W20 - Changing Breeds.pdf

The immortal weresharks have been isolated fromother werecreatures for thousands of years. Now, some ofthem are now taking a more active interest in the worldabove the waves.HistorySea is a different realm that lives by different rules, forit predates both Gaia and life. Sea was the eternal motherto her Three Daughters, C’et, Kun and Qyrl — beings thatthose who walk on Unsea think of as the Triat. C’et, themother of hard-shelled creatures, is much like the Weaver.Kun, the mother of all fishes and the force of creation andfertility, resembles the Wyld. Qyrl, the Tentacled One,wishes to extinguish the sun and plunge the world intodarkness and shares some traits with the Wyrm.Kun saw that Qyrl desired to end the world and createdthe Rokea to survive this disaster — the Great Unmaking.The weresharks’ most important duty is survival and formillions of years they performed it exceedingly well. TheWar of Rage did little to threaten them. Once the killingstarted, the few Rokea who cared for the creatures ofUnsea retreated into Sea. A handful fought in defense oftheir allies among the Mokolé, but most stoically mournedlost friends and allies, and simply ceased coming to shore.After the War of Rage, few weresharks bothered toreturn to the land. Even more than before the War, theRokea turned their focus away from humans and Unsea,and cared only for Sea and their lives in it. Their lives weretimeless and unchanging and most gave little thoughtto the small portion of the planet not covered by water.Few Rokea noticed the spread of humanity. Mostthought of ships only as a chance to obtain rarely-tastedwarm meat to fill their ever-hungry bellies. First steamand then diesel ships brought new and unpleasant smellsand tastes to Sea, but even then, few of them worriedabout where these strange vessels came from. The poisonsproduced by these ships troubled the weresharks,but compared to the vastness of Sea, such ills were easilyavoided and barely noticeable; they never imagined thathumanity could seriously harm Sea.All of this changed in the late 1940s, when humansblasted Sea with underwater nuclear tests. The Rokeafelt the oceans recoil from these Small Wounds. Theseblasts poisoned Sea on a level and scope that was exponentiallygreater than any harm mankind had donebefore, tainting both the realm and the Umbra.Many Rokea realized that the Small Wounds — boththose targeting Sea, and those on land that dropped poisonousfallout into the oceans — threatened their abilityto survive. They began considering ways to stop humanityfrom creating more Small Wounds, but unfortunatelytheir isolation limited their tactical planning. When oneROKEA LAWAll Changing Breeds have their Litanies.The Rokea’s is the oldest and the simplest,known as Kun’s Law.• Survive: Their first and greatest law is thattheir race must survive. Kun created theweresharks to endure the Great Unmaking,and none of their kind should endanger theirBreed’s survival.• Hunt: Like all sharks, Rokea are apex predators.Hunting, thinning the schools anddevouring the weak and the unfit are all partof their duty to the Sea.• Spawn: Although they do not age, life in theSea is never safe, so there must be new Rokeato replace those that die. Unfortunately, theybreed quite slowly.• Swim: Sharks die when they cease swimming.Forward motion is an inherent part of Rokealife. They feel a drive to move and to perpetuallyexplore new waters.ROKEA193