Homid Garou often prefer wearing Homid

Homid Garou often prefer wearing Homid form, usually seeing it as their "true" form. In most Bone Gnawer protectorates, this is a matter of necessity as much as one of convenience. Opportunities to freely shift out of Homid form arc rare. Crinos form rends the Veil very quickly, leaving behind rumors and horror stories of dangerous transients wandering the streets. Wolves may roam freely in the wilderness, but Lupus-form Garou are not welcome in human territories. Many cubs have made the mistake of sleeping in a woiPs skin - confident that they'll be mistaken for stray dogsand awakened to fmd out how fiercely humans defend their own territories. Living on the streets is often as brutal for homids as it is for humans. After all, Garou don't regenerate in their breed form. That means that exhaustion, malnutrition, and harsh weather prey upon great heroes as often as young cubs. Because of this, many homids welcome the chance to escape to the spirit world or run wtth a pack, as it restores their bodies as much as it heals their spirits. This also prompts many Gnawers to make much more useofGiabro form than other tribes might, as it gives them much of a werewolf's strength with· out quite endangering the Veil. .Mdit A few tribes claim to treat me tis "better than any O£her tribe does." As Bone Gnawers are keenly aware, words are far easier than deeds. Many think they know the real reason for such claims: tribal elders need the support of metis Garou. Even a Shadow Lord may try to unite the metis against a sept's elders -if he thinks it will further his own political schemes.ln truth, attitudes towards half-breeds are as varied as individual werewolves. The only certain statement about metis is that Bone Gnawers have more of them in their tribe than any other tribe does, and with good reason. The tribe's tendency to adopt just about any Garou who approaches them has built up the numberofmetis among them. Adopting a Garou with a different lineage than that of his parents was once a rare practice, but as the number of werewolves in the world has diminished, it has become more common. As one would expect, a few tribes are responding to this trend by turning their backs on their own metis, abandoning their "bastard children." Less prejudiced tribes have countered this by recruiting more metis cliath. Exploiting this trend, the Bone Gnawers have attracted a veritable army of met is who aren't afraid to express their opinions and ideas openly. A metis has to work harder than otherGarou all his life, even during his RiteofPassage. In other tribes, metis grow up performing duties and maintaining responsibilities within a sept. Many are more comfortable in theirCrinos forms when patrolling the bawn of the sept's caem, but obviously, this is less common in urban caerns.ln the largest septs, everyone has to do their part.ln smaller gatherings, like Bone Gnawer stomping grounds, rabble and slackers who drift from one place to the next develop a very lax attitude toward honor and duty. If a metis is born to a Bone Gnawer, she'll probably grow up with a very different perception of the responsibilities she'll "owe" the Garou Nation. A Bone Gnawer who fawns and scrapes in public may hold a very different opinion in private, and the tribe's metis know this well. .t.o/Hf.l One of the most common misconceptions about Bone Gnawers concerns their lupus. Some cubs in other tribes are taught that Bone Gnawer lupus have evolved to appear more domesticated than other lupus Garou. Among the other tribes, some cliath think that if they wander around a city in Lupus form, the average human will mistake them for dogs. Legend has it that Bone Gnawers and Children of Gaia are better at this than any other tribe, either because they allegedly have less anger or because of crossbreeding with other types of animals. Of all the insults that Garou hurl at the outcasts of the Garou Nation, this one stings the most. Bone Gnawers aren't human, but they're even farther from dogs.ln fact, if a werewolfbreeds with a dog, the offspring can never be a true shapechanger. If such a practice were to be maintained over generations, the genetic "strain" for lycanthropy would be bred out entirely. Admittedly, city-bred Bone Gnawers may have lost touch with their lupine heritage. Some may even act like dogs because they aren't fully familiar with how wolves act in the wild. Over generations, their instincts may fade, but they never disappear. A Bone Gnawer may whine and beg like astray dog, but that won't stop someone from eventually calling Animal Control. Lupus Garou still have all of their lupine instincts. While many cubs think lupus Bone Gnawers grow up in cities, most don't. Like other lupus, most lupus Bone Gnawers are raised by wolves. Their jackal's blood taints them, making them weak and scrawny. A lupus Bone Gnawer is often the runt, straggler, or maverick of {/~,:1-~ During the last decade, an increasing number of Bone Gnawer lupus have taken to the cities, attracted to the vast culture (and easy food) they find there. While hom ids find life on the street exhausting, many tribal lupus consider it exciting. Lupus recover quickly from fatigue and wounds in Homid form. As "street rats," they manage to avoid situations requiring them to use human technology. Masquerading as runaways and homeless humans, they are free to experiment and interact with the fringes of human society. They lack the social skills to fully interact with human society, but still revel in a niche where they don't really need them. Tribal Mothers and Fathers often welcome such experiments, offering their guests hospitality if they fail in all their attempts. As a result, a new generation of urban lupus Garou has flooded urban caems ... and Bone Gnawer stomping grounds. a pack, fitting into a wolf pack about as well as a homid fits into human society. In most other tribes, about one in seven Garou is a lupus, but because of natural selection, lupus Bone Gnawers are even rarer. Much to the horror of their Red Talon kin, a few lupus of the tribe have voluntarily chosen to leave their cubs in zoos or on preserves. Such relations often receive regular visits and a few tasty morsels from the nearest snack stand. Throughout the tribe's history, there have been a few times when lupus tried to increase their numbers by breeding with other canids, but always with mixed results. During the Impergium, the tribe once had breeding rites to assist with such experiments, but as one would expect, they bred with feral animals, not domestic ones. In every case of this kind, pure Garou blood eventually became too thin to be passed on. As a result, breeding with dogs has become a very shameful activity, even among Bone Gnawers. Preying on lonely transients may be pretty low, but sniffing around housepets is pathetic. Even a metis that wants to breed with a dog has no doubt succumbed to some Wyrm-spawned urge. In larger urban septs, desperate "puppy fuckers" are subjected to endless ridicule. It takes a creature that's at least nine-tenths wolf to bear a lupus; no other species will do. .ki,PJ% Most tribes are hesitant to accept outsiders because they're protective of their Kinfolk. Pure bred offspring are often the result of a carefully cultivate lineage, one that can be traced back to the primal days when tribes watched over "flocks" of human breeding stock. Most tribes are very particular about who Garou breed with and where. While any Garou can presumably breed werewolves with any tribe's Kinfolk, tribal heritage depends on keeping a watch on one's Kin. Because of the Bone Gnawers' practice of adopting outcasts, on the other hand, it has become impossible to a breed a "true" representative of the tribe. Thus, Bone Gnawer Kinfolk have no common ancestry or background. They come from a very diverse heritage, so widespread that there is no longer such a thing as a "pure bred" Bone Gnawer. As pure breeds are accorded more status and respect in Garou society, this diversity is another reason why the tribe faces so much social opposition and ostracism. Many Bone Gnawer Kinfolk belong to groups that may have once been considered outsiders, but aren't any longer. As an example, American Bone Gnawers felt a need to watch over the many waves of European immigrants that came to their country. Fianna aren't the only Garou with Irish and Scottish Kin; in the late 19th century, you'd find Bone Gnawer Kinfolk within that same population. Over time, more of their Garou descendants were welcomed into the Fianna tribe, particularly those that demonstrated great heroism or earned glory among the Garou. When a Garou introduces himself at a sept for the first time, there's a chance that he may actually have a Bone Gnawer in his lineage several generations back. Most ambitious Garou do their best to conceal such facts. Homeless Garou are also known for their wandering ways, and sadly, some ethically challenged Bone Gnawers are overly casual about leaving illegitimate children behind them. After all, every child they leave behind is Kinfolk, and more Kinfolk mean the possibility of more Garou one day. Rat's brood relies on a populous tribe, so some Bone Gnawers actually leave Kin-Fetches to watch over their Kinfolk as well as their cubs. Trusting that "Rat will provide," they reason that any child that can't survive poverty and adversity isn'r worthy of helping the tribe. Tribal Theurges are horrified at this apathetic attitude, and thus often petition Tribal Mothers and Fathers to watch over these "lost Kinfolk." They may even welcome them into the extended families that frequent stomping grounds and the protectorates around Bone Gnawersepts. £4Nfi' Rebellious Bone Gnawers conduct elaborate "street dramas" with their extended families on the streets. Responsible ones join packs, working with other tribes. Within both groups, heroes answer a higher calling. Each month, they volunteer some of their time to help a cause. They may feel a need to help unfortunates around them, explore the world, spread culture and knowledge, or muster packs of Garou for war. When Garou of the same tribe believe in the same ideals, they fall into the same camp, working together for the same heroic ideals. Some camp followers are formally initiated and accepted; others fight for a camp's cause for personal beliefs, regardless of whether others accept him. If a camp follower can't find others of his kind, he may ask other Bone Gnawers for assistance. At tribal moots, respected (and infamous) heroes from different camps debate their different points of view. They're always working to recruit Bone Gnawers who belong to packs that are willing to help them, if only temporarily. On the other hand, just as other tribes have elite camps, the Bone Gnawers have a few that are so secretive or illegal that they recruit covertly. Garou who regularly help a camp's followers may also get help in return -