The youngest member of the pack, Jonas was born a lupus Ragabash down in the heart of the Deep South. He joined the Fianna after his First Change.
Jonas is a real card. With his warm southern drawl and cheerful personality, this kid--even younger than his appearance of 16 or so--can charm snakes out of trees and lie like a roadkill possum. With their Galliard playing 'silent and brooding,' He seems intent on doing her work for her, gleefully sharing stories and dispensing downhome country wisdom at every turn. Sometimes he seems to forget that he's got a job to do, so caught up in everything happening around him that other pack members have to prod him into action. But for all his rascally ways, he has a good heart, and he unquestionably helps (along with their bizarrely perky Ahroun) bring some much-needed lightheartedness to a pack positively doused in latent emo--or whatever you call having a Silver Fang, a Shadow Lord, and a Uktena all in the same group.
Jonas's Deed name is "Pants the Wyrm."
Monday, April 23, 2007
Meet Olesya
The Galliard of the pack, Olesya is a morose Russian woman in the grand tradition of depressive Slavic poets. She talks less than perhaps any Galliard the pack members have ever heard of, but behind that bleak and silent facade is a woman constantly paying attention and turning things over in her head. Olesya possesses a fetish, a cup that, when drunk from, brings memories back to the imbiber sharp and clear. She typically uses it to help her recall details for her stories, but it has had other uses so far...
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Meet Amantalan "RF" Runningwater, M.D.
Amantalan is little more than a fancy Incan way to say 'rain forest,' hence the nickname, "RF." RF was found, just a pup, by Uktena kinfolk who search the rain forest for lost family. His first memory is of Jamie and Justin Runningwater petting him in the back seat of a car going home to a reservation in Nevada.As a pup, he was well behaved and happy. The local doctor would borrow him to brighten the days of the sick on the Reservation. After his first change, his kinfolk introduced him to the world and he noticed a gift for healing. Seeing the health of his tribe and kin decline, he buckled down and studied to become a general practice physician.
RF has no recollection of his life before he was found. He often dreams about huddling in Incan ruins while gigantic lizards roam the rain forests.
He loves his family and sends his kinfolk siblings letters and emails.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Meet Jared
Sir Jared Annalyse ap Ailill, Knight of the Silver Dragon, Great-Grandson of Lord Aiden Annalyse (Oh, this actually goes on quite a while. Come back in ten minutes.) got over all that about 100 years into his curse. Born of the dreams of haunted romantics, Jarrod suffers from a rare condition he likes to call ‘being fucked up the ass by the Dreaming.’ If he were in any House other than Ailill, the condition wouldn’t be all that bad. Whenever he sees someone in dire need, he will ride in like Galahad to save the day. The upshot of such a problem is that he can tell when someone is faking their distress or got themselves into their own mess. He stays his normal, generally pissed off self.
Fabulous curses aside, Jarrod really has gotten over the whole “I’m Sidhe, worship me!” thing. He tolerates being referred to a Sir Jarrod and that’s it. He has a ‘tell me what to do and I’ll get it done’ attitude. He’s sly, crafty, and composed. You have to be when you suffer from a curse.
Jarrod doesn’t remember when he got his curse or what brought it on. He does know that somewhere around the same time, he met Sir Gius Meldon ap Gwydion, Guy for short. Guy is Jarrod’s personal pain in the ass, but anyone else would call them best friends, which is the honest to Dreaming truth. Neither are sure how they met, but they both have recollections of lifetimes at each others side in battle, court, and everyday life. Their ability to work together seamlessly has gotten them voluntold for more then their fair share of missions when their houses demanded representation. They often refer to each other as Gwydion and Ailill, or more commonly as Guy and Jay.
On the bright side, Jarrod’s curse has found him the love of his life: Deirdre Siobhan, the Wasted Gift. She suddenly appeared out of nowhere as a gift of the Dreaming for a Sidhe of House Gwydion about to come into a substantial amount of holdings. Deirdre was some sort of fey to be sure, but the lord thought it to be a grand and un-funny joke. He swore he would have nothing to do with her. Jarrod, unable to help himself, stepped in to save the poor damsel.
It didn’t take long for Deirdre’s unique abilities to come to light. She is an oracle of some power. After the prerequisite questing, Jarrod and Gius discovered that Deirdre is the child of Lady Mairine Kalarnyse, an Eiluned sorceress, who was swapped Deirdre with a mortal child, making her a changeling. Deirdre has since met her mother, but the poor Sidhe woman suffers severe memory lapses as a result of Echoes. Sometimes she recognizes her daughter and sometimes she doesn’t. She does think it's darling that Deirdre and Jarrod stop by to look after her and that more people should be as respectful to their elders.
His curse has also gained him the permanent housekeeping services of Mrs. Rose McAlaister. Jarrod saved Rose's three children from a bane. Afterwards, there was nothing Jarrod could say or do to get rid of her. Now, his house is always organized, clothes always washed, kitchen always clean, linens always fresh, and dinner always ready despite his best efforts to make a mess. He's long since given up trying to get rid of her, and has gotten used to having her (and occasionally the kids too) around.
Curse aside, Jarrod is a true representation of the Ailill ideal of personal freedom. Many of the younger Ailill find his curse laughable, but the older ones have found the silver dragon lining in Jarrod’s dark clouds. He never breaks an oath, never fails in his loyalties, and will always get the job done right the first time. He has also, rather unwittingly, built up a large network of contacts willing to lend him a bit of help or information since his curse caused him to help them or a friend. Since he lacks a lordly attitude, many assume that his help was genuine, which it was because he can’t help himself.
Jarrod’s mundane life is one of a doctor specializing in pediatrics. He spends most of his work life traveling from hospital to hospital as an administrator, working against Pentex in the forms of Autumn Health Management Systems, Good House International, Magadon, and Rainbow Incorporated. With children’s charities picking up, he’s begun fighting against Avalon and Tellus as they try to sneak into children’s wards.
Fabulous curses aside, Jarrod really has gotten over the whole “I’m Sidhe, worship me!” thing. He tolerates being referred to a Sir Jarrod and that’s it. He has a ‘tell me what to do and I’ll get it done’ attitude. He’s sly, crafty, and composed. You have to be when you suffer from a curse.
Jarrod doesn’t remember when he got his curse or what brought it on. He does know that somewhere around the same time, he met Sir Gius Meldon ap Gwydion, Guy for short. Guy is Jarrod’s personal pain in the ass, but anyone else would call them best friends, which is the honest to Dreaming truth. Neither are sure how they met, but they both have recollections of lifetimes at each others side in battle, court, and everyday life. Their ability to work together seamlessly has gotten them voluntold for more then their fair share of missions when their houses demanded representation. They often refer to each other as Gwydion and Ailill, or more commonly as Guy and Jay.
On the bright side, Jarrod’s curse has found him the love of his life: Deirdre Siobhan, the Wasted Gift. She suddenly appeared out of nowhere as a gift of the Dreaming for a Sidhe of House Gwydion about to come into a substantial amount of holdings. Deirdre was some sort of fey to be sure, but the lord thought it to be a grand and un-funny joke. He swore he would have nothing to do with her. Jarrod, unable to help himself, stepped in to save the poor damsel.
It didn’t take long for Deirdre’s unique abilities to come to light. She is an oracle of some power. After the prerequisite questing, Jarrod and Gius discovered that Deirdre is the child of Lady Mairine Kalarnyse, an Eiluned sorceress, who was swapped Deirdre with a mortal child, making her a changeling. Deirdre has since met her mother, but the poor Sidhe woman suffers severe memory lapses as a result of Echoes. Sometimes she recognizes her daughter and sometimes she doesn’t. She does think it's darling that Deirdre and Jarrod stop by to look after her and that more people should be as respectful to their elders.
His curse has also gained him the permanent housekeeping services of Mrs. Rose McAlaister. Jarrod saved Rose's three children from a bane. Afterwards, there was nothing Jarrod could say or do to get rid of her. Now, his house is always organized, clothes always washed, kitchen always clean, linens always fresh, and dinner always ready despite his best efforts to make a mess. He's long since given up trying to get rid of her, and has gotten used to having her (and occasionally the kids too) around.
Curse aside, Jarrod is a true representation of the Ailill ideal of personal freedom. Many of the younger Ailill find his curse laughable, but the older ones have found the silver dragon lining in Jarrod’s dark clouds. He never breaks an oath, never fails in his loyalties, and will always get the job done right the first time. He has also, rather unwittingly, built up a large network of contacts willing to lend him a bit of help or information since his curse caused him to help them or a friend. Since he lacks a lordly attitude, many assume that his help was genuine, which it was because he can’t help himself.
Jarrod’s mundane life is one of a doctor specializing in pediatrics. He spends most of his work life traveling from hospital to hospital as an administrator, working against Pentex in the forms of Autumn Health Management Systems, Good House International, Magadon, and Rainbow Incorporated. With children’s charities picking up, he’s begun fighting against Avalon and Tellus as they try to sneak into children’s wards.
Meet Aila Longstride
Aila's father, Ethan Longstride, was youngest of seven exceptionally intelligent children. His parents trained him in the traditional ways of their people - hunting, fishing, tracking, and survival in the wild - but waited to tell them the truth about their heritage, in order to keep from inhibiting their choices in life. The children grew up hearing stories of the Natchez and even the Croatan without knowing their significance. Ethan entered college early and earned multiple doctorates in biology, geology, and horticulture, but never felt fulfilled until his parents shared the truth about their people--that they were Kinfolk. Resolving to help the Garou any way he could and to carry on his ancestors' traditions, Ethan took a job on a nature preserve as a wildlife biologist. Building a cabin miles away from the nearest town, he conducted his work quietly while secretly helping any Garou who passed through.
This was how he met the love of his life, Tsura. Her pack having suffered an attack from banes not far away, she literally stumbled into Ethan's life, gravely wounded. While he nursed her back to health in his home, the two shared stories and became close. Even after she's regained her health, she often found her feet leading her back to him. The visits remained infrequent enough that when Tsura returned only a month after her previous stop, Ethan knew something had happened. He was overjoyed when she told him they were going to have a child, though Tsura rejected every marriage proposal he made her.
Aila's birth was a happy occasion for Ethan, but he noticed the sadness growing in Tsura's eyes. About a year after their daughter was born, her Strider blood pulled her away again, leaving Ethan to teach their baby girl what his parents had taught him. Tsura did her best to return from time to time, but visits grew less frequent as her other duties intervened.
Aila grew up learning the traditions of both her parents from her father. As soon as she could walk, she was tromping barefoot through the woods after her father as he told her about plants and animals. He taught her herbalism, tracking, the languages of the Natchez and Romani, which Tsura had taught to Ethan. He taught her to hunt with bow and arrow as well as guns. Ethan even chose to home school his little girl since he found the schools in the area inadequate.
At eleven, Aila could survive for extended periods of time alone in the forest, knew the basics of multiple martial arts, had built her own computer (with a bit supervision from Ethan), and could recite the periodic table while running the obstacle course behind their house. Ethan was proud of his daughter's progress.
As much as she loved spending time with her father, Aila's favorite thing was the monthly trips into town where her grandparents lived, when her father gathered supplies and caught up on family news. She loved his family, and like to sit and watched the townspeople for hours without moving. This is how she found the local arcade. Aila spent so much time there playing pinball, Space Invaders, and Street Fighter that that her father finally bought her a game console. She learned to play online, teaching her father to play as well, and earned herself the nickname "Head-Shot" from her friends. Ethan did his best to excise the "net-speak" from her vocabulary, but she insisted on hanging on to a few (most notably "frag" and "newb") which found amusing.
Life changed drastically for the two when Aila underwent her First Change at the age of 14--an experience no amount of teaching or training could prepare her for. Unspeakably proud and sad, Ethan sent a message to Tsura and did his best to prepare Aila for what would come next.
Aila is not the first Garou in her father's family--one of her cousins is a Uktena tribe member, but she pursued her mother's path among the Silent Striders. A boisterous, gregarious girl, always offering help to those she sees in need, she loves listening to people talk and enjoys telling stories. Despite this, she finds it difficult to connect with her Tribe. Sometimes it seems as though she has nothing in common with the Striders. Her open nature is a rough fit with the quiet, reclusive Silent Striders, and while she keenly feels the absence of their ancestor spirits, she is not uncomfortable with it, considering the plight of the Coatan's descendants.
Likewise, she feels distanced from her mother's kin by their grief over the loss of their homeland. Aila often ponders their exile and wonders if she will ever feel a closer connection to Egypt. Never has she felt lost or out of place. She is comfortable everywhere she goes and considers home to be wherever her feet are. Further, she isn't sure she feels the typical Strider unease at staying in one place too long. Though she revels in traveling under the open sky, she feels no compulsion to. Instead, new sights, new experiences, and fascinating new people draw her on. Still, Aila has resolved to become as much a part of the tribe as she can and works diligently towards this goal.
This was how he met the love of his life, Tsura. Her pack having suffered an attack from banes not far away, she literally stumbled into Ethan's life, gravely wounded. While he nursed her back to health in his home, the two shared stories and became close. Even after she's regained her health, she often found her feet leading her back to him. The visits remained infrequent enough that when Tsura returned only a month after her previous stop, Ethan knew something had happened. He was overjoyed when she told him they were going to have a child, though Tsura rejected every marriage proposal he made her.
Aila's birth was a happy occasion for Ethan, but he noticed the sadness growing in Tsura's eyes. About a year after their daughter was born, her Strider blood pulled her away again, leaving Ethan to teach their baby girl what his parents had taught him. Tsura did her best to return from time to time, but visits grew less frequent as her other duties intervened.
Aila grew up learning the traditions of both her parents from her father. As soon as she could walk, she was tromping barefoot through the woods after her father as he told her about plants and animals. He taught her herbalism, tracking, the languages of the Natchez and Romani, which Tsura had taught to Ethan. He taught her to hunt with bow and arrow as well as guns. Ethan even chose to home school his little girl since he found the schools in the area inadequate.
At eleven, Aila could survive for extended periods of time alone in the forest, knew the basics of multiple martial arts, had built her own computer (with a bit supervision from Ethan), and could recite the periodic table while running the obstacle course behind their house. Ethan was proud of his daughter's progress.
As much as she loved spending time with her father, Aila's favorite thing was the monthly trips into town where her grandparents lived, when her father gathered supplies and caught up on family news. She loved his family, and like to sit and watched the townspeople for hours without moving. This is how she found the local arcade. Aila spent so much time there playing pinball, Space Invaders, and Street Fighter that that her father finally bought her a game console. She learned to play online, teaching her father to play as well, and earned herself the nickname "Head-Shot" from her friends. Ethan did his best to excise the "net-speak" from her vocabulary, but she insisted on hanging on to a few (most notably "frag" and "newb") which found amusing.
Life changed drastically for the two when Aila underwent her First Change at the age of 14--an experience no amount of teaching or training could prepare her for. Unspeakably proud and sad, Ethan sent a message to Tsura and did his best to prepare Aila for what would come next.
Aila is not the first Garou in her father's family--one of her cousins is a Uktena tribe member, but she pursued her mother's path among the Silent Striders. A boisterous, gregarious girl, always offering help to those she sees in need, she loves listening to people talk and enjoys telling stories. Despite this, she finds it difficult to connect with her Tribe. Sometimes it seems as though she has nothing in common with the Striders. Her open nature is a rough fit with the quiet, reclusive Silent Striders, and while she keenly feels the absence of their ancestor spirits, she is not uncomfortable with it, considering the plight of the Coatan's descendants.
Likewise, she feels distanced from her mother's kin by their grief over the loss of their homeland. Aila often ponders their exile and wonders if she will ever feel a closer connection to Egypt. Never has she felt lost or out of place. She is comfortable everywhere she goes and considers home to be wherever her feet are. Further, she isn't sure she feels the typical Strider unease at staying in one place too long. Though she revels in traveling under the open sky, she feels no compulsion to. Instead, new sights, new experiences, and fascinating new people draw her on. Still, Aila has resolved to become as much a part of the tribe as she can and works diligently towards this goal.
Meet Mark Krysillious
Mark Krysillious is an Egyptian Copt, and a member of the Celestial Chorus. A man of strong faith and convictions, he seems to be falling in with Ambrose as partners in Running Toward the Danger! The two make a strange pair: while Ambrose tinkers with super-science, Mark's quietly devout prayers come alive with magic. He's a well-meaning sort, but he could probably use a few hobbies. How and why he got involved in all this is, so far, a mystery...though that could merely be because no one has asked him.
Monday, April 16, 2007
Meet Dr. Ambrose Quintrell
Many people wonder whether Dr. Quintrell is actually a doctor of anything, or if it's just an affected title. In fact, he is! While many are tempted, it's bad form among the Sons of Ether to pretend to honors you haven't earned.
Ambrose was something of a childhood prodigy, but credits his father Kyle with teaching him courage and the value of hard work, without which he would not be alive today. Graduating from high school at the age of 15, he went on to earn a degree in Physics from CalTech. He was listed in the 1999 edition of Who's Who in America as a student to watch.
A professor at CalTech recognized the lad's potential and helped him Awaken. Now open to the true possibilities of Science, Ambrose eagerly pursued post-graduate studies in materials science at MIT, intent on developing a theory for energy/matter conversion. His doctoral thesis on the subject was welcomed by fellow scientists, who eagerly followed his unfolding research.
But in fact, he was too successful. A year after receiving his Ph.D., he planned to go public with his discoveries* at an upcoming conference. He did not realize, however, that he had verged a little too close to the Technocracy's designs, and that the
Shortly before the conference, Ambrose was caught in a lab accident that, probably not coincidentally, destroyed all his work. He himself was believed to be dead for several weeks (and he is told there was a very nice memorial for him in lieu of his burial), before he was discovered stumbling along a back road in Montana, babbling what sounded like nonsense. Rather than killing him, as he believes the accident was meant to do, the combination of unleashed forces had opened a hole into another dimension--one filled with what he recognized as etheric constructs of a form and purity unlike anything he had seen before!
Today, Dr. Quintrell knows that pursuing his old energy/matter conversion work may well be nothing less than a death sentence. He must assume the Technocracy is watching him. But while (for the time being) they have killed his old dreams, they unwittingly birthed a new one. He has dedicated himself to studying the etheric realms and their phenomena, cataloguing and researching until he can find a way to introduce humanity to this brave new discovery!
* Etherites know the truth: one does not discover scientific principles, one invents them!
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Meet Sonya Berzin
Sonya Berzin was born to Kinfolk parents in Belarus, which was at the time part of the Soviet Union. The family emigrated to the US when they were given the chance...on conditions set by Sonya's great-grandfather, Sergei Burning-Heart. He's their nearest Garou relative, an old and stern Shadow Lord serving at a Russian sept. Insisting that some of his Kin must remain in their homeland, he required that the two eldest children, Nikolai and Raisa, stay with their grandparents in Russia in order that the rest might leave.
Not having had a particularly stressful childhood, Sonya's First Change happened a touch late, during her pursuit of a law degree. Given the family history and breeding, she had little choice among Tribes, but that was all right: the Shadow Lords suited her just fine. The Lords encouraged her to finish her degree, though it took a bit of finessing, after which they pulled a few strings to snag her an enviable job, which of course just so happened to suit their needs.
She now serves as a narcotics agent for Interpol. Her work puts her in an excellent position to act as a go-between for human authorities and the Garou Nation, ferreting out corrupted supernaturals for the Garou to deal with and passing tips to Interpol regarding Wyrm-tainted human initiatives.
Sonya's demeanor is cold, efficient, and predatory. "Cast-iron bitch" are words that might come to mind on first impression. Those who're more familiar simply find her businesslike. The two tenets of the Shadow Lords serve her as well in her human career as her Garou life: use any means necessary to do your job, and clean up your messes. Such ruthlessness has seldom been required of her so far, but she keeps the creed in mind.
Sonya is estranged from her family. Her father has refused to deal with her since she Changed. He is a strict Russian Orthodox, but Sonya suspects it's because he had a difficult childhood under his grandfather. Her mother is more understanding, but they don't get to see each other very often. She has three other siblings: an older brother named Maxim and two younger twin sisters, Grusha and Gala.
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