W20 - Changing Breeds.pdf

The Nuwisha may appear to be little more than aimlesstricksters, but hiding behind that façade is a clearand direct purpose handed down from Coyote himself.While some use their talent for violent slapstick toeducate the other Changing Breeds, others use deadlytricks and pranks to strike at the Wyrm.HistoryThe history of the Nuwisha is the history of trickery. Thiswas true long before the War of Rage and it remains equally sotoday — though a canny observer must question the “truth”of any claims made regarding Coyote’s favored children.Since the earliest days, the Nuwisha have played the roleof cosmic jester among the Changing Breeds, pointing out follyand uncovering weaknesses in the other shapeshifters throughclever tricks. Some outsiders claim that the werecoyotes’constant tricks and attempts to play Devil’s Advocate drovethe Garou to such Rage that they took it out on all of theChanging Breeds, sparking the War of Rage. Whether thisis true or not, when the War began, the Nuwisha fled to theUmbra rather than staying to fight and die at a werewolf’s claws.Although most of their Breed do not accept the blamefor having instigated the War of Rage, the werecoyotesproudly take credit for ending it. Then again, the sameNuwisha claim to understand the Triat better than anyoneelse, that Coyote is the real face of the Wyld, andthat he created the entire universe as a cosmic joke. Noone — including the Nuwisha themselves — can pareback these lies to find the unvarnished truth, if such athing even exists. Since their exodus, only a hundredNuwisha can remain in the physical world at any onetime, making any facts even harder for outsiders to find.For the longest time, the Nuwisha stayed close to theiranimal Kin, dwelling entirely in North America. Someavoided the Three Brothers, the tribes of Garou nativeto the continent. Others infiltrated packs, masqueradingas scrawny werewolves in order to prank Gaia’s warriorsout of their hubris. Still others used the Garou as violentpunch-lines to a vicious series of jokes, turning themagainst Wyrmspawn without target or tool knowing ofthe Nuwisha’s involvement.The second War of Rage — when European Garouturned on native werewolves and Changing Breeds alike— changed that. Werewolf fighting werewolf threatenedto bring about an endless war. The Nuwisha did what theycould to redirect the violent urges on both sides againstthe Wyrm, but the inter-tribal battles raged on and on.. Only when the behemoth Bane called theStorm Eater,threatened to destroy North America was the joint perilenough to finally unite the Garou and end the War betweenthem. Most Nuwisha are far too canny to actually claimtheir ancestors had involvement in unleashing Storm Eateron the world… but it wouldn’t have been the first time aNuwisha prank risked grave consequences for the purposesof bringing about a lesson they felt needed to be learned.In modern times, most Nuwisha still consider NorthAmerica home, many travel the world looking for thechance to bestow “learning opportunities” on others, beforejoining the Umbral Danse. While some work openly withthe Uktena and Wendigo, most prefer not to reveal theirtrue nature until it’s too late for their victims to avoid thelessons being taught. Most shapeshifters will never know thatthe strange outsider asking lots of questions — or leavingjust before the explosion — was one of Coyote’s children.Tricksters & TeachersCalling the Nuwisha “tricksters” often makes peopleimagine them setting up pratfalls, whoopee cushions orsimilar juvenile pranks that might at worst cause a fewbruises. Werecoyotes occasionally use such tricks to teachpeople they like a gentle lesson, but most Nuwisha pranksare not remotely funny — at least not to those targetedby them — and many are quite deadly.Some of the best of these "pranks" are like the slapstickgags in old cartoons, crushing people under heavy objectsor leaving the Nuwisha’s victim holding a lit stick ofdynamite. Unlike in a cartoon, the victim doesn’t get upsporting a bandage or some torn clothing. A werecoyote’svictims suffer the very real consequences of gravity orexplosives, leaving behind a mess of blood and bone —and a Nuwisha with a self-satisfied grin.166CHANGING BREEDS