W20 - Changing Breeds.pdf

74HUMAN KINTraditionally, Indian Bagheera chose humanKin from the religious caste, but with the declineof the caste system in India they have defaultedto individuals with both a scholarly bent and thewherewithal to act on their convictions.In Africa, the wereleopards have typicallychosen shamans and witch doctors as Kin, andthey have never been particularly fussy aboutrace — bushmen and pygmies are as appealing tothem as Zulu warriors, and even Euro-immigrantsand Arabs with an appropriate mindset find theirway into Bagheera family trees.AppearanceBagheera are sleek and graceful in all their forms, andexude an undeniable sense of power and ferocity. Manyhave black fur in their feline forms, but the standardleopard coloration is more common. Rumors exist of abranch of the tribe in the Himalayas that has successfullybred with snow leopards, but many Bastet believe thisto be purely wishful thinking.Form StatisticsSokto Crinos Chatro FelineStr: +1 Str: +3 Str: +2 Str: +1Dex: +1 Dex: +2 Dex: +3 Dex: +3Sta: +2 Sta: +3 Sta: +3 Sta: +2Man: –1 Man: –3 Man: –3 Man: –3App: –1 App: 0 App: –2Beginning Rage: 2Beginning Willpower: 4Starting Gifts: Humbaba’s Escape, TreeclimberThe Yava of the Bagheera• Bagheera sleep deeply during the New Moon. Oncethey slumber, nothing short of violence can awaken them.• Make a trail of salt; a panther will follow it frombeginning to end without stopping.• Blessing a leopard’s prey with Aabhaya (a handgesture meaning “protection”) will force the cat to fleeunless his rage is just.BalamFury given a physical form, the Balam possess anintensity unmatched by any other Changing Breed.CHANGING BREEDSAntisocial to the extreme, they merely wish to be leftalone to prowl the twilight depths of the Amazon.Unfortunately, Pentex and the Asura are rending therainforests of South America limb from limb, blightingthe once-pristine jungle into a scarred perversion of itsformer self. And so, the Balam fight ceaselessly, makingtheir foe pay a bloody price for every inch of land theyseek to defile.Balam are the fiercest of Gaia’s guardians. BeforeEuropeans came to the Americas, the werejaguars usedsuperstition and terror to steer humanity away fromthe territories under their care. Now, outnumbered andoverwhelmed, they desperately strike directly at theirfoes to safeguard the sacred lands and forbidden lore thatGaia has given over to their keeping.OrganizationBalam are highly solitary creatures, even comparedto other Bastet. Most keep territories bordering those ofseveral jaguars, or perhaps a Kinfolk village, and encoun-MELANISMWhile big cats such as lions, tigers, jaguars,and leopards all belong to the Family Panthera(and thus could be considered panthers in ataxonomic sense), there is no individual speciesor sub-species of wildcat for what is commonlycalled a “panther”. Panthers are simply blackpelted(melanastic) variations of other big catspecies, most commonly the leopard (Pantherapardo) or jaguar (Panthera onca), although blackpumas or even tigers are sometimes referred toas panthers as well.Within the Bastet, melanism also exists.Some “werepanthers” consider their monochromecoloration to be a mark of particularhonor, taking pride in their “panther” natureabove that of whatever particular tribe theybelong to. Others see it as a simple color variation,no more setting them apart from the restof their tribe than a variant in eye color, height,or weight.Regardless of their individual views, melanasticmembers of a tribe have access to thesame Gifts as do the rest of their tribe. Whilea black jaguar-shifter might be mistaken for aBagheera while in its feline forms, its tribe (andits personality) will be wholly Balam.