W20 - Changing Breeds.pdf

AppearanceMost Stalkers come from polar bear stock andresemble their bear-parent in human form. Homid IceStalkers resemble their human parentage, whether Aleut,Inuit, Scandinavian, or other ethnic type.Mountain GuardiansThe Mountain Guardians are the youngest of theGurahl tribes, coming into being after the werebearscrossed into the Pure Lands. They learned to coexistwith the Wendigo, Uktena, and even the local Bastet.They served as shamans for the native northern tribes,and sometimes lived openly with the American Indiansof the southwest. Risking annihilation to cooperate withthose who had hunted them in the past, they workedwith the Garou to cleanse the Pure Lands of the taint ofthe Pattern Breaker. They withdrew en masse when theEuropean Garou arrived, leaving nothing but legends totell of their presence there.Their return to fight the Soul Eater signaled theirre-entry into the world. Upon their return, however,they discovered that during their absence, their grizzlybear Kin became almost extinct. Unwilling to leave theirKinfolk’s fate in the hands of those who had harmed themalready, the Mountain Guardians vowed to remain, andtoday they fight to preserve their existing grizzly bearKinfolk, while preparing themselves to stand with theGarou on the front lines of the Last Battles.Home TerritoriesOnce, Mountain Guardians occupied the majority ofcentral and western North America, including Canadaand Mexico. Now, most Guardians dwell in national parksand preserves, particularly in the Northern Rockies ofNorth America. Some travel to the rest of the continentto make contact with other Gurahl, but they are loathe tobe parted from their ursine Kin for long, and many maketheir permanent homes in Western Canada or Alaska.KinfolkAfter the decimation of their traditional Kinfolk —the Native American tribes of western North America— the Guardians have begun to expand their humanKinfolk to include any who are strong enough of bodyand mind to brave the few-remaining wildernesses of thecontinent. Their new Kin are often chosen from amongthose who are still capable of living a hardy, outdoorslife, despite the encroachment of civilization: remotenorthern villagers, homestead ranchers or farmers farfrom urban crawl, survivalists, and those who choose tolive “off the grid” for one reason or another.The endangered grizzly bears form their primaryursine breeding stock, although interbreeding with theGURAHLIce Stalker tribe’s Kin is not unheard of — sometimeswith and sometimes without the permission of that tribe’sChangers. Those who are attempting to reclaim formergrizzly territory sometimes seek Kinfolk among the brownor black bears that are found there now.Tribal CultureThe Guardians tend toward solitary travel, comingtogether mostly at powwows and gatherings. Theyvalue independence, self-sufficiency, and privacy. Themost competitive of the Gurahl, the Guardians’ culturerevolves around challenges and competitions, emphasizingritual combat more than any other tribe.AppearanceHuman-born Guardians exhibit the appearance oftheir human ethnic heritage, though they tend towardthe high end in both height and musculature. Most ursineGuardians resemble grizzly bears (or their bear-parent,in the case of cross-tribal breeding). Whether due togenetic predisposition or selective breeding, GuardianKinfolk are rarely petite individuals; big bones and biggerattitudes tend to run strongly within the tribe.River KeepersRiver Keepers once dwelt along all the major riversof the world, including (but certainly not limited to)the Nile, Amazon, and Mississippi. During the War ofRage, their roles as shamans and weather-workers to thenative populations in these areas made them easy targetsfor the rampaging Garou, and the River Keepers died indisproportionately high numbers.Those who survived went into hiding or hibernation,coming out only when the need was great enough to riskthe Garou completing their attempt at ursine genocide.Along the Nile and the Amazon, the River Keepers wereutterly annihilated, and their duties — and lands — weretaken over by the Bastet of the area. In North America,the River Keepers remained active longer, assisting theGarou of the Pure Lands in their fight against the Wyrm,though they kept a low profile lest they draw the attentionof their European counterparts.The coming of the Storm Eater brought the RiverKeepers out in force. When they returned from thedeep wilderness and Umbral dens that had hiddenthem, the tribe saw that their Kin — ursine and humanalike — had been abused, slaughtered, and driven fromtheir native territories. Today, they work to bolster theexisting bear population wherever they can. As a tribe,they are dedicated to renewing their ancient ties withthe world’s waterways in order to give the armies of Gaiasome unexpected resources against in the Final Battlesagainst the Pattern Breaker.111