Rage Across Australia by Kurieg

Why Australia is Hellish

posted by Kurieg Original SA post

I swear to god I've been working on this since before you posted that.

I know someone had asked for this, but I only just got around to actually reading it cover to cover today.

I apologize profusely for the delay because this book is amazing for all the wrong reasons.


Rage Across Australia.

This was one of the relatively early Apocalypse books, and it shows. There's cultural insensitivity in spades, an inability to do basic math, and blind ignorance of their own rules. Basically the only thing I'm pretty sure the book got right is the chapter on the geography of Australia, and even then I can't know for sure.
The one unique thing that this book had was information on the Bunyip. Before this they were just another name on a list with the Croatan and the White Howlers. Even better, the book's opening fiction is the story of how they died!

Legends of the Garou: The Death of the Bunyip

And we're off to a confusing start. I've heard of sunlight being harsh, and I can understand it being worse in the outback due to the lack of shade, but the idea of light itself being more malevolent due to your location is just amusing. as far as his "deformities" and his "twisted body", I'm not sure what they're talking about. His description in a later chapter only mentions that he's bald and albino ("white as Meeka the Moon").

So other than being being wordy and redundant, it's slightly racist, as Grek at the very least isn't Aboriginal. There's one person in the circle who isn't dancing, though, the one who is playing the role of "Wyrmbaiter". Who apparently was the Alpha of the Red Talons during the War of Tears. He got his name because he would lead Wyrm minions into traps using himself as bait. You know, because suicidal tendancies is a quality you want in a leader.

Yeah, cause, you know, when I kill someone my first inkling is to go find one of my most sacred sites and leave their rotting disemboweled corpse right on top of it.

The Fianna Righ, Keally O'Shannesy, is trying to figure out what to do. She's leery of making a decision without more input, and all attempts to get a message to the Bunyip had failed. Of course if she doesn't act she'll be seen as weak.

The Glass Walker representative speaks up and points out that the evidence isn't irrefutable, since anyone, wyrm or not, could have killed Greyflank and left her there. The Stargazer representative also speaks up, saying that it would be incredibly stupid on their part to intentionally piss them off like this, and they've never been violent in the past.

Of course the Get of Fenris representative, Black Ivan(yes), disagrees "Are the Fianna so weak that they cannot judge what is obvious? All here know the detestable Bunyip murdered Greyflank." To which the Shadow Lord, Tepes Godkin(No, seriously) speaks up, "Why have the Bunyip hidden from us for so long? Because we will smell the stink of the Wyrm on them. We should destroy them know before they can ready their defenses."

Wyrmbaiter, egged on by the two Werewolves with names from a metal album, demands a decision. "The time for talking is past. Let us Rage."

Keally is panicking because if she doesn't give in, the Get, Lords, and Talons will have her removed from her position, and she's worked too damned hard to get removed from her position now! She even glances over to see Godkin cleaning his fingernails with his Klaive and making throat slitting motions at her. So she finally decides that in three days time, they will begin the hunt for the Bunyip.


It's like fate(or bad writing) conspired to bring together the absolute worst people in the world to make a rational decision. Of course, the book isn’t done yet, oh no, we still have to see what shenanigans the Uktena are up to.

“Yeah guys I think we’re kind of doing something bad here, but since I know you won’t listen to me go ahead and slaughter them all. They were dicks and wouldn’t share their toys anyway.”

The war party gathered on the third day is mostly Red Talons, Shadow Lords, and Get. Keally is there “lest her judgment was needed” and so she could tell future garou the tales of what would transpire. There are a few Bone Gnawers, Silent Striders, Uktena, and one Child of gaia, “A bitter outcast from his tribe”. Wyrmbaiter just says “We have come to kill Bunyip. Let us kill.” After that, uhh...
Wow, only five pages in, including the cover, before a rape reference. I think that beats CoG.
When they enter the Dreamtime, all hell breaks loose. The ground starts rippling in protest, the sky shimmers with strange colors and sounds. Cockatoos fly overhead, screaming like hte Wyrm itself. And a Diprotodon bellows nearby, because apparently they were still around in the dreamtime back then.
A young Red Talon, Terror-in-His-Teeth, is the first to find a Bunyip. None noticed that she was already weak and wounded from a previous battle, and covered with crusted blood. Nope, he just leapt on her and ripped her throat out, before swaggering back to the war party.

Where Wyrmbaiter chopped him in half with his klaive, because as war leader the first kill was to be his, and he wanted “the creature’s agony to rival that experienced by his sister” Hey, Keally? Remember how you said your judgment might be needed? He just killed someone for kill stealing and for not torturing them long enough. Maybe you should reign it in a bit.The campaign carried on for another year, and the book takes special note to point out that the Stargazer who spoke up to try and stop the campaign was killed by Tepes Godkin for protecting a Bunyip cub.

Finally the last Bunyip was tracked to a cave in the physical world, and Wyrmbaiter entered the cave alone. And of course, they have a melodramatic speech-off before the inevitable.
Wyrmbaiter obliges and lops off the top of his skull. But as he raised his head to howl triumphantly he saw only the face of a 16 year old boy, oh no. And he felt no evil in his spirit as it left his body, no taint of the Wyrm. “The spirit told him of a life lived in tranquillity and peace, of a level of communion with Gaia about which Garou could only dream.” Because apparently none of the other Bunyip’s spirits did this, only this 16 year old. Wyrmbaiter collapses into Lupus form and begins to weep.

But then the wall of the cave falls away and a woman steps out. “Her eyes swallowed the light of the Bunyip’s fire. Long, straight hair, black as the shadows from which she had sprung, fell over her pale shoulders. Her skin was pallid and faintly phosphorescent, like subterranean fungi. ‘You have been magnificent, as I knew you would be. The greatest tool I have ever used.’” yeah the whole thing was a Black Spiral plot, surprise.

What follows is a speech worthy of a Bond villain.

Yes, that is his sister's rotting head .

She walks back into the hole in the cave, still laughing. While the rest of the hunting party come into the cave to see what's wrong. Wyrmbaiter gives them the lowdown "It was not the Bunyip who had slain his sister. The hunt he had launched was an obscene mistake. He must atone for his sins." So he leaps in after her, no one else was brave enough to follow. He was never seen again...

That's where the story ends. Up until recently, the Bunyip never had any rules for actually playing them. Their only reason for existing was so that the Garou Nation could be tricked into killing them and turning Australia into even more of a blighted hellhole.

Next we have the credits page, informing us that of the writers, one never did anything else for White Wolf, the second was tapped as a reference for Bunyip in the Wild West supplement.
The third was Richard Watts, who worked on first edition Wraith(along with many other authors, so I'm not holding that against Wraith), CB:Setite , and Freak Legion so we know we're in for a trip.


Introduction
The book helpfully informs us that the Aboriginals are the oldest living contiguous culture. They were around before Egypt raised the pyramids, in fact they were alive before the Garou instituted the Impergium upon humanity, and before the War of Rage. That means that they were immune to the Delirium. So the Bunyip were free to shepherd them into a gentle and spiritual people that existed in peace and harmony with Gaia.

Then the Europeans showed up in 1788 and fucked everything up, whoops.

Theme:Strangers in a Strange Land
To put it bluntly, the local spirits hate the Garou. The Dreamtime itself rebels against them, and most of the spirits have been seduced by the Wyrm. Those that haven't are being tainted by the Black Spirals, Vampires, or Pentex. Some call for the Garou to treat peacefully with the spirits, "Most Garou, however, sneer that such diplomacy is the way of the weak, and that the Garou must force the spirits to aid them." Which one of these is the correct path? Hint: The one that the writers won't let the Garou take.

Mood: Guilt and Atonement
The book is going to hammer this point in, The Garou Fucked Up , and no one will let them forget it. Their only hope for atonement is "placing the needs of the Aboriginal Australians before their own."

Gothic-Punk Australia
I just threw up a little. Yeah this is the author's "Well we couldn't be bothered to do real research but we want to sound like we did" card. Because the World of Darkness is Darker and Edgier and Gothic-Punk! Most of the social reforms that granted Aboriginals greater rights either never happened, or haven't happened yet.
Remember this line, burn it into your memory.
They also point out that many Aboriginal activists have embraced the name "Koori" as identification for the tribes of Southern NSW and Victoria prior to "European Invasion", and is becoming a term of national identification amongst all Aboriginals... but they aren't going to use it because this is GOTHIC-PUNK AUSTRALIA Gaia-dammit! We can't have our oppressed minorities get even the smallest inkling of empowerment!

Finally before we get into the first chapter, the book goes into References. "The films and books suggested below should familiarize you with the Australian landscape and culture. Other films, such as Crocodile Dundee and The Man from Snowy River, provide a more stereotypical view of Australian life."

"Mad Max III: Beyond Thunderdome is a more accurate view of Australian Life than Crocodile Dundee"-White Wolf, 1994

Next Up: Historical Revisionism and SCAR "artwork".

History

posted by Kurieg Original SA post

Chapter 1: History

Wait, I'm forgetting something

Chapter Image
There we go.

Prehistory
65 million years ago(not really, but that's what the book says) Australia broke away from Gondwanaland, isolating some of the most unique species in the world! To be detailed next chapter.

First Settlement
Around 60,000 years ago, humans migrated to Australia over the ice shelfs from Indonesia... wait what? The ice shelf didn't extend that far south, that's damn near the equator.

Also they apparently looked like this.

The War of Rage and the Impergium
So like the Children of Gaia, the Bunyip abhor violence, except they went one step further. When the war of rage started off, they all retreated into the umbra and prayed to Gaia to guide them to a 'land unspoiled by the ravages of hatred'. She led them to Australia, and they enacted powerful rituals to seal off the Australian Umbra(Henceforth known as the Dreamtime) from the rest of the world. "In this way the Bunyip became, like the flora and fauna of Australia, isolated from external influence, maintaining much knowledge that was lost to the Garou during the War of Rage."
Then the Bunyip began exploring the continent, finding it was already settled by a people living in harmony with the world as hunter-gatherers. They had strong spiritual links to the land, and as such the Bunyip never needed to enact the Impergium.
No, they do not give mechanics for this, and I think we can be thankful. It would probably be something like "For every dot in Perform: Didgeridoo, treat the Aboriginal as if they had 2 more willpower".
There's also heavy evidence of intertribal warfare, but, you know, they respected the environment so they're better than you.
There were Wyrm beasts on Australia as well, but they were all slain or bound by the Bunyip. "In the respite that followed, the Bunyip began to breed with thylacines, wolflike marsupials native to Australia, and forged powerful alliances with native spirits." Uhm..
Wolflike

After that, the bunyip retreated from the physical world, content to observe the Aboriginals from the Penumbra. The rest of the Garou nation, in the meantime, thought that the Bunyip had fallen into Harano and allied with the Wyrm. The rest of the Fera, including the Mokole, apparently didn't want to leave their kinfolk so they ignored Australia completely.
Man, if only they had known all you have to do is find an animal that vaguely looks like you and you're golden.

Initial Contact
The Chinese apparently visited the 1400's, and the Portuguese mapped much of western Australia in the 16th century, but saw little value in the country. "The Bunyip ensured that these early visitors saw none of the beauty of the continent, but were greeted by brushfires, blowflies and sand." The first Englisman to visit the continent was William Dampier, who landed on the northwestern coast and shot an Aboriginal "setting the tone for the next 300 years of white conquest." Captain James Cook was empowered by the Technocracy to 'de-mystify the southern continent' and used his powers to penetrate the Bunyip wards to see the fertile eastern seaboard for what it really was.

European Invasion
The first support for The Beatles came in December 1963
After the uppity Americans declared independence in 1776, the British needed a new dumping ground for their "unwanted masses, criminals, and political prisoners, invariably commoners." Simultaneously, the kindred who 'infested' the monarchy and ruling class, sought to spread their influence far beyond the homelands of the Antedeluvians, the technocracy threw in their hat with the vampires because... they don't give a reason.
The Silver Fangs who had kin amongst the British aristocracy opposed the colonization, but once they were defeated they threw in as much support as possible so that they could plant their flag first and declare rulership. Of course since there were also a lot of Irish convicts, and the British apparently uprooted entire kinfolk families to transport them to Australia there were a lot of Fianna as well. There were also a few banes that got transported over on the ships, "nourished on the suffering of the convicts." On January 20th, 1788 they landed on Botany Bay, but saw that it was an absolute hellhole, and some marines sailed north to found Sydney on January 26th.

What this picture has to do with the founding of Australia, however, I have no idea.

The Fianna, Silver Fangs,and Bone Gnawers were entrusted with the task of ensuring that the British didn't fuck up Australia too badly, not knowing that the Bunyip were already there. The Garou were lead by Earl Blaze of Uffington, who's kinfolk served in the House of Lords. "Earl Blaze was a fierce imperialist and fervently believed in the Gaia-given right of the nobility to dominate the common herd. He also believed the Silver Fangs were Gaia's chosen children, appointed to rule over the other Garou." Of course the first Garou to set foot on Australian soil was Porkchop, a charismatic Bone Gnawer determined to make a name for her tribe. As a reward, Earl Blaze of Uffington dispatched her pack to scout out the lands surrounding Sydney Cove, in hopes that they'd die horribly while he installed himself as the new King of Australia. But then Porkchop came back and informed him that the Bunyip were already here. I can only presume his monocle flew across the room in a comic fashion.

I guess we can retroactively subtract points from TB:CoG Revised for not only remembering this bit character from a horrible book, but expanding on his story.

The Bunyip, for their part, remained aloof and distant in the Dreamtime, ignoring the European Garou. After months of attempts to get in touch with the Bunyip leader to no avail, Earl Blaze attempted to force their hand by abducting seven Aboriginal kinfolk. "The Aboriginals perceived the European Garou to be enemies of the Dreamtime and knew that they could not allow the Bunyip to be corrupted by them. They began to will their own deaths, and within a week all of them were dead." Bunyip: too good for this sinful earth.


Yet again we have random art out of nowhere, between this and the Not!Maori from earlier I'm beginning to think that they just grabbed random art from wherever they could find it and shoved it in.

Rather than blaming himself for the death of the Aboriginals "who in his eyes were only primitive blacks" he blamed the Bunyip. Because they would not respect him, a Silver Fang and Gaia's Chosen, they must be creatures of the Wyrm. I'm beginning to think that the only reason the Silver Fang's tribal weakness is "mental instability" is so that they can have the leaders of the Garou make profoundly stupid leaps of logic like this. Of course the rest of the Garou Nation believed him, except for good old Raymond, but he was kind of in a death-prison-camp within a death-prison-continent so he was dying, and only Luther Gazes-Inwards, a Stargazer, believed him.

Tensions between the Silver Fangs and the Fianna flared during the Castle Hill rebellion. When a pack of Fianna, led by Bridget of the Flashing Eyes, went straight to Earl Blaze and were ripped apart by his guards, but not before Bridget and her brother wishboned the Earl. His successor, Greymane Sleekfur, wisely sidestepped outright civil war by declaring that the lives of 6 Fianna were worth one king. Of course his amnesty didn't extend to the Bunyip or the Aboriginals.


Wow, relevant art that isn't horrible. Excellent.

The Europeans kept sending more people to Australia, as well as free settlers who wanted out from under the crowns boot. The Garou thought that the Bunyip had been unfit guardians of the Continent since they let half of the continent be the outback and thought that the Europeans would be better .

"For this reason the Garou did little to halt the European transformation of the Australian landscape until it was too late."



Further Colonies
In 1803, Tasmania was settled...
Nope pretty sure that didn't happen, or they're taking extreme poetic license. To make this lapse in historical accuracy even more jarring, they continue.
I didn't remove any text between these sentences, or even a paragraph break. They go straight from "a woman was raped for this island" to "The Black Furies Loved it here". To be fair Truganini was probably like, three when the Black Furies settled the island, but the proximity of these two sentences is off putting. Also, this is the “sensitivity and care” with which they said they would treat the aboriginal history.

Other settlements followed the establishment of Tazmania. Queensland in 1825, and Western Australia in 1829. Both were championed by James Stirling, the son-in-law of a powerful director of the East India Company. Now it gets weird.
Yup, James Stirling was a mage, and he's still alive! In Perth!

South Australia is apparently a nice place because it didn't receive any convicts. Apparently 'not having convicts' means that they were guided by more 'enlightened principles', and the spiritual environment was never stained by the emotional blight of convict labor.



Since we're talking about how much South Australia didn't have slaves, have two pictures depicting slavery

Then Melbourne was founded, and the Glass Walkers tried to get in on the ground floor to guide it into a utopia that is a part of Gaia rather than a Blight upon her.

The Rise of the Squattocracy
At the beginning of the Colonization, the Wyrm was quiet, content to just let the humans get a base set up. By the 1830's they controlled the economy and had caused excessive violence towards convicts and Aboriginals, feeding the banes and hoping to corrupt the Dreamtime enough to let the Wyrm in. To this end, the servant of the Wyrm formed the Squatter's Council. Most didn't know that they were serving the Wyrm, but they served him nonetheless. They bribed Thomas Mitchell, the explorer-in-chief of Australia, to open up the grazing lands beyond the Great Dividing Range. And apparently the book finds it important to tell us that Mitchell was the first person to use "Dispersion" as a euphemism for the "wholesale murder of Aboriginals".

On the surface, the Squattocracy wanted wealth, property, and prestige. Of course they were manipulated by the servants of the Wyrm "including at least one Leech and several formori" who sat on the Squattor's Council. THE DESTRUCTION OF THE AUSTRALIAN ENVIRONMENT! Their logic was that if they made the land of Australia suffer, the spirit world would suffer, and since the Bunyip live in the spirit world, they might just up and die. The most effective method (the book says) was the introduction of European agriculture. The clearing away of the brushland and the planting of cereal grains to destroy the native vegetation(?). The servants of the Wyrm also introduced Rabbits, horses, sheep, cattle, foxes, pigs, cats, and dogs to further harm the Australian spirit world. At this point I'm getting the feeling that the author is just going down the list of things that could be even remotely construed as "harmful" to Australia and attributing them all to the Wyrm.

The Garou Nation, for their part, didn't realize the implications of the Squattocracy. Most trusted the Silver Fang's and their judgment that Australia had been mismanaged by the Bunyip and that the introduction of European vegetation and Animals was for the best. How the fuck did that conversation go down? "Well yes they have this strange marsupials, but they don't have Wheat! Wheat is of Gaia, and therefore they are of the Wyrm." Regardless, there were also Silver Fang kinfolk on the Squatter's Council, so anything the council did had to be good, right? It wasn't until King Greymane's sensechal provided him with irrefutable proof of corruption that they acted, killing any squatters that were bane-ridden or otherwise corrupted. But after Earl Blaze's insanity, Graymane's inability to act harmed the Silver Fang's reputation irreparably, and he fell into Harano and died of shame.

Resistance
At this point did the Bunyip finally decide to fight back (must have been the Wheat) organizing Aboriginal resistance to the invasion. "They met with only marginal success, as Aboriginal history and tradition had left them unprepared for an armed struggle." Like I said before, inter-tribal warfare was very much a thing. They probably lost because the British had guns and the Aboriginals did not. They still manged to kill some white settlers, burn down wheat fields, kill livestock, and murder some explorers. Apparently the Bunyip are responsible for the Leichhardt expedition disappearing, luring them through a hole in the gauntlet and killing them there.

They're just heaping on the White Guilt at this point.
Let me get this straight: Foreign Garou that don't know any better: harmful and corruptive to the Dreamtime, Bringing hostile humans into the Dreamtime and slaughtering them wholesale: not corruptive to the Dreamtime. Apparently spurring your kinfolk to slaughter settlers doesn't count as 'violence' in this scenario as well.
Fifty Garou to police an entire continent? That's ten packs . The writers probably could have left this little demographic breakdown out of the book and have been better for it, but oh no, it's just going to get worse.


Good job SCAR, you can draw basic geometric shapes

The Rush for Gold
Gold was discovered in New South Wales, and Australia's population doubled between 1850 and 1860. The book claims most of these were Irish which means an influx of Fianna, which only increased the tensions between them and the Silver Fangs, which of course resulted in another rebellion known as the Eureka Rebellion , which according to Wikipedia is really fucking important as far as the current political state of Australia, so it seems crass to attribute it's impetus to Garou infighting. It's also rather telling that stating that it happened is as far as the book goes into it.
The urbanization that occurred as a result of the gold rush also helped Australia's vampire population quite a bit. Of course the Glass Walkers also grew to prominence and knew full well that the Vampires were growing in power, but no one listened to them, so they decided to just shut up and stop telling the other tribes about future threats. Which seems ridiculously stupid and petty, "I told you so" loses it's impact when a continent is burning down around your ears.

The Aboriginal Protection Board
Hooray, time for more "Sensitivity and Care", case in point, this section has a header quote that uses the word "Koori" eight times in six sentences.
So yes, this was a real thing and it did result in some horrible stuff, like Aboriginal children being taken from their homes under child welfare laws to be trained as servants for wealthy white Australians. But attributing it solely to the machinations of the Wyrm is horrible. It also states that, while int he real world these practices were shut down in 1969, in GOTHIC PUNK AUSTRALIA it's still going on today.

What the hell? The Impergium only worked because it was systematic across the entirety of humanity. At that point the Aboriginals were a minority, a minority already being oppressed. What would culling and controlling their numbers do that the British weren't doing already?

The War of Tears

That one in the middle is doing the snoopy dance, there is no other explanation.
Okay, at this point I can no longer be sympathetic toward the Bunyip. They're basically bear-baiting at this point, ignoring the Garou just to ignore the Garou and not explaining their case or the nature of their plight is basically asking to be driven extinct.
So the Bunyip were somehow preventing them from living in Greece? The Garou are also acting, well, if not out of character, excessively stereotypical. "We live in the wild, you aren't letting us live in the wild, therefore you must die." "We defend the Wyld places, so we're going to kill you so that we can do it instead of you." Up next: the Glass Walkers kill people and literally pave a road over their bones while the Fianna destroy all native vegetation to replace it with acres and acres of shamrocks.


Hilariously off-model werewolves! Also: Spines don't work that way.

There's another two paragraph summary of what happened in the opening fiction. followed by what happened after. There was a civil war between the European Garou as they fought over the vacant caerns, which they later found were all inactive (they apparently shut down in protest after the Bunyip were dead) The Glass Walkers penned plans for the Jindabyne Council and got the Silver Fangs to back them, and the Shadow Lords took over Tasmania from the Black Furies in a swift, brutal coup.

Bushrangers
While these 'momentous' events were happening to the Garou, the humans were too busy crafting their own "distinctly Australian identity" to notice. Chief amongst these were the Bushrangers, outlaws who lived by stealing from banks or wealthy squatters. They were romanticized by the Australian populace because they were flamboyant highwaymen.

The most famous was Ned Kelly , an Irish Bushranger. They're mostly true to what Wikipedia is telling me, except for two points. First, he was apparently trying to create an independent Irish state within Australia. Second, he was Fianna Kinfolk, because of course he was.

He also wore homemade armor during his final confrontation with the police. _{the fuck are up with those proportions}

Federation and the Jindabyne Council
Before 1900, each of Australia's states were a separate colony, although people had been trying to get a national assemblage going since the 1880s.
I think that speaks for itself.

The Garou figured they needed some kind of organization themselves to counter this, so they created the Jindabyne Council to oversee the Dreamtime and coordinate against the Wyrm and Technocracy. Not all the tribes were happy, Red Talons disliked it because, you know, it was something other than killing humans, the Get hated it because they're the Get, and the Shadow Lords hated it because they weren't in charge. No one could ignore it, though, because if they did then they'd be ignored.

Their first act was dividing Australia into recognized protectorates, which they divided among the septs. Many Garou were unhappy, and were angry at their representatives for not getting them a better deal (read: sole lord and mastery of the continent) but the council has kept the peace for the past 100 years so they allowed it to exist. Of course today it's mostly a tool for political infighting and point-scoring, and even it's own members are trying to figure out if it's worth keeping or not.

The Razor Wars
During the 1920's there was a rise in organized crime. the book then goes on to imply that every gang in Australia was controlled by either the Glass Walkers, Followers of Set, or Giovanni. The Vampires and Garou fought by proxy over cocaine and the other vices of Sydney and Melbourne, and open street warfare broke out on more than one occasion. Of course the rulers of both cities made sure such events didn't make the news. Eventually the "Cress Truce" was signed which divides both cities into various zones of Garou and Vampire control, which the other tribes point to as evidence that the Glass Walkers are corrupt.

Depression and WWII
The depression in Australia was caused by Sarrasine, the Vampire Prince of Sydney. He had recently taken control and required a period of economic and social unrest to establish his rule. The Corporate arm of the Glass Walkers took advantage of this to increase their power base within the tribe, ousting the organized crime faction.

Exactly how the depression helped a Vampire increase his control over a city isn't explained, it's just a thing you're meant to accept.

WWII had a different effect, Australia got hit with a massive influx of displaced immigrants from Europe. Amongst these were many Garou, particularly Black Furies, Get of Fenris, and Shadow Lords. Previous writings should indicate exactly how well this went over with the local spirit world, and it undid years of work trying to get the Dreamtime spirits to accept Garou again.

The Postwar Boom
After the war, Pentex bought out basically every big Australian industrial concern _{that the author could find in whatever research they did} and Australia's mineral wealth was exploited by strip mining and blasting on a massive scale. Buuut this was all just a coverup for Pentex's search for the great Wyrm Incarna that has been buried deep in the outback these long years by the Bunyip.

Pentex's efforts also just so happened to be centered mostly in Red Talon and Uktenna territory, so they didn't ask for help and the rest of the Nation didn't offer. The Glass Walkers also unwittingly helped Pentex along because of their love of technology, ignoring environmental damage in the name of progress.

The Snowy River Scheme, which was a river diversion through the Snowy Mountains to irrigate previously arid territory into useable farmland, was apparently a Garou plot to get kinfolk immigrants brought in to work on the the project. The spirits, of course, objected to a major portion of a mountain being blown up, the CoG's tried to object but everyone ignored them, of course.

The 1950's also saw Australia change to a more "American" mindset, in part because of the return of soldiers who served in the Pacific, but also because of the introduction of Television and the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne.

This apparently resulted in them literally turning into every stereotype of America ever. Why does he have a Thylacine head on his wall? That bunyip ghost is apparently very mad at that man enjoying a beer.

The Australians were pissed at the British because they used Australia as a Nuclear Testing Ground, particularly Maralinga a 'useless and uninhabitable desert'. Of course it's a Wyrm plot and they're actually trying to despoil an old Bunyip caern and awaken nearby sleeping Wyrm Beasts.

Voices of Dissent
The Vietnam War served to divorce most Australians of their aspirations of American Awesomeness. The CoGs and Stargazers lead demonstrations against the war, which, uhh, "Led to the rediscovery of spiritualism and rejection of the barren values of capitalism commonly found among the '60s counterculture." The Jindabyne Council was also overtaxed trying to keep the Garou from killing each other any more than absolutely necessary.

The Present
In 1972, the Labor Party was elected, led by Gough Whitlam. And apparently someone on the art team had some strong opinions of Mr Whitlam.

Of course I couldn't tell you what those opinions are because the text paints him as a hero of the environment and an enemy of Pentex. He also pulled Australia out of Vietnam. Though the Labor Party did apparently fuck up economically, leading to inflation and unemployment.

After they were ousted from power, Pentex decided that it hadn't paid enough attention to the political arena, so they decided to buy the two main political parties. The Garou matched their efforts by focusing on smaller political groups that focused on environmental and social issues.

Long story short: GOTHIC PUNK AUSTRALIA is fucked, and the Garou are screwed if they can't figure out a way to fix it, but they've either alienated or ignored every spirit that could help them, and most have turned to the Wyrm at the hands of the Dancers.

Up Next: Someone quotes their Geography Textbook

Geography

posted by Kurieg Original SA post

Chapter 2: Geography
Okay, before we even get into the text, what is up with that picture? Those are such ludicrously small arms for something with that big a body, they're entirely vestigial, what is that thing even doing there? Did the World Serpent want to see a show at the opera house? It also looks so angry , Ausmungandr is judging you.

The first half of this chapter is a mixture of clinical descriptions of geography and diatribes against the white man for ever coming to Australia. I'll just quote a small section

If you want to replicate the experience, pull up a Wikipedia page on Australian Geography and a white guilt webpage and switch back and forth until nauseous.

But just because we're skipping over the text, doesn't mean we're skipping the art. I would be doing you a disservice to deny you this.


Like the fanged tube worms in the Australian outback, you remember those, right?


Or the rare Tasmanian wolfpaw wheat?


Or when you're shearing your sheep and it turns out to be a Wolf in Sheep's Clothing. Don't you hate it when that happens?
_{What kind of monster actually illustrates that tortured visual joke? SCAR that's who.}

Garou Protectorates
The Garou divided Australia into 19 protectorates (not including the cities, which are battlegrounds between Garou and Vampires), and there is at least one Caern in each protectorate, it won't discribe all of them though, leaving the storyteller free to create more! unfortunately there are reasons keeping that from being viable. Regardless this is mostly more descriptions of the land. I'll only be including only the stuff that's interesting.

Arnhem Land Protectorate
Area: Arnhem Land itself and the Kakadu National Park
Tribe: Black Furies.
The main concern of the Black Furies is the Ranger uranium mine in Kakadu. They're trying to mobilize the lands owners to close it but they haven't been open to do so yet. The more reactionary members of the tribe want to force the issue. Unsurprisingly the Mine is actually a Black Spiral Caern but they rarely leave the grounds.
Caern: Namorrkan Caern
This is a Black Fury only Caern, though they do allow non-Red Talon females to visit. It lies within Kakadu National Park. The ridge on which it sits is known as 'Lightning Dreaming' by the local Aboriginals because of the spirit that lives there, Namorrkan the Lightning Man. Namorrkan, however, is an aloof spirit who only talks to men, and the Black Furies are too proud to ask for help.
Basically the Black Furies were stupid enough to found a Caern right on top of a Male Spirit that refuses to talk to women. Did I mention that the Black Furies are idiots in this book?

Cape York Protectorate
Area: Cape York
Tribe: Red Talons
Pure unspoiled wilderness, also includes the Great Barrier Reef. Apparently a bauxite smelter wants to take some of the land here. He's basically already dead.

Eungella Protectorate
Area: From Cairns to Fraser Island west to the Dividing Range.
Tribe: Stargazers
Fraser Island is a large sand island with freshwater lakes, the stargazers protect it voraciously.
Caern: The Web of Dreaming Hands
Located in the Carnarvon Gorge, the floor of which is covered in dense rainforest, and in one of the lesser caynons live thousands upon thousands of spiders, spinning webs from tree to tree and filling the gorge with sheets of silk. In the center lie two trees shaped like hands.

This. basically.
If a Garou sleeps in the hands and sacrifices a point of Gnosis, they will dream a 'true' dream. The events in the dream will always occur, but they're difficult to interpret, to the point that most will not know the meaning of the dream until after it comes to pass. It takes a Wits+Enigma roll to not screw it up. Of course, said Garou also needs to convince the stargazers to let them use it.

The Flinders Protectorate
Area: The Flinder's Ranges
Tribe: Get of Fenris
The area also includes the nuke blasted Maralinga. The Get have been known to abandon their cubs there as a Rite of Passage. If they can make it back while avoiding Black Spiral Dancers and the Formori Soldiers, they're welcomed as full fledged members of the tribe.

The Gariwerd Protectorate
Area: The Grampians Reserve.
Tribe: Fianna
Fianna Kinfolk had recently managed to convince the Victorian government to change the name of the district to Gariwerd, but the 'newly elected conservative government' reverted the change.
Caern: Tower Hill Caern
Situated in the Extinct Tower Hill volcano, it used to be heavily forested but it was cleared out for grazing land (which the Fianna blame the Silver Fangs for) they've begun a reforestation campaign using a painting that a kinfolk painted in 1815 as a guide. But, wouldn't forcing the land to form a shape rather than just planting it normally be, like, you know, bad? The Silver Fangs have tried to wrest control of the caern from the Fianna because "Such an important caern should be guarded by a more fitting tribe than 'a group of Irish drunkards'". First Edition everyone.

The Gippsland Protectorate
Area: From Melbourne to Mallacoota Inlet.
Tribe: Silver Fangs
Is heavily polluted.
That's basically all it says of import.
Caern: The Sept of the Mother and Sacred King
This Caern is located in the Fitzroy and Treasury Gardens in Melbourne, and is a multi-tribal sept. The center of the Caern is marked by a statue of Artemis. A narrow road separates the caern's surrounding parkland from the Treasury Gardens, where stands a memorial to JFK. "Many Black Furies claim Kennedy was an aspect of the Sacred King, the ritually slain consort of the Mother Goddess." Whaaaat? This is out of nowhere. "The Sept is led by Voula Kostikidas, a metis Black Fury. The sept is the only urban caern guarded by a Black Fury. The rest of the sept are, like their leader, outcasts and outsiders" okay then...

The Hunter Valley Protectorate
Area: From the New England Ranges south to Sydney.
Tribe: Fianna
"The polluted industrial city of Newcastle lies at the mouth of the Hunter Valley Protectorate, as if to enrage the area's Fianna guardians. The Fianna despise this symbol of the Wyrm's corruption, but can do little." Apparently a recent earthquake was an ancient wyrm beast beneath Newcastle waking up, maybe.

Caern: The Rocks Caern
Located in the King's Arms Hotel in Sydney, this is a predominately Bone Gnawer caern. In the real world it has been gentrified, BUT IN GOTHIC PUNK AUSTRALIA it's still mostly squalor and is a popular squatting spot for the homeless. "The totem of the sept is Sydney's City Mother, who appears as a gaunt punk girl adorned in bright makeup and wearing a leather vest over a dress of stained white lace. Striped stockings and heavy boots complete her ensemble. Her attitude is insulting, aggressive and nervous." the nineties were such an amazing time.

The Kangaroo Island Protectorate
Area: Kangaroo Island
Tribe: Black Furies
"Thanks to the effort of the Garou Kinfolk and their human allies" 70,000 hectares of the Island are a national park. it's also home to some animals that don't live anywhere else, even in Australia. According to the Aboriginals, Kangaroo Island is Karta, the land of the dead, and since it's largely divorced from the mainland it's Dreamtime is still "rich and mysterious".

The Katajuta Protectorate
Area: From Nullarbor in the south to the Tanami Desert in the north, from the Simpson Desert in the East to the Great Sandy Desert in the West.
Tribe: Uktena
1st edition Uktena were dicks .

Not racist! We promise!
Caern: Sept of the Waking Dream
A Caern run entirely by Aboriginal Uktena and closed to outsiders based in the Olgas mountains west of Uluru. And if you want more information than that you should definitely buy the new Werewolf Sourcebook, Caerns: Places of Power! Fantastic.

Kimberly Protectorate
Area: Kimberley, it looks like the Uktena just control the entirety of western australia that isn't Perth or the area around Perth.
Tribe: Uktena
This area is "rugged and Wild", which the Uktenna siezed immediately after the War of Tears (sensing a pattern? Also, weren't there like, 3 Uktenna in Australia during the war of tears? how did they "sieze" most of a state?) There are two caerns, one in the Bungle Bungle range, which is inaccessable to all but the most persistent garou. and the one at the Wolfe Creek Meteorite Crater.
Caern: The Barnambirr Caern
This one in fact. It's one of four caerns exclusively controlled by the Uktena, the Red Talons of the nearby Tanami protectorate want to steal it, I'm guessing solely because of the name of the Crater, as they are the wolfiest of wolves.

The Mount Isa Protectorate
Area: Great Dividing Range in the east, Gulf of Carpentaria to the north, simpson desert to the southwest, balonne river to the southeast.
Tribe: Red Talons
Mount Isa is one of the worlds largest silver-lead mines, copper and zinc are also mined in the area, and the Barkly Tableland is one of the worlds richest fossil sites. Basically the Red Talons picked the absolute place to put a protectorate because they want to kill everyone who lives here for raping the land of its riches.

The Nimbin Protectorate
Area: From Fraser island to New England (not the one in the US) and from the Great Divide to the Coast.
Tribe: Children of Gaia
The book discribes this area as a tropical paradise, the CoGs are mostly centered in the town of Nimbin.
"No man, we only do pure opium. Heroin is of the Wyrm, you're totally harshing our buzz!"

Duuuuude, Swamp Thing's talking to me again.


The Pilbara Protectorate
Area: It doesn't actually specify but I'm guessing the entirety of Pilbara itself.
Tribe: Red Talons
There are mines here, the Red Talons are trying to shut them down. Including a closed down Blue Asbestos mine in Wittenoom, where the Black Spirals have a caern, because Mesothelioma is of the Wyrm I'm guessing, this will be covered in the Wyrm Caern section later.

The Riverina Protectorate
Area: Lachlan River to the north, Great Dividing Range to the south and east, Loddon river to the west.
Tribe: Silver Fangs
"Riverina borders the Fianna protectorate of Gariwerd, and tension between the rival tribes remains high, as it has since Australia was founded. Riverina contains the town of Glenrowan, birthplace of the infamous bushranger Ned Kelly, as well as a number of artificial lakes." I love the implication that the Fianna are mad at the Silver Fangs not only just for having control over a town where one of their kinfolk was born, but also because they have the audacity to have lakes . The nerve of them.

The Tanami Protectorate
Area: From the Tanami Desert up to the Gulf
Tribe: Red Talons.
It's another blasted desert. Also there are miners here, the Red Talons hate them.
This is now three Red Talon protectorates for whom their main concerns are 'people are mining here, and that's bad'. I wonder what the Red Talon tribal moots are like.

"PEOPLE ARE MINING!"
"MINES ARE THE ENEMY!"
"ALSO METEOR CRATERS!"
"RAGE!"
"RAGE!"

The Tasmania Protectorate
Area: Take a guess.
Tribe: Shadow Lords
There might still be living thylacines in the old forests of Tasmania, and the Shadow Lords are hunting for them, whether it's to kill them or save them that's anybody's guess, they're Shadow Lords.
Caern: Cradle Mountain Caern
This used to be a caern of great power under the Bunyip. After that the Black Furies held the land for a while, but they weren't able to unlock it's secrets before the Shadow Lords kicked them out in a bloody coup. The unprovoked attack was what convinced most Garou that the Jindabyne Council was necessary. The Shadow Lords were able to re-open the Caern fifty years ago but only at a fraction of it's current strength, which has the entirety of the Black Fury tribe basically going "I told you so" on endless repeat.

The Wadbilliga Protectorate
Area: South of Sydney, Including the Snowy mountains and the coastline.
Tribe: Silver Fangs
This area contains the Snowy River Scheme, and the Jindabyne Council, which has appointed the Silver Fangs its protectors. The Capitol of Australia, Canberra, lies within this protectorate, and it's design of districts separated by greenery is apparently the result of Garou inspiration. Infighting between the Silver Fangs has blinded them to the growing population of Black Spiral Dancers within the tunnels of the Scheme, and the Bane-ridden city of Wollongong, "which pumps soot and smoke into the atmosphere at a frightening rate." So, sorry if any of you live in Wollongong, you're evil apparently.

The West Coast Protectorate
Area: Any part of the West Coast not already claimed by the other tribes.
Tribe: The Glass Walkers
Unfortunately, the glass walkers don't appear to actually manage or patrol their territory at all, instead remaining in Perth 24/7, fighting Pentex (who have their Australian Headquarters in Perth) leaving the other tribes to actually defend the Protectorate. The Black Furies and Red Talons aren't happy about this and are lobbying with the Jindabyne to have them taken out of power.
What? Why go to the caves? You have perfectly serviceable board rooms. Or is this just so you guys can be even more cartoonishly evil by traveling to dark gloomy caves, dress up in robes, and plot and cackle evilly by firelight... okay yeah that's exactly the reason, nevermind.

The Western Plains Protectorate
Area: Rural New South Wales
Tribe: Silver Fangs
There's a big silver mine here in Broken Hill. The Garou have their caern as far away from it as possible in Warrumbungle National Park. Despite their best efforts the mine remains open."The earliest Silver Fangs in the Western Plains accompanied the area's human settlers before they knew of the Squattocracy's links with the Wyrm. Western Plains' Silver Fangs are among the oldest and most arrogant Silver Fangs in the land, as well as the most inbred."


We're finally done with the protectorates!


Flora

I'm sorry, WHAT!?

Yes supposedly the Aboriginals did use fire to burn down old growth (Though this is a theory that has come under some scrutiny in the past few years) but I highly doubt there was any malicious intent towards native grain intended. I would find it easier to believe that grains simply didn't exist on Australia. The author is making it sound like the War of Tears was fought entirely because the Silver Fangs loved grains, and the Bunyip did not.


Fauna
Divorced as it was from the rest of the world for so many years, there are animals on Australia that aren't found anywhere else (Save South America to which it was once joined). Most of these animals are marsupials, with the odd monotreme here and there.
I'm sure you already know this, but I'm including it for a reason
Yup. Pack it in everyone, we're just not as good as Marsupials. In addition to their hatred of grains, the Garou killed the Bunyip because they were jealous of their massive dicks.
Normally I'd admit that I might be reading too much into things, but the facing page has this on it.

A black man in a loin cloth fighting a giant white worm.



Dingos
Dingos are not native to Australia, arriving from Southeast Asia less than 3,500 years ago, theoretically by boat from Indonesia with fishermen. Being the more aggressive and social hunter, they were able to drive the Thylacine to extinction on mainland Australia. Even though they're more closely related to Dogs than Wolves, Garou can breed with the Dingo, the hows and whys are questions that White Wolf does not choose to answer, though the more haughty European tribes (Read: Get of Fenris, Silver Fangs and Shadow Lords) absolutely refuse to sully themselves with Dingo blood.

Thylacine
I've already gone over these guys to some length, but there is some more information here. After the Dingos arrived, they only existed on Tasmania, Thylacines were not pack animals and would hunt alone or in pairs, and would patiently stalk their prey for hours. They were not long-distance runners but were capable of short bursts of high speed by hopping on their hind legs like Kangaroos.

Again, the Bunyip traveled to Australia, saw these things, and thought them sufficiently wolf-like to use as breeding stock. Speaking of, when the dingos arrived, the Bunyip didn't intervene, seeing it as part of Gaia's plan, and since they had moon bridges, they could just run off to Tasmania whenever they needed/wanted to breed.

Introduced Species, Polution and Environmental Destruction
The short of it, rabbits and foxes, introduced for hunting, escaped and bred like crazy and are now environmental pests because they lack natural predators. Introduced livestock are also problems, and some have escaped and gone feral. Also we get a full page on how industrialization has obliterated Australia.

Finally.
Wyrm Caerns

Hive of the Melted Sands
Caern: Maralinga
Totem: Kendi the Frill Necked Lizard.
This is the most powerful Wyrm caern in Australia, led by Claws-in-the-Heart-of-Gaia, who is a ferocious advocate of corruption. He personally kidnaps numerous soldiers from the nearby Woomera Prohibited Area to either possess, turn into formori, or devour.

Hive of the Corrupted Flesh
Caern: King's Cross, Sydney
Totem: Brolga... wait, that's it? Brolga?
King's Cross is Sydney's red light district, and the hive is inside an abandoned brothel.
Did he kick some puppies while he was at it? Maybe steal some candy from a baby? And why the cross dressing? Why not send out an actual woman? Unless he, a metis, was more attractive than his pack members

Hive of the Poisoned Lungs
Caern: Wittenoom, oh hey it's the asbestos mine
Totem: Shush'thull, Spirit of Asbestos
Okay I guess Mesothelioma is of the wyrm.
Led by the Philodox Coughs-Lingering-Death, the Spirals are still harvesting asbestos and sending it to facilities across Australia to be purified and concentrated, then they're planning on releasing asbestos dust into the Air systems of office buildings, thus causing outbreaks of asbestosis across the country. Which... is a legitimately evil plan, though it seems a tad bit petty. It would inflict suffering and death on a massive scale.

Okay, it's official, the best scheme the Dancers have going in Australia is Sentient Evil Asbestos.

Up Next: Amazing things such as

Her

People

posted by Kurieg Original SA post

Chapter 3 Part 1: People

Let's play a game: Find the least disturbing thing about this image.

Australian Aboriginals
In a short paragraph before we get into the meat of this section, the book posits that the Europeans "found them unfit guardians of Australia" which I think is attributing too much to their thought process. However since they absolutely have to demonize these guys "This view was plainly a lie, and some among the Europeans, particularly Garou Kinfolk, perceived the truth."

Before the Invasion
Aboriginal society was based upon the belief that spirit, land, and people were linked, and must live in Harmony. Their culture was rich in song, poetry, painting and dance. They also, apparently had no chieftains, instead decisions were made by those "with the most experience or were held in high respect" which sure is a funny way to dance around calling them Chieftain. But you know, I just don't think that we're extolling the virtues of the Aboriginals enough.
There we go.

Of course they were taught all they know by the Bunyip, and since the Aboriginals were so in tune with the spirit, they were never subjected to the Impergium, so they don't succumb to the Delirium "unless their traditional culture and spirituality have been eroded by white society and its rules." Yes, apparently listening to pop music and obeying laws is enough to instill centuries of genetic memory and fear.

Aboriginals Today
Aboriginals can be divided into two rough groupings, those who live in the cities, and those who live on the reservations.
Leprosy is bacterial and would have to be introduced to the population, it's virtually unknown throughout real world Australia today. The same thing with AIDS, doubly so since they wuld be unlikely to mingle outside their own population if they're on a reservation. Glaucoma is genetic and being put in reservations wouldn't do anything to that.


And then this image is just, here. It's like someone traced a jeans ad and then opened up photoshop and hit the 'more goat' and 'more wolf' filters repeatedly. And then told SCAR to draw it.

Urban Aboriginals have it similarly bad, being "unfairly targeted by the authorities as breeding grounds of criminal activity", and a majority of the prison population are Aboriginal in origin. Also, the laws from the 1960's that granted rights to the Aboriginals have not been passed yet.

The Squattocracy and Aboriginal Protection Board have systematically wiped out all Bunyip Kinfolk. Tribal elders that remember the Bunyip believe that the Rainbow Serpent itself prevents any new Bunyip from being born, and will continue to do so until all outsiders have been killed or driven from Australia's shores.

Non-Aboriginal Australians
This is another dry and relatively unoffensive chapter with one exception.
I don't even know where to start, so I'll just move on.

The Garou Tribes
This section opens informing us that there are a grand total of 350 garou in Australia. Which seems like the author took the rough ratio of 1/50,000 garou to humans and just applied it straight to Australia’s then-current population without accounting for the fact that the garou-human ratio includes Asia, Africa, and South America where Garou are almost non-existant (and account for over 75% of the world’s population). The total combined with the tribal makeups and the ‘tribe exclusive’ Caerns we saw in the last chapter means that there are a few septs out there with maybe 1 or 2 active defenders, if that.

Black Furies
"The Black Furies have suffered immense guilt over the death of the Bunyip, now correctly perceiving it as a shameful atrocity." Jumping straight to atrocity are we, don't want to try out mistake or tragedy first? The Black furies are most at home in the outback, spurning the 'filth choked cities'. The first Black Furies arrived around 1800, since they were worried that, "as the traditional defenders of the wyld places", if they weren't there the environment would suffer. Of course, to the Black Furies 'environment' doesn't include people, and they 'culled what they saw as unnecessary numbers of Aboriginals'. This rightly pissed the Bunyip off, and they resisted the Black Furies advances into their territory. This 'insult to their pride' goaded them into backing the War of Tears.

After the war they were appalled at where their "tendency for violence and pride" had led them. Since then they've tried to avoid violence, working with the Children of Gaia to guide humanity to a more peaceful relationship with Gaia. To this end they schemed to give Women the vote in 1902, er, wait, what?


Organization
There are about 25 Black Furies in Australia, concentrated in Arnhem Land and Kangaroo Island, though there are some in intertribal packs. Stand out members not given more detailed call outs include Circe Chisolm ( Oh come on ) who is 'regularly beset by visions of the apocalypse', and "The Lupus Ahroun Ball-Biter, who leads a rogue, nomadic Black Fury pack against rapists." Of the remainder, "Most Australian Black Furies subscribe to the Temple of Artemis camp, though the Amazons of Diana have considerable support. Freebooters ply their trade in search of Bunyip fetishes and lost caerns." I think when you number less than 10, it doesn't count as 'considerable support' anymore.

So to summarize, of the 25 Black Furies in Australia, fully 1/5th go around biting the nutsacks off of rapists, some(let's say four or five?) wander around trying to find Bunyip things that were left behind, and there are a few other ones divided amongst urban packs, so there are maybe ten Black Furies left to guard their two Protectorates on opposite sides of the continent.

Of the other tribes, they're closest tot he Children of Gaia("whom most Black Furies uphold as paragons of Garou behavior") and the Glass Walkers, who both thought the war of tears was a load of shit. They remain distant from the Get and Talons, but hate the Shadow Lords for stealing Tazmania from them.


Wungala Rose: Rank 4 Homid Philodox
Wungala is a small aboriginal woman, bent with age, she hopes to "educate the whitefellas" and her own people to make peace between them.

She was born in 1931, the child of a young Aboriginal maid and a greek-born shepherd who "carried the Garou Gene", of course, since she's a Black Fury, after her dad knocked her mom up, he disappeared. And then she was fired from her job because she was pregnant. As she grew up she realized that her tribe no longer loved the land and each other like they once did, instead turning to alcohol and being ravaged by disease. And again, since she's a Black Fury, her mother was killed by her uncle in a drunken rage, shortly after this the Furies showed up and spirited her away. She's now the leader of the Arnhem land Furies, and on the Jindabyne Council. She's devoted much of her attention to improving the lot of women in Australia, setting up women's shelters and the like, and trying to unite Aboriginals and the "whitefellers" in harmony against the Wyrm.


Voula Kostikidas: Rank 3 Metis Theurge
Oh this can't be that ba
Oh
Wow, what? So not only is she a hermaphrodite she changes genders with her forms? I'm suddenly glad the description didn't go into Glabro and Hispo.
Good lord, White Wolf, you don't need to self stereotype that much.

Anyways, Voula is the child of a Kangaroo Island protectorate Fury, and a Red Talon father. She's already despised by both for being a metis, but the Black Furies hate her because of her unique deformity. They kicked her out as soon as she was old enough to fend for herself. She eventually found herself in Melbourne, and took shelter in the Fitzroy Gardens, where she was visited by a vision of Artemis herself! She saw herself leading a pack of outcasts and re-opening the dormant Bunyip Caern where Fitzroy Gardens now stand. To that end she's created a suitable pack, but she thinks she'll lead them into disaster. She sublimates these fears by bullying and abusing her pack.



Bone Gnawers
Bone Gnawers are fairly common in Australia, all things considered, breeding with dingos and... wild dogs, which isn't possible according to the rules. They've integrated themselves into working-class Australian culture, and as such are huge sports fans, and love beer. Remember Porkchop? The first Garou who landed on Australia? She was a Bone Gnawer, and of course the Silver Fangs hated her because she was a "provocateur" who held dreams of Bone Gnawer equality. Her preaching during the trip to Australia on the first fleet gave her more followers than they liked, so the Silver Fangs assigned them all to scout the interior, hoping they'd die. Of course they returned with maps and news, forcing the rest of the Garou to at least acknowledge their usefulness. They were scouts and combatants during the War of Rage, and after the truth was revealed declared a tribe-wide year of mourning, after that they were done. "We made a mistake and will remember it for the rest of our lives. But this doens't mean we should live our lives in the shadow of that mistake. We survive."

There are about 40 Bone Gnawers in Australia, more than half live in Sydney where they have the Hobo Caern in the old hotel. Others remain mostly in the cities. Notable Bone Gnawers include the Metis Ragabash "Choco-Loco", who tricked a powerful Vampire into waking up an hour early and walking into the sunlight, killing himself, which again doesn't really mesh with the rules here but sure. Homid Galliard "Carn-the-Pies"(I'm guessing this is a Football reference?) who is a fanatical Collingwood Football Club supporter. And Square-Eyes, a Metis Philodox from Perth that should probably be a Glass Walker(that's literally what it says). Silver Fangs and Shadow Lords hate the Bone Gnawers because they're hopelessly inferior. Red Talons and Fenris see them as decadent weaklings, but give them respect when it's due. The Fianna love them, because by loving them they piss off the Silver Fangs.

There are two unique camps in the Australian Bone Gnawers, Fans and Idealists. Fans are giant hooligan stereotypes, they adorn themselves in the colors of their chosen Football or Rugby team, disdaining rival Fans, only letting the contempt wane after a good fight and a beer, and then they're friends until the next week's game. Idealists are the followers of Porkchop, but they seem to have taken the letter of her teachings rather than the meaning. Rather than elevate the state of the tribe they want to elevate themselves first hoarding money and goods rather than junk. The Silver Fangs dismiss them as nouveau riche.


Terrifying Monster Mother Pasta: Rank 4 Homid Ragabash
Mother Pasta also has a unique Fetish, the Bowl of Perpetual Pasta, which is basically exactly what it says, though it's always slightly overcooked.

Maria Condotta came to Australia from Italy in the late 1940's with her parents, after her father got a job on the Snowy Mountain Scheme. A number of Bone Gnawers lived amongst the laborers and realized that she was Garou, and took her into her tribe shortly before her first change. Once there she was... what
That deed name raises questions I do not wish to have answered, ever. Moving on.
Okay then, I guess the creepy picture was intentional.


Scratches-at-Fleas: Rank 3 Lupus Ahroun
Wow, he has actual not horrible art, sure it looks more like a puppy than a wolf but I'll take it.

Fleas grew up on the streets, and even then he was a social animal, sharing scraps with weaker dogs and snarling and barking at dogcatchers long enough for others to escape. It was during one such confrontation that he underwent his first change. One claw separating the Dog Catcher from his legs, the other ripping open his truck and freeing all the doggies. Now he applies his philosophy to humans, helping those who cannot help themselves, the homeless, helpless, and infirm. He is often called upon to help spring new cubs from places they might currently be being held, like hospitals, prisons, and Asylums. He's very popular as a result but also modest and self deprecating.

Children of Gaia
Children of Gaia portrayed as sanctimonious asshole hypocrites: Check.

The Children of Gaia were early immigrants to Australia, after Raymond Love-of-the-Goddess died as a convict laborer, the Tribe came to the continent in droves, since they hate that kind of stuff. At first they spread out amongst the different penal settlements to try and minister to the suffering as best they can, but they realized it wasn't working, "In 1864 they were instrumental in ending transportation of convicts to the colonies." It doesn't explain how, they just were. After that they turned their attention to the suffering amongst the Aboriginal people, of course the Bunyip didn't approve of this, so the Children found themselves fighting a two front war against the Bunyip and the Aboriginal Protection Board. The more impetuous members of the tribe joined in the War of Tears, but once they found out the Black Spirals were involved The entire tribe in Australia swore to never raise a paw in violence again. They're Werewolves, that's dumb as hell. I guess they must never frenzy, ever, or have Ahrouns or Galliards in their tribe.

For the past Century they've busied themselves healing the wounds inflicted upon the Garou by the war of Tears. Some think that the only way to combat those scars are by confronting them, so they've embraced psychology and psychotherapy. Others joined the church and are chiefly responsible for the Anglican and Uniting churches admitting women into the priesthood. And since they're the Children of Gaia, they also lead the protests that greeted the soldiers returning from the Vietnam War. Since those days they've kept in touch with the counterculture and green movements, and the book would have you believe that they are the sole reason the green movements are even able to function.

"Some 20 Children of Gaia" are in Australia, and most of them dwell in the Nimbin Protectorate, though there's apparently one pack in the Daintree rainforest. Other children serve in multi-tribal packs, but they're invariably outcasts from their tribe, since they are "Ronin who have turned to violence", except that's not how being Ronin works, if you're Ronin you don't have a tribe, or renown, and other Garou would be loathe to interact with you nonetheless form a pack. They're probably just misuing the term because it's easier than saying "Oh yeah they're Children but we really don't like them because they like punching things too much. Want another hit?" Speaking of, important Australian Coggies include Stewart "Sweet-is-the-Morning', a Ragabash drug dealer who, because of his belief that mind altering drugs will increase humanity's love for Gaia, seeks to spike Adelaide's water supply with LSD. There's also the Galliard Kirsten "Songs-of-Harmony" who is a folk singer that travels up and down the east coast, and the Ahroun ronin "Love-Is-a-Bloody-Claw". Most Coggie Aussies are, unsurprisingly, adherents of the Patient Deed camp, but there are "A few followers" of the Imminent Strike. They work closely with the Black Furies, Fianna, Glass Walkers, and Bone Gnawers. And against the Silver Fangs, Get and Red Talons, and they are always quick to remind the other tribes that a Red Talon started the War of Tears.


Innana, Voice of the Goddess Rank 4 Homid Theurge
The Roleplaying notes include "You have a short attention span" "You tend to randomly start practicing Tai Chi at unusual moments" and "Tell others to 'relax, flow, and feel the Goddess'". Also her gift list includes "Smell of (Wo)man" and she has one of the most punchable faces in the book.

Innana was born "Crystal" to a hippie parents in a mudbrick house in Nimbin. She was raised on a steady diet of peace, love, and marijuana. She always heard voices wispering on the wind, and saw quaint creatures peering through the windows promising to take her to faraway places. When she changed it didn't really bother her that much. As a Garou her visions became more vivid and frequent, and as such was chosen to be the Voice of the Goddess for her sept. Unfortunately her visions often contradict each other, and she doesn't have the skill to decipher them, so she just accepts them as they come and changes her opinions accordingly.

She's considered eccentric by the other members of the Jindabyne Council, which probably has something do with the fact that she dances naked every morning on the hilltops of nimbin to honor Gaia, and that she fumigates the Jindabyne meetings with cheap incense, or that she keeps trying to feed the other council members pot brownies and tofu. "She is neither insane nor simple-minded, but just clouded by the strength of her visions."


Cernonous, Arm of the Goddess: Rank 4 Metis Theurge

His mother was Serbian, his father Filipino, and both were CoGs. They believed that their love was not unnatural, because love is of Gaia, not of the Wyrm, and Cernonous was raised in a loving home. So it kind of came as a shock when most of the rest of the Garou nation subjected him of prejudice and scorn. He eventually learned that his horns were what marked him as unnatural to other Garou, so he did what any sane Garou would do.

He went to College and became a Geneticist to try and figure out a way to splice out his Metis taint.

Wait what?

Cernonous is trying to clone the Thylacine back to life, and in doing so he hopes to also find the Bunyip gene and bring them back as well. The only living Garou he's told about his plans is Darius Winchester, the current Silver Fang king who's funding him. If the Red Talons found out what he was doing, they would probably kill him. Of course his research is also being monitored by the Progenitors of the Technocracy, hoping to claim his results for themselves.

His dedication to the Goddess brought him to the attention of his Tribe, and the unanimously elected him the Arm of he Goddess of the Nimbin Protectorate, unfortunately this also makes him a part-time member of the Jindabyne Council whenever Innana is too high to attend. He hates the time he has to spend away from his work, and he hates Innana whom he sees as a naive flighty airhead. He has experienced bigotry first hand, and believes the rest of the Garou Nation incapable of knowing Gaia's love as he does, so he spends most of his time on the Council reminding everyone that the War of Tears happened, and that they're all assholes by extension.


Diem: Rank 2 Homid Ragabash

A refugee from Cambodia that fled Pol Pot's regime shortly before his first change. He was contacted by some Cambodian Garou that claimed him as their own, but he fled before he changed, and was taken in by the Children of Gaia. What does Diem do, you may ask? He's a nature photographer. Hoping to increase the love of Gaia by taking pictures of nature, and what is more beautiful in nature than a Garou in Lupus form? Also he feels conflicted, like he doesn't belong in Australia. So he's planning a trip back to Cambodia in the near future.

I think this guy is supposed to be a plot hook, but he's completely uninteresting despite their attempts to make him otherwise. He also doesn't have a single combat ability, even Innana had at least 1 dot of Brawl.

Fianna

The Fianna have been strong on Australia since it's founding, and have long involved themselves with it's politics, earning them significant power and the ire of the Silver Fangs. Fianna Kinfolk arrived before the Garou themselves, as most of them were guilty of political crimes against the English. Bridget of the Flashing Eyes arrived in 1795, and was incensed at the treatment of their kin by Ear Blaze, which sparked their revolution. Since their rush to judgement lead to the death of an entire tribe, they've been more impartial and careful in their decision making process, which of course the Shadow Lords mock them for.

There are 35 Fianna in Australia, divided between Gariwerd and Hunter Valley, the current Righ of Australia is Fingal Flashing-Claws, who is starting to show his age (being born before the first World War). Other 'important' Fianna include the Lupus Galliard Colleen "Foe-of-Despair", who's stirring songs can lift the deepest Harano. and the Homid Philodox Dermot Millane, who fought in the War of Tears in a past life, and can tell tales that bring tears to the eyes of the fiercest Ahroun. Presumably if these two were to talk to each other, the universe would implode. The camps are all well represented other than the ones that are more concerned with their homeland. The Whispering Rovers camp is particularly prominent, and one pack made of camp members roams the country as the Irish folk band known as "The Rovers".

As far as their relationships with the other tribes, they blame the Red Talons and the Get of Fenris for the War of Tears, the hate the Silver Fangs for being the Silver Fangs. Australian Fianna are "more Mature" than their cousins elsewhere, and their relationships with other tribes are "excellent", even apparently with the Shadow Lords, even though they were also sort of very responsible for the War of Tears.


Bartholomew(Yes that is a man) Wise-in-the-Ways-of-the-Wyrm: Rank 3 Homid Theurge
James was born in northern Scotland to an Irish Mother and a Welsh Father, "the quintessential Celt." He emigrated to Australia when he was 16, prior to his first change. After a relatively painless transition, he began a dashing career of raids on Wyrm Tainted areas and Spiral Caerns, retrieving stolen fetishes or trapped spirits. Though one day his lust for glory got the better of him, disguising himself as a Spiral he raided a Silver Fang caern for a stolen Fianna fetish, and in the process he killed a young Silver Fang girl named Amanda Grace-of-Gaia. After that, James was dead, and Bartholomew was born.

He was horrified by the lengths he would go to for glory, but was still driven to find things, so now his life's work is to catalogue all the spirits of the Dreamtime, to better understand them and to try and convince them to work with the Garou instead of against them.


Fingal Flashing-Claws: Rank 5 Homid Ahroun
The youngest son of a family of working-class Irish Australians, Fingal was born in 1910. Despite the large gap of years between him and his father, he was always treated special. Why is that, you may ask? Well because his father was Crushes-the-Wyrm-as-Grapes-beneath-his-Paws , the Righ of Australia, and Fingal was the only one of his children who changed, so he was being groomed to succeed him. Instilled with reverence for his tribe, guilt over the bunyip, and Hatred of the Siver Fangs.

After his father was slain before his eyes, he took his seat on the Jindabyne council, where he fights a constant battle, both politician and physical, against both the Wyrm and the Silver Fangs.
Get it? Because he's old?

Fingal now wishes for nothing more than to die in Ireland, a land he has never seen. His son is a braggart who will probably succeed his father one he passes on, but he's less a fighter and more a boaster and sings exaggerated tales praising his own glory.


No'iri'n Ni Dhonaill: Rank 3 Homid Ahroun
No'iri'n is a troublemaker, even amongst the Garou she doesn't fit in, questioning assumptions and beliefs held for millenia. After her right of passage she returned to Melbourne only to find it held no attraction for her anymore, so she left and joined the Tower Hill Sept. Unlike most Ahroun she isn't a mindless killer, though she's a decent warrior. And unlike most Fianna, she doesn't despise the Silver Fangs. She believes that the fued between the tribes diverts their rage from the Wyrm. She also thinks that the Garou need to stop wallowing in self pity over the death of the Bunyip, since mourning what is lost ignores what can still be saved.

She's a huge proponent of Aboriginal land rights and similar issues, which has made an enemy of the Red Talons and Get of Fenris. She speaks her mind at all Fianna moots and has a growing following amongst younger members, she's in the running for the Righ of Australia, in her own mind if nowhere else.

Get of Fenris
Australian Get are extremists, their savagery and blood thirst are only exceeded by the Red Talons. They hate humans, and want to instate the Impergium in Australia to make mankind fear them again "as they should." They are linked with National Action , Neo-Nazis, and 'similarly distasteful movements'. The get deny any guilt for the War of Tears, which 'blinds them to further wrongdoings'. Right now their main concern is the fact that other Garou, even their best friends the Talons, breed with dingos, diluting the purity of their wolf blood.

Though individual members showed up as early as 1800, the tribe didn't show up in force until the gold rush of the 1850s when news of humanity's expansion into the untamed bush rallied them to action. Led by Jarl Thorstrom Blood-Drinker of the Swords of Heimdall, they arrived in force to take charge of the 'improperly guarded continent'. His first action was to stir up racial dissent on the gold fields, inciting riots and then slaughtering any Chinese miners that they could find. Thorstrom fell trying to take a Bunyip Caern, and his succesor Black Ivan fanned the flames of the War of Tears to get revenge. Even after the truth got out, he refused to admit fault. "Even if the Bunyip had not been of the Wyrm, the could have been, now or in the future. Best to destroy the potential contagion now lest it spread."

Their numbers were weakened as many warriors fell during the War, their refusal to breed with Dingos didn't help, nor did the fact that the Australian climate is about as far from Germany's that you can get. Despite their disdain for the 'weaker' tribes, they participated in the first Jindabyne Council thinking it would be a one-shot occurrence. Their belief was that they would passionately argue to introduce the Impergium in Australia, the other tribes would think it was an awesome idea, and put the Get in charge of Australia. They said no, the get were flabbergasted, and accidentally agreed to join the council full time. Right now their only real allies are the Red Talons, diluted through dingo blood they may be, and the Shadow Lords. Bone Gnawers and Glass Walkers are hopelessly corrupt, Black Furies and Children of Gaia are weaklings, Fianna are Cowards for rescinding their judgement against the Bunyip, and Silver Fangs are already Wyrm-Tainted and should be destroyed, they just need to convince the other tribes first.

There are about 20 Get in Australia, divided amongst the Mjolnir's Thunder, Glorious Fist of Wotan, and Swords of Heimdall camps. Note that when I say that, understand that I mean "Suicidal nutjobs that seek death in glorious battle no matter the collateral damage", "An all Lupus camp who think that humans are only good for food", and "Nazis, not neo-nazis, straight up 'worked with the SS' Nazis". Notable get include Hans Dieter, a Homid Ragabash who leads National Action, the European Lupus Theurge Sings-of-War, who seeks to oust the Jarl, believing that no Woman, especially an ape, should lead the Get of Fenris, and Hrothgar Bloodfang, a gay Homid Ahroun, rejected by his family and tribe and currently living in Melbourne.

You know what, I'm going to review Get of Fenris: Revised after this, we need to showcase a good Revised book and the tribe deserves better than "Nazi nazi nazi skinhead kill the Chinese and the gays".


Carla Grimsson: Rank 4 Homid Philodox
The Get representative on the Jindabyne Council, she's got pure Nordic heritage even though she's been born and raised Australian. She was born in rural New South Wales before it got engulfed by Sydney, she's disturbed by the spread of suburbia. She's a determined campaigner against immigration into Australia, because of this she's often lumped in with the younger racist members of her clan. "Carla is not a racist and in fact has worked hard to temper her colleague's aggression against the Aboriginal people, who she believes have every right to be in Australia(as much as any human can claim that right). What Carla fears is the remaining Australia wilderness will be eaten up by housing as more and more refugees come to Australian shores. For the moment, Carla, bitterly wearing the mantle of racist, argues against immigration at the Jindabyne Council." She's not a racist, honest, some of her best friends are Aboriginals, she just hates those damned foreigners.

Glass Walkers
The Glass walkers were involved with the European invasion from the earliest days, seeking freedom from the stifling rule of England's Silver Fangs. They sought to build an experimental urban colony in harmony with Gaia constructed according to the ideals of their tribe. But the other tribes came along too and shot that idea down before it even started, so they simply integrated themselves into the various colonies as they were founded.

The War of Tears gave them an opportunity to increase their power. Kanakis, a recently arrived Glass Walker and a ruthless politician, had previously sought to contact the Bunyip, without success. Eventually he finally tracked one down and attacked him until he revealed that "not until the Garou had found the balance that the Bunyip themselves demonstrated could there be meaningful communication between the tribes." Shortly after this he found out that Grayflank had been murdered, he was firm in his belief that the Bunyip weren't responsible, but he only made a token effort at best to stop them. He knew they wouldn't listen and by keeping aloof of the conflict he could improve his tribe's station. After the war, Kanakis formed the Jindabyne Council. After the Council's formation, the Glass Walkers formed the Board, a group of Glass Walker executives that rapidly advanced their power by controlling Australian economy and disparaging those who had participated in the Bunyip genocide. After World War 2, the Board rose to prominence to the determent of those involved in Organized Crime. Even though the Children of Gaia found links between some Glass Walker holdings and Pentex, the Glass Walkers were able to jettison millions in assets without losing much influence.


There are about 40 Glass Walkers in Australia, most of them live on the Eastern Seaboard cities and Perth. Each of Australia's major cities has a Don or Lord that sits on the Board, which runs the tribe much like a Corporation. Most of them are concerned with increasing their own wealth and prestige, though some want to figure out a way to get revenge on the Children of Gaia for making them lose money. Younger Glass walkers want a decentralization of power, since it's very much a 'rich get richer' situation. Among these are the Homid Philodox Dances-with-Cursors who is an anarchist. The Metis Galliard Sings-through-Wires who is a pirate radio DJ, hijacking programs and playing back bushland transmissions. And Tuft, a "no-nonsense lupus Theurge, ambitious but patient", and that is all we are given on Tuft.

The City Farmers and Urban Primitives camps are on the rise in Australia, much to the horror of the Board who are more traditional. Their only real allies amongst the tribes are the Bone Gnawers, who are useful lackeys, and the Fianna, who are allies in the political arena even if they conceal their true goals from each other. They hate the Silver Fangs, Get, and Red Talons, and some harbor a grudge against the Children of Gaia.


Teeth of Titanium: Rank 3 Lupus Ahroun

Born Bloody Teeth, a Red Talon, he was captured during a raid against Perth's technomancers by Iteration X. They took him out to Autochthonia, a Mage Horizon realm that's basically super awesome magic tech land, and experimented on him for months, finally implanting him with a living mechanical entity which slowly and painfully turned him into a cyborg. He escaped and returned to his pack, who subsequently tried to kill him. He escaped from them only to be found by the Glass Walkers. They were fascinated by his condition and adopted him, renaming him Teeth-of-Titanium. He's served the Glass Walkers faithfully since then, and has risen to become the Lord of Perth, earning a seat on the Board.

His struggle to master the machine has left him bereft of genuine emotion, and separated him from his bestial nature. He's a dedicated foe of the Technocracy, understanding their evil the way no other Garou ever could, and he rules Perth with an un-ironic iron fist, anyone who gets in his way is soon met with an industrial accident.


Mariko Ten: Rank 4 Homid Ragabash

Mariko Ten came to Australia as a young girl, accompanying her father who was a high-ranking executive with Toyota. He had been appointed to oversee a Sydney production plant, unfortunately he was so good at his job that he was headhunted by Pentex. It was only through luck that the Sydney Glass Walkers abduct her before her father and his new friends arrived home to share dinner. To this day Mariko hates Pentex and it's pet Black Spiral Dancers, her father still hunts her but her position and power have allowed her to elude him. Her intelligence and determination allowed her to master Garou society and she swiftly climbed the rungs to become the Glass Walker Lord of Sydney. She has many connections among the Yakuza(she's Japanese, you see) and the Sydney Bone Gnawers, including Mother Pasta.

She's obsessive and demands absolute respect from everyone she meets, including her own pack, and has been known to order the execution of people who transgress her. She also has a pathological fear of transforming out of her Homid form. She despises the wolf within her, and does her utmost to suppress her Garou nature. She prefers playing CDs at moots than the 'primitive' drumming and howling.


Don Mephisto: Rank 4 Homid Philodox

He was born in Italy, and spent some time after his first change running with a wild wolf pack in the Abruzzi Mountains before returning to human society and taking a position within the Italian Glass walkers, earning extensive Mafia Contacts. He was appointed to his current position after the death of the previous Don of Melbourne, and has proven to be quite adept in the position. He's actually fairly well liked amongst the Garou in Australia, except amongst his own Glass Walkers.

His position on the Jindabyne Council is more or less secure, though, as he's one of the few Glass Walkers earthy enough to not offend the Garou of other tribes. He uses his natural flamboyance to assuage fears and pass himself off as something of a buffoon, and has even managed to get a few Get and Red Talons to at least tolerate his presence. He's troubled by Mariko and her Yakuza contacts, but he's fairly certain his own Mafia friends will be able to keep him safe.

I'm going to have to split this into two posts since I'm bumping against the Character Limit.
Up Next: Red Talons through Wendigo and Others

All the Rest

posted by Kurieg Original SA post

Chapter 3 Part 2: All the rest

As promised, here are the last few tribes, and the hangers on.

Red Talons

Australia's Red Talons are entirely of dingo stock, and since there are a lot of dingos in Australia they're proportionally more numerous than elsewhere. The Red Talons respect action above all else, and are ruthlessly savage in their pursuit of their foes, the Wyrm and Humanity. They do not acknowledge the leadership of any other tribe, refusing to interact with them except in times of war. The first Red Talons to arrive in Australia were exiles, members of the Predator Kings camp who were very vocal about the return of the Impergium, and were sent to Australia to remove their influence from the tribe. I repeat, the Red Talons exiled them because they were too extreme. Anyways, they pushed into the interior of Australia and bred with the Dingos they found there, but met resistance from the Bunyip. "Anger against the Bunyip grew in these Talons' hearts. Who were these strange Garou to prevent the Red Talons from roaming in the wilderness and the spirit world, which were their birthrights?" Eventually the Black Spirals found out about this and well, the War of Tears happened.

Even after the truth was known they refused to believe it, since obviously they had stopped them from taking over the entire continent as was their birthright, truly they were villains. The fact that the other Garou blamed them just made them angrier. The only reason the Red Talons even bother to keep their seat on the Jindabyne Council is to try and convince the others to start all-out war against humanity. Their logic being that the united tribes were able to wipe out the Bunyip, why not humanity? Math is not the Red Talon's strong suit.

Australia has around 45 Red Talons, divided amongst their four protectorates. The Leaders of the protectorates constantly fight one another to prove who is strongest, the current leader is Mamu of the Pilbara protectorate. The rest of the Jindabyne Council just laughs at them since no matter who's holding the seat, the only thing they'll say is Kill All Humans. The only camp that has any real numbers are the Predator Kings, and most of the "Aboriginal Attacks" that were waged against settlers were Red Talons trying to get humans to kill each other for their own benefit. The only tribe they have any real affection towards is the Get, with whom they are united in their hatred of the Uktena.

Red Talons of "note" include Nose-to-the-Wind, a young Ragabash said to be as mad as a Black Spiral who plays pranks on his elders. Snarls-at-Thunder, an Ahroun with an insatiable hatred of the Uktena. And Teeth-Scrape-Bone, a Galliard who has met with a strange Garou who promises to make him the leader of the Tanami Protectorate.


Mamu: Rank 5 Lupus Ahroun
Our first rank 5, and he's got the stats to match, his description however..

Tremble in fear mortals!

Mamu ran with a dingo pack the first two years of his life, always fighting his rivals and wanting to defeat them just to prove he could. The only one he couldn't beat was the pack leader, and near the time of his first change the pack leader drove him out. Of course after he changed he came back and killed him and took over the pack. Now he leads the Pilbara Protectorate and sits on the Jindabyne Council, he's the largest strongest Red Talon in Australia, but that doesn't really do him much good in the political arena, but he's learning, slowly. Him and Carla are working together to undermine the Uktena's representative on the council.


Rage-in-the-Streets: Rank 2 Lupus Ahroun
As a dingo pup Rage-in-the-Streets was known as Outruns-the-Elders. He lived in Cape York with his mother's pack up until she was shot by hunters. His anger over this was nurtured by the other Red Talons, and he went into Brisbane with the aim of killing as many people as savagely as possible.
This character is so dumb it wraps back around to funny. It's made even more hilarious because this is one of the few Red Talons of note that authors know about, so he shows up a lot in other books, portrayed differently every time.

Shadow Lords
The Shadow Lords did not arrive in Australia in force until the refugee influx post World War II, although individual members were active before that. They did not participate in the War of Tears so they exploit the turmoil and guilt that members of other tribes feel. Maintaining their normal hostility towards the Silver Fangs has proven costly, however, as the Glass Walkers hold the true power in Australia. Traditional strategies don't work against the Glass Walkers, so the Shadow Lords have grown even more hide-bound and stick to their traditions.

The first Shadow Lord to arrive in Australia was Boris Kuschena, who was appointed to determine the viability of Australia as a home to his tribe, he arrived during a hot dry summer, saw that it was a hellhole, and went home. He said that it was an "arid hell, and all the Silver Fangs deserved". Though a few members of the tribe "More treacherous and ambitious than even the Shadow Lords could stomach," emigrated to the colonies, trying to establish themselves as kings, far removed from the eyes of their elders. They fell to infighting and in the end only the most brutal, Tepes Godkin, was left. His reputation as a killer brought him to the attention of the Red Talons and the Get, who told him about the Bunyip. We already know his story. The rest of the tribe arrived after WWII, and found Tasmania most resembled the land they left behind, so they kicked out the Black Furies and claimed it as their own... except they took it in the late 1800s, after the War of Tears but before the Jindabyne Council was formed, the fact that they did it was one of the main reasons the council was formed in the First place, to mediate those kinds of disputes. Sounds to me like whoever wrote this section just wanted to mitigate the Shadow Lords responsibility for the War of Tears by making it a single rogue element that pushed for it while the rest of the tribe remained inviolate far away.

Anyways, Today Tasmania is a Shadow Lord stronghold, and their rule there is absolute. Garou who cross the Bass Strait without their permission are taking their lives into their own hands, and will probably be killed by the Lords. There are about 20 in total, with most living in the Protectorate, with Two exiles( Alexandyr Petravich Kropotkin and Snarls-at-Shadows) prowling the Great Divide. The leader of the Tasmanian Protectorate is Vlad Volaschky. There are no Camp adherents in Tasmania, as that would distract their loyalty from their King, Vlad. Australian Shadow Lords are more conservative than their fellows overseas, since they haven't needed to adapt in the past 50 years in their own private fiefdom. Australian lords who travel overseas return complaining that they have less freedoms than their cousins. The Lords refuse to breed with dingo stock, and maintain a wolf pack near Cradle Mountain, they also send their young overseas in search of appropriate mates, to keep their stock pure. They disdain Bone Gnawers and despise Glass Walkers, they can't comprehend that the Silver Fangs are not dominant in Australia, and that the Glass Walker prominence must be an intricate Silver Fang plot. They find the Black Furies and Children of Gaia to be "Mewling Milksops", and distrust the Fianna for their prominence in politics, though some call for the Irish Garou to be used as tools against the Silver Fang/Glass Walker plot.


Vlad Volaschky: Rank 4 Homid Ahroun

Vlad was born in a small village in Romania. He learned early of his Garou heritage from his grandfather, whom he later killed to gain control of his pack. He was forced to flee Europe by the invading Nazis, which gave him a hate of the Get of Fenris that he carries to this day. He found Australia's Shadow Lords to be directionless and disorganized, He shaped them into a powerful tribe through a combination of violence and willpower. Being a stranger to Australian customs, he clung to his European heritage, enforcing them upon the younger generations with violence when necessary. He considers himself and his tribe European, and will not brook any dissent in that matter, he still involves himself in European Shadow Lord politics, and is often absent from the Jindabyne Council meetings. He conducts all Rites of Passage for his tribe in Europe, as he believes Australia is an unfit proving ground for those of noble blood like his.

Silent Striders
Devastated by their involvement in the War of Tears, Australia's Silent Striders withdrew from Garou society. They instead form a loose confederation known as the Strider Circus. The packs perform separately, congregating once a year for the Grand Circus in the outback, where they stage a free festival. Taking time to exchange information and tell tales amongst themselves. Of all the Australian Garou, the Striders probably have the most knowledge of the Dreamtime and the Umbra, they hope that they can use this knowledge to atone for the past or find any Bunyip that may yet survive.

The first Striders arrived in 1800, the early arrivals were all members of the Wayfarers camp and roamed the continent as a single pack. They were responsible for many of the early explorations of the continent along with the Bone Gnawers with whom the cooperated, but they were constantly turned back by the hostile spirits, dreamtime, and Bunyip, so they retreated to the new Stargazer protectorate of Eungella. Between 1830 and 1850, more striders arrived, and most of these were members of the Harbinger's camp who wanted to treat with the Bunyip directly. Eventually one, named Khufu, did succeed. Unfortunately immediately afterwards the War of Tears kicked off, and Khufu and his pack died along side their new Bunyip allies. Causing a rift between the Wayfarers and Harbingers to this day.

After the War of Tears, the Striders decided to try and preserve what little they could of the Bunyip and the Dreamtime, so they formed the Strider Circus, small packs that would travel as performers and gather what knowledge they could so it could be preserved and shared. Today there are only 15 Striders in Australia, their packs within the circus include the Gampala Aboriginal Dance Company, the Circus Australia Acrobats, and the Tchingal Indigenous Music Collective(which also includes Kinfolk). Most Garou are aware of the circus, but not it's secondary purpose of knowledge gathering. The Striders shun other tribes, sometimes allowing Stargazers, Black Furies, or Bone Gnawers to travel with them for a time, but never for long and they never join the circus. They hold the Glass Walkers in high esteem, but are irritated by the Silver Fang's officious nature, and the holier-than-thou attitude of the Children of Gaia.


Grek Twice-Tongue: Rank 4 Metis Philodox

Good god I hate that picture, its offensive in a way that has to be intentional. He's described as a hairless albino Aboriginal man of middle age, because one Metis deformity wasn't enough. Also: Grek has the Didgeridoo of the Past unique fetish, when it is played, all who hear it see visions of the story that is being told or danced to them.

Grek is the only child of a Silent Strider and a Stargazer who traveled with the Gampila Aboriginal Dance Company for a week, long enough to conceive the albino boy. He grew up a circus child, and was forced to perform by his mother from a young age up until her untimely death on his 18th birthday. (What, did someone kill her as a birthday present?) He's universally respected for his storytelling prowess, but otherwise avoided by Garou who are not Silent Striders. Twelve years ago he was chosen by the spirits to be the new Silent Strider representative on the Jindabyne council, the Dreamtime itself screamed his name, and all the Theurges at the circus dreamed that Grek would be responsible for freeing the tribes from their guilt, though none know how.

Silver Fangs
The nobles of Garou Society are little liked by the Australian Garou, mostly seen as inbred upper-class fools. Their origins lie in the landed gentry of England, and more so than their foreign compatriots they show signs of inbreeding as they refused to marry outside of established Australian gentry and refuse to breed with dingos. The first Silver Fang was Earl Blaze of Uffington, we've already heard about him and nothing more is said here. Same with Greymane Sleekfur. His successor was Jeremy Fur-Crown Winthrop, who saw the War of Tears as a chance to resurrect his tribe's glory. After he found out the truth he committed suicide too.

There are 35 Silver Fangs in Australia, the majority of which live in the Silver Fang protectorates which are the oldest settled parts of Australia and have the longest family lines. Younger members do leave the protectorates to form multi-tribal packs with other Garou. Noteworthy Silver Fangs include the Metis Ragabash Michelle Leaps-beyond-the-Reach-of-the-Wyrm who is Darius Winchester's Seneschal, who seems to have the best interests of her lord at heart but secretly wants his throne. Phillip Battenburg, a Homid Galliard who advocates Garou Equality and is therefore a Pariah among his tribe. and Chases Cars, a Lupus Ahroun from Adelaide so inbred and insane that he believes that Automobiles are the sentient servants of the Wyrm. The Silver Fangs look down on all the other tribes, because they're Silver Fangs.


Darius Winchester: Rank 5 Homid Ahroun
This is the king of the Silver Fangs in Australia? No wonder the Glass Walkers are taking over. It doesn't help that his artwork makes him literally look like a dick.

Anyways, Darius inherited the throne from his Uncle, and was saddened by the depths to which his tribe has fallen. He knows how guilty the Garou feel, and hopes to assuage that guilt(and save his tribe) by bringing back the Bunyip by any means necessary. So he works with the Silent Striders to collect Bunyip lore. With the Black Furies to protect the Dreamtime, and with Cernonous to clone the Bunyip back into existence. Most Silver Fangs think that his obsession with the Bunyip is just his own personal insanity, but some are regaining pride in themselves due to his noble quest.

Stargazers
The Australian Stargazers are half a step away from Harano, they believe that the Bunyip held secrets that could stop the Apocalypse, and now that they're dead the world is doomed to absolute destruction. Most of the tribe on the continent has fallen to the Wyrm and joined the Dancers. The first Bunyip arrived in 1790, and they saw the Bunyip and a people untouched by the Impergium as an opportunity to learn. But the Bunyip didn't want to talk to them, and their dealings with other Garou didn't make them any friendlier. They argued against the War of Tears, saying that if anyone was Wyrm Tainted it was the Garou with their burden of Rage. However when push came to shove they sided with the rest of the nation so as to not be ostracized, believing that this was the first battle of the Apocalypse, when all Garou would perish. But when the smoke cleared and it wasn't the Apocalypse most of them fell to Harano or the Wyrm.

Now there are only 6 Stargazers in Australia, and they rarely leave the Eungella Protectorate. They include such cheery individuals as the Lupus Aroun Chisolm There-is-no-Hope, who searches for the ultimate meaningless death; and the Metis Galliard Indira Songs-of-Sorrow whose mournful wailing is tuneless and depressing. The other tribes basically don't even consider them Garou at this point, the Red Talons want to kill them and the Get of Fenris want to strip them of their protectorate.


Monash End-to-the-Darkness: Rank 2 Homid Ragabash

Monash was born in Queensland to a single Mother, he never knew his father and his Mother would never speak of him. He changed early and ran away from home on all fours, eventually finding the Stargazer Protectorate, where he learned all he could and brought some hope back to the tribe. He's the Stargazer Representative on the Jindabyne Council only because no one else wants the position, and he's only been there a Year. Innana has taken him under her wing and "he is grateful to her for her aid and love". He's recently heard of the Rokea Weresharks that might live in the Great Barrier Reef, thinking that they are somehow the saviors of the Garou Nation, because when the Apocalypse comes they will be able to grant their aid. He hopes that by finding them he will break his tribe out of their Harano.

This plotline makes no sense.

Uktena
The Uktena are sullen and mysterious to their Australian brethren, even though they've been on Australian soil for less than 150 years, they already control most of the powerful Bunyip Caerns. It's rumored that they seek revenge for the European usurpation of the Pure Lands. Rumors are all the other Garou have... but they're right.

The first Uktena came to Australia hoping that the Bunyip, fellow victims of European aggression, would sympathise with their plight. Sings-with-the-Moon was the first to try and make contact but he was ignored, he had hoped to learn their secrets so he could bring them back to America and drive the invaders back beyond the sea, you know, in 1850. Instead all he got was wounded pride and a sense of vengeance, so he vowed to learn the Bunyip secrets no matter the cost. The Uktena shored up their numbers and waited for the rage of the other Garou to come to a head, once the Bunyip were dead, they moved in to claim the most powerful land for themselves.

There are only 20 Uktena in Australia right now, and they maintain a tribal unity that has advanced to the point of xenophobia. The one voice of reason is Runs-with-Ghosts, the sept leader of the Katajuta Caern, but she's mocked for her open-mindedness by the Uktena of the Kimberleys and by Tjinderi Knowing-Smile, the Council Representative. Tjinderi is secretly grooming Bathes-in-Blood, the gatekeeper of the Katajuta Caern, to succeed Runs-with-Ghosts after she falls to an 'accident'.

The Uktena are the only tribe to have chosen Aboriginals as kinfolk in large numbers, and take any attack on the natives as an attack against their own kin. Most Uktena are of the Earth Guide camp, and encourage the Aboriginals to return to their old ways and live in harmony with Gaia. Many Earth Guides are active in Aboriginal politics and work with Aboriginal organizations. The only member of the Ghost Dance camp is Tjinderi herself, who seeks to use the entire tribe to bring about her goal of an Aboriginal only Australia.

Oh, and in case you had any doubts about them being the new Aboriginal tribe, the mechanical rules for Boomerangs as weapons are on this page.


Tjendiri Knowing-Smile: Rank 4 Homid Ragabash

Tjinderi was stolen away from her Aboriginal family when she was five, and was raised by an American. Unlike many fostered children, she was treated well. At 14 she learned why, he was Commanding Howl, Uktena leader of the Kimberly Protectorate, and she was Garou. She accompanied him back to the US to learn of the tragedy of the Uktena and the loss of the Pure Lands, and Commanding Howl ensured that her loyalties lie with him and the Uktena, and not the Aboriginals. She returned to her homeland and set about learning all she could about the Bunyip and their secrets. She succeeded her adoptive father as ruler of the Kimberly Protectorate on his death, and his place on the Jindabyne Council. It is her goal to make the Uktena the most powerful Tribe, first in Australia, then the world, and then to kill every Wyrmcomer she can find.

She passes on all her secrets to the Uktena Great Council, in hope that they can use the knowledge to reclaim America and Australia. Her ambition binds her to the individuals that actually make up her tribe, however, and she has two real challenges in her chosen successor, Jacky Gecko, and Runs-with-Ghosts of the Katajuta Protectorate.


Jacky Gecko: Rank 3 Homid Galliard
Jacky here has a unique fetish, Yongar's Wings. This is a boomerang that deals Str+2 aggravated damage and will always return to it's user. For comparison, normal boomerangs deal 1 die of bashing, and don't return if they deal damage.

Jacky was born on a reservation in the Northern Territory. He wanted to be a doctor from a young age, sickened by the poor standard of health that his people endured. His first change was witnessed by Tjinderi, but he remained adamant in his goal, studied hard, and became a doctor working for the Aboriginal Health Service and the Flying Doctors. He eventually saved up enough money to get his own plane, and has won some respect with the other tribes for saving injured stranded Garou no matter their origin or nationality. This respect and his distance from Tjinderi has allowed him to see that her goals no longer align with those of the Aboriginal people. As her loyalties lie with the Uktenna first, foremost, and always.

Wendigo
The Wendigo aren't here except as tourists. But they needed to have at least one token entry.


Joseph Blows-with-the-Wind
Joseph is a Blackfoot Indian from Montana who came to study at Bond University on a scholarship. He loved Queensland so much that he never went home, and now spends his time surfing and dodging the Immigration Department. His ancestors keep telling him that he has a great destiny in store, and that he must remain in Australia, though he doesn't care why. To that end they appear to have helped him keep one step ahead of the Immigration officials for the time being.

On a recent surfing trip, Joseph was caught in a vicious current and carried out to sea. Stranded on a small coral reef, he saw a school of sharks swim toward him. He was understandably surprised when one of the sharks assumed homid form and retrieved his surfboard before diving back under the waves. His ancestors have remained silent on the matter, which sucks because apparently Monash End-to-the-Darkness is looking for him. Because Sharks.


The Jindabyne Council
The council was formed in 1901 by Kanakis, to establish a multi-tribal council to coordinate Australia's Garou. It was necessary, he stated, in light of the federation of the Australian Colonies. The tribe of Jindabyne, in the Silver Fang protectorate of Wadbilliga, was chosen for its proximity to Mount Kosciusko, where the last Bunyip was slain. In this way the Glass Walkers are always able to lord the guilt of the War of Tears over everyone elses head at need. The Council defined the protectorate borders, and has the capacity to form the Ngalyod Pack to enforce or protect their decisions.

Others
Because there are more than wolves in Australia

The Changing Breeds
There might be Were-crocodiles here, there are however Rokea who protect the Great Barrier Reef.

Mummies

RETURN THE SLAB

"No he's not really a mummy, but he totally is. Also he's an Aboriginal now. Just go with it."

Abu didn't really care about the War of Tears, and in fact wouldn't give a shit about Garou at all were it not for the fact that Greyman Sleekfur killed his mortal lover over a century ago. He's freshly reincarnated and is going on a bloody killing spree of every Silver Fang he can find.

Mages
Before the Council of Nine, the Dreamspeakers lived with the Aboriginals. They were few, but were very powerful. Indeed, the name of the Tradition is said to come from these mages and their ability to trod the Dreamtime. The Bunyip resented them, because they stole power from Bunyip Caerns, but they were allowed to live because their great knowledge of the Dreamtime benefited everyone. Powerful as they were, they did not act to stop the Europeans, because they knew that the Europeans would kill the Bunyip. They did not know that the Europeans would then go on to kill a bunch of Aboriginals, including most of the Dreamspeakers. Supposedly the Nephandi played a part in this somehow.

There's also James Stirling, immortal lord of Perth. Supposedly the only reason Perth still stands is because he literally sold his soul to the Nephandi in exchange for a nonaggression pact. The Dreamspeakers and Hollow Ones also have interests here, as do the Technocracy, which the mages are finally realizing they should probably come to Australia and fight.

That's it for chapter 3!

Next up: "Villains"

Enemies

posted by Kurieg Original SA post

Chapter 4: Enemies

_{Why does SCAR keep getting work?}

Yup, it's all our fault. Don't we feel bad.

Black Spiral Dancers
There are a few Spiral packs scattered across Australia, with the ultimate goal of controlling the Dreamtime and all the spirits therein. They hope to use the corruption of the Dreamtime to hasten the corruption of the physical world. They arrived shortly after the rest of the Western Garou, and "discovered to their delight that the Wyrm's work was already being done in Australia." They just spurred the Europeans on to greater atrocities in the name of "civilization", and laughed as the Garou let it happen.


_{It kind of kills the mood of the whole murder-death-kill-atrocity train when you've got two dudes lovingly embracing and whispering into each other's ears. Not to mention the guy leaning against the frame of the page}

Were the Spirals an actual unified force, the Dreamtime would have fallen decades ago. Thankfully they're fragmented and insane. The occasional schemer can rise to prominence, but they're usually either quickly killed by someone else's insane plot, or fail to find the organized traction to get their ideas done. The one thing there is a unified front on, is interest in Bunyip lore and artifacts. Most of the Garou nation sees this as hilarious as they are "Afraid of an enemy long dead." But the Stargazers rightly believe that they're trying to get control of Ngalyod the Rainbow Serpent, and use it to do their work in the Dreamtime.

This is actually a pretty good argument, and a very good plot hook. Unfortunately this is the same tribe with the plot to infest office workers with sentient wyrm cancer, and the rest of the book will completely ignore the whole 'cities are necessary' thing.

But they won't ignore religion.

The Priests of Polution: A Sample Dancer Pack


Moonscreamer: Rank 5 Homid Theurge
Moonscreamer's possessions include Greyflank's still glowing heart, It's been enchanted as a fetish that hides the Wyrm Taint of any that carry it. And yes, he's dressed like a priest, complete with collar.

Yup. One of the authors really hated their Christian upbringing. I'm not sure if he's supposed to be Catholic or Anglican, but later information leads me to believe Catholic.

Anyways, his ultimate goal is to corrupt all the spirits of Kakadu National Park, his pack is based in the uranium mine on the grounds. They do this by capturing and torturing the spirits caught on the Bawn of the Sept. Moonscreamer's ambition is such that he believes he can even corrupt Namarrkon, the Lightning Spirit.


Darren Mate-of-the-Wyrm: Rank 4 Metis Ahroun
He also kicks baby seals for fun. But oh it gets worse.

No.

The rapid aging thing isn't just a throwaway thing, his metis deformity is that he's incredibly short lived, he's probably going to die at 5 years old. Because of this, he's incredibly concerned with his legacy, and spends most of his free time visiting Darwin and "using his Animal Attraction to impregnate rich women, ruining their lives and hopefully providing himself with a Garou heir." No that isn't a typo, he's apparently a fertile Metis. When he's not going around breaking the rules of the game, he's trying to die a glorious death in battle.


Sister Mary McMartin/Cavorts-in-Blood: Rank 2 Metis Galliard
Yup, her metis deformity is that she has a split personality, and that split personality is a Nun.
And her non-split personality is a Hooker.

_{There's two pieces of artwork of the Hookernun, and none of the other members of her pack. I leave it as an exercise to the reader as to why.}

She was a child to two Spiral Parents from the Hive of the Corrupted Flesh. After she was forced to walk the spiral, her personality fractured. Part of her embraced her heritage, but the other half "rebelled" and went as straight laced as possible. Moonscreamer found her when she was 'Mary', and took her under his wing since she fit into his already existing delusion.

Mary is unaware of Cavorts-in-Blood's existence, though the reverse isn't true. And... oh come on.
Two fertile Metis, in the same pack? I guess the author thought that being a Black Spiral makes you immune to that little clause.


_{I think it's the crosses on the one-piece leather tutu that really sell the picture for me.}


Pustulent Claws (Bluey): Rank 1 Metis Ragabash
A third metis, but at least he's not fertile (that I know). Instead he's a petulant acne scarred teenager. He was spoiled as a child, as his parents provided him with plenty of small animals to torture and kill. Eventually they decided it was time for him to learn how to hunt and kill humans, not just animals. But of course he rebelled at this because he just wanted to 'play'. So his parents forced him to walk the black spiral early. Of course, being a petulant child he kept his eyes closed so he isn't completely insane, just deeply disturbed. Moonscreamer took him into the pack to use him as his chief torturer.


I know people in the World of Darkness are supposed to be blasé about evil, but seriously. Do they wave to the nun as she walks by? What about the man-eating prostitute?

Pentex
This seems counter-productive. I mean sure they're an evil business, but they're still a business. Couldn't they keep their workers alive and turn them into better trained, more efficient tools of cartoonish villainy?

Major Pentex operations are their paper mills, that use Australia's hardwood forests to make low-quality paper bags rather than building materials or just leaving them be. They're also high-cost/low-efficiency and dump a lot of waste mercury into the rivers. They've got extensive mining interests, and sludge and slag waste runoff into the water tables and by extension the ocean. They've also got their hands in multiple surveyors offices, falsifying records to make mineral-poor/vegetation-rich areas look more appealing than they are. They support the gun lobby and pay a bounty on dingo scalps, and support the sheep and cattle industries in their efforts to lobby for more grazing land. They support the tourism industries, but only in as much as they degrade and exploit the environment, like skiing, fishing, water-skiing, motor racing, and 'eco-tours' through environmentally sensitive areas with overloaded diesel buses. The two main offices in Australia are in Sydney and Perth, with a branch office in Wellington, New Zealand that they also oversee.

_{Remember the great spaghetti spill of '89? Man that was a terrible year.}

Jeffery Blight, QC
The COO of Pentex Australia, he first rose to Pentex's attention when he was studying law at Melbourne University. Ruthless and Corrupt even then, he would seduce and blackmail his lecturers to gain the highest possible marks. He was also a member of the debate team, and made waves during a nationally televised debate competition when he argued in favor of medical experimentation on prisoners. He went on to become a corporate lawyer, and used bribery and extortion to ensure he never lost a case. When Pentex asked him to join up, his only stipulation was that they use their considerable power to have him appointed Queen's Counsel .

At Pentex, he was appointed head of the Special Projects Division, where he pioneered genetic manipulation and cybernetics research for the company. I guess he minored in biotech while he was learning to be a lawyer. After two years he decided it was time for a promotion, and he bribed and murdered his way into the position he holds today. The Board of Directors is aware of how he got his position, and approve of it. But now he's seeking appointment to the Board himself.

Jemina Christianson
I'm not sure what her encounter with the elder Ventrue entailed, or how that relates to her reading habits. What happens next makes even less sense. She returns to her home of Perth, and seeks out James Stirling, the existence of whom she apparently learned about while in Europe. She seduced him and learned everything she could, including knowledge of the Technomancers. She decided that something that could make a mage feel fear was powerful enough for her needs, so she went to join them.

Their entrance exam for her required the death of Perth's Vampire Prince, since they thought he was working with Stirling. Rather than risk her own life, she riled up the Anarchs and told them where his haven was and how to get past his defenses. The technocracy accepted her with open arms and promised to protect her from the vampires and James Stirling. Then they had her infiltrate Pentex, and a combination of her own ambition and technomantic power has seen her rise to the Head of the company's Perth branch. Her relationship with Jeffery Blight can best be described as "a deadly game of chess/murder with occasional pauses for hatefucking".

The Squattocracy
The Squattocracy is all but defunct, only being kept alive by a few conservatives within Pentex who still see it as necessary. The powerful members within it's structure don't want to see it fail, and are more concerned with their own wealth and prestige than the service of the Wyrm. The influence they have with more traditional members of Pentex has so far kept Blight from streamlining them into a shallow grave.

_{Let's play a game, how long does it take you to notice the chicken?}

Sir Vivien Winchester
Winchester owns a vast ancestral sheep ranch in the outback of New South Wales. His ancestors were the original founders of the Squattocracy, and he sees Pentex as brash American upstarts lacking in breeding and gentility. He's never seen without his suit and monocle, his skin is leathery, his eyes are bright and hard, and he wears a white hairpiece.

Oh and he used to hunt Aboriginals for sport, with a gun. He regrets the Aboriginal Protection Board's incarceration of the tribes on reservations as they have robbed him of his fine sport. He spends his days in his sprawling homestead, only leaving when he has to go to board meetings. He hates Blight and Martina Loupenski, and has been sending his son George to Perth in a vain attempt to enlist Jemina as an ally.

Aborignal Protection Board
Rather than killing through violence, the APB kills the spirit in the guise of cultural assimilation. Stealing children from their mothers, preventing Aboriginals on their reservations from practicing their religion or speaking their own language, and just generally being assholes. The APB still exists today in GOTHIC PUNK AUSTRALIA even though it doesn't in the real world. It's an independent organization, though it's head sits on the Pentex Australia board of directors so they can coordinate efforts.

Martina Loupenski
Born to Polish parents in a working-class suburb of Melbourne, Martina studied as a social worker before joining the APB.

Oh and she was raped by her father as a child, which caused her to attract a Bane which possessed her and turned her into a formor.

Now she's the Head of the APB, and is Blight's easily manipulated pawn. She hates Vivien for his derision of her Slavic heritage and his outdated clumsy methods of corruption.

Also we have one of my favorite pictures in the book here

I have no idea what's going on, but that is the politest pouch monster I've ever seen.

Vampires
Australia's Geographic isolation prevented Vampires from arriving here until the mid 1500's when Portugese ships found the Continent seeking a mythical isle of gold south of Java. They were fleeing the political turmoil of Europe, with the Inquisition and the Anarch Revolt. When the continent was rediscovered in 1616 by Dutch Explorers, the Brujah and Malkavians that came with them were swiftly slain by the Bunyip or the Sun.

It took the arrival of the English prison ships for them to establish a real foothold. As the human population grew and new settlements were founded, the vampires moved with them, though they were kept in check by the Bunyip. But then the War of Tears happened and the vampires moved into every city large enough to hold them. Now they're too firmly entrenched for the Western Garou to get rid of them, good job guys.

_{Bat wings do not work that way! Tongues do not work that way! What is wrong with you?}

Melbourne
Melbourne is ruled by the crime boss Squizzy Taylor. She deposed and diablerized the previous ruler Montague Lytton. A gangster in her mortal life, she was embraced by a Brujah in the 1920's and saw no reason to stop with her current career just because she was dead.

Perth
Perth is under Anarch control following the death of Lumley. They gave the rest of the Vampires in Perth a 'join or die(again)' ultimatum, and their numbers have been shored up by a steady stream of refugees from the East who chafe under Camarilla rule. Of course James Stirling isn't too happy with the state of affairs, and the Glass Walkers are cooking popcorn and waiting to watch the inevitable shitstorm.


_{Does getting turned into a vampire fuck up your hands? Is that the new clan weakness? Nosferatu: get fucked up bat wings. Toreador: get hands like that deer from Adventure Time}

Sydney
Sydney's kind of fractured right now. The current Prince Sarrasine is an enigma. He claims to be Toreador but no one knows who his sire is, even him. Most dismiss him as Catiff and therefore able to safely be ignored, most of the Suburbs are ruled by lesser Princes that Sarrasine hasn't brought low either because he lacks the power or is planning on using them as a part of his own schemes.

Oh and he makes regular trips to the Hive of Corrupted Flesh to have orgies with the Black Spirals. Just thought you should know.


Up Next: The Dreamtime- It's like the Umbra, but better!

The Dreamtime

posted by Kurieg Original SA post

Chapter 5: The Dreamtime

_{We're entering the SCAR zone, they must've assumed that no one would get this far and put all the bad art here.}

In the real world, the Dreamtime is the name given by the Aboriginal people to the legendary past, when the world was created and their ancestors walked the earth. It's also a place that still exists and can be visited today ("A concept that confuses Europeans", because the white man can't understand I guess). Their oral tradition represents their histories and legends that trace 50,000 years of tradition, and is the longest continual history of any people in the world. There are over 200 Aboriginal tribes, each with their own tales of the Dreamtime, with their own ancestors, names for plants and animals and geographical features.


_{And names for the giant land tumors}

In the World of Darkness GOTHIC PUNK AUSTRALIA it's a real place, being Australia's Penumbra, cut off from the rest of the Penumbra by the Bunyip in ancient times. During the mythic ages, the spirits and totems of the Aboriginal people lived as men and women among them. When that time ended, the spirits needed to find places to live. Some became animals, others became features of the land, like Uluru and Kakadu. These places must be maintained to preserve the land. Before the coming of the Europeans, the Aboriginals would dance and sing to honor these places and ensure the land's health. The sacred sites have not been maintained for over a century, Australia is dying and unless the Aboriginals can return to their dances the entire continent will be barren desert before long.

In the Australian Penumbra, diprotodon and giant kangaroos live side by side with Nargun and Mimi. The Penumbra in Australia has always been closer to the physical world than it was elsewhere. The Aboriginals honored the land and spirit as one, so they were never sundered the way the rest of the world was. The cause of the severance was debated for many years, whether it was the Weaver spinning her complex webs, or humanity's fear and denial of the reality of spirituality . But the Aboriginals were so much better more enlightened than the Europeans, and didn't have either of these things.

The Umbrascape
The Dreamtime resembles the natural Australian landscape as it was thousands of years ago, untouched by the Europeans. Powerful wards placed by the Bunyip upon the dreamtime have preserved the Dreamtime as it was when they first arrived, so it remains unfamiliar to the garou of today. Which seems kind of weird. Why would they lock down the dreamtime? Wouldn't that prevent it from developing naturally? That's a special kind of hubris for the most spiritually in tune tribe to have. The only way it makes sense is if they were operating with the knowledge that the Europeans would arrive eventually and fuck everything up. So the reason the Dreamtime survives is because the bunyip run the metagame like pros.

Yes, the Atrocity Realm isn't a pleasant place to visit. No you didn't need to point out specifically what happens there. It's not just the War of Tears. Also: another Rape reference. Stop.

The Dreamtime is bathed in eternal twilight, the setting sun is always in the west, and the rising moon always in the east. Physical deserts are marked by ethereal sandscapes. Central Australia is still dominated by a prehistoric inland sea. Real world forests are Penumbral rainforests. Tree kangaroos, brightly colored birds, and wombats running everywhere. Australian Megafauna are also still alive here, Giant kangaroos, ground sloths, flightless birds, Diprotodons, giant wombats, Goannas, and Marsupial Lions and thylacines.

In the areas where the physical world has been "scarred by the actions of mankind" it is no longer pristine. Sure it's still trees and megafauna fucking everywhere, but the forests where cities would be are covered in spider webs and dying. Places of great evil are rotting and populated by banes. Pentex facilities have glowing trees and pockmarked radioactive ground. The Dreamtime itself seems to reject these changes, and Garou who visit it have found that moon paths twist and turn, and some never come back. According to the book, most Garou only step sideways in Australia as a last resort.

Inhabitants of the Dreamtime
Again, I have to ask. How willfully stupid did the European garou have to be to let things get to this state!? We're talking "Pants go on the head, right?" levels of idiocy here. Were they so blinded by their lust for cereal grains that they didn't realize that the Dreamtime didn't approve of the slaughter of the bunyip? Even then, what have they been doing the past 100 years? "What's that? The black spirals have been building up a Caern in a Uranium mine? That's nice, but the Get of Fenris leader on the Jindabyne council is a racist you guys!"

Anyways, Inhabitants.


_{Today, son, you gaze upon the giant snatch and become a man.}
The Earth Mother
Gaia goes by many names in Australia: Imberombera, Ungulla, Waramurungundi and Eingana. She's primarily concerned with the health of the people, animals and land, and is responsible for the fluctuations of the seasons. She came from over the seas, carrying the Aboriginal tribes within her body. As she moved across the land she formed the hills and rivers; planted yams, waterlilies, palms, and other vegetation; and gave birth to the Aboriginal tribes. Sometimes she appears in the Penumbra as a gigantic woman carrying vegetables, roots, and a digging stick. The Wyrm's corruption is evidenced by scabs and weeping sores on her back. She moves through the dreamtime as she pleases, stopping to rest in the shade of trees or on the banks of rivers.

The Rainbow Serpent
Ngalyod, Imberombera, Borlung, The Rainbow Serpent has many names. What is agreed on is that it is the most powerful incarnae in Australia. No one knows what gender the Rainbow Serpent is. According to some tribes, The Rainbow Serpent created the mountains and rivers of the outback with the undulating coils of it's body as it slithered across the primal land. In other tales, The Rainbow Serpent, concerned for it's creations, swallowed up all life, keeping them safe within its belly. As each one was held in stasis in this way, they added their colors to Ngalyod's skin and soon he was every color in existence.

Of course a world without color was kind of boring, one without animals and plants even more so, so Kookaburra flew up, distracted it with his bright wings, and stabbed it in the stomach, allowing all life to escape from the wound. Ngalyod still wanted to protect all life, so it gathered up the individual drops of blood and formed them into the Bunyip. Except the Bunyip were werewolves who came here over the ice bridges that didn't exist.

Ngalyod inhabits the waterholes of the dreamtime, spending the hot afternoons curled up at the bottom of the bodies of water. After the rain, it arcs across the sky from one body of water to the other. But, uhh... Apparently there have been no rainbows in Australia since the Bunyip have died. Sure. Ngalyod has not forgiven the European garou for the death of his children, but he's beginning to see them as a potential ally against the wyrm.


_{I'm trying to think of an Olympics joke but failing.}
Gnowee the Sun
A long time ago, there was no sun, everyone lived in darkness. Thus they hunted by torchlight and it was always cold. A woman named Gnowee lived with her young son at the darkness at the edge of the world, one day she went out hunting for yams, and reached the edge of the world. Like any logical person, she then decided to climb underneath the entirety of the world and pop out the other side, unable to find her son, she climbed up into the sky to try and find him, in the process becoming the Sun. She wanders the sky during the day, peering down for her son, at night she travels beneath the world until her search begins again at dawn.

So she's the sun, and is apparently visible in the Dreamtime as well, except the dreamtime is in perpetual twilight, remember? I mean, come on book, if pressed I can forgive you forgetting the origin story you gave the Bunyip, that's from this chapter , how'd you forget that?

Meeka the Moon
Meeka was a greedy man who stole food from his nephews. One time when they went hunting they invited Meeka along. They found a very tall gum tree with witchetty grubs in it, and Meeka said he would climb to the top of the tree and gather all the witchety grubs for himself. Once he reached the top, his Nephews told him "Hey dude, I bet the stars are pretty good eating too." And once he dug his fingers into the sky to try and get at them, they cut the tree down, leaving him trapped. So it's not actually the moon up there, it's just a pale overweight goon. No one knows what happens to him during the day, supposedly he turns into a fish and swims to the other side of Australia.


_{Heeeeyy Hooooo}
Namarrkon the Lightning Spirit
An angry misogynistic spirit who enjoys destruction, rain, and storms. He's not evil, just... you know... angry and misogynistic.

Dreamtime Spirits


_{Women, am I right?}
Bagini
Bagini are female spirits with sharp claws on their feet and hands. They force men to make love to them, draining their will in the process. They appear as voluptuous young Aboriginal women clad only in their long hair. They rely upon smiles and their rounded figures to distract a victim from the claws. They're spirits of conception that live in southeastern Australia. They find a lone man and attempt to seduce him, if he resists they become enraged and cut him to pieces. Wyrm Corrupted Bagini set nets and eat their victims once they're pregnant.


_{Fly my pretties!}
Jannok
Ferocious wyrm spirits that travel in hunting flocks and pursue their quarry relentlessly. They look like bipedal humans with batlike wings. They can't be used for flight, but they allow gliding. They climb up trees with their weak hands, and glide at their prey, making a single attack with their wickedly clawed feet before gliding away to another tree. They inhabit areas where great sorrow occurred, like, you know, everywhere a Bunyip has ever died.

Koala
Koalas are actually the spirits of lost children. They can be convinced to teach gifts if you're nice to them.


_{Thylacine jaws could open this wide, yes, but they didn't have the muscle structure to actually bite hard.}
Kurpannga
The hairless devil dingo. He's larger than a bull, with tendons and veins rippling across his bare skin. His teeth are long and wickedly sharp and bloody saliva drips from his jaws.

Kurpannga is Wyld incarnate, a powerful Jaggling of revenge created by the medicine men of the Mulga-seed tribe. The Hare-wallaby people, the Mala, had arrived at Uluru to initiate their young men into manhood. the Wintalyka, or Mulga-seed men, heard of this. They sent their messenger, the bellbird Panpanpanala, to invite the Mala to a ceremonial dance, and asked them to bring some material for body painting. The Mala, angered by the request, sent only white ash and an uncivil reply. The Mulga-seed people urged their medicine men to take revenge for the slight. Thus Kurpannga was created, and went and slew all of the Mala. Today, Kurpannga haunts the dreamtime around Uluru, and bears a powerful hatred for anyone he considers a stranger (which includes the Garou).

So, being warlike and imperialistic is bad. Wiping out an entire tribe and creating a creature of eternal hunger just because they turned down your dinner invitation, A-OK.


_{Not racist we swear}
Mimi
Tall, thin earth-spirits, so fragile that they dwell within the rocks lest they be swept away and destroyed by the wind. They're a shy race of hunters that creeps out of the rocks on still days to dig for yams and slay small game. Fianna believe they're Fey that are only acting like spirits to fuck with the other Garou. Eight feet tall, stick-thin bodies, long arms and legs, huge eyes and ears, fingers like a bunch of twigs. "They represent elongated caricatures of the Aboriginal people." Most cave paintings in Australia are are either of them or done by them.


_{This thing will kill you.}
Nadubi
Wyrm spirits who steal children and poison those who wrong them or tresspass on their lands with their spines, which inflict a slow and painful death.

They're four feet long with spindly arms and legs, skin that resembles charcoal, long spines protruding from their knees and elbows. Their faces are a featureless expanse of wrinkled skin and they let out constant wracking coughs even without mouths. When they die nothing remains but a pile of charcoal.

Special mention needs to be made of their unique charm.
First of all, all it says is that it requires a successful Brawl attack, not that that attack needs to deal damage. Their manifested form has a somewhat impressive 6 die pool to brawl, meaning that they'd succeed more often than not. If you don't spend an action to dodge, you're probably going to get hit. Second of all, Resist Toxin is self-only, and only Bone Gnawers and Fianna can learn it. Note that that is can learn it, most people don't because it's ludicrously situational. Third of all, this book has gone on at length that the local spirit world hates the Garou, and would rather watch them die than help them. The only thing limiting them is the fact that they only have enough Power to do it 3 times after manifesting. But if you toss more than one of these at a pack, at least someone is dying. Four or more, hello TPK.

Nargun
Earth-spirits that are made of rock and fire. They're immensely strong and capable of surprisingly rapid movement despite their appearance. They appear as large boulders when still or asleep, but when angered or active they have short powerful limbs, dark hollow eyesockets, and big strong hands jaws. When angry, they can move as fast as the elemental fire that birthed them.

If you leave a fire burning in the dreamtime, you may find yourself surrounded by Nargun when you wake up, though they're slow to anger and really just wanted to get warm. They're the immortal enemies of the Ninya ice-men and delight in melting them.

Ngarang
Malevolent spirits that dwell in the roots of ancient trees, they're Wyrm-corrupted Turongs(We'll get to them later, the perils of alphabetically sorted lists). They're tall and emaciated with long hair and beards, with wiry arms that are nonetheless hideously strong. Their skin looks like bark that has been scorched by fire. Apparently they were corrupted by Black Spirals who fed them human flesh, so now they crave it, hiding in the hollows of trees and reaching out with their long arms to grab humans and pull them into their homes.


_{It's pretty damning when the best thing you can say about a piece of art is that it's not horrible.}
Ninya
The ice-men mentioned earlier. They were originally Wyld spirits but were corrupted by the Wyrm back when they wandered the ice caps that encompassed the world (what?). They resembled aboriginals but have pale skin, white blood, and icicles for beards and hair. They're made of ice and scatter frost as they walk. Fierce heat melts them so they live in terror of the Nargun.

They were birthed by the earth mother when the world was formed. They dwell in a network of caverns beneath Mount Connor, near Uluru. They hope that when the Wyrm takes over the world, they will be allowed to build glittering palaces of ice and frost like they did back in the Ice Age. When one of them dies they all mourn since no new Ninya have been born since the world began.


_{(sustained scream)}
Potkurok
Trickster frog spirits that resemble shoulder-high frogs with man faces. They're inquisitive and love playing jokes, and nothing makes them happier than driving Garou into a frenzy with a well timed trick. They aren't malicious but HATE THE GAROU because that's just what spirits do nowadays.


_{Dinosaur Hunter}
Turok
Non-corrupted Ngarang. They look the same but have non-burned bark. They roam the tops of trees, dropping twigs on people they don't like, people they especially don't like may get branches or trunks. Possums are their allies and they worship Moodai the Possum spirit. The Fianna think these guys are fey too.

Wa-tha-gun-darl
The bulldog-ant people, great builders and one of the few Weaver spirits found in the dreamtime. They're 16 inches high and resemble anthropomorphic ants. They dwell in sprawling tunnels close to the surface, usually in the dreamtime's temperate bushlands. As weaver spirits, they often use traps to catch their prey, though larger prey gets taken down by a swarm. If one member is in danger, the entire hive rushes to their defense.

Their manifested forms are rather weak (no strength, 1 stamina, one health level) but for each Wa-th... antperson who's nearby and spends a power point during the same action, they all get a cumulative strength and dex boost. So sure individually 30 of them might go down like wet paper, but they can bench-press the moon and beat you with it.

The Bunyip
Lest we forget, yes, the Bunyip were better than you could ever hope to be. The book goes on to say that they spent many hours contemplating their rage (which they saw as a corruption of the Wyrm) which is why they lived in isolation. They could also step freely in and out of the Penumbra, failing to see a difference between Gaia and the Dreamtime, and thought the European Garou were all crazy since they talked about this whole ‘gauntlet’ thing.

Next we have all the gifts the Bunyip used to have, and you know, for “peaceful creatures, unaccustomed to war” they have one of the best combat gifts I’ve ever seen.



_{How do you get proportions this wrong?}
The Spirit Tribe
So their brutal slaughter at the hands of the Europeans broke the Bunyip from the cycle of life and death. They felt betrayed, and felt that Gaia had abandoned them. So instead of passing on to her womb to be reborn, they remained as spirits haunting the Penumbra. But that’s not all.
So yes, even in death the Bunyip are better than you.

In addition to all of the gifts the bunyip had access to (yes, including Bloody-Mindedness), they can force the dreamtime itself to attack any Garou near them, drain their gnosis or the Gnosis of their caerns, induce a depression from which death is the only escape (unless they succeed on a diff 8 willpower roll), force the Moon Bridges that the Garou are traveling on to drop them off in the Atrocity realm with no means of escape. Or reverse the gauntlet, trapping the Garou in the umbra with no means of escape. Basically, if the Ghost Bunyip find you, you’re already dead.

Totems
There are a bunch of totems, I’ll only go over the more remarkable points.

Ngalyod the Rainbow Serpent
“Honey you’re insatiable lately.”
“Yeah I have to sire a child to sate the rainbow snake that lives in my head.”
“What?”

Mu-ru-bul Tu-ru-Dun the Bunyip
A Furred, flippered, scaled monstrosity with a long mane. Bunyip was a favored totem of the tribe that bore his name.

I repeat, “a peaceful people unaccustomed to violence”.

Kendi the Frill-Necked Lizard: Wyrm Totem
This guy isn’t that interesting except, well
Yes, because that’s how endothermic creatures work, they absorb heat from their surroundings and then go super mode.


Up Next: How to run an Australian Chronicle

Dreaming the Dawn

posted by Kurieg Original SA post

Chapter 6: Dreaming the Dawn

_{Remember the ant people from last chapter, here they are}

Dreaming the Dawn is the name of the example chronicle that White Wolf included as a good way to get players involved in Australia. But it could probably best be summed up as "Against all odds, a pack of competent Garou are put in a position of power in Australia." But first White Wolf needs to tell us how we're supposed to feel about this.

I think at the point that you're making "Characters that have lived in Australia their entire lives, and are being inducted into a culture that has existed within the nation for at least 100 years" you stop being Strangers, in any land. And yes, we're going to get bucket-loads of White Guilt today, enough to paint a house.


_{Wait, you mean I can shrink them down so people can't make out the details? Great!}

Setting and History
The chronicle starts out in the Wadbilliga Protectorate, which was described earlier. It's a mountainous region with a few alpine plains formed by retreating glaciers. It's been Silver Fang territory ever since their Kinfolk settled the area in 1821. One of the first Garou into the area was a Shadow Lord Mystic named Doctor Lhotsky , which means it's time for some Revisionism. In GOTHIC PUNK AUSTRALIA Lhotsky used members of the Wiradjuri and Krauatungalung tribes to try and get in touch with the Bunyip during his expedition to the Australian Alps in 1834. When he didn't get results, he killed his translators, blaming them for his failure, the Bunyip then hunted him down and killed him in retribution (A PEACE LOVING TRIBE UNACCUSTOMED TO VIOLENCE).

The Silver Fangs moved into Wadbilliga in force during the 1860's gold rush, and after the War of Tears they took over the Bunyip caern that stood atop the 1500-meter Crackenback peak, which overlooks the town of Jindabyne and the artificial lake created by the Snowy river scheme. The Silver Fangs backed the creation of the Scheme, much to the dismay of the rest of the Garou nation, but they didn't really care.

The town of Jindabyne itself sits on the shores of the lake that shares it's name. Its previous location is now underwater, and while the Gravestones from the cemetery were moved to the new location, the bodies themselves were not. Due to it's proximity to many popular ski resorts, it's population can increase by a factor of 20.

The Silver Fang Court of Wadbilliga
AKA "Four assholes you're going to learn to hate and a single decent human being."
Michelle Leaps-beyond-the-Reach-of-the-Wyrm
Michelle is the current Seneschal of King Winchester's court. She's a metis Ragabash and the only offspring of an illicit liaison between her Silver Fang parents. She seems large, hale, and hearty in all of her forms, beyond her brittle claws which are her disfigurement.

She secretly lusts after the throne, because she thinks Darius is hopelessly weak and inbred. Which is an odd point of view for a Metis Silver Fang to have. But she knows that the Fnag will never accept a Metis Queen, which just pisses her off all the more. As Darius' Seneschal, she's responsible for making sure his commands are carried out, so she just makes sure that the ones she doesn't like don't get carried out. She hopes to revitalize the Silver Fang bloodline once(if) she becomes queen, and make sure that Metis are no longer ostracized within her tribe.

Tames-Spirits-with-her-Snarl
A Canadian Lupus Theurge, Tames is the Shaman of the Lodge of the Moon. She was well liked by the spirits in Canada, so when she got to Australia and all the spirits wouldn't give her the time of day, she got pissed. Then she decided to kill a few to make an example. It hasn't really improved matters.

Duke Anthony Pierce
The Steward of the Lodge of the Moon, Anthony is a homid Philodox with a wonderful idea: he wants to wipe out Australia's entire dingo population. Despite being born and raised in Australia, he thinks of himself as English and views everything uniquely Australian with contempt. He considers himself superior to all other garou that aren't Philodoxes, and believes that those who breed with Dingos aren't technically werewolves. He makes sure that 'business' comes up in Riverina or Gippsland whenever Mamu is present in Jindabyne.

M'lady Kathryn Hope
The Steward of the Lodge of the Sun, and another Homid.
I know they're two unrelated points, but the way they worded it it sounds like they're saying "Naturally, as a philodox, she's a giant racist."

She deeply distrust the Uktenna for breeding with Aboriginals, and believes that Tjinderi lusts after the leadership of the Council (she's right, but that doesn't make her not racist), and allies herself with Carla leader of the Get. She can't understand why Carla keeps getting rebuffed, I mean, obviously the rest of the council should realize that they need to kill all the brown skinned people.

Nick Meads
"Stubbornly referred to as Nicholas by the other Silver Fangs at court" Nick is a homid Galliard and the Squire of the Lodge of the Sun. He's also the Garou in charge of the sept's defense. He's an able warrior, thrill seeker, and risk taker. He loves dangerous sports like bungie-jumping and hang-gliding, using his Garou abilities to survive what should normally kill him. He loves Wadbilliga, and spends most of his time skiing or white-water canoeing in the protectorate. He thinks the rest of the tribe are boring and arrogant and will sometimes tease Darius and the rest of his court to the point of frenzy before fleeing into the Umbra. He'd be an all around decent guy, were he not secretly lusting after Tjinderi Knowing-Smile, vowing to protect her from(read: kill) Mamu if he ever openly attacks her.

Others


_{Gangrel can't do this? What?}
Diana Wentworth
Diana is a 12th Generation Gangrel Vampire that grew up in the late 1800s. During a family trip to the Blue Mountains, she met a vampire and was embraced. "Free of the restrictions of Victorian society" she disdains clothes as a mortal affectation. And spends most of her time naked or in wolf form.

It was in wolf form that she met Darius Winchester, the Silver Fang king, who thought she was a werewolf. She didn't correct him until he was too in love with her to care. If anyone were to find out about them, Darius would probably be forced to abdicate. For her part she's agreed to not feed upon any Silver Fang kinfolk, or embrace anyone inside Wadbilliga. But she's still 'willful', and is entertaining the prospect of embracing Darius just to find out what would happen.

Snarls-at-Shadows
A shadow Lord Lupus Ahroun that was Exiled from Tasmania by Vlad for arguing with him over the beauty of the Australian wilderness. Vlad Volaschky hates the Australian wilderness except for those pieces which remind him of Europe. She fled to the mainland and now hides in the Snowy Mountains with a misfit pack of her own creation. She's taken it upon herself to keep the high country free of 'apes' and their depredations of the wilderness in the name of progress and recreation. They harry ski resorts, and destroy construction equipment. So far their attacks have been attributed to ecoterrorists.

Recently they've become aware that the spirit of the Snowy River is still alive, bound by webs though it may be. They that by keeping the Snowy Mountain free of humans, they might win its favor as a totem. With its power she hopes to take Vlad's place on the council.

The Jindabyne Council
The council members are described again, there's a little more information given but it can mostly be summed up as: Fingal opposes every motion that even smells like something Darius would like; Darius wants Cernonnous to replace Innana and thinks Grek Twice Tounge was sent by the spirits to see him into glory; Carla, Mamu, and Vlad are hilariously racist; Mother Pasta wants to eat Monash; Don Mephisto is playing everyone for his own benefit; Tjinderi wants everyone to give her their protectorates out of the goodness of their hearts.

The compact of the council forbids violence while a meeting is in session, and to date no member has died while a meeting is in session. Each representative vows to enforce the council's decisions within their own protectorates, but their own viewpoints make it somewhat difficult to come to decisions, to say nothing of enforcing them.

The Ngalyod Pack

Named in honor of the bunyip's totem spirit, this is sort of the Australian equivilent of the silver pack. Traditionally they operate as the Jindabyne council's arm in getting things done. Traditionally members serve for 10 years, after that a new pack is formed. Replacements are chosen by a special meeting of the Council. Appointments to the pack are sometimes made for more political reasons than because of their skill or renown which weakens the overall structure of the pack.

The initiation takes place in a complex ritual on Cub island in the middle of Lake Jindabyne. The new members must swim a kilometer through the water to the island, which I should remind you is in the middle of the Australian Alps. There the council members await them, seated around a ceremonial fire. The whole ritual resembles an aboriginal initiation rite.
So a healthy dose of White Guilt and native exceptionalism, glorious.

There are also a few different fetishes that the Ngalyod pack gets

• The Shield of Kurburu: A bark shield that makes it's holder seem more impressive and threatening, giving him 2 more points of Expression, Intimidation, and Leadership
  
• Bulun-Bulun's Spear: A spear that deals aggrivated damage and forces materialized spirits to dematerialize.
  
• Narran-Ngemba Sticks: Two sticks that when tapped together rhythmically will drown out all other sounds. Which might be useful somehow?
  
• Djarada's Heart A small lump of fossilized sap that increases its holders Empathy and Appearance by 2. It makes the user irresistible to all, regardless of their age or sexual orientation. Oh and it can heal aggravated damage if you pass it over a wound and spend a point of gnosis but this is basically a date-rape rock.
  
• A Nameless Stone: A Flat fist sized stone of unknown rock, the smooth face is carved with a representation of the Rainbow Serpent. No one knows what it is or what it does, but tradition demands that the pack carry it with it at all times. The plot trinket.
  

That said, it's time to get into our nine part adventure.

Introduction: The Visions of Grek Twice-Tongue
It's come time to select a new Ngalyod pack. The last pack, which was made up entirely of Ahroun, saw it's role as a military one. So it spent all it's time fighting Pentex and Black Spirals, and ignoring the needs of the spirits because for some reason someoen thought it would be a good idea to make a pack entirely out of Ahroun. Unsurprisingly the council has had difficulty coming to a conclusion over who should be the new pack, but last night Grek had a vision. A new pack formed of young garou, untested by even their rite of passage, THE PLAYER CHARACTERS! The rest of the council agree if only to stop the arguing.

Part 1: Spirits of Vengeance
The player characters are summoned by the leaders of their respective septs and told that they are to present themselves to the Jindabyne council, no explanation is offered or given. When they arrive at Crackenback, Grek says they have some great destiny but can't be more specific. But before they're invested with the powers of the Ngalyod pack, they must first undergo their rite of passage.

This seems like a good time to point out that this probably means that the player characters are probably somewhere around the age of 15.

Darius sends them to the town of Thorpdale in eastern Victoria. The spirits there are angry and any garou that enter it are being harrassed. Their rite of passage is to go there, find out what disturbed the spirits and fix it. The Aboriginals of the area, the Kurnai tribe, were massacred early in the area's history, leaving only a few survivors. The last of these, Alice Price, was murdered by her husband, Doug, the owner of the town's only hotel.
I'm beginning to think I should have started a Rape counter when I started reviewing the book.

The spirits of Thorpdale really liked Alice, and after she did they started screaming and howling in the Dreamtime, waking up the slumbering spirits of the Kurnai. The player characters succeed by finding Alice's corpse and interring her in the traditional way of her people, and killing Doug Price in revenge. Unfortunately there are two people who will oppose them in this.

Sir Rodney Snipe is an insane Silver Fang who lives north of Thorpdale, who thinks he's still living with his mother who has been dead for decades. He drives his Rolls-Royce into town to drink at Price's bar which is likely where the PCs meet him. Once he finds out that they're Garou, he invites them up to his estate where he shows them his large collection of guns and trophies, and tells them tales of when his Garou ancestors settled the area, slaughtering all the uppity Aboriginals and binding the most rebellious spirits in a Spirit Drum, which he uses as an ottoman. If a PC uses spirit speech they can hear the spirits screaming but can't understand them, if they break the drum they're grateful and lead the pack to the Dreamtime grove of gum trees where the spirits of the Kurnai lie upon their corpse platforms. The ghosts still bear the scars of their violent deaths.

The Aboriginal Dreamspeaker Murulami is the other impediment, and he's sworn an oath to destroy the Garou. Because. He uses his magic to make the spirits distrust the Garou more, and hopes to create open war between the spirits and Garou. He's gotten a few spirits convinced to attack the PCs when they enter Thorpdale. His ultimate goal is to confront Sir Rodney with the ghosts of the Aboriginals, drive him into a frenzy, and have him kill a few white folk in the process while breaking the veil before his eventual death.

Part 2: The Weeping Sun
Once they return to Jindabyne, they go through the initiation ritual, and are given what fetishes were not lost when the pack made entirely of Ahrouns went off and got themselves killed. When a player touches the Nameless Stone, they have a vision of a Thylacine fleeing a Black Wolf into a cave full of Aboriginal Art. Fingal Flashing-Claws tells them that they should go visit Bartholomew Wise-in-the-Ways-of-the-Wyrm who might be able to help them.

When they arrive at Bart's house in the Blue Mountains, a Solar Eclipse happens. Bart agrees to help them if they help him "Rescue the Sun". He leads them to the fossil-rich Jenolan Caves in the Blue Mountains where Gnowee the Sun has been trapped by the Black Spirals. They led her here by saying her son was in the caves, but actually hope to use her to wake a wyrm beast the Bunyip sealed here centuries ago. And, you know, let him eat the fucking sun. If the player characters can convince Gnowee that the BSDs lied to her, she burns them all to ashes, but still needs the players to guide her out of the cave, at which point the eclipse ends and Bart offers to help them.


_{What is going on here?}
Part 3: A Tiger by the Tail

At some point later Bartholomew contacts the pack and tells them that the vision has something to do with the Tasmanian rainforests near the Franklin River. After Grek hears this he commands them to travel to Tasmania and investigate. Vlad becomes enraged and says that visitors are not welcome on 'his island'. He threatens the PCs but backs down when the rest of the council allies against him. Vlad stalks away muttering 'dark threats'.

In Tasmania they find little actual help. Younger members of the tribe will try to bait them into attacking, and the elders will only act to stop the Younger ones from getting killed. When they search the rainforest they find an abandoned training camp, littered with spent cartridges. The ground is tamped down by many boots of various shapes and sizes. Silver bullets are embedded in all the nearby trunks. The Shadow Lords deny all knowledge if questioned.

The pack also finds rocks painted with symbols leading them to Murulami, chanting in a clearing. He hates the Garou and threatens them, but runs away rather than engaging them in a straight fight. Near Murulami's clearing they find a cave decorated with the pictures from their visions. It is a lost bunyip caern, Murulami's notes indicate that the caern will not be reactivated until the skull of it's last guardian is replaced. Murulami himself was trying to reawaken it to gain the favor of its totem.

When they return to the Cradle Mountain sept in Tasmania, they're 'greeted' by Vlad Volaschky. He rants and raves about how he would kill the players as trespassers were they not here on council business. He allows them to stay for now, but assigns Fyodor "a slow-witted by burly young Ahroun" to watch over them. From Fyodor they learn that the skull is being kept in a caern at the peak of Cradle Mountain. They have to distract him long enough to sneak into the caern and steal back the skull. When they bring it back to the cave, the Caern reawakens and Bookbook the Owl, totem of the caern, appears and offers to be their pack totem in gratitude. Her parting words are that most spirits still distrust them, and that only the fact that they bear the Rainbow Serpent's seal may save them.

Back in Jindabyne, the Council debates on who will administer the new Caern. They eventually decide (perhaps after some prompting from the PCs) that the Council themselves will administer the caern. Vlad, of course, is pissed off because it's his caern, and the pack now has his undying enmity.


_{What is up with the random geometric shapes?}
Part 4: Lightning Dreaming

After this, the Council sends the Pack to the Arnhem Land protectorate. Wungala Rose isn't available to greet them, instead they're met by Climonestra, a lupus Theurge. The pack are welcomed warmly but told only female members will be allowed to the center of the Caern. Climonestra tells them that they're trying to awaken the Namarrkon Caern, and that the Guardian Spirit will not speak to Black Furies. She asks them to intervene on their behalf, and surprisingly, Climonestra is actually pleasant, helpful, and doesn't have an ulterior motive.

The totem remains silent until a fierce tropical storm breaks out over the Caern, during the Tempest Namarrkon manifests but only speaks to the male members of the Pack. He agrees to reopen his caern on the provision that the characters help him destroy the Ranger Uranium Mine. When they tell the rest of the Black Furies this they're thrown into turmoil. The older members of the sept remember their pledge against violence, arguing instead that peaceful protest and petition will bring about change. The younger furies, lead by Climonestra, argue for action. Eventually the peaceful furies win out, Climonestra frenzies and runs off to the mine alone. The Priests of pollution kill and dismember her, and her cadaver is dropped out on the outskirts of the Caern by a Ranger truck. This drives even the peaceful members of the sept into a frenzy and they all charge the mine. Well at least the good guys aren't the only ones who make terminally stupid decisions.

Potential allies in the fight include the local dingo population (which a lupus might be able to drive into action). And one of Black Furies bitterly suggests that they should ask the Gumagan(crocodile/dinosaur shapeshifters) if they can find them. But if the PCs look for them, all they find are Aboriginals who say they've heard of the Gumagan but believe they're all dead. Namarrkon will aid the Garou, sending a supernatural storm to pound the open mine. The battle is fierce, many Black Furies will die. The Pack must personally battle Darren, who will scream "This is just a skirmish, the real battle is yet to come - the sleeper will fall to the Wyrm" when he dies. The battle ends with Father Moonscreamer being eaten by a massive crocodile.


_{Finally some strangely relevant art.}
Part 5: The Ghost Who Howls

As they prepare to leave Arnhem Land, a message from the council arrives for them. The Sept of the Waking Dream has been attacked. Several members are dead, another is hopelessly insane. Younger members of the sept, a pack lead by a lupus named Biting Fang, have been attempting to awaken the Rainbow Serpent, guided by the spirits of the Mulga Seed people. Of course, since the Mulga-Seed people hate the garou, the rite they taught them is the one that they used to summon Kurpannga the Devil Dingo. Now Kurpannga's roaming the sept and killing all the Garou he can find.

Runs-With-Ghosts is the leader of the Katajuta protectorate, and is one of the few Uktena who actually welcomes outsiders. Bathes-in-Blood(No, really), the Gatekeeper and a close friend of Biting Fang, is actively hostile towards the pack. And they need to gain her trust to learn the truth of what happened. Fortunately, Bathes despises Shadow Lords, if there's a Lord in the pack it might cause problems, but if they tell her about their adventures in Tasmania it will go a long way towards impressing her. She also believes in the sanctity of Caern and Sept, anyone who believes similarly will also gain her trust. As a last resort she'll trust anyone who can best her in a fight. She'll tell them of Biting Fang's hope of awakening Ngalyod, though she doesn't know where he gained the knowledge to actually pull it off.

The last surviving member of the pack is a lupus Ragabash named Wanambi. She's completely mad and can no longer shift out of her dingo form. The sight of her own reflection or any other dingos will drive her into a terrified frenzy. If they try to force her to talk she'll run away, in any case she'll run away the next night and her half-eaten corpse will be found the next morning by the last sept guardian, her body surrounded by huge dingo tracks.

In the dreamtime, the cave where Biting Fang was slain is inhabited by the Mulga-Seed people. They're bitter and angry, because their land was taken from them. If the characters promise that the caves won't be used by any other tribes, particularly their hated foes the Mala, they may tell the PCs about Kurpannga. If they're angered they'll call Kurpannga to attack them, only the plot trinket stone will make The Devil Dingo back down. If they negotiate with the Mulga and Runs-with-Ghosts, promising that the caves will remain free of Garou and tourists, they'll call Kurpannga and perform the ritual to dismiss it.

Of course while they're celebrating, Runs-with-Ghosts will come to them angrily and claim that Kurpannga has slain again. Bathes-in-Blood is set to march upon the cave and force retribution, as Kwik-Kwik the Keeper of the Land has been slain, and his body was dumped in the Glade of Ancestors in the center of the Caern. Runs-with-Ghosts begs them to enter the dreamtime and confront Kurpannga. When the return to the cave they don't find Kurpannga, instead finding a Ghost Bunyip in thylacine form, blood dripping from its jaws. It leers at them and whispers "Watch for the Rainbow" and then dissapears. When they return to tell Runs-with-Ghosts what happens, she tells them that one of the Devil's Marbles, which are rumored to be the eggs of the Rainbow Serpent, is missing from its resting place. The Uktena are furious and send the Pack away with no thanks. If they investigate the site of the Marble, they find Garou sized pawprints and wyrm taint lingering. Tire marks lead south.


_{Did I mention that the art in this chapter has little to do with the text?}
Part 6: Shadows on the Mountain

When the pack return to Wadbilliga, Don Mephisto summons them to a special meeting of the council. No'iri'n Ni'Dhonaill has challenged Fingal Flashing-Claws for his seat on the council. The rest of the members sit in silence as the short but bloody fight carries itself out. Mephisto accepts No'iri'n as the new member of the Council but admonishes her for spilling blood at Crackenback.

Then out of nowhere Grek breaks into a howling rage, screaming that the Council are nothing but posturing fools who would rather bicker than fight the Wyrm. If no one else will save Wadbilliga and the Snowy River, he will. Then he limps down the mountain, Darius orders the pack to follow and protect him. Grek leads them into the heart of Snarls-at-Shadows territory. They rise out of the snow to surround Grek and the pack, snarling that they don't recognize the authority of Jindabyne. Grek tells her that he's a Council member and he demands that she let them pass. A challenge ensues, with one of the pack members standing in for Grek. If the characters are victorious, Katya will listen to Grek's story.

Grek recently returned from a trip to the Snowy River tunnels, which are currently infested with Black Spirals. They're killing the spirit of the Snowy river, already weakened by turbines and irrigation systems. The Black Spirals have dammed the dreamtime reflection of the Snowy River and are polluting it with their own 'foul effluents'. Katya apologizes profusely to Grek and dedicates herself to Grek's service. Once they reach the spiral dam, they're outnumbered two to one. During the fighting, one of the pack members is supposed to notice one of the rocks in the dam shudder at the noise. It's actually a nargun and if they can awaken it it starts fighting the Spirals. Of course without the stone, the whole dam collapses, the Snowy River breaks through, and suddenly awakened and very angry, it rushes forward. The spirals are all caught in the wash and the PCs have to flee to avoid being drowned. Once they get topside again they find that the Snowy River has broken it's banks and the Murray 2 dam, flooding the upper stretch of the Murray. And if this map is any indication, that's quite a bit of land that's flooded. Indeed the book says that many many humans are now dead and countless farms are now submerged beneath the rivers waters.

Our heroes, ladies and gentlemen.


_{This is so horrible it wraps back around to hilarious again.}
Part 7: Hope in Delirium

When they return to the Council, they're shaken by the events. And demand the pack manifest their totem and summon their spirit allies so that all the council can benefit from the packs success. After this scrutiny, the pack is asked to handle a simple matter while they decide what to do. Publicly, they're asked to go to Brisbane to find Rage-in-the-Streets and bring him to the council. Privately, Mamu asks them to kill him because he has dishonored the tribe and should die with honor. Innana asks them to bring him to Nimbin so that he can be healed and purified before returning to Jindabyne.

In Brisbane the pack likely has trouble finding him, since they're probably looking among the wild dog packs and in parks and gardens. When they look in the nightclubs they'll eventually discover "Martin Rage", the clubbers and druggies will direct them to him as a dealer of some high end drugs with a foul temper. Of late he's been dealing in "Space", a powerful hallucinogen that's stronger than LSD that allows its users to "See their lives from orbit". If they use Sense Wyrm on a Space user, they'll find minute but definite traces. Persistent inquiries will inform them that heavy Space use drives it's users into a violent self-destructive frenzy.

They won't initially find Rage-in-the-Streets, but they will find a small pack led by Felicia Quest-for-the-Moon, a Homid Philodox CoG. She knows all about Space, which 'creates a bridge' to the Wyrm, and gradually pollutes the user driving them to depraved acts. She believes it's produced by Pentex but lacks proof, believing that the Sabbat might know more. She also asks them to go to Eungella once they're done in Brisbane, as the Stargazers need their help.

If they just roam the nightclubs asking for Space they'll eventually attract the attention of both the Police and the Sabbat.
Have I mentioned that early 90's Sabbat lacked in subtlety? They speak of Rage fondly, like a friend, and if the Pack is peaceable, they'll agree to take them to visit their archbishop, Camille of Clan Lasombra. Apparently Camille made a deal with Jeffery Blight. Pentex would manufacture Space, and Sabbat would distribute it in return for Pentex's aid in ousting Perth's Camarilla. Pentex went back on their word, and she wants revenge. She tells them that Rage-in-the-Streets is in Pentex's Gold Coast headquarters, where Space is manufactured. She also tells them that the Black Spirals are probably up to something. "Ordinarily she dismisses the Spiral Dancers as harmless religious lunatics, but this time, she says, whatever they're planning is about to hatch."

In the real world, the Gold Coast headquarters is a moderately tall office building of glass and steel. In the dreamtime it's a tower of sinew and bone, oozing pus onto the landscape. It's guarded by a First Team and a human security force. If they break through them, they find Rage heavily drugged and unable to move. They destroy the Space, and either kill or escape with Rage. Depending on what they do they make some council members happy and other very angry. Then Felicia escorts them to the Web of the Dreaming Hands Caern, where they hope to learn more of the Spiral Plot.

Part 8: The Edge of Despair

Monash End-to-the-Darkness greets them at the Caern, he's grateful for their arrival as his tribe is full of despair. When they tell him what the Sabbat told them, he offers to let them sleep in the Web of Dreaming Hands during the next new moon, which conveniently is in 3 days. In the meantime he asks them to help raise his tribe's spirits. When he's done talking, a gunshot rings out. Cherri Backwards-glance has just blown her head off with a shotgun. Indira Songs-of-Sorrow begins wailing and Chisolm There-is-no-Hope runs out of the camp screaming that he'll be dead by dawn.

To save the Stargazers, they need to use the rapport they've gained with Australia's spirits to contact Fog, the spirit of the Caern, and convince him of the hopeless state of the tribe. They need to show him that the Stargazers mean him no harm and that it's okay to speak to them again. Fog will return some purpose to the Stargazers by giving them a new task, protect nearby Hinchinbrook Island from tourist development. When they finally sleep in the webs, they're taken into a shared vision.

They see a stone falling from a black hand towards a still lake, where it shatters rather than splashing, then that hand squeezes a river, making it bleed red onto another rock, that bursts open to reveal a black worm. and a rainbow arching over Kosciusko that turns black as it reaches it's zenith, raining black foulness on the alpine plains, and then a white wolf slain by a thrown dagger, and the snow gums that ring Crackenback Caern wilting and dying before a southern gale.

If somehow they aren't able to figure out "Go back to Crackenback, stupid." Indira can point them in the right direction, saying it's a "cry from Gaia, arising from a spiral plot".

I should also point out that, if the PCs didn't parlay with the Sabbat (which is an incredibly stupid idea anyway), they would have no idea to ask about the Black Spirals. So there's got to be more railroading going on.


_{"A wolf eating its own tail is an Oroboros right?"}
Part 9: The Awakening

When they return to Jindabyne, they find the council much as they left them, sans Vlad. They're working together better than ever, now that Fingal is gone and not being obstructionist, even Mamu is agreeing with some of the plans formed by Darius, No'iri'n, and Mephisto. Multi-tribal strikes upon Wyrm infestations in the Dreamtime are going to happen, and the pack is going to serve a role in further plans. They will negotiate peace, then communication and understanding with the spirits of the Dreamtime and the Garou. The council swears to give the pack whatever assistance they can provide. They're slightly less happy to hear about the Black Spirals, but agree that they can't stand before their new spirit of cooperation.

Adding to the happy spirit is the fact that Joseph Blows-with-the-Wind has asked to be given a seat on the council. He's probably going to have his wish because Vlad isn't there. He's sent a message indicating that "Kinfolk business in Europe has called him away. He indicates that he will attend when this has been cleared up, whereupon he will address the Jindabyne Council concerning radical changes to Council Operations."

Those radical changes are him raiding Crackenback with a commando team of Shadow Lords armed with Klaives, and Kinfolk armed with AK-47s with silver bullets. Led by Vlad Volashky. The ensuing fight is bloody with neither side able to gain an advantage. At the height of the fighting, Boobook bursts out of the umbra and screams that they need to follow her to the Umbra, because the Rainbow Serpent is in danger. Fog, Kanau the wedge-tailed eagle, and any other spirits the pack has befriended. The assembled Garou stop fighting, and fall to their knees in awe. If the characters seize the initiative and call upon the Shadow Lords to join them, all but Vlad do so. If they don't and leave with Boobook, Vlad will take the caern once they leave. If they're torn between staying and leaving, a terrible scream rings out which is so loud and terrible that everyone drops to their knees screaming in agony. A rainbow arcs over the caern and Mephisto begs the pack to guide them.

In the Dreamtime, Boobook transports the pack to the upper slopes of Mount Kosciuko. Anyone who's traveled to the cave where the last Bunyip died will recognize the site. Below them is a small lake, it's waters are boiling and hissing as a horde of Black Spiral dancers are howling and cutting themselves, bleeding into the lake. The waters turn black with their blood, and in the center a huge round boulder (the missing devil's marble) protrudes from the surface, a rainbow arcing from a crack in the rock.

The good news, Nagalyod is alive again, the bad news is he's corrupted by the spirals, blackness erupts from the egg and consumes the serpent. The Ghosts of the Bunyip ring the lake, watching impassively. The pack also recognize Murulami. He gestures wildly, running up to the Garou and tells them that while he still hates them, he doesn't want Ngalyod to be corrupted, and will help if he can. He tells them that the nameless stone fetish they hold is actually one of Ngalyod's scales, and if they can attach it to the great snake he will be purified. The pack must fight their way to Ngalyod and affix the scale, at which point he slaughters all the remaining spirals.


The Wrap Up
The book offers a few ways to end this. If they don't save Ngalyod, then well, Australia's fucked. The Dreamtime will be completely corrupted and the real world will follow suit. A purified Ngalyod might swallow up all the Black Spirals and vomit out White Howlers. If Ngalyod is wounded his blood might fall on the Bunyip spirits causing them to be reborn in flesh. He might be angry and rage across the physical world, destroying the European settlements. They might gain Ngalyod as a true totem.

Also, the reason why Vlad attacked? Well, see, some of the members of the Jindabyne council die, and the pack members get asked to fill the vacant seats! At rank 1!

This ending makes no god damned sense. There is no way a Shadow Lord would do this, ever. Even if they succeeded, the rest of the Tribe would probably kill him for shaming himself, and the tribe as a whole. And the tribe would probably have to pay severe reparations as a result. Even then, the attack has no payoff, there's no comeuppance for Vlad, the attack holds no weight because it just.. stops, when the plot rears it's ugly head again.

There's also the fact that the story basically consists of the pack going around from Tribe to Tribe either telling them to stop being idiots or exposing them for the duplicitous assholes that they are. Even No'iri'n just kind of shows up and removes an obstacle to change for them. It's like Australia has just kind of stayed locked in place for the past 100 years just waiting for the PCs to show up and fix everything in the course of a few months.

Thankfully however, that's all. Book's done.

At least it ends on a really dumb note.