The Garou

The Garou (werewolves) believe themselves to have been created by Gaia as her defense against the Wyrm and Weaver. They are the ultimate predators in the World of Darkness.

They revere the Wyld but are also steeped in millennia old traditions. They are fighting to survive in the modern world, but cling to the old ways.

Adding to their troubles is the fact that only one in ten offspring of a Garou turns out to be Garou themselves.

Worse still, their kin, the wolves, have been nearly hunted to extinction, leaving them with very few wolf mates.

Thus they have had to make do with humans, thinning the primal instincts of the Garou so that a Homid Garou may never have seen a forest until after his First Change.

There is one way to guarantee Garou offspring and this is to mate with another Garou.

However, due to an ancient curse laid on the Garou, any offspring produced this way are deformed and sterile, marking them as obviously different.

Their birth can put the life of their mother in jeopardy. Thus the Garou need to take their chances with humans and wolves to continue the line.

The Garou are a divided people, divided along lines of breed, auspice and tribe. Each Garou has a breed, auspice, and tribe and this means that they are not even uniform along a single trait.

A Lupus Ahroun Child of Gaia is a far different creature than a Lupus Ahroun Shadow Lord even though they share two traits in common.

The most severe divisions are between tribes, but breeds and auspices hold different values as well, which can contribute to conflicts in ideals.

The Breeds
Homid: These are Garou who were raised in human society, and often never know their heritage until their First Change. They often have trouble dealing with the wilderness and the spirit world. They are however deeply knowledgeable of human society and understand most technology. Homids are the most common breed.

Auspice

Ahroun: Those born beneath the full moon are the natural warriors of the Garou. No Garou is incompetent at fighting, but the Ahrouns excel at it. They often lead the Garou during times of war or when there are no Philodox in the pack.

Former Tribe

Children of Gaia: The Children believe that all Garou are really Children of Gaia who have not realized this yet. They strive for harmony between all the tribes and shun unnecessary violence.

The Garou see their peace loving ways as utter foolishness and consider the Children weak. However, when the Children do strike in battle they do so with the deep conviction that they are truly Gaia's chosen and fight with the madness of religious zealots.