Garou Lore

[Kiko]

OF GAROU

In the long, long annals of history there is but one species that has seen both the birth and the death of civilization. That species is the Garou. Before men, before dwarves, even before the ancient cities of elves; when naught but animals and gods roamed the land, the earth mother took as her chosen the great wolf.

While her fellow gods created different races in their own image the earth mother; known as Gaia, picked a creature already familiar with the land. This caused no small amount of consternation among the rest of the gods who saw everyone else's chosen as a rival. The great wolf was strong, loyal, intelligent and the other creations were but infants in a strange new world. Nevertheless, those infants grew and quickly.

For hundreds of years there was a wary truce between the chosen races and their gods. Each creation had been given an area sacred to their god to nurture and protect. For Gaia and the great wolf, who could roam hundreds of miles in one day, it was the land. Unfortunately for them both this was seen as a violation by the race of man whose God had given them the responsibility of building cities and procreation.

Men were so busy building, conquering and birthing that they did not realize they could live in harmony with earth. Instead man started a terrible war against who they considered the violator. First it was money offered for their pelts, then more for the animal's bones and flesh, and finally even more if one could trap a whole pack. The God of man was young, greedy and reckless. He would not listen to his elders when they tried stop this terrible transgression. Then the king of man, buoyed by his God's approval trapped the great wolf; who by now was a venerable creature and killed him.

Gaia, heartbroken that her Chosen no longer walked the earth, slipped into the king of man's castle that very night. By the light of the full moon, she stole his son right out of his bed. Then before the rest of the gods could stop her, and in the middle of a primordial spring of life, she took the young prince's seed and planted it in an elder female wolf. Thus the first of the Garou were born. A creature who could run hundreds of miles in a day, additionally they could stand and walk as upright as a man.

But, as punishment for her crime and for taking what was not her's to take Gaia's new pack of Chosen were allowed to mate only with each other. Should their blood or seed mix with that of man an abomination would be created for which they were responsible.

Thus we move forward to today. Where the Garou still follow the path of Gaia, the earth mother. Where they live far from civilization, where they continue to protect the land, where they do not forget their responsibilities and where the rest of the world see them as monsters or legends.