Post by William Alexander Von'Dire on Jul 2, 2011 11:00:13 GMT -5
Lycanthropes
Lycanthropes, or werecreatures, are actually beings that have gained the ability to alter their form into that of a specific type of beast. This power occurs as the result of having been afflicted with a disease known as lycanthropy. The most common and well documented of such individuals are werewolves, but many variations exist they are known as the Changing Breeds.
In "human" form these creatures appear to be the same as a normal human, although they may inherit subtle physical and behavioral traits in connection with their associated animal. Contrary to popular belief, lycanthropes are not ruled by the cycle of the moon. While a full moon may increase the calling of the animalistic side of their nature, sometimes even causing them to shift into their animal forms, it's merely a heightened awareness of an innate sense that exists in all living creatures. They can shift under the light of a noon sun as easily as they could beneath the moon.
A lycanthrope can assume animal form as desired, with few limitations. After the change it retains the thought processes of its human state but can no longer speak in its human tongue. Werecreatures can, however, communicate with other animals of their were type as well as being able to perform any abilities normally associated with them. In addition to assuming human and animal form some lycanthropes are able to halt their transformation before it is fully complete, forming a Manbeast. This is usually a skill practiced by more aggressive individuals because it utilizes the advantages of both forms. The strength, reflexes and heightened senses of their animal side combined with the manual dexterity of a human makes for a dangerous adversary. Add to this combination such livelihoods as: a short temper, a craving for fresh meat or even a headache and you could be faced with a frenzied mass of fur, fangs and claws.
Slowing down a lycanthrope that may have taken a disliking to the color of your shirt is a less than straightforward process. When not in human form, these creatures can only be harmed through the use of certain weapons according to the type of beast or magic. A lycanthrope has no use for weapons and all attacks are made with teeth and claws. If killed, these creatures will revert back to their human form. Surviving an encounter with a lycanthrope may, at first, seem like a cause for celebration but, as you tend to your wounds, be wary of the creature's legacy and the chance that it may have shared it with you. Whether you killed the beast or merely sent it packing is of no consequence. If it wounded you deep enough during the confrontation, it may well have infected you with lycanthropy.
Lycanthropy Spreading
There are two ways in which it is spread: Genetic (as in birth) & Exchange (as in a bite)
Genetically: The Virus can be given to the offspring of any of the changing breeds. However, this does not mean the child will become a Lycan. The virus can lay dormant for generations and awaken hundreds of years later so long as it continues to pass along the bloodline. This type of Lycanthropy cannot be "cured" or "cleansed".
When two werecreatures mate, the offspring will almost always be a lycan. There are no Half-Breed Lycan's. If a Human born Bastet and a Human born Garou create a child and the child is born with the virus they will either be Bastet OR Garou. If only one parent is a werecreature, there is a 50% chance the child will not be born with the were trait and 50% chance they will carry the virus but not awaken.
Roll 1d6 when the child is born: [Be sure to see your specific werecreature traits, some cannot bear children together such as wereravens. This is not needed if your SL calls for a child to be born a certain way]
1 - 3 Child is not a wereling, does not have or carry the Virus.
4 - 5 Child is not a wereling, but is a carrier of the Virus.
6 - Child is born a wereling,
Exchange: Lycanthropy can be exchanged through saliva/blood and blood/blood contact. It can also be spread sexually if either partner has an open wound, an infected mother can also pass it via nursing to he child. This can only be done by "awakened" Lycan's - if you simply are a carrier of the Virus it does not apply. The nightmares that the disease causes trigger the shape shifting, as does any stressful situation. The fever that accompanies the dreams (usually about running, hunting, and killing) is the first warning that the victim is infected. The shape shifting is quite painful, particularly at first. The victim typically does nothing but howl in pain during the transformation. The process of changing can take anywhere from hours to weeks. This duration depends on the depth of the infected wound and the victim's general level of health. In most cases symptoms do not usually begin to appear until half the time has elapsed. It is possible to have the infection removed through magical healing or cleansing, but only if sought before the disease has fully taken hold. The longer the person has been a lycan the harder it is to remove the disease.
For some, a lycanthrope's condition is not seen as a curse but as something to embrace. Druids (members of a religious sect that worships nature) aim to achieve and maintain a balance with all natural life. Their devotion to this cause allows them to use spells to further their work and to communicate with plants and animals. Some druids, however, strive to get even closer to nature and, seeing lycanthropy as being the tool for the job, they purposefully infect themselves with the disease. It is perhaps worth noting that lycanthropy is a disease that only affects humans and humanoid races. Races, such as Dragons, who are not actually human but rather take humanoid form will merely heal or die when inflicted with the disease.
Types of Lycanthropes in RaS
[/u]- Garou (wolf)
- Corax (raven)
- Bastet (feline)
- Ratkin (rat)
- Ananasi (spider)
- Nagah (snake)
- Gurhal (bear)[/center]
Gifted Lycanthrope Skills
Bestial Fury
Shapechanging
Bestial Fury
Shapechanging
Garou (Werewolves)
Werewolves are perhaps the most numerous lycanthropes in all the worlds. They're especially common in DnD, Ravenloft and FR. Like most wolves, werewolves prefer wooded terrain. In beast form, their hearing and sense of smell are excellent. Their wolf vocabulary includes yipes, barks, growls, whines, and howls. The howl can be heard up to five miles away, and causes unease in those who hear it.
Werewolves are chaotic creatures. They beastly nature urges them to hunt and kill. According to many tales, werewolves are cursed to hunt the ones they love. In truth, when the moon is full a werewolf may become lost in the blood-lust of his beast form and kill any prey he finds alone or vulnerable-including people he knows.
The Brethren-werewolves and their wolf followers-gather in pa cks, each with its own leader, hierarchy, and territory. A pack generally consists of 2-4 werewolves and 4-8 wolves with a territory of about 56 square miles (an 8 mile hex). Territories can support larger packs only if the werewolves hunt domestic animals or import more wild animals. The werewolves dominate the normal wolves and may fight among themselves for the right to lead the pack. Despite this squabbling, a strong bond unites the pack. When one member is threatened, the entire pack responds.
Occasionally, neighboring werewolves unite their packs into a single devastating force. The leaders of each pack may challenge one another for positions with in the chain of command. The hierarchy generally falls along experienced levels, with the most experienced werewolf commanding the entire pack. Any werewolf who wishes to be above another werewolf in the chain of command must challenge him. If the opponent accepts the challenge, they must fight to the death, or until o ne submits. Declining a challenge indicates acceptance of the other werewolf's authority.
Werewolves usually know human identities of their fellow pack members. They vow to guard this knowledge with their lives, for discovery would jeopardize the entire pack.
When in human form, many werewolves try to hide their nature and live normal lives. This can be difficult. Werewolves must take care to avoid silver and wolfsbane-their reactions to these substances may expose their secrets. Equally noticeable are the reactions animals have to werewolves. Horses show fear, and may strike out or bolt from the werewolves' presence. Dogs may challenge a werewolf intruding their territory - to them, a werewolf smells more like a rival dog than a human. Wild wolves, on the other hand, may be drawn to the werewolf's abode. It's not uncommon for werewolves to have "pet" wolves hanging around.
Werewolves may retain some physical characteristics of their human form when in wolf form. For instance, a human who limps may also limp in wolf form. Black-haired werewolves are black-furred in wolf form; auburn-haired werewolves have a touch of red in their gray fur. As with normal wolves, most werew olves are paler on their outside (throat, chest, and belly). Eye color remains the same in human or in wolf forms.
Generally, the larger a werewolf in human form, the larger he is in beast form. Most werewolves weigh, in wolf or wolf-man form, 1.5 times their human weight. A 6' werewolf weighing 170 lbs (in human form) stands about 3' at the shoulder in wolf form, weighs 225 lbs, and is a little over 6' long (including tail).
Garou have five (5) forms. They are as follows:
[1]Homid: this form is in all ways identical to a normal human being, there is hardly any clue as to the real nature of the person.
[2] Glabro: Bi-pedal, doesn't possess obvious fangs or claws, sloped brow, more body hair, teeth and nails elongate. This is a slight shift towards the inner beast.
[3] Crinos: This form is the one verybody instantly thinks when they hear werewolf. The form is a massive half-man, half wolf, bi-pedal beast.
[4] Hispo: This form resembles that of a dire wolf from ages gone past
[5] Lupus: This form resembles a regular wolf [albeit larger] but a regular wolf none the less.
Corax (Wereravens)
Insatiably curious and startlingly omnipresent, the Corax are Gaia's spies and informants. The wereravens are driven by an unstoppable urge to know, to unearth secrets and share them. So, from the mean streets of the city to the furthest reaches of the Umbra, you can find Corax poking around at anything that catches their fancy -- and an awful lot does.
Corax don't like fighting -- they're not terribly good at it for one thing -- and they recognize their role is that of scouts, not infantry. A Corax is just as happy to get the scoop, get out and then send the local butt-kicking werewolf population after the real baddies.
Corax are also incurable gossips and take every opportunity to share what they know with others of their kind. This behavior is as much a survival tactic as it is a social necessity; passing on information multiple times ensures that the message always gets through, even if one messenger gets waylaid. Moreover, information transfer is the prime motive of all Corax. The vast majority of Corax believe that Gaia created them to have someone who'd keep an eye on the world and its dirty little secrets, and the Corax do their best to fill that role. Of course, when those secrets involve murder, Wyrm-taint or the like, the Corax also view it as their duty to sic someone qualified -- say, a pack of Red Talons -- on the problem.
Raven legends are nearly universal, and where the legendary goes, there go the Corax. There are few places where Corax settle per se -- too many have wandering feet. Mind you, Kinfolk doesn't mean the same thing to Corax that it does to, say, Garou. Corax don't have to breed from their Kinfolk. Rather, they keep their Kin close so they'll have someone to talk to who understands what the wereravens are actually about.
Corax are creatures if Raven and the Sun -- and no necessarily in that order. Back in their legendary past, the raven-folk did Helios a great favor. As such, Luna handed the Corax over to the Sun with a minimum of fuss in order to keep him Happy. What that means is complicated -- Corax are never forced to change by any phase of the moon, and they don't have the normal Changing Breed allergy to silver. Rather, is gold that is deadly to the Corax, within the usual breed and form limitations.
One of the other unusual habits ascribed to the Corax is their penchant for drinking out the eyes of dead humans and beasts. Blessed (or cursed) with the innate ability to "imbibe" from a dead eye the last thing its owner saw, Corax regard it as a sacred duty to save these last visions. The fact tat these visions often hold the keys to mysteries is a bonus, for Corax perform this action with a grim seriousness at odds with their usual lighthearted, jokey demeanor.
Corax are deeply solitary creatures at heart. Although they enjoy socializing and gossiping with other wereravens and indulge in these habits whenever opportunity arises, Corax usually find that they can't stand long-term working relationships with others of their kind. Young wereravens often form gangs (erroneously called "murders"; a group of ravens is actually known as "unkindness"), but such groupings rarely last more than a year or two.
Corax gatherings, called Parliaments, are formal but raucous affairs. Great regard is accorded the amount of knowledge possessed by the senior wereravens present. Conflicts are settled in acclamation, not combat -- Corax know they're not built for battle and have no interest in beating up each other. Moreover, Corax Pride themselves on always having accurate information, so there are rarely arguments between Breed members that can't be solved by calling an eyewitness who knows what really happened.
The Corax are creatures of the Sun, not the Moon, and as such they have no auspices. The wereravens' ranks, like their arguments, are determined by acclamation. A Corax who's ready for a rise in rank simply finds a place closer to the center cleared for him at the next Parliament.
That is not to say that Corax take rank lightly, merely that they're not into pomp and circumstance surrounding it. Wisdom is, by far, the most important form of Renown to Corax.
The wereravens are more or less unique among the Changing Breeds by being welcomed at the moots and gatherings of any of the other werecreatues. After all, everyone knows that the Corax don't take sides, and everyone needs information. And, should a Corax provide a particularly timely bit of information or immortalize a member of another Breed by passing word of his deeds along the Corax grapevine, then said Corax may well be in line for a Renown reward.
There are but two breeds of Corax: homid and corvid. A Corax is created, not born the bird or human child destined for existence as a wereraven is bound to an Umbral Spirit Egg. Corax cannot breed with one another, for such unions are inevitably sterile. On the other hand, the Spirit Egg can be tied to any mortal or raven -- one need not be Kinfolk to become Corax.
How tightly the twin breeds interact is evident in the fact that a corvid Corax can create only homid children and vice versa.
Corax take their spiritual lineage as seriously as they do their genetic heritage. A Corax treats the Corax who hatched his spirit egg like a parent, which, in a sense, that wereraven is. Both male and female Corax can produce spirit eggs, but it is rare for a Corax to hatch more than one or two in a lifetime. Such an egg takes a great deal out of the Corax who creates it, so breeding never occurs casually.
Corax have three forms, one of which they try as much as possible to avoid assuming.While wereravens are equally at home with skin or feathers, it's when the two get mixed that things get embarrassing. As such, most Bête literally have no idea what a Corax in Crinos actually looks like, and many deny that such a form exists. For their own part, the Corax try to encourage that rumor. Unfortunately, this policy has backfired: Ill-informed Garou, upon seeing a Crinos Corax for the first time, have been known to mistake the Rara Avis for a new and particularly ugly breed of former.
[1] Homid A Corax's human form looks like a normal human, though most Corax tend to be thin and sharp-boned people. Most also have jet-black hair and dark eyes. Among European Corax, pale skin is very common, and the occasional albino Corax is not unknown. Among Corax of Native American ancestry, thin and willowy figures are still the norm. Black eyes are universal among Corax, and many have ring fingers as long as their middle fingers.
[2] Crinos, also called Rara Avis. An unwieldy combination of man and bird, the Corax Crinos form is nothing to write home about unless you have a really depressing home. The wereraven's form is vaguely recognizable as humanoid, but vaguely is the key word in the description. A Crinos Corax's face bristles with feathers, and its nose and jaw elongate into a powerful beak; arms sprout wings covered in oily black feathers, and fingers, which are nearly absorbed into the wings, become gnarled and clawlike. In this form, a Corax's digits become wicked talons, which explains why some wereravens resort to Crinos for defensive purposes. Indeed, defense and intimidation are the only things for which Corax use this form.
Corax in Crinos are capable of flight despite the fact that they maintain their Homid body mass. This sort of flight looks so awkward that most Corax disdain it entirely, but it can startle an opponent who doesn't expect it. Furthermore, Corax in Rara Avis can use all sorts of unpleasant Gifts designed expressly for combat, which means that the wereravens are not quite helpless in battle as the other Changing Breeds suppose. Numerous overconfident fomori have gotten their eyes pierced by a Razor Feather after attacking a Corax a little too cavalierly.
Crinos Corax look ungainly when walking, their peculiar rolling stride making them appear to be constantly off-balance. To gain stability, a Corax spreads his wings while he advances. This posture has the side effect of making the wereraven appear large and more menacing than he actually is, and it is also positions the Corax for Wing Swipe.
[3] Corvid (Raven) A raven with a wingspan of four-and-a-half feet, Corvid form is the one Corax prefer for flight. Of course, in this form Corax also prefer flight to combat, for obvious reasons. Corax in Corvid form attack with their beaks.
Bastet (Werecats)
Less contagious than other forms of lycanthropy.
Bastet, the great cat skin-changers, consider themselves to be the "Eyes of Gaia". It's a role they relish, as it gives them an excuse to indulge their natural curiosity and pry into the secrets of others. Of course, they would rather discover things by watching others than by engaging in any activity that might get them dirty, so they're not infallible at learning secrets. But as superior fighters to the Corax, Bastet can afford to dig a lot deeper to obtain the information they need, and they also have the patience to do so. For some strange reason, Bastet are practically magnets for other supernaturals and so have become very adept at learning what vampires, mages and even changelings have to hide. The Corax see much from their lofty perches, but often the view from within is more useful. Unfortunately, unlike the Corax, the Bastet sometimes don't know when it's better to share a secret instead of being stubbornly enigmatic.
The bad blood between the cat-changers and their wolf cousins goes back to the Impergium. Bastet were squarely opposed to this method of dealing with humanity because they wanted to see what interesting things human inventiveness would lead to if permitted to reach its full potential. Many modern Bastet regret the folly of allowing humans to expand the point that the cats' kin and kind are near extinction in many places. Still, that doesn't make them any fonder of the Garou.
Werecats breed in the same fashion as werewolves and can be born either homid, feline or metis (the offspring of two werecats), but because they are in season on ly once a year, metis are rarer among them. Metis earn the same respect as any other werecat and are judged on their deeds rather than their parentage. As with the Garou, homid is the most common breed of Bastet. With the diminishing of their cat kin's natural habitats, feline Bastet become rarer each year.
The Bastet are divided in subspecies or tribes, each one related to the true cats with whom they breed. As a rule, werecats prefer to set up housekeeping near their tribal lands, but this rule, like all others, is made to be broken. Each tribe has a specific purpose within werecat society, over the centuries, however, the individual nature of catkind has eroded these purposes. The first Bastet tribe were the Khara, extinct long ago, from which all the other tribes originated. The werecat tribes nowadays number nine: Bagheera (leopard), Balam (jaguar), Bubasti (Shadowcats), Ceilican (believed by most to be extinct), Khan (tiger), Pumonca (puma), Qualmi (lynx), Simb a (lion) and Swara (cheetah).
The Bastet have five forms. They are as follows:
[1] Homid (human)
[2] Sokto (cat-man)
[3] Crinos (hybrid)
[4] Chatro (massive saber-toothed cat)
[5] Feline (the full cat)
Ratkin (Wererat)
The wererats are exiles from a doomed world, survivors of lives filled with violence and horror. The disease of lycanthropy isn't a blessing, after all ... it's a curse. No doubt you've heard the time worn legends of how a shapechanger's attack can doom its victim. Perhaps you believe that a disease carried by one of these monsters can lead to outbreaks of madness or orgies of destruction. In the world of the wererats, these legends are based on hideous truths.
Wererats consider breeding a sacred duty, thus, a scant portion of the world's population descended from the Ratkin race. When a wererat breeds with a human, or even a rat, their offspring is known as Kinfolk. If the mother is a rodens Ratkin or a rat, she bears a litter of rat Kinfolk; if the mother is a homid Ratkin or a Human, the child is human Kinfolk; very rarely, if one of the parents is a materialized spirit, the freak that results is Spirit Kinfolk. For all shapechangers, lycanthropy is like a latent or recessive gene, one that can remain undetected for years, or even decades. In fact, the taint of Ratkin blood can endure for generations, lying dormant within its inheritors until misfortune awakens the family's curse.
Full-blooded wererats are shapechangers who can spread corruption through disease and transmit it through acts of violence. When a Ratkin wounds an innocent human, he may choose to infect him with illness. There's a chance the sickness may eventually transform into the Birthing Plague, a virulent pathogen that has been evolving for thousands of years. The infection can be transmitted in other ways as well: wounds, poison and plague are the three most common. Performing the proper rites insures this infection. Most humans who are consumed by the Birthing Plague suffer horrible deaths, but the few who possess a thin taint of wererat blood inherit the legacies of the Ratkin race.
For these unfortunate few, the limits of reality they once knew are shredded by a thousand eager claws. Until the infected Kinfolk undergoes his final metamorphosis, he is overwhelmed by changes to his body and mind, tormented by Rat-spirits lurking in the spirit world, and plagued by revelations from the Rat Incarna. It's a gradual process, one that slowly adapts its victim to the horrors of an altered existence.
Madness preys upon those who have carried the curse within their veins. The simple lives they once knew are torn to shreds, replaced by a calling of savage violence. For a blessed few, voices in their minds direct them, preparing them for battle. Many are called, but few survive. Some infected Kinfolk self-destruct, inflicting their rage on humans who invoke their wrath. The strongest endure until the terrifying moment of the First Change, when the transformation is complete. They finally learn to assume Crinos form and rejoin the Ratkin race. The limitless freedom of the Wyld alters their lives forever.
Life as a wererat doesn't begin with the Change; it begins with Infection. There's nothing glamorous about contracting a disease that kills most of the creatures it touches. Though the experience is cathartic, it isn't as dramatic as shapeshifting into an otherworldly creature for the first time. Kinfolk who survive the Birthing Plague may carry it around for days, months, or even years before changing for the first time. Until then, the result isn't a welcome embrace showing Gaia's love. It's a slow descent into madness, a gradual acceptance of the extremes of the wererats.
The first Infection is an experience a Ratkin never forgets. Humans who survive it experience unbelievable visions of possible futures, along with revelations from the distant past. Rats find their minds overwhelmed by thoughts and ideas beyond anything they've experienced before. From the first moment their claws curl into tiny hands, their minds are flooded with bursts of intelligence, and life is never the same again. Metis Ratkin are sacrificed to the Plague shortly after their birth, but those who survive know they have been chosen for monumental plans.
Any citizen of a major realm suspects this simple truth: if you're unfortunate to see one rat scurrying across your floor, there's probably a hundred more nesting nearby. This is hardly surprising. In a single year, two rats can breed close to a hundred offspring. For their shapechanging cousins, repopulating the Ratkin race has taken little effort in recent years. Because sightings of the wererats have been rare, the other Changing Breeds still do not realize how extensive the colonies of the wererats really are.
Wererats thrive best where humans, werewolves and other predators can't find them. The majority of Ratkin are thoroughly urban creatures, establishing hidden networks of allies in the biggest cities of the realms. A few have shunned the madness of the cities to establish rural kingdoms. Emissaries in the Deep Umbra continually scout for exotic breeding grounds, questing after legends of paradise.
Quiet, introspective rodents can have remarkable flashes of insight. For instance, a wererat who calmly listens to the sound of his own blood can remember the name of another wererat he has never met before. With enough effort, a Ratkin might even recall another wererat's aspect, what part of the world he hails from, or where he has been. Knowledge of ancient labyrinths is also passed down from generation to generation. A Ratkin can't "remember" passages that have changed during the last ten years, but in any major city, there's a chance that she can find a secret path that's been long forgotten. If it doesn't exist in the physical world, it might exist in the spirit world. A lone Ratkin, through introspection, can even attempt to channel memories of his ancestors. This is limited to memories, the wererat cannot channel the heroes of Ratkin history to work through him.
Ancient revelations are always sensory experiences, and often relate to the situation the wererat is currently struggling with - they're usually panic-filled flashes of mad flight and desperate searching. True clarity is impossible, particularly trying to regain facts having nothing to do with hiding places or fellow Ratkin's personal history. When a Ratkin goes into a meditative trance to seek a revelation from the past, the Storyteller has every right to tailor the nature of the information gained, making it succinct and clear, or keeping it vague and mystical.
Ratkin love shapeshifting, as it allows them to infiltrate human, rodent and supernatural societies with equal facility. Any Ratkin can assume at least three forms.
[1] Homid form, allows a wererat to interact with the world as a human being. When wearing this shape, Ratkin always have some tell-tale feature that gives away their rodent heritage: sharp teeth, bright wide eyes, a long nose of sharp little fingernails are all common traits. These physical imperfections are never as exaggerated as metis deformities; they are subtle enough that only another wererat would easily notice them.
[2] The Crinos form is a shocking amalgam of rat and man. A Ratkin's Crinos form is usually a full foot taller than its Homid form, although many wererats typically slouch to conceal this extra height. Clawed paws curl, contorting into tiny hands. Whiskers twitch, sensing the slightest breeze. Ratkin in Crinos can actually use their tails to flip switches, or grasp small objects.
[3] The Rodens form often resembles a normal looking wharf rat. A Ratkin's Rodens form might be a bloated beastie the size of a housecat, a furtive wharf rat clutching at shiny gewgaws with unnaturally gnarled paws, or an oily swamp rat leaping out of a toilet to escape the sewers below. Ratkin in Rodens are notoriously difficult to kill; unfortunately their natural resilience doesn't help them much against supernatural creatures or serious attacks. Normal rodents have prehensile digits, which can be used for climbing and grasping food, but their "thumbs" are underdeveloped, and cannot grasp. Rodens-form Ratkin, on the other hand, can grasp and use tools with these primitive thumbs.
Anasasi (Werespiders)
The Ananasi are unique among the Changing Breeds. They are the only remaining shapeshifters who are part of the world most people ignore. There are hundreds of thousands of spiders in a single acre of land. Most folks tend to forget this fact, and that includes the Garou. Even without the benefit of special Gifts, the Ananasi can hide in plain sight, too small to be noticed.
A single Ananasi is literally an army of arachnids with but one mind. Unlike the other Changing Breeds, the werespiders can literally be in a hundred places at once. In times long past, humans worshipped the Ananasi as gods - or devils - in various lands throughout the world. The spiders neither considered themselves as part of the human race nor even particularly close to their human kinfolk. Instead, their kinfolk were merely breeding stock. While that might sound insulting, to the Ananasi it's merely a fact. Countless generations ago, the Ananasi served as advisors and protectors of their human cousins in exchange for reverence. To the werespiders, it was the way things were always meant to be. Human emotion has never been a part of their world; the Ananasi were always more akin to their arachnid relatives than their human ones. Predatory by nature and often cannibalistic, they've never felt a sp ecial bond with any other beings.
Although most believe the Ananasi came originally from Africa, there is no solid evidence to confirm this notion. Legends of their kind spread back through every continent but Antarctica, and in their Homid forms, they are as likely to be Asian as they are to be African.
It's not too difficult for most of the supernaturals to confuse the Ananasi with vampires. Most of the werespiders are nocturnal, preferring to live and hunt in the darkness. Even when in Homid form, the werespiders can drink the blood of their prey by employing retractable fangs. Many of the Ananasi are almost unnaturally pale in their humanoid forms, and as a rule they are always unusually attractive. Perhaps it's the vague threat of a predator that humans sense when they stare, almost mesmerized, at an Ananasi in Homid form. Perhaps it's simply that the werespiders have a remarkable control over their shapes and are vain. No one knows really except the Ananasi.
While the Ananasi are often nocturnal by choice, they suffer no ill effects from sunlight. As with the victims of vampires, individuals werespiders feed from are often overwhelmed by a feeling of almost sexual intensity while the feeling occurs. This effect probably derives from the mild venom Ananasi inject into their prey to anesthetize the victim's flesh and close the wounds left by the werespider's fangs. The venom is powerful, and only minutes after such a feeding the victim's wounds are normally healed, leaving only the faintest scars. A victim killed during a feeding doesn't heal, which has led to some potentially dangerous situations regarding certain vampires and their "Masquerade".
Unlike vampires, Ananasi almost always prefer more isolated areas, where they can take on the form of numerous spiders and dwell in relative peace. While most werespiders claim to prefer human blood or even warm mammal blood, flies and other insects work perfectly well to keep them fed. The truth of the matter, however, is that only warm, mammalian blood gives the werespiders their other, special talents. Whereas most Changing Breeds have Rage to aid them in healing and combat, the Ananasi have Blood Pools, much like vampires. Mammalian blood allows them to take extra actions and even to heal their wounds, just as with vampires.
The Ananasi tend toward lives of relative solitude. By their very nature, they are solitary hunters and individuals. However, they believe very strongly in family, and all of the Ananasi accept each other as kindred spirits, no matter which faction they follow.
Despite their tendency toward leading private lives, they frequently communicate with one another. While it's fairly rare, there are some groups of Ananasi who gather together for protection. Normally, this phenomenon occurs in the areas where the other Changing Breeds - particularly the Garou - regularly make their presence known. When werespiders do gather in force, it's always the eldest females who lead them.
It's commonly accepted that Queen Ananasa leads the actions of the werespiders, but exactly how she rules over them is unknown. The Ananasi still claim to follow their great queen, but at the same time they war among themselves with a ferocity almost unseen even by the Garou. There is a three-way civil war occurring between the werespiders, and no one is certain just who will come out victorious in the end. The factions fighting with each other are aligned with the Weaver, the Wyrm, and the Wyld respectively. Rarest of the three are the Hatar, or Goblin Spiders, the followers of the Wyrm. While it's known that Queen Ananasa is presently in Malfeas, most believe she is captive there. Apparently, the Hatar follow the Wyrm in an effort to keep her sage. The Kumoti, or Wyld-Spiders, serve the Wyld in the believe that the only way to save their queen is to free her from the clutches of the Wyrm. The Kumoti and Hata r are seen most commonly in Asia, where they're known collectively as the Kumo and where they have a surprising amount of influence among the other Hengeyokai. Finally, the Skein-Spiders, the most common of the Ananasi follow the Weaver as all the Ananasi did long ago. Their believe is that the Weaver still protects Queen Ananasa within her royal Opal Chambers, which both other factions see as a prison rather than a ward against injury.
Despite the war raging between the three groups, there are still certain rules that all werespiders observe. None ever stands by while another of its kind is hurt by an outsider. Any werespider seeing another attacked by anything apart from another Ananasi immediately steps into the combat to aid its relative, regardless of political believes. While they seem to have no trouble with waging war among themselves, outside interference is another story entirely.
Little is known of how or where the Ananasi gather for matters of tribal importance. There are, allegedly, caves deep within the jungles of Africa that house the original palace of Queen Ananasa. Most believe these caves to be sacred to the werespiders. Such a place would be "neutral ground" where they Ananasi might discuss events that affect them as a race.
Without exception, the Ananasi do not possess Rage. What they have instead is a Blood Pool that allows them to heal wounds and take extra actions, much like a vampire. Unlike a vampire however, the loss of blood from a werespider's Blood Pool doesn't weaken the Ananasi any more than fighting on an empty stomach would weaken a Garou. When the Blood Pool is empty, they simply can't heal themselves or take extra actions any longer - not until they drink mammalian blood again, anyway.
As a result of their lack of Rage, the Ananasi do not suffer from a weakness to silver. The metal causes them no aggravated damage. Many believe that the Ananasi suffer from a special weakness to pesticides, but there's little truth to the rumor. In actuality, any amount that would harm a spider harms the werespiders while they are in Crawlerling form. To affect them in any other form requires as much of the toxin as would be needed to harl a full grown human.
If the Ananasi can be said to have a weakness, it's that they don't share the other Changing Breed's immunity to disease or even their powerful tolerance to poisons. The Ananasi, who don't regenerate in the same fashion as the other shapeshifters, don't get the extra defenses that protect their brethren against viruses and maladies. Both the natural and supernatural diseases of the world have claimed many a werespider.
The Ananasi have two confirmed breeds: homid and arachnid. If there are actually metis Ananasi, the werespiders aren't talking, and even the ever-curious Nuwisha haven't managed to find any evidence of their existence.
Human-born Ananasi have one very simple advantage over their brethren: they start off with the mass they need in order to attain their full size. Arachnid Ananasi must quite literally eat their way to the proper size, consuming their egg-mates and often devouring every regular spider for several acres before they've gained the necessary mass. The arachnid-born werespiders often take on coloration and characteristics of the local spider populace as a result of this rapid weight gain. For example, and Ananasi who comes of age in the desert is likely to resemble a tarantula, whereas a werespider hailing from wetter areas may resemble a brown recluse. When running in Crawlerling form, the Ananasi almost always looks exactly like the spiders originally consumed, unless he wills larger spiders to form from his flesh.
The werespiders have amazing control over their own anatomies. As freakish as their regular gamut of forms is, some who've encountered Ananasi claim the creatures have appeared in even more outlandishly frightening shapes - but the toxins from the werespiders' venom could well have distorted these unfortunates' perceptions.
[1] The Homid form of the Ananasi is human in every aspect. They eat like humans and can mate with humans while in this form. While ordinary food can sustain an Ananasi, it lacks certain ... elements, thus leading the werespiders to prefer their liquid diet. Once out of Homid form, they are incapable of consuming regular solid foods.
[2] The Lilian form is almost unique, different for each werespider. Some remain upright, standing on two legs and growing additional appendages down their torsos. Some become almost completely arachnid, save that a humanoid trunk grows from the area where the spider's head would be, making such Ananasi seem like freakish spider-centaurs. In every case, a hard, thick, carapace forms over the body: nobody could look a Lilian Ananasi in the face and mistake its features for human. Often their faces are almost completely human, though immobilized by the carapace, yet just as frequently their faces resemble the alien visage of a giant spider, complete with eight eyes and mandibles. In all of these various forms, the Ananasi acquire the full use if eight limbs. In this form, as with all forms but the Homid, the Ananasi rely on blood as their sustenance.
[3] The Plithus form of the Ananasi is that of a gigantic spider. The actual type of spider changes depending on the locale: in desert areas, the Plithus often resembles a tarantula or trap-door spider, whereas in moister regions the Plithus looks more akin to a brown recluse or black widow of epic proportions. The actual appearance doesn't change from area to area, but instead has to do with where that Ananasi comes from originally.
[4] The Crawlerling is the most disquieting to watch an Ananasi assume The werespider breaks himself into a horde of normal-sized spiders, literally enough to make up his full human mass. Considering the weight of the average spider, that makes for a substantial number. While in any combat situation, most Ananasi seem to lean toward larger, more aggressive shapes. When trying to hide themselves, however, many prefer the faster and less detectable forms of their species.
Nagah (Wereserpent)
Unbound by loyalties to any faction of the Triat or even Gaia, the Nagah are the dark watchers who make sure the cogs set in motion by the powers that be continue turning smoothly. Moving in the shadows and watching silently, the Nagah carefully measure the importance of the Changing Breeds and judge their actions with cold-blooded efficiency.
For lack of a better title, the wereserpents are Gaia's executioners, through they owe her no special allegiance. Theirs is a sacred, thankless duty, to which they dedicate their entire existence. They are the elite, the finest natural assassins ever created. They must, of necessity, move in secret. The other changing breeds, if they knew the Nagah's hidden purpose, would surely destroy them as the Garou tried once before.
The War of Rage was the result of that failed attempt. The actions of the Nagah are never direct. Their talents in subterfuge and skullduggery put the Ratkin and Shadow Lords to shame. The ever-quiet and civil Nagah of the past are mounted as one of the greatest tragedies of the War of Rage. No single song exists that tells of them as anything but peaceful. There are no written passages that mention their murderous skills or the duplicitous machinations that kept their reputations so remarkably clean.
Most believe that the Nagah are dead, another species that wasn't quite up to par on the evolutionary scale. The wereserpent's perfer it that way; in fact, revealing one's presence is a great crime among them. The Nagah now move about the world with little or no fear of being recognized for what they are, and though their numbers are small, they manage to judge the Changing Breeds and handle the tasks set before them when Gaia was young.
The Nagah always work in groups of two or three. This practice has nothing to do with ability and everything to do with ensuring no one ever again falls down the same pit that Vinata did so long ago. These groups, called "nests," seldom stay in any one place for more than a few months.
While the Nagah usually prefer to mate with their original Kinfolk, they've long since adapted to mating outside of India. Such is true of the cobra-born Nagah as well as the human-born. The only solid rule regarding the snakes they mate with is that they must be venomous in nature. The Nagah exist throughout the world and seldom travel back to their homelands unless there is a summons from the Sesha, the ruling party of the breed.
The Nagah have for auspices: Kali (Winter), Kamakshi (Spring), Kartikeya (Summer) and Kamsa (Autumn). Unlike the Garou, there is no special task assigned to a Nagah as a result of when he was born. All are equal in their duties.
The Nagah don't use caerns. They have no need of them. Instead, they have special locations tat they create for themselves, pockets between the Umbra and the Gaia Realm called "Ananta." These lairs are much like the Bastet's Den-Realms, save that Ananta are universally under water. The Ananta are always well warded and only the Nagah can enter them safely. Because the Nagah often move to new locations, the Ananta are temporary dwellings. When a wereserpent moves on, she literally absorbs the Ananta into herself and regurgitates it later. When on the move, a Nagah can use the power of the Ananta to step sideways into the Umbra but otherwise may enter the Umbra only through the Ananta itself.
Who exactly leads a nest is decided by the nest's members, and leadership often changes depending on the task they've set for themselves. While this is normally handled peacefully, tere are occasions when ritual combat is the deciding factor.
Although there are three different breeds -- Balaram (homid), Ahi (metis), and Vasuki (cobra) -- they are all equals, because each has special abilities that balance the scales of power. The Sesha always consists of three members of each breed working together, reflecting the three aspects of the Triat working in harmony.
The Ahi don't suffer the same disabilities as Garou metis. They are able to conceive children and carry them to full term. However, there is no guarantee that the children of the Ahi will breed true; as with the other breeds, only one in 10 will be a true Nagah. Ones who are Kinfolk rather than true Nagah experience their change in life when their parents decide whether the offspring is to be cobra or homid. Using a rite taught by the Wani, the parents make the decision not long into the mother's pregnancy. The mother then spends the remainder of the pregnancy in the chosen form, and the Kinfolk children are born as if normal humans or cobras.
The Nagah have five basic forms, though there are rumors that truly powerful wereserpents can alter their bodies in more extreme ways. Four of the forms allow the Nagah to inject venom into their enemies. The venom is extremly powerful.
[1]Balaram The Nagah is indistinguishable from any other human in this form, although very few of them ave noticeable amounts of body fat.
[2] Silkaram This large, brutish shape is mostly human in appearance, though even at this point it's changed enough that there's little chance of recognzing the person who stood there a moment before. All hair on the Nagah's body disappears, to be replaced by bony ridges that strongly resemble scales. The jawline extends substantially, often making the Nagah look as if he's been dabbling in the use of steroids for too long. The nose recedes and widens until the face seems almost flat. Heavier scales cover the skin, often changing the coloration enough to make any guess at race a waste of time. The scaled lips of the Silkaram form make certain words harder to form and lend sibilance to the Nagah's speech. When exposed, the teeth of the transformed wereserpent seem fused together, except for the canines, which extend almost three inches beyond the other teeth. These fangs fold back when n ot in use. Lastly, the eyes change radically, growing darker and losing any human coloration they had. While the Silkaram still has arms and legs, they grow thicker and slightly shorter. The fingers and toes become webbed. In this form, the Nagah are excellent swimmers.
[3] Azhi Dashaka The combat-form of the Nagah varies greatly from one individual to another. Few look enough alike for anyone to realize they're from the same breed. The one certain giveaway is the massive "hood" that most wear extended while in battle. The faces of Nagah in this form are almost completely ophidian. The hood of the Azhi Dahaka is present even in Nagah from other parts of the world, long removed from any cobra parantage. Azhi Dahaka are able to unhinge their jaws, which allows them a better bite for the injection of venom into an opponent. Their tongues lengthen and usually become forked. The Azhi Dahaka also have gills and are fully amphibious. The limbs of a Nagah in this form more resemble the spine of a snake: Vertebrae replace joints and the limbs are amazingly fluid. Most Nagah lose their legs completely and instead balance on a trunk and tail that often extends to a length between 16 and 20 feet. The hands of the Nagah grow much thicker and their fingernails are replaced by vicious talons. Heavy scales cover the body and add protection from many attacks. The upper chest and arms grow far heavier in the Azhi Dahaka shape, allowing the Nagah to use a strength that rivals the werewolves' Crinos form. Most Nagah scar their bodies in a manner similar to some Garou, and the scars become livid patterns in this form.
[4] Kali Dahaka This form resembles a king cobra, save for two differences. The first is that in Kali Dahaka the Nagah normally maintains a slender, yet strong, set of arms; the second is that the king cobra is nowhere near as large. Once again, the ritual scars of the Nagah are present in this form, but they are muted and nowhere near as colorful as on the battle-form. The Nagah can opt to take Kali Dahaka shape without the benefit of amrs if they so desire. The Kali Dahaka form also comes complete with working gills, allowing the Nagah to breathe under water.
[5] Vasuki The Vasuki form is that of a cobra. There is no noticeable difference between a normal cobra and a Nagah in this form.
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