Bestiary

The ultimate origins of the Hollow Men are a mystery. They are among the oldest of all the fomori breeds. They first appear in Fianna ballads dating back to Roman-era Britain, and that they’re extremely long-lived. Hollow Men serve the Wyrm effectively and with intense drive, having led many great assaults against Gaia down through the centuries.

They’re also among the most disturbing of fomori. A Hollow Man (or Woman) is an individual who has been possessed by a Scavenger Pack Bane, they are a

hollowed-out skin animated by a colony of vermin, little more than a channel for the black urges of the Wyrm. Attributes: Strength 3, Dexterity 3, Stamina 2, Charisma 2,

Manipulation 3, Appearance 1, Perception 3, Intelligence 4, Wits 3 Abilities: Alertness 3, Athletics 3, Brawl 3, Expression 2,

Firearms 2, Intimidation 4, Occult 3, Primal-Urge 4, Stealth 2, Subterfuge 3, Survival 3

Background

Backgrounds: None

Powers: Colony Powers (see sidebar), Dispersion, Immu-

nity to the Delirium, Prolonged Life, Regeneration. Regeneration requires calling more animals from the surrounding area to replenish and mend wounds; if no such creatures are available, the power doesn’t work.

Willpower: 8

Equipment: Heavy trench coat and wide-brimmed hat, revolver.

Image: A Hollow Man can only pass for human at a distance or in poor light. Up close, it becomes clear that they have no eyes, teeth, or tongue. Their skin rustles and surges with the motions of the colony within, and occasionally a member of that colony will peek out through an available orifice, or crawl across the surface of the Hollow Man’s skin. Despite their mutilations, Hollow Men are still able to perceive the world, and to speak, although their voices are the modulated buzzing of hornets, or the chorused hiss of serpents.

Genesis: Hollow Men are thankfully rare, as the circumstances that permit their creation are quite uncommon. Scavenger Pack Banes can only possess a relatively fresh, mostly hollowed out body. The ideal body is one still in the process of dying. The Bane drives packs of its patron vermin, such as rats, snakes, roaches, or wasps, to stampede into the gutted husk and complete the task of hollowing it out. Within a matter of minutes or hours, the new fomor rises and goes about carrying out the Wyrm’s will.

There is some evidence that the Hollow Man population is now on the rise and that they are associating with one another for the first time in the memory of the Garou. A Hollow Man discovered in Phoenix last year kidnapping students and eviscerating them in a foreclosed ranch house, then called termite swarms out of the walls to create new Hollow Men. Reports of similar stories out of New York, Brisbane, and Cairo circulate among concerned Garou as well. It remains unknown why the Wyrm should desire a greater number of these fomori, but whatever it is, it can’t be good.

Roleplaying Notes: You’re empty. You have your old memories, but not your old life. You hate everything, especially the colony that nips at your skin and skitters across your bones. Nevertheless, you need them. Without them, you’d be so empty. So alone. Without the rats in your eyes, you couldn’t see. Without the rats in your head, you couldn’t think. They’re everything to you now. You need them. You hate them. You need them.