Stepping

sideways into the dark of night, the Camazotz may enter the Dark Umbra as easily as the realm of Gaian spirits.

System: So long as she is not in direct light, the werebat may step sideways into the underworld if she chooses. Into the Sun (see p. 240) has no effect on this Gift.

Shadow-Curse Doll

Level Four, Gnosis 8 The Camazotz needed no help to remain unseen when their duties required it. Their Gifts and natural talent for subtlety worked to their benefit. However, oc­ casionally one of the Camazotz’s secrets was uncovered.

The werebat would traditionally use a Shadow-Curse Doll to silence the witness for a while.

The Shadow-Curse Doll takes the form of a tiny doll or puppet made out of furry leather (actually bat or rat-skin). The doll is made with only the barest sugges­ tion of a face, and always has a pouch somewhere on its body. To activate the fetish, the Camazotz must put a small object belonging to the target — or a piece of the target’s body, such as a hair or nail clipping — into the pouch while silently mouthing the victim’s name three times. Then she must hide the doll, for as soon as she sees it, the curse will end.

While the curse is in effect, the target becomes su­ pernaturally easy to overlook. Anyone looking at him has to succeed at a Perception + Awareness roll (difficulty 9) to register his presence. Truly heroic efforts on the victim’s part — physically assaulting someone, waving a sawn-off shotgun in a bank teller’s face, writing a desperate plea for help on a wall with bright red paint — reduce the difficulty to 8, at the Storyteller’s discretion. Even if someone does notice the victim, she will forget all about him as soon as he’s out of sight. This ‘invisibility’ extends to all the victim’s efforts at communication, including writing, telephone calls, or using a computer —writing a note on the wall with bright red paint is not a sure way to get noticed. The curse lasts for twenty-four hours, or until the victim or the Camazotz next sees the doll, whichever comes first.

This fetish requires the binding of many minor spirits of vengeance, pettiness, and shadows. It taps into the spirits’ ill temper and love of mayhem, and will not work if the “victim” is willing.

All shapeshifters were created to protect Gaia in one way or another, but the Grondr had one of the most direct and important roles. Gaia charged them to root out any taint or poison that might harm the Earth and the life on it. They worked most closely with the Gurahl, removing any sources of corruption before the werebears healed the damage the poisons had caused. While the Gurahl were fierce protectors, the Grondr were warriors who actively sought out threats and destroyed them. From toxins leeching up from underground to infestations of fomori, the Grondr fought all dangers. They were deft and cautious hunters who were careful never to harm Gaia during their work. Despite their brutish appear­ ance, most Grondr had a deep appreciation for beauty and took pride in how striking and lush areas became under their care.

The Grondr were an active and aggressive breed. They lived in pack-like groups called Sounders, each lead by a king or queen who held their title by defeating all who challenged them in ritual combat. Each Sounder ruler was equal to all others; they had no hierarchy beyond individual Sounders.

When the Garou attacked the Gurahl during the War of Rage, the Grondr stood with the werebears against the wolves. The Grondr continued to fight when the Gurahl retreated in to hibernation. The wereboars inflicted horrible losses to the Fianna, the Get of Fenris, and the Silver Fangs. The Garou ultimately triumphed and drove the Grondr to their end.

When their numbers were reduced to only a handful, the remaining Grondr found themselves in a desperate situation. And, although no one may ever know the exact details that led to it, the end result is clear: the selfsame Changing Breed once trusted with rooting out the taint of the Wyrm ended up in its service as the now-infamous creatures known as Skull Pigs.

That is not to say that the Garou were innocent of destroying the Grondr; not only did they slaughter the wereboars into those desperate straits, but they essentially assured that there would be no redemption for Gaia’s lost Groomers. Once the shapeshifters were gone, the Garou set their human Kinfolk to destroying the Grondr’s Kin.

Their human Kinfolk were enslaved by Garou Kin in the First City, any purity of Boar blood gradually lost among the growing masses of humanity. At the same time, the Garou encouraged humans to hunt and domesticate Grondr boar Kinfolk out of existence. While wild boars and feral razorback still exist, they are nothing compared to the animals the Grondr once called Kin.

The history of the Changing Breeds remembers the Grondr as warriors and investigators, charged with rooting corruption out from under the Earth itself. Their Gifts and rites could force taint to manifest itself as Banes, which the Grondr and their allies would fight and kill. These histories are incomplete. The Grondr were more, and stranger, than history gives them credit for. They had capabilities that the other Fera never truly understood; that lack of understanding was part of what led to their downfall.

GRONDR IN THE MODERN DAY

Any Grondr exposed to modern times is probably going to be horrified by the state of the world. With pollution, toxic spills, soils stripped of all fertility — and in the worst areas, breeding pits of Banes and fomori — it’s hard to imagine the Grondr not being disgusted at, and furious with, the Garou and Gurahl for allow­ ing the world to get to this pitiful state. Should they discover the fate of their last few ancestors, their hatred will likely also be turned inward. Most Grondr take their duties far too seriously to spend time fighting other shapeshifters until they have done their best to root out all of the horrors poisoning Gaia, but they will not be shy about displaying their contempt for any shape­ shifters (including their own fallen ancestors) who remained on Earth.

The Grondr believed that they were nearly incor­ ruptible as a result of their duty. Wereboars charged will­ ingly into Bane nests, and waded into powerful Blights and Hellholes to cleanse the taint. Where other Fera might retreat for fear of corruption or possession, Grondr would advance, daring the minions of the Wyrm to steal their bodies or warp their minds. hen a spirit attempted to posses one of their Kinfolk, the wereboar would not only repel the invader, but tear it apart in the process. Grondr charged through balefire, taunted nexus crawl­ ers in their dens, and emerged wounded and weary but spiritually unharmed.

The secret was in the Grondr’s appe­ tite. The Grondr were known as prodigious eaters, capable of digesting nearly anything, and a

particularly common Gift extended this to Wyrm-taint. Many wereboars took great joy in using this Gift to eat any tainted matter and purge the corruptor’s touch from the world, cleansing it as they digested. Other spirit-magics gave the Grondr even more powerful weapons against the Wyrm’s taint.

Unfortunately, the other Changing Breeds misun­ derstood this power. When the Grondr did something that the other Breeds could not — like charging into a Blight and returning completely uncorrupted — onlook­ ers would sometimes doubt their own senses. Gaia made them to cleanse Her, but surely any one shapeshifter could

not have that much power over the Wyrm’s dark

energies. As time passed, they became

certain that the Grondr must harbor

some element of corruption.

The situation worsened when the Grondr developed

a new ritual that let them

literally eat a Bane that

had possessed a person,

place, or object. While

it languished in his

belly the ritemaster

could use the Bane’s

Charms without risk of corruption. The Grondr tried to keep this new power a secret, aware that their fellow Changing Breeds would view it with suspicion, but it was impossible for them to keep it hidden forever.

The Grondr were charged with rooting out corrup­ tion, but that extended to more than just the land and the monsters that might lurk beneath it. The wereboars also uncovered corruption hiding in the other shapeshifters. If the taint was not total, the wereboar would try to consume it herself, or attempt to cleanse the victim in conjunction with a Gurahl. When they could not remove the taint, the Grondr were perfectly willing to execute the victim themselves. Those few who knew the true purpose of the Nagah despised the wereserpents — though they struck down enemies of Gaia, all too often their victim’s crimes went unreported. The Grondr believed it far better to tell the world why the victim had died.

The Grondr did their best to work with the other Fera to root out taint and corruption. If nothing else, it’s easier to investigate a target when working alongside him. The other Breeds were somewhat standoffish — the wereboars had a reputation forgoing to any lengths to destroy corruption, even if it meant killing a beloved hero who had kept his taint hidden for years.

The Grondr saw little difference between the taint of the Wyrm and overwhelming pride, ambition, and cruelty. Grondr investigators would stop short of murder­ ing another Fera for the crime of vainglory, but they were not above teaching her a lesson. The wereboars lacked the same sense of subtlety and humor that allowed other breeds like the Corax or the Nuwisha to get away with the same kind of education. A Grondr’s lessons were rough, painful, and humiliating — made all the worse by the breed’s hypocrisy. For all that they thought pride a crime, few among the wereboars thought to look at their own actions.

The air was thick with rumors of Grondr seen eating Banes and using their powers, and influential Garou leaders nursed broken bones and wounded egos from the wereboars’ “education.” Needing an outlet for their Rage, the werewolves convinced themselves that the Grondr had fallen to the Wyrm. When war broke out, the Grondr made it clear that they would lay down their lives to defend the Gurahl. The werewolves were happy to oblige.

Early in the War of Rage, before the Fera saw that the Garou had genocide in mind, the other Changing Breeds did not intervene in the fight between werewolf and wereboar. They too, had endured Grondr investiga­ tions and were suspicious of the Grondr’s use of Bane Charms. They hoped that the stubborn wereboars would be weakened and humiliated; never imagining that the Garou would drive the wereboars to the brink of extinc­

tion. By the time the other Fera realized what the Garou intended, it was too late.

The Beast Courts learned too late what had hap­ pened. They did not count many of the wereboars among their number, and most of those left the Courts to fight against the Garou. Only after the whole Breed died out did anyone comprehend the magnitude of the problem. To hide their shame, the Hengeyokai excised the wereboars from their stories and records. To this day, only the most persistent and conspiracy-minded members of the Beast Courts even suspect that Asian Grondr ever existed.

After the End

Unlike some of the other lost breeds, the Grondr would not find it impossible to re-establish a foothold in the material world. Their human Kinfolk still exist, scattered across the face of the Earth; their bloodlines diluted but not lost entirely. Their beast kinfolk are even further diminished, but a small number of wild boars might carry the changing blood. Boar allows his lesser avatars to teach Gifts to Garou and patronize their packs. Of all the Lost Breeds, the Grondr are in the best position if something were able to bring them back.

Any attempt at bringing the Grondr back from extinction would have to confront the problem of the Skull Pigs. While nobody but the Wyrm will ever know what truly happened, these twisted Wyrmspawn bear all the hallmarks of the Grondr. They are the inheritors of the wereboars’ legacy. For the Breed to return, the best way would perhaps be to find the lost ancestor-spirits of the Grondr, lost in the Deep Umbra.

Perhaps those are not the only signs of the wereboars trapped in the Deep Umbra. Though incredibly stub­ born, it’s possible that a few Grondr fled into the spirit world rather than die at the claws of the Garou. If they do exist, they would not return without good reason — the werewolves claim dominion over the whole world in a way that no Changing Breed did during the War of Rage. This last Sounder could be holding fast against a corrupt Umbral realm that threatens to disgorge its legions should they divert any resources. Alternatively, they might have found a realm more to their liking, and spend their time reinforcing their grudges against the werewolves, plotting their grand return without realizing how bad things have become. No matter their powers to combat Wyrm-taint, a handful of Grondr cannot hope to cleanse the whole world before the Apocalypse. Maybe they are consumed by bitterness — Gaia rejected them, allowing Her warriors to slaughter the Grondr, and the other Changing Breeds let it happen. Whatever the case, given the strange way time can pass in the Umbra any surviving Grondr would nurse a grudge going back thousands of years.

If any such Grondr do exist, it will be an uphill struggle for any Changing Breed to convince them to return, and far harder if the group that discovers the wereboars contains Garou. Old grudges die very hard. The presence of the Skull Pigs might bring them around — seeing the ultimate shame of their Breed might drive the Grondr to prove that they can do better. It might also be the final nail in the coffin. If even the supposedly incorruptible wereboars can fall to the Wyrm, what hope is left for the rest of the world?

Perhaps the most disturbing thought is that the Grondr do still live on in the Deep Umbra. The Skull Pigs are nothing to do with the wereboars, a happy coincidence that the survivors used to mask their disap­ pearance. They know how bad the world has become, but it’s not enough yet — they can only make Gaia whole again once the Wyrm has consumed Her. They await the Apocalypse, and the Garou’s inevitable loss. Once their would-be persecutors are all dead, then they can start the real work.

Grondr had three breeds: homid, metis, and scrofa. Metis Grondr were sterile, but lacked both deformities and any loss of status. Grondr lacked auspices; instead, each Breed had specific duties.

• Homid: Homid Grondr defended and maintained lands cleansed by others of their kind. They had the most contact with humanity, and carefully monitored human's use of their lands.

Beginning Gnosis: 1

• Metis: The Grondr were never numerous and considered breeding a sacred duty. Because metis could not do so, the Grondr saw them as the most expendable. They acted as scouts and front-line warriors, since their loss did not also entail the loss of their possible offspring.

Beginning Gnosis: 3

• Scrofa: Using their wild instincts to negotiate the savage wildernesses, scrofa followed the metis into dangerous areas, continuing the perilous work of purifying tainted locations and hunting down corrupted beings.

Beginning Gnosis: 5

• Grondr used Rage in the same manner as Garou and were capable of frenzy. • All Grondr began play with Rage of 4, and a Will­ power of 3. • Grondr suffered the same effects from silver that werewolves do. They could also regenerate in the same way as Garou.

• Grondr had especially keen senses of smell and their difficulty for all rolls associated with smell was reduced by –2. • Grondr could step sideways into the Umbra like the Garou. • Grondr were especially adept at attacking inanimate objects, including everything from stone walls to machines. They added two dice to all damage rolls against inanimate targets.

Grondr could assume five different forms. • Homid: Grondr Homid forms were noticeably short and squat compared to their fellows, often with small eyes and broad noses.

• Aperius: The Grondr near-human form was a muscular human at least six inches taller than the homid form and weighing almost twice as much. This form also sprouted small tusks. Modifiers: Str +2, Sta +2, App –2, Man –2

• Crinos: The Crinos form of a wereboar was a ter­ rible boar-headed humanoid. This form often stood more than eight feet tall and had razor sharp-hooves and huge tusks. Modifiers: Str +3, Dex +1, Sta +4, App 0, Man –3

• Daeodon: The near-animal form of a Grondr re­ sembled a huge prehistoric carnivorous boar that stood almost 6 feet at the shoulder and was more than 10 feet long. Modifiers: Str +3, Dex +1, Sta +3, App 0, Man –3

• Scrofa: The Grondr transformed into a wild boar, approximately 3 feet tall at the shoulder and more than 5 feet long. This creature was dangerous, but consider­ ably less than in Daeodon form. Modifiers: Str +2, Sta +3, Per +1, Man –3

Grondr begin play with three Level One Gifts from the general Grondr Gift list.