W20 - Changing Breeds.pdf

Many werehyenas ran to the cities and pandemoniumof West Africa, while others fled as far as the Middle East,Europe, and even America, to escape the Endless Storm.In the chaos, Black Tooth and his allies killed more thantwo-thirds of the werehyenas, and every Ajaba Kinfolkthey could locate. The reign of the Ajaba King was over,replaced by an even more horrific tyrant.Most of the African Changing Breeds supported BlackTooth, overjoyed to see the Ajaba’s rule overthrown. Overtime, however, they’ve come to realize that Black Toothis yet another brutal dictator. Today, even among theBastet, many African shapeshifters want to do somethingabout the mad Simba, but have not yet dared to openlydefy him. The situation is made tenser by the increasein well-armed human bandits hunting large predators forskins and bushmeat. These illegal hunters have grownso common throughout East and Central Africa that anumber of Black Tooth’s enemies believe that he paysthe poachers to target crocodiles, cheetahs and hyenas.Although Black Tooth is growing old, he still ruleshis domain as an absolute and terrible despot. In thepast few years, he has hired well-armed human andKinfolk mercenaries to enforce his reign of terror. Hedoes not confine his atrocities to the Ajaba, striking outat any of the Changing Breeds in his domain — indeed,persistent rumors have Black Tooth personally huntingand devouring those who anger him.These rumors are kinder than the truth: Black Toothaccomplished his lofty conquering of the Dark Continentthrough a secret treaty with not only spirits of questionableallegiance, but also with a cabal of vampires — the forcetruly behind the ritual Black Tooth used to banish theAjaba. No dark pact comes without a price, however. Oneof the terms of the vampire treaty requires Black Toothto regularly turn over a number of his enemies for theleeches to feed upon. A few outsiders have heard rumorsof this monstrous agreement, and seek to find evidenceof the Simba overlord’s dark alliances. Even a tyrant’siron rule has limits, and actual proof that Black Toothworks with vampires and Wyrm-creatures would likelycause the shapeshifters under his control to explode intoopen rebellion.Kisasi and the AhadiOther shifters are seeking an alternate route todivest themselves of Black Tooth’s rule. Tired of storiesof vengeance and survival, an Ajaba called Kisasi isgathering an alliance of many Changing Breeds to unitetogether for the common good, and overthrow the EndlessStorm’s iron reign. She has managed to find support fromthe Bagheera, Swara, and a growing number of Mokolé.Its members call this loose and tenuous alliance “theAhadi”, after the Swahili word meaning “promise.”CHAPTER ONE: THE CHANGING WORLD29