Red Talons
Tribal Totem
Griffin
History
Wolves have no concept of time like humans do. Yet the Red Talons, despite their attempts to deny it sometimes, are not wolves and so, elements of oral tradition have become rooted into their tribe. The Talons tell stories to acknowledge sadness and grief, but the concept of a far away "past" remains elusive to most. In moots, temporal distances are usually expressed as "some time ago". In their myths, humanity was once weak and timid until it was made into a pawn in the battle between the Weaver and Wyrm. With tools deadly and cunning, they assumed roles as false predators throwing Gaia's delicate balance into disarray. Through the crimes of domestication and agriculture, they enslved other creatures and the earth itself, not trusting their Mother to provide for them. Other animals sought to restore balance, seeking to share in their crops and livestock, but the humans destroyed any species that threatened them. It was then that Gaia realized she needed a protector, and she looked to the wolves for this sacred charge. She trusted the wolves, knowing the nature of their wolf hearts, and she believed that they would remain true and never forget their duty to her. She granted the wolves the human mind, the ability to change shape, and commanded the spirits to share their power. Thus began the Golden Age of the Impergium, a time when humanity was restored to balance with the rest of creation. As the age wore on, the werewolves began to grow in number. Some had grown fascinated by the humans and their Weaver creations. Others took the time to study their culture and grew soft to their pitious cries. Many began to forget the charge given to them by Gaia, favoring their human minds over their wolf hearts, and began arguing for an end to the hunting of humans. One group of wolves who would later be known as the Red Talons disagreed. They remembered their charge and remained true to their wolf hearts. However, the other Garou were greater in number. They confronted those who became the Red Talons and asserted dominance, forcing them to cede. (see Political Culture below for the full Tribe origin myth) In that reckoning of the Talons, this abatement was the single greatest folly of the Garou Nation. Man continues to grow unchecked, becoming a greater threat to the planet itself every day. Entire species are eradicaed for the sake of their greed, and their Weaver tools are growing stronger. Over and over, the Talons have fought for Garou to resume their charge to keep humanity in check, theire wolf hearts remaining true to gaia's purpose. But the Silver Fangs and the other Tribes always fight them, arguing in circles, their human minds ever debating.Organization
Red Talons live similar to wolf packs, with the strongest and most able serving as an Alpha. Some of their Septs are closed off to any homids. There is little global communication between the Tribe, although the Red Talons often have knowledge of hidden Moon bridges that lead to their most valuable Caerns. Factions and camps are a human perversion, a division along philosophical boundaries that is alien to the Talon mindset. Still, through centuries of being forced to deal with human-thinking Garou and their even-weaker kin, even the Red Talon tribe has not been impervious to infiltration of these divisive mentalities.Camps
Camps represent special interests within the Tribe, for the most part. Some camps are badges of honor, epitomizing the tenets of Honor, Glory or Wisdom that the Nation prizes so highly. Others are forbidden, secret sects and societies practicing Gifts and Rites that border on blasphemy taught to them by forgotten and often horrific spirits that hide deep in the Umbra.- The Lodge Of The Predator Kings: The Lodge is made up of Red Talons who want to see every human being on the planet dead — no compromise, no homid Kinfolk. All the humans gone. The only way for Gaia to have a chance to heal, they believe, is to remove the creatures that continually injure Her. They do not care that their beliefs are not popular with the rest of the Nation, or that their actions may bring more hunters down upon the Garou. They are beyond caring about consequences, because they know they are going to lose. They realize how hopeless their fight is, which makes them both desperate and extremely dangerous.
- Warders Of The Land: Not a true camp, the Warders of the Land is the de facto designation for Talons who don’t fall to one of the other three extremes. As close to moderates as the Red Talons get, Warders won’t hesitate to kill a human if necessary, but don’t believe in wholesale slaughter. Some feel that if there weren’t so many humans they’d be a tolerable nuisance rather than the overt threat they now pose. Others would like to see humanity gone, but don’t feel the Garou have the tools to achieve it, so they seek other options. This “camp” comprises the majority of Talons in the Nation.
- Whelp's Compromise: No Talon ever identifies himself as being a member of Whelp’s Compromise; they consider the title as insulting as it sounds. Other tribes call this camp the “Anti-Extinction Faction.” It’s usually painted as “Talons who don’t want to kill all the humans,” but there’s more to it than that. Whelps find some value in some humans; a view that, while ambiguous, is enough to earn them a throating from the rest of the tribe.
- The Dying Cubs: A secret society with rituals that allow them to “feed” the Earth with a human’s pain, the Dying Cubs sacrifice human victims through elaborate torture methods. The longer they draw out their unfortunate victim’s death, the more sustenance they feel Gaia draws from their work. While some pursue their goals solely to heal the wounds that humanity has dealt to Mother Earth, others take sadistic pleasure in their practices, seeking out any opportunity to make bloody and horrific sacrifices in Her name.
Tribal Culture
Perhaps no other tribe is as close to nature as the Red Talons. They shun cities completely, exclusively living in their ancestral homelands as they have for centuries. As humans encroach on the wilderness, the Red Talons find their lands and hunting grounds disappearing and destroyed. Talons are capable of tool use, language, and all the sophisticaed traditions of the Garou. Much as they may hate humanity, they do not argue the very occasional necessity of sometimes using human things, as only a foolish Talon would walk naked into a city if their hunt took them there. But, for the most part they communicate via howls and fight with claws and feel that should be enough. Still, the other tribes admit the Talons have long memories, and no doubt recall rites and secrets long forgotten by the rest of the Garou. As a rule, the Talons eschew the use of human languages except when absolutely required by their Pack alpha. Most have enough proficiency in the Garou Tongue, but among themselves, the Talons communicate in the language of wolves, which works mostly over body language and other senses, like scent. They are also the only Tribe that cultivates special "Howl" Gifts, that utilize their wolf howls in magnificent ways. Although not all Red Talons believe humanity should be wiped out entirely, in fact the majority do not, it is agreed among all tribe members that humans are to be shunned. Those that dare cross the path of a Red Talon, guilty or innocent, will be killed to stop the spread of the Wyrm's taint. Many secretly devour the flesh of their victims, however, which goes directly against the Litany set forth by the Garou Nation.Homids
The Talons are steadfast in that they will have no Homids in their Tribe. This is not simply an ethos, the Tribe has no Homid Kinfolk and views its heritage as pure for lacking them.Lupus
The concept of being a Lupus is nearly a foreign notion to the Talons, most of whom simply identify themselves as wolves. In spite of the differences brought on by the First Change, as well as the worldly knowledge gained as Garou, most downplay the deliniations between themselves and actual wolves, perhaps too much. If this is the case, they share at least one characteristic with Homids of the other Tribes: a longing to maintain ones childhood ties.Metis
Among the Talons, life is not easy for those born in defiance of the Litany. Treated as the lowest of the low, allowed only to eat last, and scarcely given voice unless their Rank warrants it. And yet, they are allowed to remain so long as they can keep up with the pack. That mercy, however, is not shown to the parents of the Metis.Political Culture
To the Red Talons, the Impergium was the original task every Garou was envisioned for. However, through the corruptive influence of their human minds, the other werewolves began to behave like humans themselves. They mated with each other and produced the First Metis, they took human villages under their protection and interbred with them, so that they gradually forgot that they were meant to cull them. In time, this lead the One Tribe to splinter, as the Garou became bound to particular human cultures and ultimately led to the Concord. Those Garou that had chosen to not consort with the humans attended, but since they had no sinuglar alpha, they remained unheeded for much of the debates and during the copilation of the Litany. In the night short before the end of the gathering, a powerful Ahroun named Fells-Trees stood up and confronted the leading Silver Fang, asking him what they were supposed to do about the ever-growing population of humans, now that they were no longer allowed to cull them; and why the wolves' vote had not been counted. The Silver Fang answered that he did not know that the wolves were a tribe and asked him for the name of it. When Fells-Trees pressed on that names were not important, the Fang answered that without a tribal name, the wolves would be considered a pack of marauding scavengers. Angered, Fells-Trees lashed out against the Fang, leaving a bloody swath of claw marks upon his chest. This, Fells-Trees proclaimed, was the name of his tribe and that he would now wait for an answer. From the cuts, the name "Red Talons" was derived, as well as the earliest Glyphs used in the Nation. The Talons accepted the ruling of the Silver Fangs as their alpha tribe, but remained wary as they watched the extinction of species like the mammoth at human hands. During the War of Rage, the Talons trusted the judgement of their alpha, but thought it a War born out of human hatreds that made no sense and secretly made deals with some of the Corax or overtook the stewardship over sacred places of the Gurahl. Many modern Garou tend to see the Red Talons as complicits that sought to kill homid-born Fera, an insult which they accept to guard their secrets.Religious Culture
The Red Talons have a unique relationship with the Wyld. Seeing the Wyld as release, as a reminder how the world was before, when humans had not yet used the Weavers tools to ensnare it and fallen under the Wyrms sway to defile it. Seeing the similarities between the Wyld and themselves, the Talons often dedicate themselves to strengthening Wlyd places and pursuing alliances with Wyld spirits that other Garou would find dangerous. Some voices in the Nation even whisper that the Red Talons are close to falling from Gaia to the Wyld, as the White Howlers did long ago to the Wyrm. The Talons themselves refuse to comment such claims.Tribal Weakness
Wyld Affinity: Cannot regain Gnosis in cities (unless at a Caern)Backgrounds: Allies and Contacts are discouraged. Cannot take Resources. Their only Kinfolk are wolves.
Physical Characteristics
Pure-bred Talons tend to be large wolves with unusually sharp claws and ruddy brown fur. Regardless of pure breed, every Red Talon bears a shock of blood or flame red fur somewhere on their body. |
 |
Comments