Blood-on-the-Snow and Knows-the-Past-Seasons

Prelude:

Blood-on-the-Snow and Knows-the-Past-Seasons were born into an arctic wolf pack some forty-odd years ago, in a den carved into the permafrost on a wind-swept island west of the North Magnetic Pole. This particular pack was led by its alpha male during the bright summer months, but when the polar night would fall a massive wolf would come, dominate him, and spend the winter among the other wolves. This transient would leave when the sun would come again, and a few months later the alpha and beta females would each give birth to a litter of strong, healthy pups. Blood-on-the-Snow and Knows-the-Past-Seasons were the strongest pups of their respective litters, and they prospered.

Every now and then, when the transient would leave, he would take a yearling with him on his long journey to the far north. The pack would never see this yearling again, but this was never a concern to the pack, for the missing wolf was usually odd in some indefinable way, and its absence was welcome. The spring after their birth, Blood-on-the-Snow and Knows-the-Past-Seasons went away with their father, and they didn't see their home pack again for a very long time. The three wolves traveled far, and by the time the sun was at its highest they had reached a place where the ice never melted, and where a race of strong, savage wolves lived, hunted, and waged war against the unnatural creatures that stalked the arctic.

Blood-on-the-Snow and Knows-the-Past-Seasons grew into their roles with the other Red Talons as the summer went by, and when their father left again for their birth-pack they stayed behind to learn more of the Tribe and its fight against the Wyrm. They were given their Garou names at this time, Blood-on-the-Snow for the streaks of dark red that ran along her otherwise white fur and Knows-the-Past-Seasons because he seemed to have an innate ability to tap into the accumulated wisdom of his ancestors. They also discovered what role Luna had picked for them, and Blood-on-the-Snow learned the ways of the warrior while Knows-the-Past-Seasons was taught the importance of balance in all things. Both were exceptionally skilled in their new duties, as befit Talons of their strong bloodlines, and again they prospered. Still, there was a part of both of them that wished they had never had to learn about Gaia and the Wyrm and all the rest. Knows-the-Past-Seasons in particular suffered from this, and he often spent time roaming the nearby hills, howling as if he had a pack running with him.

The two Red Talons spent several years alternating between their duties to Gaia and their innate desires to be normal wolves. Both would do as their father had done, and they spent several long winters with a pack they found roaming the icy wastes between a few of the northernmost islands. Knows-the-Past-Seasons would dominate the alpha male and sire a litter of pups with the alpha female while Blood-on-the-Snow would remain outside the hierarchy and simply enjoy running and hunting with her own kind. During the summers they would be Red Talons and do what Gaia and Griffin wanted them to. They journeyed far to the south and encountered humans for the first time, and they weren't terribly impressed. They wiped out the occasional small grouping of them, but for the most part their foes were Wyrm-spirits on the far northern ice.

Things changed one year, when Blood-on-the-Snow mated with the beta male and became heavy with pups. Knows-the-Past-Seasons was forced to go back to the Garou without her, and by the time he returned she had become the alpha female and had nearly forgotten what she truly was. They fought when he tried to get her to come back with him, and in the end he was dominated and forced to flee. He found another pack to breed in, and they went several more years without seeing each other.

It was the passage of those years that indirectly brought them together again. Knows-the-Past-Seasons grew more and more irritable as the wolves he spent the winters with grew old and died while he himself stayed young and virile. Eventually he stopped running with them and started living exclusively among the Garou. Blood-on-the-Snow, for her part, left her pack when the first of her pups to breed true underwent his First Change. Her memories of her own First Change were fuzzy and indistinct, but she seemed to recall some other wolf who had taken her somewhere, and so she did the same. Instinct guided her paws, and soon after she and Knows-the-Past-Seasons were reunited, although she took some time to remember who he was. They decided to stay together this time, and they became the alpha male and alpha female of a pack of lupus devoted to Old Wolf of the Tundra (the local version of Old Wolf of the Woods) that roamed far and wide over the High Arctic. They fought the Wyrm in places where homids couldn't survive, and they rose in Rank as the Tales of their deeds spread throughout the Nation. Once the rest of the pack were destroyed, the two Red Talons went on alone, doing Gaia's bidding and, in Knows-the-Past-Season's case at least, trying to forget how much simpler life was as an ignorant wolf. They eventually began to slow as old age finally started to catch up with them, and Knows-the-Past-Seasons guided his sister towards Amaruq Innuksuk to pass along what they had learned and to perform one last duty to Gaia, that of guardians.


Concepts:

Blood-on-the-Snow:

Blood-on-the-Snow is old now, beyond the ability to bear young, and gray is starting to creep across the fur of her muzzle. The Rage within her is still strong, however, and combined with her experience in battling the enemies of the Tribe and the Nation it makes her one of the most formidable ahroun on the continent.

As is the case with most lupus, she cares little for her past, and anything before her arrival at Amaruq Innuksuk is a dim and blurry memory. She cannot remember anything past her pack's destruction at all. She considers herself to be the primary protector of the Amaruq Innuksuk, as she doesn't trust the homid Garou to guard the territory as well as she can. Two-legs just don't have the mystic connection with the Wyld that she does. She also considers herself to be the best hunter among the lupus she has met, and she just ignores metis. In short, she has come to think of herself as part of the island more than she thinks of herself as being part of the Garou that live on it.

Knows-the-Past-Seasons is an exception to this, of course. Although she cannot recall the time that they spent apart, some part of her still remembers the sense of loss that she felt back then, and she will prevent that feeling from being a part of her life again if at all possible.

Knows-the-Past-Seasons:

Knows-the-Past-Seasons is an unusual Red Talon in many ways. He has an interest in the past that is rare among lupus, and he enjoys hearing Tales of ancient times from the galliards that he comes across. He is probably the most knowledgeable of all Red Talons where his Tribe's past is concerned, and he is no slouch where the history of the Nation is concerned, either. Although he isn't consciously aware of it, the Tales he has heard have become a part of his thought processes, and his wisdom in judging disputes has become well known even among the two-leg Garou.

Knows-the-Past-Seasons prefers to live his life at a distance from others. He never truly got over the fact that he outlives any normal wolves he packs with, so now he avoids them, and this has made him somewhat bitter. He also prefers to avoid interacting with other Garou, since they are the only beings he can really form relationships with that will live as long as he (it has never occurred to him that he can also do this with humans), and he holds an irrational grudge against them for being long-lived while normal wolves are not. Blood-on-the-Snow is an exception to this, and although they are not currently in an official Pack he will always consider her to be a packmate.

This is apparent at Amaruq Innuksuk, where Knows-the-Past-Seasons has created a niche as a liaison of sorts between the Garou and the Wyld that surrounds their Caern rather than being a true part of either. While Blood-on-the-Snow sees herself as an integral piece of the Wyld, and a very dangerous piece at that, Knows-the-Past-Seasons remains apart and watches the goings on with a detached eye. He is more than willing to make suggestions to the other Elders when necessary, especially when a two-legs is doing something that isn't "natural", but for the most part he is content to stand watch.

Roleplaying hints:

Blood-on-the-Snow: You are the ultimate predator. Others may match your battle strength, but none can match your skill on the hunt. Others also have strange ideas concerning the ways of Gaia. They do things that are obviously not what Gaia wants, yet they claim that they do Gaia's will. They are wrong. You know what Gaia demands of her children more than any Garou from a homid-contaminated Tribe, and you always do what you know is right. Other Garou sometimes disapprove, but they are of no importance. You serve Gaia, not them.

When it is time to hunt the Wyrm, you are the first to take up the trail. You do not fight like the homid Garou, however. You do not charge them bellowing challenges, as that is not the way of the wolf. Rather, you will hide and stalk, and wait for the best time to strike. Only a fool will let the prey know that he or she is coming before it feels the teeth at its throat. As a part of this strategy, you never fight in any form other than lupus or hispo. The two-legged forms are too clumsy, and they are not truly part of the Wyld, so it is difficult to stalk while using them.

Knows-the-Past-Seasons: There is more to the world than Blood-on-the-Snow is aware of. The past is the spoor of the present, and the dangers of the present can often be discovered by tracking them through the paw prints they have left behind. Most Red Talons do not realize this. You do. Your words guide Blood-on-the-Snow some times, since you know more than she about tracking through the past, but at other times she cannot be swayed from her path. You have occasionally been forced to try to dominate her into following your lead, but this is a rare thing, and it does not always work. She is formidable, and not easily dominated.

You are no weak pup yourself. In your later years, however, you have moved away from fighting with fang and claw, and have instead used your links with the Wyld to fight for Gaia. You complement Blood-on-the-Snow well, as she stalks the prey while you harry it with falling boulders and the forces of the elements. Indeed, you have become very spiritual in your later years, and you spend many a moonlit night communing with the spirits around you.

Suggested Gifts, Merits and Flaws:

Blood-on-the-Snow: Clenched Jaw, Gorge (Rage), Gnaw, Heightened Senses, Kiss of Helios, Ability Aptitude (Survival), Berserker, Mark of the Predator, Territorial

Knows-the-Past-Seasons: Call to Duty, Elemental Favor, Elemental Gift, Gaia's Vengeance, Name the Spirit, Quicksand, Roll Over, Scent of Beyond, Scent of the True Form, Sense the Unnatural, Spirit Speech, Truth of Gaia, Wisdom of the Ancient Ways, Ancestral Mentor, Calm Heart, Natural Channel, Reluctant Garou


Composed by the GSA Red Talons - Tony Perry < tonykp@bellsouth.net >


Dramatis Personae   |   Home

---

For more information on how to use this settings information in your venue, please contact: anst-shifters@camarilla.ca