Bestiary

The Banes known as Thinbones are insatiable spirits of hunger, born in places of terrible famine. Unlike many conceptual Banes, Thinbones don’t hang around the places of their creation, but instead seek out places of richness and opulence — lands of plenty. It is here that they hunt, using humans to feed their own insatiable appetites and to amuse their bizarre whims. Thinbones are at least easy for the Garou to spot once they arrive in an area, as their victims’ deaths are usually strange enough to make local headlines.

Rage

7, Gnosis 7, Willpower 5, Essence 19 (up to

25 if possessing a host) Charms: Airt Sense, Corruption, Materialize, Possession*, Tracking

* Possession: A Thinbone’s Possession Charm is different from that of other Banes. Thinbones are incapable of creating fomori through permanent possession, or of directly controlling the host. Instead, a possessing Thinbone consumes everything the host eats before it can nourish him. Once the host begins starving, the Thinbone uses its Corruption Charm to whisper suggested meals that might sate the host; each time the host partakes of such a meal, the Thinbone gains one point of Essence. Soon after, the gnawing hunger returns and the host’s starvation continues. Thinbones never suggest ordinary food to their unlucky host; instead, they recommend the host consume something he values. A devout Christian might be compelled to tear out the pages of his Bible and eat them, one by one, while a fashionista sits down and methodically eats every outfit and shoe in her closet. The strongest of Thinbones turn their hosts against loved ones,

starving the possessed individual into a cannibal feast. Once the host starves to death, the Thinbone departs to begin the cycle anew.

Image: Thinbones look like tall, genderless, emaciated humans with elongated features dominated by an eternally gaping mouth. Their long, thin bones protrude through their flesh in places, whittled down to sharp points.

Background

Once uncommon, Thinbones have proliferated in the second half of the twentieth century. This puzzles many Garou, for famine has always been a great scourge of humanity. There seems no obvious reason for the sudden increase in this Bane’s numbers.

Thinbones lust after the incredible power of caerns, but have no means of consuming them. They will target off-duty caern guardians if at all possible.

Storytelling Notes: As solo Banes, Thinbones present little physical threat to a mighty werewolf; instead, they are opportunities for the Garou to act as heroes, saving the unfortunates that Thinbones possess from a terrible, demeaning, prolonged death. On the other hand, Thinbones tend to target those in positions of privilege and plenty; certain Garou (such as Bone Gnawers and Red Talons) may not want to help the spirit’s victims.

If Banes and their twisted flesh-puppets were the Wyrm’s only creations, the work of the Garou would be much more straightforward, if no less daunting. However, the Wyrm’s polluted loins are fecund indeed, and multitudes of horrors walk the Earth, stamped by its taint. Some of these are twisted things the Wyrm has spawned upon the face of Gaia; its servants at Pentex made others. Each is a threat unto itself.