W20 - Changing Breeds.pdf

Whether in the physical or Umbral realm, wereravenskeep their eyes and ears open for hidden secrets and mysterioushappenings to share with one another — and sometimeswith their shapechanging cousins. Their fleet wings — andquick wits — can turn the tide for those who call the Coraxtheir allies.Seriously? Who writes this stuff? You’re never goingto learn the real story about who you are from that hack.The only way to really understand the Corax is to get itstraight from the raven’s beak…Fortunately — for you at least — I’ve got sometime to spare, and I like the cut of your plumage. Graba limb, and I’ll give you the real story about who we areand what we do.HistorySo, ya want to know where we came from? Well,that’s a long story — but an interesting one. You see, wewere the last Breed Gaia made. She’d wrapped up all therest, and there was about fifteen minutes of total chaoswhile they all hissed and growled and postured at eachother before She scattered them around the globe. Thenshe realized what she’d done and decided to make us.Why? So we could keep an eye on everyone else forHer, of course. You know how the littlest kid is alwaysthe one who runs to Mom with every little thing theirsiblings do wrong? That’s us. We’re the tattletales.She did us up just right for the job, too. You knowwhy we can’t settle down? Cuz they’re everywhere, sowe have to be, too. I mean, I like my cozy nest as wellas the next bird, so to keep us from settling in, and takingthe easy way out, She put wanderlust in our veins.Gave us the itchy travelling feathers. We’re built to goeverywhere, see everything. No homebodies allowed.If there are secrets going on, you can bet there’s one ofus, listening in, poking around, getting a gander — soto speak.And to make sure the other Changers didn’t strongarm us to keep us quiet about their blunders, She slappedus with a compulsion to talk to anyone who will slowdown long enough to listen. We see something goingon — we gotta spread the word. That kinda comes inhandy for getting the rest of them to do their jobs, too.We notice something going on, point it out to the bearsfor cleanup, or the wolves for battle, and then we get togo back to doing what we do best…And what might that be?So, you know that “series of tubes” that most folksrely on these days for their informational access needs?No, I don’t mean porn — well, not just porn, anyway.The Net’s pretty much replaced newspapers, phone books,libraries — it’s where folks get the stuff they need to know.Us? We make the Net look like a buncha clay tabletswith “Cleo Was Here” scrawled on them. We’re bleedingedge, eyes-in-the-sky, grade A, number one know-it-alls.That’s what we do, and we’re the best at it. We werebuilt to get in, see what’s going on, and get the hell outso we can spread the word. Information’s no good if themessenger can’t deliver it.That’s one of the reasons we don’t really fight, incase you were wondering. Oh, we’re nasty enough in ascrap, and we’ve got a few tricks up our sleeves, but thetruth is we’re not built for going toe-to-toe. That’s okay,though… Fight sneaky, the way we do everything else,and you’re more likely to survive to tell a tale — or pulla prank — another day.See, that’s the other thing we’re good at… Pullingpranks. Not just to be funny (although that can be funtoo). Most of the time, there’s a method to our madness,a lesson in the lemon-meringue. See, some folks justdon’t listen the easy way. They think they know it all,or try to second guess why we’re sharing informationwith them. So, every so often, you need to set one ofthese bull-headed blow-hards up so he’s in a position toget what you’ve got to give. Then, once he’s wiping thebanana cream pie off his face, you can tell him aboutthe Pentex takeover that’s behind his favorite restaurantchain, or the fact that the “Kinfolk” he just boffed isdoing double duty for a local Hive. You know, the stuffthat hits a little too close for comfort.Oh, and speaking of close… You should know whereyour allegiances lie. Unlike most of the other breeds,we’ve got two bosses: Raven and Helios. The Sun took aninterest in us after we kinda tricked him into some stuff,92CHANGING BREEDS