V5 - Faction Profiles - The Werewolves of L.A.

During the course of the various stories of this chronicle the coterie has and will meet many characters so I'm therefore creating several profile pages for different groups within my version of kindred Los Angeles to help them keep track. I'll also amend these profiles as new information comes to light and old 'facts' turn out to be less factual than originally thought...

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The Werewolves of L.A.

The coterie is currently aware of five tribes of werewolves in the city of Los Angeles, though the events of the recent werewolf civil war has significantly reduced the numbers of several and hopefully has eliminated one of the most dangerous ones altogether.

The Glass Walkers

Steeped in technology, human religion, and the ebb and flow of the city, the Glass Walkers live and die by a creed of progress. While they fear the Apocalypse as any werewolf, they believe that each passing day makes them stronger, that every new invention may be appropriated for their cause, and that every new philosophy might strengthen their resolve. Glass Walkers don't have the strong aversion to human populations that most Garou do.

The dominant camp within the Glass walkers of the city are the Corporate Wolves, who insert themselves strongly in the corporate world and strive to keep Wyrm-influenced corporations like Pentex in check. There are also a small number of the 'Random Interrupts' camp. These explore the world of new technologies, establishing a firm presence on the internet and valuing their top-notch communication.

The Glass Walker tribe is currently the most influential tribe in the area. Although it has only been here for seventy-five years, they have already stamped the city with their mark. Don Leandro and his pack moved to L.A. in 1917. They sensed the potential of the city, and were as responsible as any of the Kindred for its explosive growth during the twenties, thirties and forties. When the vampires stole the water rights to build the city, the Glass Walkers took control of the water elementals, extending their control in ways unavailable to vampires. 

They also own much of the agribusiness in Southern California, much to the disgust of other werewolves. With their instinctive understanding of technology and industry, the Glass Walkers played a major role in making Los Angeles one of the Allied production centres during World War II. Most now live in Glendale, near the campus of Cal tech, where some are very active in the high-end electrical engineering going on there. 

Their current leader, Don Maximillian Alonzo was aware of the previous kindred Baron of Pasadena, Edward Vignes and knew him socially though had no idea what he truly was until after his destruction. He now has a cordial relationship with the current Baron, Michael Tomassio, in part due to he and his coteries part in the ambush which enabled the combined werewolf tribes of Los Angeles to destroy almost the entire Black Spiral Dancers Tribe. Two of the coterie members were also responsible for rescuing one of the tribes kinfolk named Jane 'Mirilla' Miranda from a rogue group of kindred who were poaching on their turf. The medical expertise of Dr Daniel Matthews had been a considerable factor in saving the girls life, and her relative Kiara had seemingly mentioned this to her tribal leader.

Michael is currently attempting to raise the funds necessary to revive a failed business deal between the former Baron Edward Vignes and Don Alonzo so as to further cement their relationship.

Bone Gnawers

The scavengers and survivors of the Garou, the Bone Gnawers are seen by the other tribes as little more than mongrels who sift through the waste of mankind. The Bone Gnawers see themselves as underdogs, waiting to triumph against overconfident foes.

Two significant camps of Bone Gnawers call Los Angeles their home. Beneath Downtown there is a camp who call themselves 'The Hood'. This camp is dedicated on distributing the wealth from the rich to the poor, provided that the money they provide is used for useful things. The others were previously based on the outskirts of Griffith Park though after the elimination of the Black Spiral dancers has enabled them to expand their domain somewhat.

The Swarm focuses on the war-aspect of rat, concentrating on dirty fighting and exploiting every advantage they get over an enemy. They specialise in urban terrorism, striking against the Wyrm and instantly disappearing. It was these werewolves who were responsible for destroying the Pentex subsidiary NikNak Computing after a kindred hacker called 'Zipper' remotely shut down the security systems for them beforehand. 

The huge pack of Bone Gnawers that live in the depths of downtown Los Angeles, have also been spreading out into South Central L.A. They also have a small contingent of another tribe known as the Uktena who live with them.

A childe of Marius named Tilly Kelly also has a significant presence below Downtown along with her own childer and many ghouls and blood bound servants. These confusingly also refer to themselves as 'The Swarm'. Marius has an arrangement with the Bone Gnawers that limits them to certain areas of the underground and sewers and defines the boundaries between his followers of his monstrous offspring and the werewolf tribes. This agreement also applies to the Uktena.

Marius is universally despised by the werewolf population of L.A. as his sire was a renowned hunter of their kind and was known by them as 'Kills-Our-Brothers'. He is, if anything, even deadlier than his sire but also has a reputation for keeping his word, something his sire did not. Marius therefore has a somewhat odd relationship with the cities werewolves as they both trust him to keep his word, and hate him for the actions of his sire, Xaviar.

As long as the borders are respected, Marius will take no action against either the Bone Gnawers or the Uktena. Marius company, Aegis also makes significant donations to charities that support the underprivileged and homeless so as to discourage actions by 'The Hood' against his own business concerns. The Bone Gnawers tribal leader or Mother, 'Jan, Death-From-Below' is one of the few werewolves in the city who is on, if not friendly, at least neutral terms with Marius. The reason for her differing opinion is unknown.

Uktena 

The Uktena are composed of the broadest base of cultures and considered one of the more 'primitive' groups of Garou, the Uktena are also masters of the dark and forbidden knowledge. The camp that coexists with the Bone Gnawers are referred to as Path Dancers. They seek to master additional forms of magic, like Sorcery, for the use against the Wyrm. It is presumed that they used these talents to aid the other tribes against the Black Spiral Dancers during the recent war against them. Using their own dark arts to counter those of their enemies.

Black Furies

The matriarchs of the Garou, the Black Furies only accept women as members, except for a few male metis and are known for their honour, wisdom, pride, and fierce skills in battle. Furies mistrust written records, seeing them as tainted. Thus they trust solely oral records passed on from mother to daughter. This makes much of their history more myth than certainty.

The Black Furies control the Santa Monica mountains and are exclusively of The Freebooters' camp. Their mission is to find new Wyld places that can be consecrated to Gaia and opened as caerns. They are currently attempting to purify such places corrupted by the Black Spiral dancers as they can now access them due to the destruction of that tribe within Los Angeles. A fraction of Freebooters believe they need to find a new body for Gaia elsewhere in the Umbra, somewhere the Wyrm has not yet found. It seems unlikely however that the already corrupted city of L.A. would be such a place.

The Black Furies have granted several Verbena mages and their mortal allies, safe passage to a site of a former Verbena temple of theirs within the mountains. They have also agreed to allow a single kindred to enter their territory as an ambassador and Marius's childe Mary has been selected. The Black Furies leader, 'Anisa, Her-Claws-Always-Wet', has made it quite clear that Marius himself is not welcome there. Ever.

Black Spiral Dancers

Also known as the Lost Tribe, the dreaded Black Spiral Dancers are the Garou who turned to the Wyrm. The Dancers are quite insane, and usually sadists. 

The Black Spiral Dancers roughly resemble other Garou; however, many of them are malformed, either through metis birth or close proximity to the radioactive balefires of the Wyrm. The heads of their Crinos forms are often huge and slaver-jawed, resembling a hyena's, while their ears are frequently hairless and pointed like a bat's. Their eyes are huge and round, glowing with red or green luminescence, while their fur is patchy and usually either albino-white, grayish-green, or jet-black. Black Spirals' human forms are usually twisted and deformed, but some are quite beautiful.

Black Spiral Dancers are organized into septs called Hives. Caerns where they raise their young are called Pits. Black Spiral Dancers have lived underground among foul and cancerous children of the Wyrm for centuries. Their Hives are nestled amidst labyrinthine cave systems, most of which are filled with industrial waste and monstrous things. With their numbers within the city now reduced to next to nothing it is hoped by the other tribes that these Pits can be cleansed of the corrupting influence they have over the city.

With this potent force now reduced to a minimal threat, the cities werewolves have begun to attack Pentex subsidiaries and experimental sites within and without the city. A number of important executives and puppets of Pentex within the cities power structure have inexplicably gone missing, or had unfortunate accidents. It is unlikely that this is a coincidence.

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Should you be interested in the chronicles and stories associated with these pages then links to them all can be found HERE.

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