totem of War To many other tribes, Rats are small weak creatures. Cowardly and always hiding. After all wolves eat rats. But to the Bone Gnawers, rat is a cunning war totem, surviving in wait, striking when the time is right, and doing so even when cornered.
The Rat totem however has two aspects, those who turn to the war path often turn to Father Rat. He is the one that will bear his teeth, and claw at his enemies, spreading plague and sickness in infected wounds. But there is also a nurturing aspect of rat, Mother Rat. She is the one that helps her own, takes care of her babies, and helps all survive. As if to add to the confusion there is also The Rat God. A foaming, screaming beast that calls out to its children to tear down the walls and wage war on the enemies of the Mother.
Whichever the aspect of Rat that one follows, he grants his packs more willpower, for they will need it. Rat teaches his followers the best ways to bite, making it easier for them to inflict wounds when attacking this way. Rat's stealth isn't ignored, and packs under Rat seem to be as quiet as mice. And whiles Ratkin always hate Garou, they will be slightly more tolerant of those packs that do follow Rat.
Wither you are in a pack dedicated to Rat, or in Rat's tribe: Rat requires that you never, ever harm vermin. Particularly rats.
Tales of the Tribe
As hungry mutts, the Bone Gnawers have survived for centuries using their canny ability to sniff out food and sneak about unseen. It’s possible that they were originally of jackal stock, although their legends say that they were the "runt" of the litter back in the old days: young, tough, and stringy. Today, they are all too used to the role of convenient scapegoats. Few Bone Gnawers have gained enough Renown to play in the greater political field of the Septs and Grand Moots.
Throughout history, Bone Gnawers have followed the dispossessed and the homeless. They hate slavery and oppression in general, but they’re often too busy surviving to care about subtleties of Garou politics. They are allied with all the dogs in any given city through a complex system of communication called the "Barking Chain". They also know the dark places in the city that are ignored, reviled, or just too dangerous for the uninitiated of the street. Because of this, the Bone Gnawers are well informed about what goes on in the streets of any metropolitan area. This is as much a survival tactic as it is a strategic activity: they need to know when it’s time to flee a sinking ship once things go wrong.
There are some Bone Gnawers who feel that the ship is sinking, and not just Boston, but all of Gaia. These Seekers speak a tale of a newly reborn Gaia deep in the Umbra, far away from the rotting carcass that is this world. It is attitudes like this that encourage most tribes to look down upon the Bone Gnawers as dirty, hungry, and without dedication to the battle with the Wyrm. They would argue that they are simply very practical and thus tend to ignore the more high-minded tribes, even making fun of them from time to time. Ignoring old Garou traditions in favor of practicality often gets the Gnawers in trouble, such as their disregard for the ban on inter-Garou sexual relations. Indeed Metis are received better by the Bone Gnawers than by any other tribe save the Black Spiral Dancers, a comparison not lost on their critics.
While the Bone Gnawers are held as the lowest of the low of the Garou, they treat their own Kinfolk more as equals. This can be mystifying to some other tribes, for whom Kinfolk are lessers, usable primarily as breeding stock and for favors in the mortal world. Indeed the familial bonds between a Bone Gnawer and her extended family rival that of the intensely loyal Fianna.
Gnawers tend to collect things that they find of interest - trinkets and toys, places and people, and, more importantly, information. They are packrats every sense of the word, as all good followers of Rat should be. After all, information is an invaluable commodity; they are excellent survivors, and have learned to live in harmony with all the dwellers of the city, including the unexpected.
Appearance:
Bone Gnawers are mangy mutts; their coats usually exhibit the marks of their mixed background, showing two or three patterns and colors. They are often flea-bitten; small Bone Gnawers may try to pass themselves off as (big) stray dogs, but it is hard to conceal their lupine heritage.
Homelands:
The Bone Gnawers live in the poor parts of big cities; they see the occasional sacred place there and those innocents they find to be their charges. Their caerns can often be found in the least probable of settings: in the hearts of vast junkyards, condemned buildings, underground tunnels or the like. Bone Gnawers can be found patrolling the darkest streets of their home city; some have the defense of humans in mind while others aim to keep all humans away from their greatest prizes. While most werewolves think of the Gnawers as strictly urban, some of the tribe have more rural roots, living in the rural South and the Appalachians. Others speak of humble origins amid the poor of India and northern Africa or among migrant workers and dirt farmers. What the tribe truly shares is a connection with the downtrodden and disenfranchised who are found anywhere.
Tribal Advantage:
The Barking Chain Because Gnawers have such a strong connection with their kinfolk, they can pick up any information on the streets. Along with that they are able to send information in their networks of kinfolk. It is really hard to intercept a message that you can't translate. And a group of dogs barking is little more than a nuisance to most people.
Tribal Disadvantage:
The Bone Gnawers face considerable scorn from the rest of Garou society as they are on the bottom of the totem pole. They face a one-Trait penalty in all Social Challenges with other Garou.
Tribal Organization:
Bone Gnawer society is not particularly organized. Wise elders are referred to as “Mother,” “Father,” “Grandmother” or “Grandfather,” but there is no Rite or ceremony that accompanies such a title: It happens when it happens. One of the best ways to get status among the Bone Gnawers is to accumulate useful cast-off items, the sorts of things that others might think are junk but that have a great deal of utility left in them. There is no global hierarchy among the Bone Gnawers; each must make his own way.
Camps:
Deserters -- Gnawers who were sick of the physical world and and took to exploring the Umbra. However once they came back they found out a horrible truth. There is No Where to Run, No Where to Hide.
Frankweilers -- This eclectic, sometimes excentric group of Gnawers finds refuge in the museums and historical sites of the city. Preserving its history and keeping records.
Hillfolk -- The true "redneck" Bone Gnawer, this camp maintains traditional ways whiles keeping away from modern evils. However this only puts them into the perspective being ignorant hicks who are hiding in the woods.
Maneaters -- A camp that is only seen as an "Urban Legend" among the other tribes, only the Gnawers wish that it was really so.
Rat Fink -- Need information about the secrets of that Pentex subsidiary? What about those damn leeches living underground? Or corrupt political figures? Sure they'll give you information on them. For a Price.
Road Warders -- These wanderlust stuck Gnawers see themselves as the scouts for the Garou Nation. Searching the planet for the Wyrm's influence in places were it spawns and remains unchallenged. They aren't as quick as the Striders, but they are willing to take the long road to find what they might not.
The Hood -- Robin had it right. Steal from the rich, give to the poor. Do unto others as they would do unto you, and make sure you don't get taken advantage of.
The Swarm -- People think the Gnawers run, they think they hide. But not The Swarm. They are biding their time, stockpiling food, ammo, explosives and other things for the final days.
Initial Willpower: 4
Backgrounds:
May not buy Ancestors, Pure Breed or Resources.